Baptizing cities

Peter J. Leithart, February 28, 2007

In his study of Judaic Baptism, James W. Dale quotes Jewish War, 3.7, where Josephus speaks of a city being, in Dale's translation, "overmersed" (epibaptizo). Dale comments, "It is intolerable to suppose that a city is figured, through the departure of an individual [in this case, Josephus himself] as dipped into water, immersed in the sea, overwhelmed by a flood, or sunk in the ocean."

Really? It seems perfectly consistent with biblical imagery to suggest a city overrun by enemies as a "flooded" city, and particularly when the city is Jewish and the enemies part of the "sea of Gentiles."