Moving on to the creative writer we stylize as Luke [who may be the same person as the editor of Acts (=Iraeneus?)]—he has gone in search of scriptural texts with the word ‘Ethiopian’ to make use of in composing Chapter 8 of the Book of Acts. Often the affinities may appear fleeting, but are clearly visible to those willing to go in search of them. The gospel author has drawn from Jeremiah 38, Isaiah 18 and 45, and 2Kings 10.
In Jeremiah 38:8 the prophet is arrested and put into a “mud-pit” (λακκον … βορβορος) in which “there was no water” (notice how this sentence is reversed by Acts 8:36). He is rescued by an “Ethiopian eunuch” (Αιθιοψ ανηρ ευνουχος) named Ebed-Melek, which in Hebrew means ‘servant of the monarch,’ just as Acts 8:27 “Ethiopian eunuch” (ανηρ Αιθιοψ ευνουχος) character is treasurer (γαζης =a pun on the name of the city of Gaza (Γαζαν), mentioned in the previous line) to his country’s queen. We should pause briefly to notice that there might be other references to Jeremiah 38 in Acts 8. The first line of that chapter gives us the aside that Saul/Paul consented to the martyr Stephen “having been done away with” [αναιρεσει], which echoes Jeremiah 38:4 where hostile courtiers urge king Zedekiah concerning the pesky prophet: “Do away with [αναιρεθητω] that man!” There seems to be some affinity between Acts 8:27= “Behold, a castrated Abyssinian man, having power over his queen’s treasury” [ιδου ανηρ Αιθιοψ ευνουχος, δυνατης … βασιλισσης] and Jeremiah 38:5= “behold, the king had no power [ιδου … ουκ ηδυνατο ο βασιλευς] (=to stop Jeremiah from being mistreated by his persecutors). Even the small aside [=Acts 8:8] about Philip’s miracles eliciting gladness “in that city” [εν τη πολει εκεινη] seems to be a reversal of Jeremiah 38:4 and the “evil things” the prophet warns will overtake those remaining “in this city” [εν τη πολει ταυτη] (=Jerusalem) when Babylon puts it under siege. Acts’ author is contrasting 8:4’s the “word” [λογον] of good news with the doom foretold by Jeremiah’s “discouraging [εκλυει] words [λογους τουτους]” (=Jer. 38:4). Note that Jer 34:19 (=41:19) the Hebrew word for eunuch 'saris' (סריס) is translated in the LXX as δυναστης, the term used of Candace' treasurer.
We shall later see this kind of scattering of borrowed details throughout Mark as well—he grabs OT poetry out of context only to spread the segments artfully around the textual vicinity of his own edifice.
At Acts 8:26, an angel directs Philip to “Go south!” [πορευου κατα μεσημβριαν] (=Luke will re-use this word in describing Paul’s conversion vision in Acts 22:6 = “around noon [μεσημβριαν] … a light [ϕως]” (note: the word in Greek for ‘south’ can also mean ‘noon’). Both seem to make use of Isaiah 18:4’s image of “A light at noon” [ως ϕως … μεσημβριας.]
When he speaks of how Philip “ascended” [αναβοντα] onto the Ethiopian’s chariot (=Acts 8:31), Luke has likely combined two sections of Isaiah that involve Ethiopia: Isaiah 18:1-2 tells how “messengers of light” shall go to this “proud (literally: ‘elevated’) nation” [εθνος μετεωρον]; while Isaiah 45:14 lectures those of the same nationality about “those who are haughty [υψηλοι (=high-minded)] over you.” So in both instances there is mention of someone being ‘higher/more elevated’ than another, which ergo is why (by narrative-logic) Philip must ‘climb up’ [αναβαντα] (=line 31) to “join” [κολληθητι] (=line 29) the foreigner who is “sitting on a chariot” [και καθημενος επι του αρματος αυτου] (=line 28). There’s an echo in the background here: from the scene in 2Kings 10:15 when Jonadab ben Rechab gets “hauled onto [ανεβιβασεν] the chariot [επι του αρμα]” of vengeful general Jehu to join his overthrow of the government. As for the “joining” vocabulary, Luke repeats this word again in the next chapter where the new convert Saul/Paul tries to “be joined” [καλλασθαι] to the apostles (=9:26). Also, Jonadab in 2Kings 10:16 “sat by him in the chariot-car” [και επεκαθησεν … εν τω αρματι αυτου]; which is where Luke has got his idea for the description at Acts 8:31 [=καθισαι συν αυτω]. If one is wondering why the author chose to borrow a bit from this particular section, note that 2Kings 10 involves Samaria, the area where Philip had preached just a few sentences before. Queen Candace’s administrator being singled out as her “treasury-overseer” [ος ην επι πασης της αυτης] (=Acts 8:27) could be inspired by 2Kings 10:5 where an embassy of “palace overseers [οι επι του οικου (=cf. v. 22)]” surrender to Jehu. Is Acts 8:27’s (“power over… the queen’s…”) [δυνατης … βασιλισσης] tinged with residue from 2Kings 10:13’s odd phrase “woman-in-power’ [δυναασευουστης]?
