Social Status in Luke’s Infancy Narrative: Zechariah the Priest
This article investigates the social status of Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel using Lenski’s social stratification model. Beyond macro-sociological setting, we will conduct a multidimensional analysis of Zechariah’s social status. We investigate Zechariah’s place in the Judean priestly hierarchy using L...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Sage
2011
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In: |
Biblical theology bulletin
Year: 2011, Volume: 41, Issue: 1, Pages: 36-45 |
Further subjects: | B
Luke’s Gospel
B Social status B Social Scientific Criticism B Priest / Priesthood B Zechariah B Social Class |
Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
Summary: | This article investigates the social status of Zechariah in Luke’s Gospel using Lenski’s social stratification model. Beyond macro-sociological setting, we will conduct a multidimensional analysis of Zechariah’s social status. We investigate Zechariah’s place in the Judean priestly hierarchy using Luke’s narrative presentation and Josephus’ testimonies about social conflicts among various priestly groups within first-century Judea. The narrative clue about the “priestly order of Abijah” has been ignored by most scholars, but it will be argued that this is an important detail in the placement of Zechariah in the social stratification system. We will also argue that placing Zechariah in the retainer class is not viable. Rather, Zechariah is depicted in Luke’s narrative as a humble, lowly priest, who nevertheless maintained rather high social status due to his priestly pedigree. |
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ISSN: | 1945-7596 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Biblical theology bulletin
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0146107910393146 |