Terminación por voluntad de una de las partes

2.1 Introduction: The last two chapters of Acts form a literary unity. They begin with the handing over of Paul and the other prisoners to the centurion, Julius, for their voyage to Rome and end with the report that “Paul lived there (in Rome) for two years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ quite openly and unhindered”. For the purpose of our study we can divide these chapters into the following individual units: 27:1-8 can be considered as the Introductory Itinerary. It consists of two paragraphs: the first (vv.1-5) narrates the voyage from Caesarea to Myra on a ship of Adramyttium, and the second paragraph (vv.6-8) narrates their voyage from Myra, on the southern coast of Asia Minor, to Fair Havens in Crete on a ship of Alexandria. The function of these introductory verses is: i) to introduce the main characters of the plot: Paul and the other prisoners, Aristarchus and some other Christian companions of Paul, Julius, the centurion; ii) to signal that the voyage is not going to be easy and safe; iii) to report the kindness of the centurion which will have an important role in the movement of this narrative.

Vv. 9-20 form the second unit which could be titled as “Paul’s prophecy and its fulfilment”. In this section, Paul intervenes for the first time and foretells that the voyage is going to be dangerous for the ship as well as for their lives. His warning comes not from a vision or through any other means of divine revelation. It is rather from his practical experience as a man who has sailed often and who knows the safe as well as the dangerous period for voyaging. However, his suggestion, not to sail further from Fair Haven, is ignored by the centurion and the voyage is continued with the hope of arriving Crete, a better harbour for passing the winter. But their wishful thinking soon comes to an end at the sudden arrival of a tempest. Paul’s prophecy is immediately fulfilled. The ship is caught in the violent tempest and they are unable to make any progress with their voyage. In this unit the narrator recounts a lot of safety measures taken by the sailors as well as by others. Everything goes in vain. This narrative unit ends with the description of their hopeless situation in the midst of the stormy sea, as neither sun nor stars appeared for many days.

The third unit, vv. 21-26, narrates Paul’s words of comfort in the face of hopelessness caused by the violent storm. He predicts that none of them will perish except the ship, and they shall have to run aground on some island. His prediction is based on his angelic vision. The angel tells Paul that he must appear before Caesar and that on his account all will be saved. This little speech characterizes Paul as a man of faith and the one who believes in heavenly communications.

Vv.27-44 form the fourth unit which we could entitle as: “Shipwreck and salvation”. This unit can be sub-divided into three paragraphs: a) vv.27-32 - Paul’s warning at midnight; b) vv.33-38 - as the day was about to dawn Paul encourages his fellow passengers to eat and this is followed by the meal; c) vv.39-44 - when it was day, they all escape to land. All these events take place on the fourteenth and the last day which ends up with the shipwreck and final rescue. The word “salvation” is the key word of this narrative unit.

The fifth unit is their stay at Malta: 28:1-10. This unit, too, can be divided into to two parts. The first paragraph (28:1-6) narrates the incident in which Paul is bitten by a snake and goes unharmed to the astonishment of the natives. The snake bite makes the islanders to consider Paul a murderer, who although he has escaped from the sea is being pursued by the goddess of justice. Later when they see him unharmed by the snake, they change their mind and begin to regard him as a god. In the second part (28:7-10) we have the healing ministry of Paul in Malta. This unit brings out strikingly the hospitality of the barbarians of Malta.

The sixth unit (28:11-31) narrates Paul’s mission in Rome. This unit is further divided into four paragraphs: vv. 11-15 the journey from Malta to Rome, vv.16-22 Paul’s first encounter with the Jews and vv.17-28 Paul’s second and last encounter with the Jews in Rome, vv.29-31 the final description of Paul’s preaching in liberty.

2.2 Textual criticism: The first nine words of verse one (~Wj de. evkri,qh tou/ avpoplei/n h`ma/j eivj th.n VItali,an) are omitted in the Western text (h syp.hmg). Instead these manuscripts have an addition at the end of 26:32: “so the governor decided to send him to Caesar and the next day he called a centurion named Julius of the cohort Augusta and handed over Paul and other prisoners to him”.