Acts 8:3 shows how the zealous persecutor Saul “devastated the church-members by going into houses [κατα τους οικους εισπορευομενος], dragging out and delivering up [παρεδιδου] men and women to prison.” Compare this to zealous Jonadab “went into the house [εισηλθεν … εις τον οικον] of Baal” (=2Kings 10:21-23), pretending to suddenly have reverence for their religion in order to trap then murder them all by stealth. Luke might have also mixed into this some semblance of Jeremiah 38:3, when the Lord promises that Jerusalem will be “delivered up” [παρεδιδομενη] to Nebuchadnezzar’s army “for he shall seize [συλληψεται] it.”
According to Acts 8, Philip “proclaimed” [εκηρυσσεν] the gospel (=v. 5) and enacted “a curing service” [εθεραπευθησαν] (v. 7) by agent of the holy [αγιον] spirit” (=vv. 15-18). Was all this suggested to Luke by 2Kings 10:20 which has Jehu suggest: “’Let’s put together a holy [αγιασατε] religious service [θεραπειαν] to Baal!’ And they proclaimed it [εκηρυξαν].” ? It is interesting.
Acts 8:27 (“Rising up, he went.” [και αναστας επορευθη]) re-iterates in action an urgent order from an angel in the previous sentence. Is this seemingly plain description actually quoting and parodying the rampaging commander Jehu at 2Kings 10:12= “He rose up and went [ανεστη και επορευθη]” (to Samaria)?
Acts 8:6 tells us: “the (Samaritan) multitude, as if of one mind, gave heed to Philip’s words, because of hearing [ακουειν] and seeing the signs he did.” Although containing no exact verbal parallels, one might glance between that text and 2Kings 10:5 in which terrorized Samaritan officials promise the marauding leader: “We’ll do whatever you say!” and he demands they “hear” [ακουετε] his voice and go kill his enemies, after which at verses 9-10 he invites the townsfolk to “behold” [ιδου] and “see” [ιδετε] that he isn’t alone in his rebellion (i.e. this is a sign he’s righteous).
At 2Kings 10:15 the rebel Jehu tests Jonadab’s zeal for his controversial cause by asking “if [ει] your heart [της καρδιας] is straight?” (meaning his resolve—this is repeated 4 times in one sentence for emphasis). At Acts 8:37 Philip tells his new acquaintance: “If [ει] you believe with your whole heart [της καρδιας], it’s allowed” to be converted. Luke obviously intends to contrast this sincere convert against the covetous magician Simon at 8:21. [=see psalm 94 for the phrase ‘straight of heart’ (verse 15) and ‘preparing a pit for sinners’ (verse 13)
The lifting of detail continues: Isaiah 18:2 refers to the Ethiopians as “those mailing treaties via the sea“ and “letters (written on) Biblos-papyrus [επιστολας βιβλινας] over water [υδατος].” This is likely what has suggested to the Lucan author to write a story about an African convert who is baptized (by “water” [υδωρ] in Acts 8:36) after reading a book/parchment scroll. (Not to mention that we have here a Biblical author making a pun on the word ‘bible’ as meaning both the city of Biblos and a kind of plant from there used to make parchment paper—Luke it seems has purposefully misread Isaiah 18:2 to suggest “biblical epistles” [επιστολας βιβλινας] that lead one to become baptized.) But that isn’t where Luke’s creativity ends.
Isaiah 45:14 predicts that someday Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans “shall do obeisance to” [προσκυνησουσι σοι] the Lord, while verse 21 says: “let those that announce approach, that they should know together [γνοσιν αμα] … audibly/out loud [ακουστα] who has done these things.” Then in next verse the Lord implores: “Turn to me!” [επιστραϕητε]. All of the above has inspired Acts’ author/editor in the following ways= Acts 8:27 the Ethiopian eunuch had come up to Jerusalem “to do obeisance” [προσκυνησων] and in verse 28 he is “returning [υποστρεϕων] home”. In verses 29-30 Philip does as Isaiah 45:21 suggests, and “overhears” [ηκουσεν] how the eunuch is “reading out loud” from the “prophet Isaiah” —just the book our author Luke has studied to invent didactic scenarios such as this! The evangelist—Philip, not Luke—approaches this foreigner to “announce the good news, beginning from scripture” (=line 35). This of course hearkens again back to Isaiah 45:21= “From the beginning it has been announced to you…” Also the ‘coming together’ motif from that same line is subtly present in the mention of how Philip and the eunuch “both went down into the water” in Acts 8:38. Connecting to Isaiah 45:21’s “knowing together,” Philip asks the stranger if he “knows” [γινωσκεις] what he is reading [αναγινωσκεις]. This seems to be an unexpected reference to the gospel of Mark 13:14, where the narrator breaks the fourth wall to implore: “Let the reader understand!” [αναγινωσκων νοειτω]. Not batting an eye, Luke gives a sly wink in answer to Mark’s enigmatic elbow-nudge.
