Luke 1-2 as paralleling Genesis 27-43
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IndexThis is not my research but rather it reproduces in a modified form that of the late C. T. Ruddick, Jr, "Birth Narratives in Genesis and Luke", Novum Testamentum XII/4 (Oct., 1970), pp. 343-348. I believe it strengthens the case for lectionary usage in the NT and widens its scope.
Ruddick has shown that in the Codex Vaticanus divisions of Luke 1-2 there are 30+ direct verbal parallels to Genesis 27-43 in the Septuagint, twenty of them falling within the corresponding sedarim of the Palestinian Triennial Lectionary of the Synagogue (the others are placed in brackets).
I have appended at the end some notes on the apparent OT typologies implied in the data and also additional Luke-Acts passages using the wise-powerful-wellborn humanity-defining pattern.
| Codex B (Vaticanus) sections in Luke | Seder | Genesis in Masoretic Text | |||
| 1 | 1.1-4 | Introduction | 25 | 27.1 | Story of Jacob (= Israel) |
| 1.2: us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Logos. [Johannine in tone, with renewed creation motif of Gen 1.1, as per 1 Jn 1.1] | (1 Jn 1.1: That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we have handled, concerning the Logos of life …) | ||||
| 2 | .5-25 | Zechariah’s
vision Angel promises Zechariah his wife will bear son. |
26 | 27.28 | Jacob
receives blessing Isaac blesses Jacob and sends him to Laban to find wife. |
| 3 | .26-38 | Annunciation ‘The Angel’ Gabriel sent ‘from God’: ὁ ἄγγελος ... ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ (1.26) |
27 | 28.10 |
Vision of angels Jacob’s dream of ladder with ‘the angels of God': οἱ ἄγγελοι τοῦ θεοῦ (28.12) |
| Angel says, ‘Hail, … the Lord is with you’: ὁ κύριος μετὰ σοῦ (1.28) | Angel says, I am the Lord … I am with you’: ἐγὼ κύριος (28.13) ... εγώ μετὰ σοῦ (28.15) | ||||
| Mary afraid; angel reassures, ‘Be not afraid’: μὴ φοβοῦ (1.30) | Jacob afraid (28.16-17) angel reassures, ‘Be not afraid’: μὴ φοβοῦ (28.13) | ||||
| Mary to bear son ‘and call the name’ of him Jesus: καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν (1.31) | Jacob sets up pillar ‘and calls the name’ of the place Bethel: καὶ ἐκάλεσεν Ἰακωβ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου Οἶκος θεοῦ (28.21) | ||||
| He will reign ‘over the house of Jacob’ for ever: ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον Ἰακὼβ (1.33) | Jacob prays to return ‘to my father’s house’ in peace: εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου (28.21) | ||||
| Moreover, her kinswoman Elizabeth ‘has conceived): ἰδοὺ Ἐλισάβετ ... αὺτή συνείληφεν, | [29.25: Jacob mistakes Leah for Rachel, and she conceived’: ἰδοὺ ῆν Λεια ... συνέλαβεν Λεια (29.32) | ||||
| although she ‘was called barren’: τῇ καλουμένη στείρα (1.36) | although Rachel ‘was barren’: Ραχηλ δὲ ἦν στεῖρα (29.31)] | ||||
| Mary says. ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord’: ἰδοὺ ἡ δούλη κυρίου, and ‘let it be to me according to your word’: γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῤῆμὰ σου (1.38) | [Cf. 30.3, ‘Behold my handmaid: ἰδου ἡ παιδίσκη μου, and 30.35: ‘let it be according to your word’: ἔστω κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου] | ||||
| 4 | .39-45 | Visitation | 28 | 29.31 | Leah gives birth |
