Tuesday, August 13, 2024

George A. Kennedy on Peter's Speech in Acts 1:16-22

  

Speech of Peter, 1:16-22. Verses 18-19 are editorializing by Luke. The situation is the first meeting of the eleven disciples in Jerusalem after the ascension, and the exigence is Peter’s perception of a need to fill the vacancy among the disciples caused by the defection and death of Judah. Peter bases this need on Scripture: “his office let another take” (1:20). He regards the disciples are the official witnesses of the resurrection and apparently feels there must be a full complement of such witnesses. He assumes leadership in the group without opposition and faces no great rhetorical problem. The speech thus requires little amplification. The problem is the single word “brethren” (1:16), often used with a friendly audience. There is then a brief narration, Luke’s inserted description of Judas’ death, the proof that action should be taken, based on Scripture, and the conclusion drawn from the situation and the text. Because the speech recommends an action in the (near) future, it is deliberative. To a classicist it is somewhat reminiscent of short speeches in the Iliad in which one of the heroes briefly describes the situation and ends with a recommendation for action, a very natural form of rhetoric. There is nothing unexpected in the contents of the speech. Given the knowledge that it was Peter who took the leadership role among the disciples and given a desire to dramatize an important event by prosopopoeia, Luke has created a predictable result. (George A. Kennedy, New Testament Interpretation Through Rhetorical Criticism [Chapel Hill, N.C.: The University of North Carolina Press, 1984], 116)

 


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