See Antiquities 20.43-46 Ananias asks Izates if "he understands what he is reading?" = later the Rabbinic Midrash Rabbah 46.10 is aware the text alluded to is Genesis 17:7-14. In parodying this, Luke changes the book to Isaiah, in imitation of Paul's modus operandi.
Then the jarring motif of Philip somehow being supernaturally ‘whisked away’ seems to combine two verses from Kings=
-Acts 8:38 = “the spirit took him from thence”
-1Kings 18:12= “a wind (=the holy spirit?) will take/lift you away…”
-2Kings 2:16 = 50 prophets ask if the spirit if the Lord “lifted him” [=Elijah] and “tossed him in the mountains.”
-2Kings 5 is also in the background of this entire episode of Philip and the eunuch. At verse 9 Naaman is on a “chariot” like the vehicle at Acts 8:38 [αρμα]; the eunuch visits Judea’s capitol in order to “do obeisance” [προσκυνησων] just as Naaman imagines his future self being compelled to do at the temple of Rimmon in Syria at 2Kings 5: ; like the foreigner who doesn’t “know what he’s reading,” the king of Israel at 2Kings 5:9 doesn’t “know” [γνωτε] how to respond to the scroll he’s “reading” [ανεγνω], also in both cases a prophetic figure is needed to “help” interpret how to understand a “written text” with Elisha and Philip giving the same advice that involves a cleansing water—2King 5:14= Naaman “went down [κατεβη] … to immerse [εβαπτισατο]” is obviously parallel to Acts 8:38= “they both went down [κατεβησαν] … he was immersed [εβαπτισεν].” Naaman’s pious statement at 2Kings 5:15 (=“I know now that “there is not a God in all the world except in Israel”) has been transformed by the Lukan author to the convert’s creedal confession of “I believe Jesus Christ to be the son of God.”
In the Testament of Job 3:7 the protagonist intends to start fighting against paganism, asking rhetorically: “Who is there to prevent me [τις εστιν ο κωλυων με], since I rule this region?” This is echoed by Acts 8:36 when the two travelers come upon a pool by the road [=itself a likely a symbolic reversal of the ‘waterless pit’ Jeremiah was thrown into!] and Philip’s new convert says: “What is there to prevent me [τι κωλυει με] from being immersed?” This phrase seems to have taken on some now-forgotten liturgical meaning for new converts being baptized (see Acts 10:47 and 11:17, similarly in Ps-Clem 13.5.1 and 11:2, Matt 3:14); notice in Mark 10:14 it’s Jesus who famously encourages and then admonishes: “Suffer the children to come unto me, and prevent them not! [με κωλυετε]”. The patriarch at the Testament of Job 3:6’s asks to be granted permission to “purge Satan from his place” (meaning to stop an idol temple functioning as such)— just as NT missionaries cast out demons, thus ending Satan’s rule.
Philip’s character elsewhere in Acts has details drawn from other didactic religious novels. Acts 21:9f mentions Philip’s four ‘prophetess daughters’ then immediately after this the itinerant Agabus wraps Paul’s hands and feet in his ‘girdle’ which seems to be some special future-telling garb. This seems to be vaguely based on the Testament of Job’s (45-47) daughters who are given special girdles which when belted around them cause them speak in tongues and the like. But again, the provenance of all the ‘Testament’ literature is uncertain.
There was a historical ‘Philip’ slightly later than the time described by the gospel novels, the military commander of King Agrippa II’s army, who lives in Caesarea and has 2 daughters notable for being saved from a burning tower. As for Act’s calling him an ‘evangelist’, notice the following clipping from Josephus, (Jewish War 2.17.4-5? (420)) = Saul, Antipas and Costobarus sent to Agrippa to ask for soldiers to put down the sedition, and the Roman governor Gessius Florus “acted as if this terrible report were good news” (=the same word for ‘gospel’) [Φλωρω μεν ουν δεινον ευαγγελιον ην] Then Agrippa appoints Philip ben Jacimus, the same man who is quite likely presented in the New Testament as the ‘evangelist’ (=good-news-bringer) Philip.
