Centurion’s ‘Slave’ or ‘Servant’: A Narrative Study of Luke 7:1-10

A vast majority of scholars conclude that the healing of the centurion’s servant in Luke 7:1-10 prepares for the baptism of another centurion named Cornelius, a God-fearing man in Acts 10. In other words, just as Jesus was not afraid to enter the house of a centurion, so also Peter should not be afr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Blajer, Piotr (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum 2022
In: Liber annuus
Year: 2022, Volume: 72, Pages: 277-306
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Doulos / pais / apostellō / pempō / Luke / Bible. Apostelgeschichte 10
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
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Summary:A vast majority of scholars conclude that the healing of the centurion’s servant in Luke 7:1-10 prepares for the baptism of another centurion named Cornelius, a God-fearing man in Acts 10. In other words, just as Jesus was not afraid to enter the house of a centurion, so also Peter should not be afraid to do the same. The author of the paper does not discard such a possibility, but aims to apply narrative criticism to reveal the hidden gems of the passage that the historical- critical approach might have overlooked. Thus, the present study contends that the usage of δοῦλος and παῖς, as well as the alternation between synonymous yet somewhat different verbs ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω, are not only an excellent proof of Luke’s redactional activity aiming to render the text smoother and pleasing to read and hear but also a procedure to alert the reader/ listener of the story of the major shifts in the narrative. A close reading of the healing of the centurion’s servant suggests that behind the stylistic changes and rhetorical strategies something more than a simple linguistic variety is meant. The distinction between the two nouns δοῦλος and παῖς and between two verbs ἀποστέλλω and πέμπω, as intended by the author of the Third Gospel, should therefore be preserved in modern translations of the Bible, which is not always the case. Translating those nouns and verbs in the same manner impoverishes the text.
ISSN:0081-8933
Contains:Enthalten in: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (Jerusalem), Liber annuus
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1484/J.LA.5.134540