| Mary arises and ‘goes into’ the hill country: ἐπορεύθη εἰς τὴν ὀρεινὴν (1.39) | Jacob ‘goes into’ the land of the east: ἐπορεύθη εἰς γῆν ἀνατολῶν (29.1) | ||||
| where her kinswoman greets her warmly (1.40 ff.) and says, | where his kinsmen greet him warmly (29.4 ff.). | ||||
| ‘Blessed is the fruit of your womb’: ὁ καρπὸς τῆς κοιλίας σου (1.42) | Rachel has been deprived of ‘the fruit of the womb’: καρπὸν κοιλίας (30.2)5 | ||||
| 5 | .46-56 | Mary’s Song | 29 | 30.22 | Leah gives birth |
| and ‘blessed is she who believed’: μακαρία ἡ πιστεύσασα (1.45) | but Leah says, ‘Blessed am I’: μακαρία ἐγώ (30.13) | ||||
| Mary sings a song of exultation: καὶ εἶπεν Μαριάμ (1.46) | Leah exults after the birth of each son: καὶ εἶπεν Λεια ... (30.13) | ||||
| and says, ‘all generations shall call me blessed’: μακαριοῦσιν με (1.48) | and says, ‘women shall call me blessed’: μακαρίζουσίν με (30.13) | ||||
| ‘for [the Lord] has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaiden’: ὅτι ἐπέβλεψε· ἐπι τὴν ταπείνωσιν, (1.48) | [29.32: Leah says, ‘for the Lord has seen my lowliness’: διότι εἰδέν μου κύριος τὴν ταπείνωσιν, | ||||
| and ‘now all generations shall call me blessed’: ὰπὸ τοῦ νῦν μακαριοῦσιν | and ‘now my husband will love me’: νῦν με ἀγαπήσει ...] | ||||
| God is praised for ‘remembering his mercy': μνηθῆναι(1.54) | God ’remembers’ Rachel and she also conceives: ἐμνήσθη ... τῆς Ραχηλ (30.22) | ||||
| He has reversed the fortunes of the meek and has helped his servant Israel [= Jacob] (1.54) | She says, ‘God has taken away my reproach’ 30.23); with God’s help Jacob outwits Laban (30.25 ff.) | ||||
| Mary remains with Elizabeth three months and returns to her home (1.56) | Jacob escapes from Laban and returns to his home (31.l7 ff.) | ||||
| 6 | .57-66 | Naming of John the Baptist | 30 | 31.3 | God names Jacob |
| Elizabeth’s son is born and named not Zechariah but John: οὐχί, ἀλλὰ κληθήσεται Ιοάννης (1.60) ... Ἰωάννης ἐστὶν ὄνομα αὐτοῦ (1.63) | Jacob wrestles with angel, and his name is changed to Israel: οὐ κληθήσεται ... Ἰακωβ, ἀλλὰ Ἰσραηλ ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου (32.29) | ||||
| His father speaks, blessing God: εὐλογῶν τὸν θεόν (1.64) | Jacob compels the angel to bless him: ηὐλόγησεν αὐτὸν (32.30) | ||||
| The dwellers-around are ‘afraid’: ἐγένετο ἐπὶ πάντας φόβος (1.65), | Jacob praises ‘the fear of Isaac’: ὁ φόβος Ισαακ ἦν μοι (31.42), | ||||
| for ‘the hand’ of the Lord was with him: χεὶρ κυρίου ἢν μετ' αὐτοῦ (1.66) | who delivered him from ‘the hand’ of his brother: ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ (32.12) | ||||
| 7 | .67-end | Zechariah’s song | 31 | 32.4 | Messengers sent |
| Zechariah praises the God of Israel [= Jacob] for delivering his people from ‘the hand’ of all their enemies: ἐκ χειρὸς πάντων (1.71) | [Cf. immediately above: ἐκ χειρὸς τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ (32.12)] | ||||
| God is praised from ‘showing mercy’ on our fathers: ποιῆσαι ἔλεος μετὰ τῶν πατέρων | Jacob says, ‘God has had mercy on me: ἠλέησέν με ὁ θὲος. (33.11) | ||||
| and for ‘remembering’ his covenant: μνησθῆναι διαθήκης (1.72) | [Cf. 30.22 where ‘God remembered Rachel’] | ||||
| God has ‘sworn to deliver us without fear’: ὤμοσεν ... ἀφόβος(1.73) | [31.53: Jacob has ‘sworn by the fear of Isaac’: ὤμοσεν Ιακωβ κατὰ τοῦ φόβου ...] | ||||