Then there is Paul’s ‘conversion incident’—an ingenious rewrite of the story of Heliodorus’ in 2Maccabees. Compare all this to Paul at Acts 9=
-2Macc 3:24-26= a persecutor is halted by divine being
-3:27 he is thrown to ground and blinded
-3:31-33= despite being their enemy, he is prayed for by Jews (like Ananias in Acts)
-3:35-36= healed of blindness, he converts
Also the governor in this Maccabean story, Apollonius of Tarsus (=2Macc 3:4-5), has a name and birthplace so similar to Paul of Tarsus. The Syrian governor is tipped off to the temple treasures by a sneaky “Simon the Benjamite,” similar to Acts’ Simon Magus in Samaria who is so interested in the power of money. Paul’s situation during his forced conversion and even his itinerary seem to be borrowed or midrashed from 1Kings 19 where after persecuting the priests of Baal Elijah is given divine directive to go to Damascus, all within the context of a Mosaic-type theophany at Horeb. Like their antecedent Moses, both Elijah and Paul have “commissions from God” concerning “Arabia.” Though drawn mostly from Jewish scriptures, possibly only in Greek translation, the theology evinced here by Paul's 'conversion incident' is not far removed from Hellenist Roman 'pagan' ideas = see Ovid, Ex Ponto 1.51-58 where a man is "blinded for offeding Isis, crying in the middle of the road, for the gods delight at this public declaration of deserving punishment, if the man has repented."
What is most surprising, though often denied entirely by apologists, is the pervasive references to Euripides’ play Bacchae= events like ‘Pentecost’ are likely based on Torah patterns such as Numbers 11, yet details like the “tongues of fire” halos of the church-members is like that of Dionysus’ worshippers at Bacchae 757-758 and Acts 2:15 has Peter remark that these “are not drunk, as you might think” corresponds to Bacchae 686-687 where a similar apology is made for devotees “whom you might suppose to be drunk.” Jesus at Acts 26:14 tells Paul not to “kick against the cattle-prod”—this obviously matches Pentheus being told by a god in human disguise the same exact proverb at Bacchae ////. Dionysus at lines 922-924 uses a divine confusion spell to convert Pentheus to his side: “though previously an enemy, now he goes along with us!" Acts 12:8 is quite close to Bacchae 447-448's "ankle-chains fell off automatically [δεσμα αυτοματα δ'αυταις] from their feet and doors unbarred themselves without aid of hand [κληδες τανηκαν θυρετρ'ανευ θνητης χερος]." And Saul's "breathing [εμπνεω] threats" against the early Christians at Acts 9:1 matches Pentheus "breathing fury" [θυμον εκπνεων]. Finally, the clincher would seem to be at Paul's trial (Acts 26:24ff) where the judge Festus declares, after hearing Paul speak for a few mintues: "You are a maniac!" (μαινε) He suggests "extensive reading" [///] has made him "mentally unwell" (raving like a Maenad). But it is Luke who has "too much learning," as the Roman governor suggests. Gamaliel may be quoting Tiresias from Acts 5:39 (=Origen's ContraCelsum 2:34 shows he was aware of these ancient Athenian parallels)
-for the 'tongues of fire' at Acts 2:1-4 = see Bacchae 757-758 "flames flickered in their curls and did not burn them."
Luke, always actively interested in subtly comparing his hero Paul to Jesus, re-uses details from the ‘Agony in the garden’ scene from Mark= Paul “falls to the ground” [πεσων επι την γην] at Acts 9:4 and in verse 6 is “distraught” [θαμβων], asking “What do you want me to do, Lord? [τι με θελεις]”—contrast this with Mark 14:35 where Jesus “falls to the ground” [επεσεν επι την γην] is at line 33 is “distraught” [εκθαμβεισθαι] and tells God: “Do what you want. [τι συ … θελω]” (=36)
But as always there are some subtle allusion to other scriptures in the mix, one will notice brief allusions to Paul’s namesake Saul, the first king of Israel. The king compels a sorceress (the ‘witch’ of Ein Dor) to invoke the ghost of the prophet Samuel=
-1Samuel 28:15 = Saul asks Samuel: “What shall I do?” [τι ποιησω]
-Acts 9:6a= Saul asks Jesus: “What do you want me to do?” [τι με θελεις ποιησαι]
-1Samuel 28:18 = Saul didn’t “listen to the voice of the Lord” [διοτι ουκ ηκουσας ϕωνης κυριου]
-Acts 9:4= Saul “heard the voice” [ηκουσεν ϕωνην] of Jesus
-1Samuel 28:22, 25 = The witch of Endor “feeds” Saul, to “strengthen him” [και ϕαγε, και εσται εν σοι ισχυς … και εϕαγον]
-Acts 9:19= Saul “took nourishment and was strengthened.” [λαβων τροϕην ενισχυσεν]
-Luke judiciously uses pagan motifs, such as when Pul and Barnabas at Lystra in Iconium are mistaken for Hermes and Zeus, a likely literary reference to legends of those gods appearing in human form to test the hospitality of humans (=see Ovid, Metamorphosis 8:611-725,where these characters are rejected by the Phrygian Lyconians who then are punished with a "great flood"—showing how Biblical-sounding pagan myths can be!).
