Entertaining angels: early Christian hospitality in its Mediterranean setting

241 Pages·2005·1.13 MB·English

by  Andrew E. Arterbury

ENTERTAININGANGELS
New Testament Monographs, 8
Series Editor
Stanley E. Porter

ENTERTAINING ANGELS
EARLYCHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY
IN ITS MEDITERRANEAN SETTING
Andrew E. Arterbury
SHEFFIELD PHOENIX PRESS
2005
Copyright © 2005 Sheffield Phoenix Press
Published by Sheffield Phoenix Press
Department of Biblical Studies, University of Sheffield
Sheffield S10 2TN
www.sheffieldphoenix.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information
storage or retrieval system, without the publishers’ permission in writing.
A CIP catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Typeset by Forthcoming Publications
Printed by Lightning Source
ISBN 1-905048-21-1
ISSN 1747-9609
CONTENTS
Abbreviations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION 1
Previous Scholarship on Hospitality 4
The Approach of this Study 6
Methodology 8
An Overview of this Study 11
Part I
MEDITERRANEAN HOSPITALITY IN ANTIQUITY
Chapter 2
GRECO-ROMANHOSPITALITY IN ANTIQUITY 15
Describing Hospitality in Ancient Greece 15
Hospitality in Homer’s Odyssey 28
Describing Hospitality in the Hellenistic Age 38
Hospitality in the Greek Novels 40
Hospitality in Dio Chrysostom’s The Hunter 48
Summary of Greco-Roman Hospitality 51
Chapter 3
JEWISH HOSPITALITY IN ANTIQUITY 55
An Overview of Jewish Hospitality 56
Abraham’s Hospitality among Jewish and
Early Christian Writers 59
Additional Examples of Hospitality in the Jewish Scriptures 71
Additional Examples of Hospitality outside of the Jewish
Scriptures 86
Summary of Jewish Hospitality 90

Chapter 4
EARLY CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY 94
Hospitality and Traveling Missionaries 98
References to Hospitality in Paul’s Letters 100
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vi Entertaining Angels
Examples of Hospitality in Matthew, Mark, and John 109
Hospitality in the Johannine Epistles 118
Hospitality in Non-Canonical Christian Texts 122
A Brief Word about Later Christian Hospitality 128
Summary of Christian Hospitality 129
Summary of Part I: Mediterranean Hospitality 131
Part II
THE CUSTOM OF HOSPITALITY IN LUKE AND ACTS
Chapter 5
THE CUSTOM OF HOSPITALITY IN LUKE’SWRITINGS WITH A
FOCUS ON ACTS 10–11 135
Examples of Hospitality in Luke and Acts 135
Summary of Hospitality in Luke and Acts 152
The Custom of Hospitality in Acts 10–11 153

Chapter 6
CONCLUSION 182
Conclusions about the Custom of Hospitality in Antiquity 182
Conclusions about the Custom of Hospitality in Acts 10–11 189
Bibliography 192
Index of References 208
Index of Authors 225
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ABBREVIATIONS
AB Anchor Bible
ABD David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary
(6 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1992)
ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
ANTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries
BBB Bonner biblische Beiträge
BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium
BJRL Bulletin of the John Ryland’s University Library of Manchester
BJS Brown Judaic Studies
BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentaries
BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CJ Classical Journal
CW Classical World
DGRA William Smith, William Wayte and G.E. Marindin (eds.), A
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (2 vols.; London: John
Murray, 3rd rev. and enl. edn, 1890)
EGHT Graham Speake (ed.), Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic
Tradition (2 vols.; London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2000)
ERE James Hastings (ed.), Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics
(12 vols.; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908–22)
ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses
GR Greece and Rome
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HTKNT Herders Theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching
ICC The International Critical Commentary
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement
Series
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LS Louvain Studies
NASV New American Standard Version
NCB New Century Bible
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viii Entertaining Angels
NCE The New Catholic Encyclopedia (18 vols.; New York: McGraw–
Hill, 1967)
NIB Leander Keck (ed.), The New Interpreter’s Bible (10 vols.;
Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995)
NICNT The New International Commentary on the New Testament
NIGTC The New International Greek Testament Commentary
NovT Novum Testamentum
NovTSup Novum Testamentum, Supplements
NRSV New Revised Standard Version
NTS New Testament Studies
OBT Overtures to Biblical Theology
OCD Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth (eds.), The Oxford
Companion to Classical Civilisation (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 3rd edn, 1996)
OTL Old Testament Library
OTP James H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
(2 vols.; New York: Doubleday, 1983)
Parab Parabola
PCA Proceedings of the Classical Association
PRS Perspectives in Religious Studies
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series
SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series
SBLSP Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers
SBLSymS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series
SBT Studies in Biblical Theology
SD Studies and Documents
SP Sacra pagina
ST Studia theologica
TDNT Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich (eds.), Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament (trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley;
10 vols.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964–76)
ThTod Theology Today
TS Theological Studies
TZ Theologische Zeitschrift
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
YJS Yale Judaic Series
ZMR Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It cannot go without saying that I am deeply indebted to many people
for the completion of this monograph. First, I want to acknowledge the
tremendous assistance and guidance that both Mikeal C. Parsons and
Charles H. Talbert provided to me during the course of this endeavor,
which began as a PhD dissertation. Both men helped me identify the
topic, structure my research, and improve upon my conclusions. Mentor
is a fitting label for both men.
Second, I want to thank the editors at Sheffield Phoenix Press for
making the publication of this monograph such an enjoyable experience.
David Clines, Stanley E. Porter, and Duncan Burns all spotted inadver-
tent errors and helped me make significant improvements to the manu-
script for which I am grateful. Any remaining errors and weaknesses are
of course my own.
Third, I need to thank a variety of people who either read or com-
mented on portions of this book. These people include: William H.
Bellinger, Jr, William H. Brackney, Joel S. Burnett, Derek S. Dodson,
Sharyn E. Dowd, David E. Garland, Jeffrey S. Hamilton, Ronald F. Hock,
Naymond H. Keathley, Gregory E. Sterling, John Thorburn, Jr, and N.T.
Wright. I also need to thank Trisha M. Wheelock for helping me compile
the list of abbreviations.
Fourth, I want to thank the editors of Perspectives in Religious Studies
for permission to draw upon some of my initial research on the custom
of hospitality, which was published in their journal. Those articles are:
‘The Ancient Custom of Hospitality, the Greek Novels, and Acts 10:1–
11:18’,PRS 29 (2002) 53-72, and ‘Abraham’s Hospitality among Jewish
and Early Christian Writers: A Tradition History of Genesis 18:1-16 and
its Relevance for the Study of the New Testament’, PRS 30 (2003) 359-76.
Finally, I want to express appreciation to my family. I am grateful for
the continued support of my mother, Laura Earlene Brown, and father,
Elvis H. Arterbury. My sons, Timothy Luke and Daniel Amos Arterbury,
bring me much joy and provide me with many welcome diversions.
More than any other, however, I must thank my wife, Kristin, whose
loving and kind disposition encourages me to complete projects like this
one.
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