THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE PHARISEES AND FIGURED SPEECH IN LUKE-ACTS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY JUSTIN R. HOWELL CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JUNE 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1 PART ONE: CONTEXTUALIZING THE QUESTION Chapter One: Defining Figured Speech ............................................................................. 6 1. Allusion (ἔμφασις) ............................................................................................. 9 2. Discretion (εὐπρέπεια) ..................................................................................... 15 3. Security (ἀσφάλεια) ......................................................................................... 17 4. Freedom of Speech (παρρησία) ....................................................................... 20 5. Irony (εἰρωνεία) ............................................................................................... 21 6. Indirect Speech (ὁ πλάγιος λόγος) ................................................................... 23 7. Figured Speech as an Art (τέχνη) .................................................................... 26 Chapter Two: Methodological Approach ........................................................................ 30 1. Redactional Analysis ....................................................................................... 30 2. Intertextual and Interconceptual Analysis ....................................................... 33 3. Rhetorical and Literary Analysis ..................................................................... 35 4. Historical Analysis ........................................................................................... 41 5. The History of Reception ................................................................................. 49 Chapter Three: Scholarly Perspectives on the Historical Pharisees ................................ 52 1. The Authority of the Pharisees: Political, Religious, Neither, or Both? ......... 54 2. The Pharisees in the Roman Empire ................................................................ 70 Chapter Four: The Provenance of Luke-Acts .................................................................. 81 1. Judea ................................................................................................................ 81 ii 2. Ephesus ............................................................................................................ 84 3. Antioch in Syria ............................................................................................... 86 4. The Question about Diaspora Pharisees .......................................................... 95 Chapter Five: Luke and His Readers ............................................................................. 103 1. Authorship and Date ...................................................................................... 103 2. Luke and Ethnic Perspective ......................................................................... 109 3. God-fearers in Luke-Acts .............................................................................. 117 4. The Question about Pharisaic Readers .......................................................... 127 PART TWO: THE PHARISEES AND THE SUPPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH Chapter Six: From Figured to Free Speech .................................................................... 132 1. Framing the Narrative of Luke-Acts .............................................................. 132 2. The Lukan Pharisees as Spies ........................................................................ 140 3. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 150 Chapter Seven: Paul and Other Former Pharisees ......................................................... 152 1. Paul’s Feigned Ignorance about the High Priest (Acts 23.5) ......................... 153 2. Ananias as Ruler of the People ...................................................................... 162 3. Paul’s Appeals to his Pharisaism (Acts 23.6; 26.5) ....................................... 166 4. The Lukan Paul and his Alleged Roman Citizenship .................................... 176 5. The Other Former Pharisees (Acts 15.5) ....................................................... 179 6. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 186 Chapter Eight: Gamaliel and the God-fighters .............................................................. 188 1. Theudas, Judas, Gamaliel, and Their Respective Followers ......................... 193 2. Obedience to God versus Obedience to Gamaliel ......................................... 197 iii 3. The Sanhedrin among Other God-fighters ..................................................... 200 4. Distinguishing Gamaliel from the Apostles ................................................... 202 5. Theudas, Judas, and Jesus .............................................................................. 205 6. Persecution for (Speech in) the Name ........................................................... 213 7. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 221 PART THREE: LUKE’S MORAL DIAGNOSIS OF THE PHARISEES Chapter Nine: The Initial Symptoms of Illness ............................................................. 224 1. The Pharisees who Remain Seated (Luke 5.17-32) ....................................... 225 2. The Folly of the Scribes and Pharisees (Luke 6.6-11) ................................... 228 3. The Textual Variant at Luke 5.17c ................................................................ 235 4. The Lukan Jesus as a Doctor of the Soul (Luke 4.23; 5.31-32) ..................... 238 5. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 242 Chapter Ten: The Passions of Injustice ......................................................................... 244 1. The Passion for Money .................................................................................. 245 2. The Passion for Glory .................................................................................... 247 3. The Passion for Luxury .................................................................................. 249 4. Passions of Injustice in Moral Philosophical Traditions ................................ 252 5. The Rulers of the Pharisees and the Question of Justice ............................... 261 6. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 269 Chapter Eleven: The Evil Eye and its Cure ................................................................... 271 1. The Pharisees and the Evil Eye of Predatory Greed ...................................... 272 2. Curing the Evil Eye ........................................................................................ 276 iv 3. The “Some” and “Others” in the Beelzebul Controversy .............................. 280 4. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 291 PART FOUR: THE PHARISEES AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD Chapter Twelve: The Kingdom within Reach ............................................................... 294 1. Previous Interpretations of ἐντὸς ὑμῶν (Luke 17.21) .................................... 295 2. The Kingdom “within you” ........................................................................... 298 3. The Governing Part of the Soul ..................................................................... 302 4. The Kingdom “among you” ........................................................................... 307 5. The Lukan Jesus as Kingly Benefactor .......................................................... 309 6. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 313 Chapter Thirteen: Simon the Pharisee and the Feet ....................................................... 315 1. The Repetition of πόδας ................................................................................. 315 2. Psalms of Solomon 8 and Luke 7 ................................................................... 318 3. The Pharisees in Luke 7.24-50 ....................................................................... 323 4. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 328 Chapter Fourteen: The Pharisees and the Abandoned House ........................................ 330 1. Inside and Outside the House (Luke 13.22-14.24) ........................................ 330 2. The Function of ὑμῖν (Luke 13.35a) .............................................................. 337 3. “This Fox” and the Pharisees ......................................................................... 339 4. Conclusions .................................................................................................... 343 Chapter Fifteen: The Pharisees and the Kingly Entrance .............................................