-Luke is capable also of outright inventing sheer fantasy details, such as the non-existent high priest 'Sceva' whose name means Seven and coincidentally has 7 sons, or Paul's benefactress 'Lydia' at Acts 16:14 who also happens to be from the region of Lydia. How convenient... or not!
-Observe also the following parallels=
-Acts 8:1= “all were dispersed [παντες δε διεσπαρησαν] throughout the places of Judea.” [Ιουδαιας]
-Jeremiah 40:12= “All the Jews [παντες οι Ιουδαιοι] returned from every place where they’d been dispersed [διεσπαρησαν].”
-Acts 7:58 = “the eyewitnesses (to Stephen’s execution) set aside their garments and laid them at young Saul’s feet.”
-2Kings 10:22 = “Jehu instructed the wardrobe-keeper to bring out all the garments for Baal’s priests.”
-Acts 9:6 = Paul is told to “Rise up and go into the city [αναστηθι καλεισελθε εις την πολιν] and you’ll be told what to do.” It seems like Luke has reused Mark 14:13 = where Jesus foretells what will happen to some disciples: “Go into the city [υπαγετε εις την πολιν] and you’ll meet [απαντησει] a man… carrying [βασταζων] a ceramic water-jar.” At Acts 9:15 Paul is called a “vessel” [σκευος] (=a common synonym for jars/pitchers/etc) who “shall bear” [βαστασαι] Jesus’ name before gentiles. Is Paul being compared this mysterious figure in Mark 14 or the water-jar he’s walking with?
-Acts 16:27 = the jailor, thinking the prisoners have escaped, is suddenly suicidal: “having drawn his own sword” [σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν] (to stab himself)
-CodexBezae 16:39 = Acts says officials didn’t know Paul and Silas were “innocent” [dikaios]
-Mark 14:44 = Judas says: “Take him away safely!” [απαγαγετε ασϕαλως] This same description is given to Paul and Silas jailer in Acts 16:23—he “keeps them safely” [ασϕαλως] while the two imprisoned missionaries are “singing at midnight” [υμνουν μεσονυκτιαν], echoing Mark 14:26 where the twelve “sing a hymn” [υμνησαντες] and next verse Jesus mentions “on this night” [τη νυκτι ταυτη] and twice again in verse 30. Just earlier in 13: 26 Jesus predicts how at apocalypse the heavenly powers “shall be shaken” [σαλευθησονται] which the author of Luke/Acts has used to inspire the idea of an earthquake, which he envisions as such: the prison “foundations were shaken” [σαλευθηναι τα θεμελια] This enables the narrative to include a surprising allusion to the miraculous breaking of chains scene in the Greek tragedy known as Euripides’ Bacchae, but more on that later.
-Mark 14:47 = a by stander “having drawn his own sword” [σπασαμενος την μαχαιραν] (=same phrase!) adding, of the servant of an arch-priest = ”and removed his ear” [αϕειλεν αυτου το ωτιον] = which in Luke’s text becomes the homonym “he was about to kill himself” [ημελλεν εαυτον αναιρειν]. A perfect aural match! Luke has changed ‘otion’ (ear) to its homonym ‘heauton’ (himself), very likely a device he has learned by carefully reading Mark—as we are here. Luke has carefully copied every aspect of his predecessors’ literary tools and tactics. In another area of this book we’ve shown how later gospels embellish this Mark 14 incident until John invents the detail of Peter being the one who does this action, though in Mark it is decidedly unclear on which side the person who has the weapon, and whether it is intentional or accidental. Another haunting anomaly here is the church father Jerome quotes a now lost gospel which he claims was written in Hebrew that gives the detail that first thing after the resurrection Jesus “gives his grave clothes over the servant of the high priest.” This is an odd notice, and seems somehow related to the story in Acts where those who stone Stephen “give their clothes to a youth named Saul” and this young Paul is during that time the actual functioning servant of the high priest.
Yet a further oddity from here: Jerome claims that instead of the temple curtain rending at the sound of Jesus death-cry, in this rumored Hebrew gospel the lintel of one the main entrances of the temple doorways collapses. This is an obvious reference to Isaiah chapter 6’s famous vision: where he says “the doorpost collapsed at the sound of the voice of him that cried out!”