The first person plural disappears in the reading of P6 326 2495* pc. These manuscripts have Tous peri ton Paulon - Paul and those with him - instead of the first person pluralh`ma/j. However, the first person plural is not consistently removed from the narratives of these manuscripts. There is no indication that the author of Acts was not present. It is not easy to see how the reading originated. Perhaps h`ma/j “was thought to lack clarity and directness”1. This may be the reason why the addition at 26:32 in the Western text: “Partly perhaps because «they» is not defined, the western text has rewritten the whole verse without adding to our knowledge”2.

In the second verse P74 places tw+before ploi,w|. The addition of this article seems to be out of place here “because we know nothing of this ship until we read the following words”3. Moreover 614 2495 pc have en, which is needless. The ships home port, Adramyttium, is described by the adjective for which there is a respectably attested variant Vadramunthnw (P74vid A B* 33pc). The Western text - 614 (2147) 2495 pc syh - adds Secundus after the name Aristarchus. It may be under the influence of Acts 20:4. Both Aristarchus and Secundus are described as Macedonians4. In verse 2 (eivj tou.j kata. th.n VAsi,an to,pouj) eivj is omitted by H L P S and the Byzantine text. The omission must have been seen as good Greek in the fourth and following centuries. However, only in Greek poetry we find parallels to this usage5.

2.3 Unity and Structure: These 8 verses form a single unit. It begins with the handing over of Paul and other prisoners to the Roman centurion and their embarking on the ship from Adramyttium. This narrative unit ends with the mention of their arrival at Fair Havens. In this paragraph the narrator mentions a number of verbs that have to do with sailing: avpoplei/n (set sail); evpiba,ntej (to embark); plei/n; ple,w (sail);

avnh,cqhmen (set sail); kath,cqhmen(put in); u`pepleu,samen ( sail under the shelter of);

diapleu,santej (sail across); evnebi,basen (put aboard); braduploou/ntej (sail slowly); paralego,menoi (sail or coast along). Almost all of these verbs are in aorist.

1

Barrett,Acts of the Apostles,1181.

2

C. S. C. Williams,Acts, 269. See also Johnson,The Acts of the Apostles,444. According to him, the western text has a more elaborate transition here.

3

Barrett,Acts,1181.

4_{Cf. Johnson,The Acts of the Apostles,445.} 5

Besides these there are a few nouns that have to do with voyaging: ploi,w| (ship);

pe,lagoj (open sea) and ploi/on (sailing vessel). These verbs and nouns will be repeated in the course of the narrative. They are typical nautical terms belonging to a literary genre of ancient voyage narratives. But this does not conclusively prove that Luke has borrowed here an ancient voyage narrative because many of these terms are found elsewhere in Luke-Acts. The voyage route is clearly marked by a number of places which, with the exception of two, are all given in the accusative case: VItali,a; VAdramutthnw/o,s; VAsi,a; Sidw/n; Ku,proj; Kiliki,a; Pamfuli,a; Mu,ra; Luki,a; VAlexandri/noj; Kni,doj; Krh,th; Salmw,nh; Kaloi.!lime,nej; Lasai,a.We can form this paragraph into the following structure:

1. Immediate preparations for the voyage, departure (v. 1) 2. The first stage at Sidon (vv. 2-3)

3. To Myra (vv .4-5)

4. The tedious voyage from Myra to Fair Havens (vv. 6-8)

2.4 Exegetical Analysis

2.4.1 Immediate Preparations for the Voyage, Departure (v. 1):

1a ~Wj de. evkri,qh tou/ avpoplei/n h`ma/j eivj th.n VItali,an(

1bparedi,doun to,n te Pau/lon kai, tinaj e`te,rouj desmw,taj

1c e`katonta,rch| ovno,mati VIouli,w| spei,rhj Sebasth/jÅ

The first verse introduces this whole section of the voyage narrative. Paul and other prisoners are handed over to the centurion, Julius, for their voyage to Rome. This verse is related to the previous sections of the narrative of Acts as it refers to the decision to send Paul to Italy. This decision would remind the reader of Paul’s trial process, his defence speeches, and his claim to Roman citizenship and his appeal to Caesar.

