St. Stephen and the Samaritans: An evaluation of and a contribution to the samaritanology of the New Testament (especially Acts 7:2-53).

Abstract

Since John Lightfoot (1671) scholars have speculated that Stephen's speech (Acts 7.2-53) and martyrdom (Acts 6:8-7:1,54-8:2) betray Samaritan influence. Cullmann (1956) thought that John 4:38b ("... Others have labored, and I have sent you into their labor") referred to the colleagues of Stephen, Philip the Evangelist and the Hellenists who founded a Christian community in Samaria (Acts 8:5-25). Robin Scroggs (1968) and C. H. H. Scobie (1973, 1979) attribute Samaritanisms in the Stephen tradition to the retrojection of the teaching of the Samaritan church onto the most celebrated Hellenist, Stephen, whose death was the occasion for the Samaritan mission. Comparison of Stephen's speech with Samaritan literature, especially Tibat Marqe, reveals three new motifs found in both traditions: the burning bush, possession of the land, and the making of the calf. Although all three themes are also Jewish, linguistic and Scriptural usage in Acts 7 is so similar to that in Samaritan writings as to suggest a Samaritan provenance for these themes. Acts 7.35 quotes Deut 33.16, which is part of a blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh which frequently appears in Samaritan literature applied to the sanctity of Gerizim and the kingship/ownership of Joseph. Use of $\kappa\alpha\tau\acute\alpha\sigma\chi\varepsilon \sigma\iota\varsigma$ at Acts 7:5,45 appears to refer to Gen 48:4, which is part of the story of Jacob's adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh, the putative ancestors of the Samaritans, to Joshua 22 and 24, which concern the correct sanctuary, and to the Samaritan theme of the kingship/ownership (XXX) of Joseph. Acts 7.41 uses $\rm \mu o\sigma\chi o\pi o \iota\acute\varepsilon\omega,$ which has not been found in earlier writings and next appears, as does a cognate noun, $\rm \mu o\sigma\chi o\pi o\iota\acute\iota\alpha,$ in Justin Martyr, who grew up in Samaria. The equivalent Aramaic expression, XXX XXX (with Hebrew/Arabic cognates), is used formulaically in Samaritan, but not in Jewish literature. These and subsidiary new motifs are best explained by Scroggs' and Scobie's thesis that Stephen's speech is a product of the Samaritan Christian community.