-Hebrew Amos 8:3 (MT)= the “songs [שירות] of the temple shall turn to howls” = LXX has “ceiling panels” (ϕατνωματα) for ‘songs’ (= the “decorative fretworks shall shriek”)—note how in describing the martyrdom of John the Baptist’s father Zechariah, the Protevangelium of James 24:3 = “the panels of the ceiling of the sanctuary wailed and they [=the priests? It is unclear] rent their clothes from top to bottom.”
This obviously means that this now-lost gospel was utilizing the same literary technique in Hebrew as Mark is in Greek, literalizing a poetic metaphor within a passion story. One despairs that beyond this there is not much information. It seems likely this text might solve further problems, as one can only suspect that most NT literature is some kind of parody of this other gospel, a pacifistic Hellenistic reply to an equivalent militant Judaic propaganda, as are letters of Paul to his communities.
- Luke 23:29: “Blessed is the sterile one, the bellies who bore not!” This is a reference to Isaiah 54:1= “Be glad, sterile one! Shout, ye who is not in labor!” This is obvious because the next sentence (Luke 23:30) has the phrase “mountains [ορεσι] and hills [βουνοις] cover us! [καλυψατε]”, a reversal of Isaiah 54:10= “The mountains [ορη] won’t change or the hills [βουνοι] be moved about.”
The “daughters of Jersualem” weeping over Jesus from Luke 23:28 were possibly suggested by Isaiah 54:6’s forsaken woman, and Jesus act of “having turned toward them” [στραϕεις δε προς αυτας] is meant to be an ironic reversal of Isaiah 54:8= “I turned [απεστρεψα] away my face from you in my rage.” Like Mark’s use of verbs and actions pertaining in his sources to ‘the Lord’, this evangelist has utilized this to clue in the perceptive reader that Jesus is the God of Israel. Here the Lord turns towards Jerusalem’s citizens only to warn them of how he shall turn away from them at the city’s burning by the Romans, just as the author may have thought Isaiah was predicting. (Luke 23:32 = green tree / dry tree = drawn from Ezekiel 17:24 ?)
-at Luke 23:////// the two disciples talking to one another about “all that had taken place” (παντων των συμβεβηκοτων τουτων) is a slight allusion to Joshua 2:23 where the two spies return to Joshua “all the things having come to pass.” (παντα τα συμβεβηκοτα)
-Luke 21:24= Judea “will fall by the edge of the sword” to “be led captive among the nations.” = a reference to the curses of Exile from Deut 28:64 and Lev 26:33.
-at some places Luke subtly compares/contrasts Jesus with Elijah and ELisha=
-Luke 24:31= "their eyes were opened" and then Jesus vanishes = this motif seems to be taken from LXX 4Kindoms 6:!7 where Elijah asks what they should do about the Aramean army surrounding them at Dothan: "the Lord opened his eyes" and then he saw the invisible chariots of fire protecting them. The warmth of this fire spills over into the Lucan gospels, in the detail at 24:32 where the disicples "hearts burned" wihin them.
-Luke 23:2= "We found this man perverting our nation [διαστρεϕοντα το εθνος ημων]." = this is meant to recall LXX Kings 18:17 where Ahab says to Elijah: "Is that you, perverter of Israel?" [ο διαστρεϕων τον Ισραηλ]
-Luke 4:23= Nazareth townspeople request from Jesus “the kind of miracles he worked at Capernaum.” =Here the author or Luke is simply, through editorial fatigue, that we and they have read Mark 6:1-6
-Goulder, Paradigm p 676 = “the dropsical man of Luke 14 is a version of the man with the dry hand of Matthew 12. In all these cases Luke is forming a ‘substitute’ narrative by following some suggestion in the given text. We must, accordingly, ask whether the same process is not at work here: Luke has described the call of Levi, following Mark—he would hardly be content with the virtually identical call of Matthew.”
-Luke has mimicked Mark’s twinning of themes with the 12 year old girl and woman afflicted with bleeding 12 years. Luke 13:4 mentions the “eighteen” [δεκαοκτω] upon whom the collapsing tower of Siloam fell, then soon after mentions a woman whose spine has been bent “eighteen” [δεκαοκτω] years. Luke has learned from his predecessor.
-Luke 6:35= "For he is gracious" = Psalm 85:5= "For thou art gracious" [oti su xrhstos]
-Luke 6:36= "pitying" = God is called this at Exodus 34:6 oiktirmones
=yet both these terms appear together at LXX Psalm 145:9!
