Jun 4, 2009

Luke's Unique Terminology Related to the Law

As part of my ongoing research into Luke's view of the Law, I thought I would share an excerpt from Jacob Jervell's insightful essay entitled "The Law in Luke-Acts."
“An examination of Luke's terminology regarding the law offers a hint that Luke is not only echoing previous solutions. His terminology differs from other New Testament writers and from the apostolic fathers. Some examples:
1. Only Luke employs terms like nomos kyriou, ‘the law of the Lord’ (God)^12 and ‘the law of the fathers’ (Luke 2:23, 24, 39; Acts 22:3).
2. No one but Luke refers to the Mosaic law as ‘the customs,’ ta ethnē, which Moses delivered to us’ and similar expressions (Acts 6:14; 15:1; 21:12; 28:17).
3. Only Luke talks about ‘Moses being preached’ (Acts 15:21), and uses the word paranomein (23:5).
4. The law is ‘the living words,’ lōgia zonta, (Acts 7:38), once again, solely a Lukan phrase.
5. The expression ‘to speak against Moses, the law,’ is present only in Luke’s writings (Acts 6:11, 13, 14 [18:13]; 21:12, 28; 25:8 [10]; 28:17).
6. The expression ‘the law of Moses,’ nomos Mōuseōs, is used five times by Luke; in other New Testament writings three times (Luke 2:22; 24:44; Acts 13:38; 15:5; 28:23).
7. The name ‘Moses,’ referring to the law, appears frequently in Luke-Acts, seldom in other writings (Luke 5:14; 16:29, 31; 24:27; Acts 6:11; 15:1, 21; 21:12).
Jacob Jervell, "The Law in Luke-Acts," in
Luke and the People of God (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1972), 136-7.

2 comments:

Rob Kashow said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Charles Savelle said...

Not sure why or how this comment was deleted. Apparently, I have done something here. My apologies Rob.