Exotica and the Ethiopian of Acts 8:26–40: Toward a Different Fabula
Scholarship on the Ethiopian eunuch focuses heavily on his foreign otherness, identifying him as the first gentile convert in the Acts of the Apostles. Such a reading tends not only to exoticize the Ethiopian but also to vilify the temple and, by extension, first-century Judaism, for their imagined...
| 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: |
Scholar's Press
2023
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| In: |
Journal of Biblical literature
Year: 2023, Volume: 142, Issue: 3, Pages: 533-546 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Bible. Apostelgeschichte 8,26-39
/ Embodiment
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament HD Early Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Hartman, Saidiya
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Scholarship on the Ethiopian eunuch focuses heavily on his foreign otherness, identifying him as the first gentile convert in the Acts of the Apostles. Such a reading tends not only to exoticize the Ethiopian but also to vilify the temple and, by extension, first-century Judaism, for their imagined rejection of this man. Using Saidiya Hartman's work on "critical fabulation," I propose instead that the Ethiopian be read as a Jew and, moreover, as an embodiment of the Jewish experiences of exile and enslavement to which his castrated body points. Such a reading supports the theme of the ingathering of dispersed Jews within the nascent Christian movement, which is central to Acts 1-8. |
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| ISSN: | 1934-3876 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of Biblical literature
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