| They are to worship God with ‘righteousness before his face’: ἐν ... δικαιοσύνν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ (1.75) | [30.33: Jacob boasts of his ‘righteousness before your face’: ἡ δικαιοσύνη μου ... ἐνώπιόν σου] | ||||
| The boy is to ‘go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way’: προπορεύσῃ ... ἐνώπιον κυρίου (1.75) | Jacob, on his way to meet Esau, sends ahead some of his flocks as a present: προπορευύεσθε ἔμπροθέν μου (32.17) | ||||
| God gives light to ‘those who sit in the shadow of death’ and guides their feet ‘into the way of peace’ (1.79) | Jacob, who fears death from his brother, is allowed to go his way in peace (33.1 ff.) | ||||
| 8 | 2.1-5 | Journey to Bethlehem | 32 | 33.18 | Journey to Shechem |
| Mary and Joseph journey to the city of David (where Mary is to bear her son), ‘which is called Bethlehem: ἥτις καλεῖται Βηθλέεμ (2.4) | Jacob journeys to the city of Shechem; Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried at Bethlehem’: αὕτη ἐστὶν Βηθλεεμ (35.19) | ||||
| 9 | .6-14 | Birth of Jesus | 33 | 35.9 | Rachel’s death at birth of Benjamin [Benjamin = Son of the right hand; cf. Ps 110.1 = Luke 20.42 and Acts 2.34; cf. Acts 7.56: Son of Man standing in succouring position on right hand of God] (35.18) |
| 10 | .15-20 | Shepherds | 34 | 37.1 | Shepherds |
| Shepherds, having seen a heavenly vision of angels, come to worship Jesus: οἱ πομένες (2.15) | Joseph dreams that the heavenly bodies worship him while he is shepherding the flock with his brothers: Ἰωσηφ ... ῆν ποιμαίνων (37.2) | ||||
| All who hear are surprised, but Mary ‘kept all these words in her heart’: ἡ δὲ Μαριὰμ πάντα συνετήρει τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα (2.19) | His brothers are jealous, but his father ‘kept this word in mind’: ὁ δὲ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ διετήρησεν τὸ ῥῆμα (37.11) | ||||
| 11 | .21 | Naming of Jesus | 35 | 38.1 | Judah marries Shua, begets son(s), commits incest. |
| Mary ‘called his name Jesus’, as he was named ‘before he was conceived’: ἐκλήθη τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦς ... πρὸ τοῦ συλλημφθῆναι αὐτὸν (2.21) | Judah’s wife ‘conceived, bore a son and called his name Er’: συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν υἱὸν καὶ ἐκάλεσεν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ηρ (38.3) | ||||
| 12 | .22-24 | Jesus taken to Jerusalem | 36 | 39.1 | Joseph taken to Egypt |
| (Site of final Exodus – Luke 9.31) | (Site of first Exodus) | ||||
| When the days of Mary’s purification are fulfilled, they take Jesus to Jerusalem: ἀνήγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς Ἰεροσόλυμα (2.22) | Joseph, having been sold into slavery, is taken to Egypt: Ἰωσηφ δὲ κατήχθη εἰς Αἴγυπτον (39..1) | ||||
| 13 | .25-35 | Simeon’s Prophecy | 36b | 40.1 | Joseph interprets dreams |
| There Jesus is recognised as ‘having the grace of God in him’: χάρις θεοῦ ἦν ἐπ' αὐτό (2.40) | There Pharaoh recognises Joseph as ‘having the spirit of God in him’: ἔχει πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ (41.38) | ||||
| 14 | .36-38 | Anna’s prophecy | 37 | 41.1 | Joseph interprets dreams |
| 15 | .39-41 | Jesus has grace of God | 38 | 41.38 | Joseph has spirit of God |
| Jesus as strong, wise, well-favoured [= well-born] (2.40; cf. 2.52) | Joseph as powerful (41.40 f.), wise (41.39), and well-favoured with riches and honour (41.42 f.,45) | ||||
