Divine visitations and hospitality to strangers in Luke-Acts : : an interpretation of the Malta episode in Acts 28:1-10 / / by Joshua W. Jipp.

• Superior document: Supplements to Novum Testamentum, Volume 153
• Author: Jipp, Joshua W.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden : : Brill,, [2013]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2013
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to Novum Testamentum ; v. 153.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (349 pages)
• Notes: Slightly revised version of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Emory University.

This study presents a coherent interpretation of the Malta episode by arguing that Acts 28:1-10 narrates a theoxeny, that is, an account of unknowing hospitality to a god which results in the establishment of a fictive kinship relationship between the Maltese barbarians and Paul and his God. In light of the connection between hospitality and piety to the gods in the ancient Mediterranean, Luke ends his second volume in this manner to portray Gentile hospitality as the appropriate response to Paul’s message of God’s salvation -- a response that portrays them as hospitable exemplars within the Lukan narrative and contrasts them with the Roman Jews who reject Paul and his message.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- 1. The Episode at Malta (Acts 28:1–10): A Lukan Text ‘Full of the Viewpoint of Antiquity’ -- 2. Placing the Episode at Malta: A Preliminary Examination of Acts 28:1–10 within its Literary Context -- 3. Establishing the Cultural Script of Hospitality to Strangers in the Graeco-Roman World -- 4. The Cultural Script of Hospitality to Strangers in the Hebrew Bible and Post-biblical Jewish Literature -- 5. The Grammar, Symbols, and Practices of Hospitality to Strangers in the Lukan Writings -- 6. Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in Luke-Acts -- 7. Divine Visitations and Hospitality to Strangers in the Malta Episode: An Interpretation of Acts 28:1–10 and its Literary Function in Luke-Acts -- Bibliography -- Subject Index -- Ancient Author Index -- Modern Author Index.