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Perspectives on Luke-Acts

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Perspectives on Luke-Acts Originally appeared in: Perspectives on Luke-Acts. C. H. Talbert, ed. Perspectives in Religious Studies, Special Studies Series, No. 5. Macon, Ga.: Mercer Univ. Press and Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1978: 215-242. By Land and By Sea: The We-Passages and Ancient Sea Voyages Vernon K. Robbins The accounts of Paul's travels throughout the Mediterranean world begin in Acts 13. Prior to this chapter Paul (Saul) was present at Stephen's death (8:1), temporarily blinded and permanently converted on the road to Damascus (9:1-9), blessed and baptized by Ananias (9:17-19), and transported by night out of Damascus so the Jewish residents could not kill him (9:20-30). After some time Barnabas took Paul to Antioch where they spent a year together with the Christian community (11:25-26). When Barnabas and Paul were selected to take relief offerings to Jerusalem (11:29-30), they brought John Mark with them on their return (12:25). Throughout all of this, Paul travels on land. In fact, in all of Luke and Acts 1-12 no one travels on the sea. In contrast to Mark and Matthew where Jesus frequently travels on the Sea of Galilee, in Luke Jesus never even goes alongside the sea (para_ th_n qa/lassan).1 On two occasions Jesus gets into a boat and goes onto or across "the lake" (h( li/mnh: 5:1, 2; 8:22, 23, 33). This "lake" is called Gennesaret in 5:1; never in Luke does Jesus go to or across "the Sea of Galilee." The author's choice of vocabulary indicates that he distinguishes between "the lake" and "the sea." "The lake" is a body of inland water on the eastern edge of Galilee. A person can sail across this lake (or "down" it, katapleu/w: 8:26) to the land of the Gergesenes (or Gerasenes or Gadarenes) that lies opposite Galilee 1 qa/lassa occurs 18 times in Mark, 17 times in Matthew, and 3 times in Luke. Each of the occurrences in Luke is in a saying rather than narration: Luke 17:2, 6; 21:25. 215 (a)ntipe/ra th~v Galilai/av: 8:26). In contrast, "the sea" is that expanse of water which can take you to Cyprus, Macedonia, Achaia, Crete, or Italy. Jesus sets a precedent for sea travel on the lake, but Jesus himself never travels or voyages on the sea. Even Peter and John never travel on the sea. Only Paul and his associates face the challenge, adventure, and destiny of voyaging across the sea. Sea travel appears for the first time in Acts 13. Paul and his company sail from Seleucia to the island of Cyprus, then from Cyprus to Pamphylia (13:4,13). This sea travel holds little adventure or danger. Only two short clauses relate the means of travel; all the narrated episodes occur on land. Two more short clauses recount sea transportation in this section of Acts. Paul and Barnabas are taken back to Syrian Antioch in a boat (14:26), and Barnabas and John Mark go to Cyprus in a boat after the disagreement with Paul (15:39). Still, however, no detailed sea voyage occurs. Only in chapter 15 do extended sea voyages begin, and when they occur, the narration moves into first person plural "we." The coincidence of sea voyages and first person plural narration in Acts is striking. There are four we-sections in Acts: 16:10-17; 20:5-15; 21:1-18; 27:1-28:16. In each instance, a sea voyage begins as the first person plural narration emerges. While this observation can lead the interpreter in various directions, it points vividly to accounts of sea voyages in antiquity. Sea voyages are often couched in first person narration. Either the author narrates it as a participant (I sailed to Byblos ... .) or the author stages a participant recounting the voyage (he then said, "As I was sailing to Byblos ...."). Sea voyage narratives in Greek and Roman literature, however, become a distinct genre. One of the features of this genre is the presence of first person plural narration. Undoubtedly the impetus for this is sociological: on a sea voyage a person has accepted a setting with other people, and cooperation among all the members is essential for a successful voyage. Therefore, at the point where the voyage begins, the narration moves to first person plural. The author of Luke-Acts employs the sea voyage genre with great skill. His narrative builds toward a conclusion that is reached through a dramatic sea voyage. First plural narration emerges in the sections that present "mission by sea." There is evidence to suggest that Paul's voyages across the sea were in view during the composition of the first volume of the work. To explain the role of the we-passages in Acts, we will undertake six steps of analysis. (1) Since the we-passages