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...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
Liber annuus
Year: 2022, Volume: 72, Pages: 277-306 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Doulos
/ pais
/ apostellein
/ pempein
/ Luke
/ Bible. Apostelgeschichte 10
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| 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. |
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| ISSN: | 0081-8933 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (Jerusalem), Liber annuus
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.LA.5.134540 |