2.4.1.1 The Participants: One of the functions of these first few verses is to introduce the participants of the plot. Who are the participants of this voyage? The narrator himself, the Centurion, Paul and other prisoners. Paul’s Christian companion, Aristarchus, is introduced in the second verse. „Lukas stellt sich die Begleiter des Paulus wohl als eine Gruppe von Freunden vor, die ihm freiwillig folgen. Jedenfalls

sind Paulus und die übrigen Gefangenen, die dem Centurio Julius aus der kaiserlichen Kohorte übergeben werden, nicht die einzigen Schiffspassagiere“6.

The narrator reappears in person (we / us) for the first time since 21:18. This does not mean that he has been absent for the duration of Paul’s time in custody. However, the account had focused so extensively on Paul himself, and so Luke makes no effort to tell us of his presence at this time7. Marshall brings in an interesting remark: “It is often supposed that Luke stayed in Palestine, and even that he used his time in searching out information for the composition of his Gospel and the earlier parts of Acts. This is possible, but beyond proof”8. The other prisoners are incidental to the story in this narrative and Luke says nothing about them until 27:42. Nothing is told about their crimes “but as the sequel indicates, Paul as a Roman citizen would have higher status and be accorded freer access to the centurion and the captain”9. The “We-Narrative” continues up to 28:16. But there is a shift to the third person narrative in 27:13,17,19,28,29,38,39-44.

Paul, the main character of the voyage narrative, is introduced here. The name “Paul” appears in the Acts for the first time in 13:9. But the person is first introduced as “Saul” at the death of Stephen: the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul (7:58b). And a little later after mentioning the prayer and death of Stephen the narrative continues, “And Saul was consenting to his death” (8:1a). The name Saul appears again in the account of his conversion on the road to Damascus and right up to ch. 13:7 which narrates the encounter of Saul and Barnabas with Sergius Paulus who is later converted. In the same narrative, the name Paul appears for the first time:But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him (Elymas the magician)... (13:9)10. The change of name from Saul to Paul is narrated rather casually and smoothly. The narrator does not describe the reason for the change of name11. From now on he is always called Paul.

6_{Gerhard Schneider,Die Apostelgeschichte(2.Teil; Freiburg: Herder, 1980) 383.} 7

Cf. James Dunn,The Acts of the Apostles(Peterborough: Epworth Press, 1996) 336-7.

8

Marshall,The Acts of the Apostles, 403.

9

Ibid. 337.

10_{For more information on the change of name at this point of the narrative, and the meaning of the}

name Paulus, see Hans-Josef-Klauck,Magie und Heidentum in der Apostelgeschichte des Lukas, 65- 67.

11

Paul is introduced here at the beginning of the voyage narrative as a prisoner. He stands with the other prisoners. Placing Paul with the other prisoners would remind the reader of all that has gone before this scene. Fitzmyer rightly puts this voyage narrative in the larger section of 22:22-28:31 which he entitles: “Paul imprisoned for the sake of the testimony to the word”12. These chapters form the seventh and the last part of Acts according to the structure given by Fitzmyer. This last section brings Paul’s testimony to Jerusalem and to Rome. In order to advance his story, Luke uses the literary device of interrupted speech. He relates what happens after Paul has been explaining to the Jerusalem church so far. The mention of “Gentiles” evokes reaction of anger form the crowd. They want to do away with Paul. The commander of the Romans however decides to intervene. He gives orders that Paul be arrested and decides to interrogate him on the cause of this uprising, but under the lash. Paul turns to the Roman tribunal and tells the centurion standing by that he is a Roman citizen. When this is reported to the tribune he is released. The commander Claudius Lysias brings Paul before the Sanhedrin of Jerusalem. This leads to the famous defence scene with a defence speech by Paul. Jerusalemites vow and plot to kill him but do not succeed (23:12-22). He is brought as a prisoner to Caesarea and bears his testimony there (23:23-26:32). The trial before Festus (24:1-21) is followed by imprisonment at Caesarea (24:22-27). Before Festus Paul appeals to Caesar (25:1- 12). The last scene is before King Agrippa and his wife Barnice in whose presence Paul makes his bold apology (26:1-25). Both Festus and Agrippa declare that Paul is innocent and could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.

2.4.1.2 The Decision to Sail: The first verse begins with the conjunction w`j. The temporal use of is w`j characteristic of Acts (cf. Acts 16:4). de. evkri,qh refers to “a decision with regard to the practical arrangements for the journey”13. The unnecessary

tou/before the infinitive is frequent in Luke-Acts. It could be due to the influence of the LXX, in which it represents the HebrewL.

