CHARITY TOWARD WIDOWS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES By KEITH C. WESSEL A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Keith C. Wessel To my dear wife Liz Fallax gratia, et vana est pulchritudo: mulier timens Dominum, ipsa laudabitur. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank a number of people. First, my dissertation chair, Dr. Kostas Kapparis, for his help over the years and, especially, for his great patience throughout the process. I thank the additional members of my dissertation team: Dr. Louis Sussman; Dr. Mary Ann Eaverly; Dr. Andrea Sterk. Dr. Velvet Yates also has been more than helpful in helping distance students such as I navigate the administrative complexities of graduate school. I would like to recognize the encouragement of two mentors in particular, Dr. John Lawrenz and Dr. Glen Thompson who have provided much encouragement to pursue this path. Dr. Hans Fredrich Mueller (Molinarius) also deserves my thanks, as does Dr. Tim Johnson; both gave much encouragement to me upon entering Florida's graduate school. I am deeply indebted to my parents, Prof. Howard and Lucille Wessel, who raised me to understand the proper priorities in one's life. Little did I know at the onset that as this project came to its completion, my mother herself would join the ranks of Christian widows. I pray that the insights I have gained from this study may serve to be a blessing to her as she enters a new phase of life. Finally, I acknowledge with thanks the administration of Martin Luther College, who have so generously supported my continuing education. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. 7 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 12 Important Early Christian Sources ........................................................................... 13 Review of Secondary Literature .............................................................................. 16 Rationale and Methodology .................................................................................... 26 Overview of Chapter Content .................................................................................. 28 2 TERMS AND CONCEPTS RELATING TO WIDOWS AND CHARITY ................... 33 Defining "Widow" .................................................................................................... 33 "Widow": Hebrew ................................................................................................. 33 "Widow": Greek ................................................................................................... 41 "Widow": Latin ..................................................................................................... 47 Summary of Linguistic Evidence .......................................................................... 50 Issues in Studying Poverty and Charity .................................................................. 50 Defining Poverty .................................................................................................. 51 Defining Charity ................................................................................................... 60 Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 66 3 JEWISH CHARITABLE PRACTICES TOWARD WIDOWS .................................... 68 Widows in the Ancient Near Eastern Context ......................................................... 72 Widows in the Hebrew Bible ................................................................................... 85 A Vulnerable Member of Society ......................................................................... 85 An Independent Member of Society .................................................................... 91 A Valued Member of Society ............................................................................... 95 Widows and Charity in the Apocrypha .................................................................. 111 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 116 4 THE BEGINNINGS OF CHARITY TOWARD EARLY CHRISTIAN WIDOWS ...... 124 Widows at Risk in First Century Judea ................................................................. 126 Anna: The Ideal Widow (Lk. 2:36-37) ................................................................ 126 Widows in the Gospels ...................................................................................... 135 5 Summary ........................................................................................................... 155 Jewish Charity Toward the Poor ........................................................................... 157 Jewish Widows in Need: Acts 6 ......................................................................... 171 Jewish Widows in Need: Acts 9 ......................................................................... 197 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 203 5 WIDOWS AND CHARITY IN THE GENTILE CHRISTIAN CHURCH .................. 207 Portraits of Widows in the Roman World .............................................................. 211 Summary ........................................................................................................... 238 Widows in the New Testament Epistles ................................................................ 239 Summary ........................................................................................................... 258 Charity Toward Christian Widows in the 2nd and 3rd Centuries C.E. .................... 260 Conclusions .......................................................................................................... 269 6 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................... 272 APPENDIX A BIBLICAL TEXTS CONSULTED ………………………………………. ………… 277 B REFERENCE WORKS ……………………………………………………............ 279 REFERENCE LIST...................................................................................................... 282 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ......................................................................................... 301 6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Aen. Vergil, Aeneid ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts ANF The Ante Nicene Fathers, Edited by Philip Schaff. 1886-1889. 10 vols. Repr. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1956 Aug. Res Gestae Augustus, Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("Deeds of the Divine Augustus") BAGD Bauer, Walter. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Edited by Frederick W. Danker. 3rd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. BibleWorks. v.10. B.B. Mishnah, Tractate Baba Bathra BGT Greek New Testament and LXX Database (BGT). Norfolk: BibleWorks, LLC., 1999. BibleWorks. v.10. Danker Gingrich, F. Wilbur. Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Edited by Frederick W. Danker. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. BibleWorks. v.10 Didasc. Didascalia Apostolorum Eleg. Propertius, Elegies Epig. Martial, Epigrams ESV The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (2007) Friberg Friberg, Timothy, Barbara Friberg, and Neva F. Miller. Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament Library. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000. BibleWorks, v.10. Herm. Mand. The Shepherd of Hermas (Twelve Mandates) 7 Hist. Herodotus, Histories Ign. Smyrn. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrneans Jos. Antiq. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Jos. BJ Josephus, The Jewish War Just. 1 Apol. Justin Martyr, First Apology Livy, A.U.C. Livy, Ab Urbe Condita ("From the Founding of the City") LS A Greek-English Lexicon: With a Revised Supplement. Edited by Sir Henry Stuart Jones and Roderick McKenzie. 9th ed. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996. BibleWorks, v.10. LXX The Septuagint MAL Middle Assyrian Laws Meth. Symp. Methodius, Symposium NIV The Holy Bible, New International Version (2011) NPNF-1 The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. 1886-1889. 14 vols. Repr. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1956 NPNF-2 The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2. Edited by Philip Schaff. 1886-1889. 14 vols. Repr. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans, 1956 Pliny, NH Pliny the Elder, Natural History Plutarch, Vit. Cor. Plutarch, Life of Coriolanus Plutarch, Vit. C. Gracchus Plutarch, Life of Gaius Gracchus Poly. Philip. Polycarp of Smyrna, Letter to the Philippians Sat. Juvenal, Satires Satyr. Petronius, Satyricon Tert. ad Uxor Tertullian, ad Uxorem ("To His Wife") 8 Tert. de Virg. Vel Tertullian, de Virginibus Velandis ("On the Veiling of Virgins") tKeth. Mishnah, Tractate Kethuba ("Dowries") TWOT Harris, R. Laird, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. 2 vols. Chicago: Moody, 1980. BibleWorks, v.10. 9 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial