Like many of his contemporaries 鈥 including Jesus 鈥 the gospel author Luke was deeply familiar with narratives in the Hebrew Bible about the founding of Israel, according to biblical scholar , and used them to express ideas about Jesus.
In a new book, 鈥,鈥 published in March by Cambridge University Press, Carmichael, Professor of Comparative Literature Emeritus in the 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频, draws detailed parallels between the 14 parables unique to Luke鈥檚 gospel 鈥 including the Good Samaritan, the Prodigal Son and the Lost Coin 鈥 and Genesis stories about figures such as Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers. Carmichael identifies how parables unique to Luke were composed as a response to, and reframing of, problems attributed to the earliest of biblical times, the Genesis accounts of Creation and especially among members of Israel's founding families.
He draws out the distinctive way that moral thinking was communicated by Jesus.
鈥淟uke and Jesus, like the scribes who developed the biblical corpus, would have been highly knowledgeable about sacred texts and cultural traditions,鈥 said Carmichael, whose work is primarily on the inseparable relationship between law and narrative. 鈥淭his book lays out fundamental connections between those parables that are unique to Luke and stories about ancestral conduct in Genesis.鈥
The author of Luke鈥檚 gospel lived in a Hellenistic milieu, Carmichael said. Classically educated, he was familiar with Aramaic, Hebrew, Greek and Latin languages, ideas and writings. He was also familiar with the tradition of storytelling ingrained in Jewish culture.
鈥淗is immersion in biblical material is discernible from the many references he makes to it,鈥 Carmichael said. 鈥淔or example, in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Luke mentions Abraham, who cites Moses and the prophets (Lk 16:19). Luke鈥檚 gospel, like so much of the New Testament, is replete with references to the Old Testament. Many discussions articulate 鈥榥ew鈥 ideas in explicit, detailed contrast with the 鈥榦ld.鈥欌
At the same time, Luke鈥檚 Hellenistic cultural background is evident in his writing 鈥 for instance the Greeks鈥 love of enigmas and riddles as means of discovery. The word 鈥減arable鈥 comes from the Greek 鈥減arabol茅鈥 鈥 to place something alongside something else, Carmichael points out in the book.
鈥淚n a literary analysis such as mine, I demonstrate how, in order to communicate ideas, one story (a parable) is set alongside another story (a Genesis narrative),鈥 Carmichael said. 鈥淏y unpacking the connections, comparing, and contrasting, I seek to illuminate the ideas expressed via this method of composition and moral reflection.鈥
The resulting study 鈥渄etails how Luke鈥檚 parables provide precise, hitherto unrecognized instances where Jesus鈥 parables reflect on Scripture,鈥 Carmichael wrote in the book鈥檚 introduction. 鈥淓specially influential are the stories of Israel鈥檚 first ancestor Jacob/Israel, and those of his son Joseph.鈥
As one example, the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke (15:11-32) about the two brothers and their father and the story in Genesis 25-33 about the brothers Jacob and Esau, their father Isaac, and Jacob鈥檚 dealings with his father-in-law Laban and his family, have much in common, Carmichael said.
In this and many other direct comparisons in 鈥淟uke鈥檚 Unique Parables,鈥 Carmichael elaborates on how 鈥渢he influence of stories in Genesis is an outstanding feature of the parables.鈥
This article also appeared in the .
Kate Blackwood is a writer for the 麻豆视频 and 麻豆视频.
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