For the “decision” Luke uses the Greek verb kri,nw. This verb is related to the Latin “cerno”: “to sunder”. It has the basic sense of “to part”, “to sift” (Homer II.,

12_{Joseph Fitzmyer,Acts of the Apostles(AB 31; New York : Doubleday, 1986) 570.} 13

5,500.)14. The most common meaning is “to decide”. “Though the word is most commonly found in legal terminology, it does not belong here exclusively or by derivation”15. The LXX, however, uses kri,nw mostly as the legal word . It means judging, even when this means deliverance or salvation for the oppressed.

The verbkri,nw is extensively used in Acts (3:13: 4:19: 7.7; 13:27, 46; 15:19; 16:4, 15; 17:31; 20:16; 21:25; 23:3, 6; 24:21; 25:9, 10, 20, 25; 26:6, 8; 27:1). The RSV translates this verb as decided / determined (3:13; 16:4; 20:16; 25:25; 27:1), thought (26:8), stand on trial (23:6; 24:21; 26:6), be judged 4:19; 7:7; 13:46; 15:9; 16:15; 17:31; 21:25; 23:3; 25:9,10,20) and condemn (13:27). Luke uses this verb often with reference to human judgements and decisions (Lk 7:43; Acts 4.19), legal judgements (Acts 3.13), God’s judgement within history (Acts 7:7) and once with regard to eschatological judgement of God (Acts 17:31) which will reach its perfection through the resurrected Jesus. In the Gospel the same verb is used for Pilate deciding to hand over Jesus: Pilate decided (evpe,krinen) to grant their demand (Lk 23.24). In Q the verb appears in the warning of Jesus before the human judges (cf. Lk 6:37).

In our context this verb is used for a human decree. It refers here “to come to a conclusion after a cognitive process and reach a decision”16 (cf. also 3:13; 16:4 20:16; 21:25 25:23). It is the decision of the Roman authorities to bring Paul to Rome. But behind this human decision there is the divine plan and divine necessity. It is important to note that the author has not mentioned the agent of this verb. It is understood from the context that the agent of the verb is the Roman Governor. But from the general context of Luke-Acts one knows that the agent of this verb is ultimately God himself. God is behind every event. Nothing can happen without his will. He is even able to guide the dark events of life to his greater purposes. This is the reason why the narrator does not explicitly mention the name of the agent of the verb.

14

Büchsel, Art.“kri,nw”,in:TDNTlll, 923.

15

Ibid.

16_{Fredrick William Danker,A Greek- English Lexicon of the NT and Early Christian Literature, 3}rd_.

The decision was to sail to Italy. The word Italy appears also in 10:1; 18:2; 27:6 and in Heb 13:24. The verb avpoplei/n is used several times in the accounts of Paul’s travels (cf. Acts 13:4; 14:26; 20:15).

2.4.1.3 Handing Over of Paul and Other Companions: For the handing over of Paul the imperfect paredi,doun is used. The tense of the verb describes the process of handing over. This process of handing over the prisoners concluded with the actual embarkation. paredi,doun is Hellenistic. The subject is not expressed. In the background lies the authority of the governor Festus, who acts through his officials. That is the reason why the plural form of verb is used. They handed over both Paul and other prisoners. The other prisoners are mentioned again only at v.42. They do not appear in ch.28.

“They handed over”- an impersonal plural more frequent in Mark than in Luke. paradi,dwmiappears again in the voyage narrative at 28:17. Paul uses this verb in his address to the local leaders of the Jews in Rome.Brethren, though I had done nothing against the people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered prisoner (paredo,qhn) from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. We need to look at the meaning and the usage of this verb in the OT and NT in order to understand what Luke wants to tell the reader by the expression “they delivered Paul”.

2.4.1.3.1 paradi,dwmi in the OT: This verb has various meanings: i) to hand over something to someone. Human beings, too, are handed over: a slave to his master (Deut 23:16; 1 Sam 30:5), or a child to its mother (Josephus, Ant. 1.217), a young woman to her husband (Tob 7:13)17; ii) to restitute or giving back (1 Mc 10:6); iii) to transmit, for example a tradition, Knowledge or a revelation.

The predominant sense of paradi,dwmi in the OT is pejorative; God is almost