-Luke 15:10 is comparing the Prodigal son to Joseph: he has stolen the details from Genesis 41:41 “Pharaoh took a ring from his finger, put on Joseph’s and give him an expensive linen robe.” Mixed with 45:26 “Your son Joseph is alive” and “fell on his neck weeping”
-Matthew 7:23 = and Luke 13:27 = are quoting Psalm 6:9 =
-Luke 12:51 = L substitutes fire for Matthew’s 24 sword (not peace but a …) but for L the sword Jesus brings is in Luke 2:35 as the ρομϕαια piercing Mary’s soul, itself a reference to Psalm 21:21.
-Luke 10:19 you “shall tread” [πατειν] on snakes and scorpions is messianic development of Psalm 91:13 = “Ye shall walk upon serpents” [=ασπιδα]. See also Deuteronomy 8:15 on Israel in the desert with snakes. The phrase “the enemy” [ο εχθρος] as euphemism for Satan may come from 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 on subjection of the powers to Christ.
-Luke 10:30-35 Good Samaritan stole some details from 2 Chronicles 28:14 f, also about Samaritans -Luke 10:30-35 is drawn from 2 Chronicles 28:1-15, itself a reformulation of Elisha’s call to feed Syrian captives at Samaria though they were hostile, the original ‘turning other cheek’ story, from 2nd Kings 6
-Michael Goulder, ‘A New Paradigm’ (page 134)= on the good Samaritan “the parable contains twelve words which occur only here in the New Testament: a usual feature of Luke parables, attributable to their richness of detail.”
-In Romans 3:4 Paul alludes to Psalm 116:11 and also 51:6 (4 in LXX Greek). The Hebrew of the later reads: “So that you are justified in your word (of sentencing) and blameless when you judge (or ‘pronounce sentence’).” Paul has understood this based on the Septuagint mistranslation, where the Greek has it as: “that you might overcome when you are judged.” So here the objects of accusation is flipped, leaving open Paul’s victorious martyr interpretation due to reversal.
Romans 15:3 cites Psalm 69:10(9 in LXX) which assumes to be Jesus words: “The insults of those who insult you (=God) having fallen on me.” Earlier in Romans 11:9-10 Paul quoted a curse formula from Psalm 69:23-24 in LXX form, so this prayer was on his mind apparently, as he wrote that epistle.
-Hebrews 2:12 cites Psalm 22:23 as if this were a quote actually spoken by Jesus, again cluing in us modern readers that they understood the scriptures quite differently.
Mark 14:21 says “The Son of Man goes as it written of him.” This meaning of this appears to be that the earlier Mark 14:18 reference to “one who’s eating with me” is drawn from Psalm 41:10, something made explicit by the author of John13:18.
-Acts cites Psalm 69:26, though the plural “enemies” from that verse is shifted to fit Judas in the singular, then author goes on allude to Psalm 109:8 in verbiage.
-in Luke 13 Jesus heals a woman with bent spine for 18 years and her disease is described as being “untied” just as animals are allowed to be untied on the Sabbath and in Luke 14 the man with “watery” arm (i.e. ‘dropsy’) is meant to be correlated to the Torah rule about whether it’s permissible to rescue an animal from a well. In both cases the allusion is entirely metaphorical via word association.
-Note how Luke embroiders his story of the apparition to Zechariah by borrowing from Daniel's details, especially chapter 10=
-Luke 1:10-11 = Daniel 9:20 = Gabriel appears, at ‘time of liturgy’
-Luke 1:12 = Daniel 10:7 (cf. 8:17) = fear of Gabriel
-Luke 1:19 = -Daniel 10:11 = Gabe ‘speaks words’
-Luke 1:13 = Daniel 9:20 = prayer of distress
-Luke 1:20, 22 = Daniel 10:15 = visionary struck mute
-Luke 1:19 = Gabriel says: “I stand in God’s presence.”
-Daniel 7:16 = Daniel approaches “one of them standing there” (=in God’s presence)
-the character ‘Simeon’ at the beginning of Luke functions similarly to Ananias in Acts 22:12-15 and his doom oracle 23:4-5 is like Agabus in Acts 21:10-11
-Luke 1:28-31 matches Matt 1:20-21 ‘afraid’, then ‘conceive’, then ‘call his name’— he just mashes it all up and strains into his own dish!
- Luke 1:15a = has same phrase as 1Samuel 1:9, 15 = ενωπιον κυριου
-Raymond Brown, Birth of the Messiah pg 671 = “In 1Sam 1L18 (no Hebrew original) it is the place where Elkanah and Hannah stayed on the way to Shiloh, and that story is certainly part of Luke’s background in the infancy narrative.”
