ACC ~ Acts 17 v5 - 9

OVERVIEW:

Some commentators have wondered why the prominent women of Thessalonica were not able to stop this persecution. Of the three charges (disturbance of world order, actions against some unspecified decrees of Caesar and the heralding of Jesus as king) the last comes from calling Jesus the Messiah. There are disputes about how to translate the Greek basileus (“king”) and thus over the depth of this political charge. Some think “emperor” is intended, which would have amounted to charging Paul and his followers with sedition. Others claim it anachronistic. If it does mean “emperor,” then Luke would be portraying the charge that Paul and his companions were proclaiming Jesus the head of the imperial forces. Such a process, undertaken by the army, became the standard means of elevating someone to this position. As for the question of anachronism, there is an instance in the Palatine Anthology, 10.25 by Antipater of Thessalonica of the late first century B.C. and early first century A.D., where basileus is understood to refer to the emperor. The whole question turns on the meaning of basileus, and by Ammonius’s day, it was the common title of the emperor. Jesus is a king, but his kingdom, while it exists within the confines of history, vastly exceeds them and is eternal.

17:7 | Acting Against the Decrees of Caesar

A KING UNSEEN. AMMONIUS: In the same manner, their fathers accused Jesus by saying that he called himself king. The former, however, even though they had a kind of charge that was, on the surface, likely to deceive because the one charged was living, how could these latter hide their lying when they were saying that they, the apostles, were proclaiming Jesus a king, who, according to these accusers, was dead? That is, unless he was alive but was not visible. Concerning such a one, the kings of the earth never had need to fear, unless they should see him when entirely visible. But, as it seems from their proclamation of the truth, they knew that even though he was not visible, he was still truly king, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 17.8.