Unleashing Holy Hell: A Socio-Rhetorical Investigation of Punitive Miracles in the Septuagint and Luke-Acts Restricted; Files Only

Abstract

The books of Luke and Acts feature a striking series of episodes in which God miraculously mutes, blinds, and kills people who run afoul of the divine will. This dissertation investigates how early Christian readers would likely perceive these stories, both internally (within Luke-Acts) and in relation to their precursors (within Israel’s scriptures). Chapter 1 analyzes previous approaches to Luke’s punitive miracles, showing that these perspectives are inadequate for articulating an early Christian understanding of the relevant stories in Israel’s scriptures and Luke’s corpus. An adapted version of Vernon Robbins’s socio-rhetorical interpretation is best suited to this task. Chapter 2 probes the intersection of miraculous judgments and what early Christian readers would likely understand as a prophetic storyline running through LXX Genesis–2 Kings. Chapter 3 extends this investigation into the Septuagintal versions of 1–2 Chronicles, 1–4 Maccabees, Job, Jonah, and Daniel, books that often present divergent views of the role of punitive miracles in Israel’s history. Chapter 4 investigates the six Lukan punitive miracles in turn (Zechariah’s muting; Judas’s death; Ananias and Sapphira’s deaths; Saul’s blinding; Herod’s death; and Bar-Jesus’s blinding), paying special attention to their meaning in the context of the prophetic storyline traced in previous chapters. This work concludes that early Christian readers would likely perceive Luke’s punitive miracles as a sign that God’s earthly kingdom has decisively restarted in the early Christian movement, producing a modest reconfiguration of “God’s people.” Whereas God’s kingdom was formerly associated with a people constituted by covenant, the Lukan punitive miracles indicate a change. These events establish the Jewish believers as the locus of divine concern, showing that God’s creative purposes now reside in the church. These miracles simultaneously anticipate God’s creation of a second people to complement Israel. By foregrounding faith as the response proper to God’s renewed kingdom, these events prepare for the inclusion of believing Gentiles alongside believing Jews on an equal footing. Luke’s punitive miracles delicately reconfigure “God’s people” in a renewed divine kingdom, narrowing the prophetic storyline’s focus while retaining a place for Israel as God’s covenant people.

Table of Contents

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ..................................................................................................... vii 

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... ix 

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 

1.1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 

1.2. Toward a Definition of “Punitive Miracle” ................................................................... 4 

1.3. History of Interpretation ............................................................................................... 14 

1.4. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 37 

1.5. Thesis and Overview ...................................................................................................... 49 

CHAPTER 2. PUNITIVE MIRACLES IN THE LXX PRIMARY HISTORY .................... 51 

2.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 51 

2.2. The Prehistory ................................................................................................................ 57 

2.3. The Origins of the Kingdom: Abraham....................................................................... 60 

2.4. The Establishment of the Kingdom: Moses ................................................................. 67 

2.5. The Kingdom in Canaan: Joshua and Judges ............................................................. 90 

2.6. The Integrity of the Kingdom: Kings and Prophets ................................................. 110 

2.7. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 149 

CHAPTER 3. PUNITIVE MIRACLES IN THE LXX DIVERGENT VOICES ................ 157 

3.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 157 

3.2. Chronicles ..................................................................................................................... 159 

3.3. Maccabees ..................................................................................................................... 172 

3.4. Job ................................................................................................................................. 217

3.5. Jonah ............................................................................................................................. 230 

3.6. Daniel ............................................................................................................................ 241 

3.7. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 253 

CHAPTER 4. PUNITIVE MIRACLES IN LUKE-ACTS .................................................... 265 

4.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 265 

4.2. The Muting of Zechariah (Luke 1:5–80) ................................................................... 267 

4.3. The Death of Judas (Acts 1:12–26) ............................................................................. 289 

4.4. The Death of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 4:32–5:11) ............................................. 313 

4.5. The Blinding of Saul (Acts 9:1–25) ............................................................................. 336 

4.6. The Death of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1–24) .......................................................... 363 

4.7. The Blinding of Bar-Jesus (Acts 13:1–12) ................................................................. 386 

4.8. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 405 

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 435 

BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 444 

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Religion
Subfield / Discipline	New Testament
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Religion, Biblical Studies
Stichwort	Luke-Acts Socio-Rhetorical Septuagint Punitive Miracles
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Susan E. Hylen, Emory University
Committee Members	Vernon K. Robbins, Emory University Walter T. Wilson, Emory University Joel M. LeMon, Emory University

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