-Luke 1:13 [behold, you’ll bear a son named John] + 2:9-12 [behold, you’ll bear a son named Jesus] = Genesis 16:7-13 [behold, bear a son named Ishmael]
-Luke 1:6 = Genesis 17:1 Abram and Sarai are “blameless”, like Zechariah and Elisabet
-Luke 1:7, 18 = Genesis 18:11-12 = Abram and Sarai are “advanced in years”, like Zechariah and Elisabeth
-Luke 2:51 ‘kept concern with these events, in your heart.’ = a phrase from Gen 37:11 and Dan 4:28 and Tes Napht 6:2 and Prov 3:1 Sirach 39:1-3 or 50:28 and Psalm 119:11
Luke 2 “sword passing through soul” = where is this from? Ezekiel 14:17? It has: “Let a sword pass through the land so I may cut off man and beast.” No... This is quoted by Sibyllene Oracles 3:316 though = about Antiochus Epiphanes; compare also Isaiah 49:1-2 = “The Lord called my name from my mother’s body—he made my mouth like a sharp sword.”
-Luke 3:4-6 changes Isaiah 40:3-5 to read as paranomastic: “yeshu’at Elohim” [=thus signifying Jesus name]
-Luke 12:51 = L substitutes fire for Matthew’s 24 sword (not peace but a …) but for L the sword Jesus brings is in Luke 2:35 as the ρομϕαια piercing Mary’s soul, itself a reference to Psalm 21:21.
-Luke 10:19 you “shall tread” [πατειν] on snakes and scorpions is messianic development of Psalm 91:13 = “Ye shall walk upon serpents” [=ασπιδα]. See also Detueronomy 8:15 on Israel in the desert with snakes. The phrase “the enemy” [ο εχθρος] as euphemism for Satan may come from 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 on subjection of the powers to Christ.
-It is likely that Matthew 23:37-39 is actually the real composer and inventor of the section of text reused by Luke 13:34-35, but that is no matter to our conclusions here=
-Deuteronomy 32:11 = God is compared to “an eagle who longs to hug his nestlings [νοσσιαν] with outstretched wings [πτερυγας]”
-Luke 13:34 = Jesus tells a personified Jerusalem: “How often I’ve longed to gather your children [τεκνα] the way a hen gathers her nestlings [νοσσιαν] under her wings [πτερυγας], but they did not [ουκ] want to.”
-Deuteronomy 32:5 = God exclaims about Sinai generation: “They sinned—they are not [ουκ] my children!”
Luke 13:35 = “Your house is left to you.”
-Jeremiah 22:5 = (prophet tells Davidic dynasty:) “Your house is to be left desolate!”
-Jeremiah 7:12, 14= mention of the destruction of Shiloh, the “place where (God) camped his tent previously”
-Jeremiah 7:15 = “I will drive you out of my sight … as I did to the seed of Ephraim.”
-Jer 8:11 = “They dress my people’s wounds without concern.”
-Jer 8:21 = “The wound of the daughter of my people wounds me too.”
-Jer 8:22 = “Aren’t there (well-known) doctors in Gilead? When then does the cure make no progress?”
-2 Maccabees 4:38 = in a karmic irony, Andronicus is killed in the very place he killed the former high priest Onias III. The Lucan author does something similar, but with real subtlety: at Acts 22:3 while under arrest Paul angrily yells at his interogator, ‘May God strike you (dead), white-washed wall!’ When he is informed he has just broken a major rule of the Torah by insulting the high priest, Paul pretends he would never do such a thing and cites Exodus 22:28 (=’Thou shalt not curse the ruler of thy people’). What might go unnoticed here is that this man, the temple head Ananias, was murdered by the ‘Zealot terrorists’ (as Josephus would have it) when the uprising against Rome started (see War 2.441-442). The 'white-wash' reference is to Ezekiel 13:10-16, oddly enough a criticism of the high priesthood is made in the same terms in the Dead Sea Scroll called the Damascus Document (=CD 8.12f). The writer of Acts’ wants us to see the irony here. I think Mark meant something similar at chapter 14 where Jesus slightly quotes (=‘you will see…’) the prophet Micaiah ben Imlah who foretells the death of his own mocking questioners, described as “false“ prophets at 1Kings 22:23-25. Though not narrated, it can be assumed from context that Zedekiah was killed while hiding in a closet [=?]. Also, due to resonance of the names, one wonders if the prophet Jeremiah’s confrontation with the false prophet Hananiah (=Ananias in Greek!) who lies about Jerusalem being safe from Babylon. In true fidelity to the Torah [=as per Deuteronomy 18:19-29], due to his falsely predicting in the name of the Lord, this Ananias dies (see Jer 28). Three others who reject Jeremiah’s message are dealt with similarly in Jer 29 as well.
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