Table Of ContentKindalee Pfremmer De Long
Surprised by God
Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die
neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
und die Kunde der älteren Kirche
Herausgegeben von
James D. G. Dunn · Carl R.Holladay
Hermann Lichtenberger · Jens Schröter
Gregory E. Sterling · Michael Wolter
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Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
Kindalee Pfremmer De Long
Surprised by God
Praise Responses in the Narrative
of Luke-Acts
≥
Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York
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To Ty, Evan, and Anika De Long
ὑμεῖς τὸ φῶς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου
Acknowledgements
It is my pleasure to acknowledge and thank the people whose friendship,
support, and wisdom contributed to this monograph, which is a revised
version of a dissertation written at the University of Notre Dame.
Many years ago, Randall Chesnutt, at Pepperdine University, encour‐
aged me to develop a short project on praise of God in the Gospel of Luke
as a topic for extended research, providing valuable guidance in the earli‐
est stages of this project. At Notre Dame, I benefited tremendously from
the friendship and insights of Jack Conroy, Matt Gordley, Dan Machiela,
and Ardea Russo, as well as from conversations with Mary Rose D’Angelo,
Hindy Najman, and Jerome H. Neyrey, each of whom contributed much to
my thinking about praise of the divine in the ancient world.
David Aune, Robin Darling Young, and James VanderKam read more
than one version of the text carefully and thoughtfully. Their insightful
comments helped shape the project in significant ways. I am especially in‐
debted to Greg Sterling, the director of the original dissertation, who will‐
ingly provided his knowledge, expertise, guidance, and wise critique: one
could not hope for a better mentor.
The writing and editing of the monograph was supported by fellow‐
ships from the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame, The
Christian Scholarship Foundation, Inc., and the Seaver College Research
Council at Pepperdine University. I am grateful also to Tammy Ditmore
and Stella Forcehimes for their assistance with proofreading and to Sabina
Dabrowski and Carsten Burfeind for their help with the details of prepar‐
ing the manuscript for publication.
During this project, I was sustained personally by the warm support of
many friends in Indiana and California, and by the affection of my parents
and parents‐in‐law, Dale and Cloys Pfremmer and Tom and Clara De Long.
My life has been particularly blessed by the love, care, patience, curiosity,
and laughter of my husband and two children, to whom this work is dedi‐
cated.
Kindalee Pfremmer De Long
August 2009
Malibu, California
Contents
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... vii
Contents .............................................................................................................. ix
Figures ............................................................................................................... xiii
Tables ................................................................................................................. xiii
Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1
A. Scholarship on Praise of God in Luke‐Acts .............................................. 2
1. Observations about Praise of God ...................................................... 2
2. Praise of God in Particular Contexts ..................................................... 4
3. Praise of the Divine Benefactor .............................................................. 6
4. Praise, Joy, and Prayer ............................................................................. 7
B. Praise of God in Narrative .......................................................................... 9
C. Praise and Luke’s Use of Sources ............................................................. 11
D. Approach of the Study .............................................................................. 13
E. Argument .................................................................................................... 14
Part One: Praise of God in Context
Introduction to Part One .................................................................................. 17
Chapter 1: Defining Praise of the Divine ....................................................... 19
A. Introduction ................................................................................................ 19
B. Terminology ................................................................................................ 19
C. Praise of God in the Hebrew Scriptures and Dead Sea Scrolls ............ 21
1. Praise and Petition ................................................................................. 22
2. Declarative and Descriptive Praise ...................................................... 23
D. Praise of Deity in Texts in Greek .............................................................. 24
1. The Meaning of Εὐχή (and Related Words) ....................................... 25
2. Praise and Petition in Classical Greek Texts ....................................... 30
3. Praise and Petition in the Septuagint, Josephus, and Philo .............. 36
4. Greek Vocabulary for Praise of God .................................................... 38
E. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 41
Chapter 2: Discourse about Praise of the Divine .......................................... 43
A. Introduction ................................................................................................ 43
B. Praise and Righteousness ......................................................................... 44
C. Praise and Recognition of Divine Providence ........................................ 47
D. Praise, Divine Intervention, and Transformation .................................. 54
x Contents
1. In Isaiah ................................................................................................... 54
2. In Early Jewish Texts in Greek ............................................................. 61
3. In Greek Texts ......................................................................................... 65
E. Praise and Narration of Divine Deeds .................................................... 67
F. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 72
Chapter 3: Praise and Healing in Tobit .......................................................... 75
A. Introduction ................................................................................................ 75
B. The Pattern of Praise in Tobit ................................................................... 77
1. The Plot of Tobit ..................................................................................... 78
2. Praise and Sarah’s Healing ................................................................... 81
3. Praise and Tobit’s Healing .................................................................... 82
4. Praise and Angelic Revelation .............................................................. 85
C. Praise and Tobit’s Characterization ......................................................... 86
1. Tobit’s Lack of Joy and Praise ............................................................... 86
2. Praise and Eschatology in Tobit’s Hymn ................................................ 95
D. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 103
Chapter 4: Praise and Conversion in Joseph And Aseneth ........................... 105
A. Introduction .............................................................................................. 105
B. The Pattern of Praise in Joseph and Aseneth ........................................... 107
1. The Plot of Joseph and Aseneth ............................................................. 109
2. Joy, Praise, and Aseneth’s Rejection of Joseph (chs. 3‐4) ................. 110
3. Joy, Praise, and Joseph’s Rejection of Aseneth (chs. 7‐9) ................. 113
4. Joyous Praise and Angelic Revelation of Aseneth’s
Acceptance by God (chs. 10‐15) ................................................... 116
5. Communal Praise and Aseneth’s New Identity (chs. 18‐21) .......... 121
6. Aseneth’s Praise and Divine Rescue (chs. 22‐27) ............................. 122
C. Praise and Aseneth’s Characterization .................................................. 123
D. Conclusion ................................................................................................ 127
Part Two: Praise Responses in Luke‐Acts
Introduction to Part Two ................................................................................ 131
Chapter 5: Praise and Revelation: Jesus’ Birth ............................................ 135
A. Introduction .............................................................................................. 135
B. The Pattern of Praise in the Infancy Narrative ..................................... 138
1. Angelic Revelation of Joy .................................................................... 139
2. Responses of Joyous Praise ................................................................. 142
2.1 To Jesus’ Conception (Lk 1:39‒56; Section Three) ...................... 143
2.2 To John’s Birth (Lk 1:57‒80; Section Four) ................................... 147
2.3 To Jesus’ Birth (Lk 2:1‒21; 2:22‒40; Sections Five and Six) ........ 148
3. The Structure of Anticipation and Response .................................... 148
4. Praise and Recognition ........................................................................ 149