in Acts present sea voyages, a survey is made of narrative style that accompanies sea voyages in Greek and Roman literature; (2) since third person narrative style surrounds the we-passages in Acts, an investigation follows concerning historiographical literature that is pervaded by third person narrative; (3) since there are other texts that alternate between third person and first person plural narration, Greek literature that reflects the same style of narration as Acts is presented; (4) on the basis of the survey, the primary features of the sea voyage genre are explored, and the we-passages are examined for the presence of these features; (5) the position of the we-passages in the structure of Acts is investigated; and (6) we posit a conclusion regarding the function of the we-passages in the purpose of Luke-Acts. These explorations are intended to suggest that the author of Luke-Acts is a versatile Hellenistic writer who is an intelligent participant in the literary arena of Mediterranean culture. The author has employed first person plural narration for the sea 216 voyages, because it was conventional generic style within Hellenistic literature. This style contributes directly to the author's scheme of participation in history through narration of its dramatic episodes. Narrative Style in Ancient Sea Voyages There is a natural propensity for portraying sea voyages through the medium of first person narration. This style for narrating voyages extends as far back as the most ancient Mediterranean literature known to us. Two Egyptian tales, The Story of Sinuhe (1800 B.C.) and The Journey of Wen-Amon to Phoenicia (11 cent. B.C.), recount sea voyages through first person singular narration.2 Also Utnapishtim, in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, recounts his voyage upon the waters in first person singular.3 In the Egyptian and Mesopotamian accounts the narrator uses first person singular "I," even when others are present with him on the voyage.4 Homer's Odyssey, in contrast, contains the earliest example among Mediterranean literature of a sea voyage that employs first person plural narration. In books 9-12 of the Odyssey, the travels and adventures of Odysseus are recounted to the Phaeacians at a banquet. The reader therefore hears about the breath-taking episodes from the lips of Odysseus himself. This narrative technique allows the dynamics of traveling on the sea and encountering strange, new peoples to emerge directly through personal narration. When Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians, asks Odysseus to recount his adventures, he begins, after the initial formalities, with: From Ilios the wind bore me and brought me to the Cicones, to Ismarus. There I sacked the city and slew the men .... (9.39-41).5 Here, first person singular narration begins the account, and first person singular narration occurs frequently throughout these four books of the Odyssey. However, first person plural narration becomes a formulaic means for launching the ship, sailing for a number of days, and beaching the ship at the end of a voyage. Therefore, first person plural formulaic clauses unify the sailing accounts. Five times, voyages begin with all or part of the following first person plural formula: From there we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our dear comrades …6 Twice, the length of a voyage is recounted in another first person plural pattern: For nine (six) days we sailed, night and day alike …7 2 James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1955), 18-22, 25-9. 3 Tablet XI, in ibid., 92-7. 4 See Wen-Amon 10, where he refers to "a man of my ship," and Gilgamesh Xl: 84, where he recounts that he made all his family and kin go aboard the ship. 5 The quotations from the NT are taken from the Revised Standard Version; unless otherwise indicated, the quotations from Greek and Latin literature are from the Loeb Classical Library edition of the work. 6 1Enqen de\ prote/rw ple/omen a)kaxh&menoi h}tor, a!smenoi e0k qana&toio, fi/louv o)le/santev e9tai/rouv. These two lines occur at 9.62-63; 9.565-566; 10.133-134. The first line occurs further at 9.105; 10.77. The variant e1nqa kateple/omen occurs at 9.142. 7 10.28;10.80: 0Ennh~mar (e9ch~mar) me\n o(mw~v ple/omen nu&ktav te kai\ h}mar. 217 The voyage ending is captured in first person plural clauses that depict the beaching of the ship: Then, on coming thither, we beached our ship on the sands, and ourselves went forth upon the shore of the sea.8 In Homeric literature, therefore, first person narration transfers the excitement and anxiety of a sea voyage in the most vivid narrative technique available to the pen.
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