Invoking the ancestors
In documents that are as well crafted as the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and where the economy of space is of the utmost importance, it is indeed strange for modern readers to encounter extensive genealogies in the opening chapters. One can only assume that such genealogies were of exceptional rele...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
NTWSA
2005
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| In: |
Neotestamentica
Year: 2005, Volume: 39, Issue: 1, Pages: 127-140 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In documents that are as well crafted as the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and where the economy of space is of the utmost importance, it is indeed strange for modern readers to encounter extensive genealogies in the opening chapters. One can only assume that such genealogies were of exceptional relevance to the first audiences of the gospel. This paper will apply to the gospel texts some of the suggestions regarding genealogies and lists in general by the classical scholar Lambros Couloubaritsis of the Free University of Brussels in his Histoire de la philosophie anciennne et médiévale (1998). According to him, genealogies are the most primitive narratives and serve, among other things, to regulate honour and shame (social status) and meaning. They serve as master narratives and evoke not only the ancestor spirits, but also the whole narrative world of the community. The special contribution of this paper is to apply these suggestions to the texts of Matthew and Luke, but also to relate this to the social and conceptual realities of the first century C.E. with its peculiar form of oral-manuscript culture. This proves to be a highly productive way of approaching the genealogies. |
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| ISSN: | 2518-4628 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Neotestamentica
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.10520/EJC83184 |