| Jesus’ parents go up to Jerusalem for Passover (2.41 f.) | Joseph’s brothers go down to Egypt to buy grain (42.1 ff.) | ||||
| 16 | 42-end | Jesus’ parents come to him | 39 | 42.18 | Joseph’s brothers come to him |
| They return, leaving Jesus behind (2.43) | They return, leaving Simeon behind (42.24) | ||||
| At end of a day’s journey they find he is missing (2.44 f.) | At end of a day’s journey they discover the money in their sacks (42.27 f.) | ||||
| Jesus is ‘listening’ to the rabbis: ἀκούοντα αὐτῶν | Joseph ‘listens’ to his brothers: ἀκούει Ἰωσηφ (42.23) | ||||
| and ‘questioning’ them: ἐπερωτῶντα αὐτούς (2.46) | and ‘questioned’ them: ἐπηρώτησεν ἡμᾶς (43.7) | ||||
| All are amazed: ἐξίσταντο δὲ πάντες (2.47) | Joseph’s brothers are amazed: ἐξέστη ἡ καρδία αὐτῶν (42.28) | ||||
| Jesus’ parents, when they find him, ask, ‘Why have you done this to us?’: τί ἐποίησας ἡμῖν οὕτως; (2.48) | Joseph’s brothers, when they find the money, ask, ‘Why has God done this to us?’: τί τοῦτο ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἡμῖν; (42.28) | ||||
| Jesus ‘goes down with’ his parents and is subject to them: κατέβη μετ' αὐτῶν (2.51) | Benjamin ‘goes down with’ his brothers, though Jacob at first objects: οὐ καταβήσεται ... μεθ' ὑμῶν (42.38) | ||||
| ‘And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age-of-strength* and in favour with God and man [= well-being] (2.52) | [Joseph as wise (41.39), powerful (41.40 f., 43b-44), and endowed with favour (41.42-43, 45) [cf. Luke 2.40] | ||||
In the above we can see the use of the following three
typologies: (1) Jesus = Jacob = Israel, i.e. the embodiment of Israel in its
calling in the Covenant, (2) Jesus = Joseph, the type of the one who is wise,
powerful and well-born. and (3) probably as well, Jesus = Benjamin, ‘the son
of the right hand’.
_____________________________________________________________________
*In Luke 2.52 ἡλικία,
commonly translated ‘stature’, is used by
Josephus and Philo (1st century CE Jews) to mean ‘age of strength’,
hence our translation. In addition to Luke 2.40, 52 (of Jesus), the
wise-powerful-wellborn pattern as a three-fold parameter for the true man,
group, community or nation found from at least the 8th century (Isa.
1.1 ff.; Mic. 6.8) BCE, if not the 10th century BCE (Joseph cycle) or
even the 16th century BCE (Upper Kingdom, Egypt) also occurs in
Luke-Acts in such passages as:
Luke 10.27 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God out-of
(ἐκ)
all thy heart
and in (ἐν) all thy soul [oneself as a living
being]
- WELL-BEING
and in (ἐν ) all thy
strength
- POWER
and in (ἐν) all thy
mind
- WISDOM
(Cp. Mark 12.29-30, which uses ἐκ, ‘out of’, in all four parts)
Luke 1.51-53 1.51b: scattered proud in understanding of
heart - vs human
WISDOM
.52a: put down mighty from their
thrones
- vs human POWER
.52b-53: and exalted low, filled hungry, sent rich away
empty - vs human
WELL-BEING
(and its equivalent;) RICHES
Acts 6.3 Men of good
repute
- WELL-BEING
(Choice of 7) full of
Spirit
- POWER
and
wisdom
- WISDOM
Acts 6.5-10 6.5: full of
faith
- WELL-BEING
(Stephen)
and of Holy
Spirit
- POWER
6.8: full of
grace
- WELL-BEING
(6.10:
linking
and power, did great signs and wonders among the people - POWER
of wisdom 6.10: They could
not withstand the
wisdom
- WISDOM
and
power
and Spirit with which he
spoke
- POWER
- cf. 1 Cor 1.24)