Ephesians and Artemis (eBook)

The Cult of the Great Goddess of Ephesus as the Epistle's Context

Michael Immendörfer (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2017 | 1. Auflage
487 Seiten
Mohr Siebeck (Verlag)
978-3-16-155443-8 (ISBN)

Infos

In this study, Michael Immendörfer examines the relationship between the New Testament letter to the Ephesians and the ancient city of Ephesus, which had the great Artemis as its goddess. He seeks to make a contribution to the discussion on the extent to which conclusions can be drawn concerning the local-historical explanation of New Testament epistles by viewing the latter through the lens of Greco-Roman cultic practices. Thus the contents of Ephesians are compared with the abundantly available archaeological and epigraphical sources of the Asia Minor metropolis. This endeavour reveals that the letter contains numerous unequivocal references to the cult of Artemis, a nexus suggesting that the author was very familiar with the historical background of ancient Ephesus and contextualised his letter accordingly for the intended readers who lived in this particular cultic environment. Drawing on the sources concerning ancient Ephesus, especially inscriptions, provides a plausible local-historical explanation of Ephesians, an epistle that has been an enigma to New Testament scholarship for decades in this regard.

Born 1969; 2016 PhD, University of Wales: Trinity Saint David in Lampeter.

Inhalt

Cover 1
Preface 6
Table of Contents 8
List of Tables 14
Abbreviations 15
Chapter 1: Introduction 20
1.1. Preliminary Remarks 20
1.2. Scope and Aims 21
1.2.1. An Integrated View of Three Topic Areas 23
1.2.1.1. The Letter to the Ephesians 23
1.2.1.2. Ancient Ephesus 25
1.2.1.3. The Church in Ephesus 28
1.2.2. Objective 28
1.3. Methodology 29
1.3.1. Text Comparison 30
1.3.1.1. New Testament References to Jewish Scriptures 31
1.3.1.2. New Testament References to Non-Jewish Texts 34
1.3.2. Definitions and Terminology 44
1.3.2.1. Direct Reference 44
1.3.2.2. Indirect Reference 46
1.3.3. Criteria for Determining Analogies 47
1.3.4. Outline 53
Chapter 2: The Recipients of Ephesians 56
2.1. Ephesus and Ephesians: The Present Discussion 57
2.1.1. Monographs on Ephesus: Overview and Comparison 57
2.1.1.1. Studies that Consult Ephesians 60
2.1.1.2. Studies that Refer to Ephesians 62
2.1.1.3. Studies for which Ephesians is not Relevant 63
2.1.1.4. The Monographs' Position on Artemis and Ephesians 68
2.1.2. Commentaries on Ephesians 70
2.1.2.1. The Designation of the Letter 71
2.1.2.2. The Context of Ephesus and Artemis 72
2.1.2.3. The Reception of the Monographs in the Commentaries 74
2.1.3. Summary 77
2.2. Introductory Questions Regarding the Recipients of Ephesians 78
2.2.1. Reception in the Early Church 78
2.2.2. Statements of Ephesians Regarding its Recipients 82
2.2.3. Reasons for and against Ephesian Addressees 85
2.2.3.1. The Absence of ?? ????? in some Manuscripts 85
2.2.3.2. The Impersonal Nature of the Letter 90
2.3. Summary 93
Chapter 3: The City of Ephesus 96
3.1. Sources 97
3.1.1. The Inscriptions of Ephesus 97
3.1.2. Numismatic Sources 98
3.1.3. Texts of Ancient Writers 99
3.1.4. Material in Non-Written Form 100
3.1.5. The Approach of this Research to the Sources 101
3.2. Geography 102
3.3. History 105
3.3.1. The Ionian City 106
3.3.2. The Hellenistic City 108
3.3.3. The City of Lysimachus 109
3.3.3.1. Rise 109
3.3.3.2. Golden Age 111
3.3.3.3. Demise 113
3.3.4. The Late Byzantine City 115
3.4. Archaeology 116
3.4.1. The Excavations of British Explorers 117
3.4.2. The Excavations of the Austrian Archaeological Institute 118
3.4.3. Buildings of Special Interest in the Roman Period 121
3.4.3.1. Upper City 121
3.4.3.2. Curetes Street 124
3.4.3.3. Harbour, Commercial and Entertainment Districts 125
3.5. Religions, Magic and Imperial Cult 128
3.5.1. Religions in Ephesus 128
3.5.2. Magic and ?????? ???????? 131
3.5.3. Imperial Cult 135
3.6. Summary 139
Chapter 4: Artemis Ephesia 142
4.1. The Temple of Artemis 142
4.1.1. History of the Artemision 144
4.1.1.1. Temples A ? C and Hekatompedos 144
4.1.1.2. The Temple of Croesus 146
4.1.1.3. The Younger Artemision 150
4.1.2. The Altar of the Artemision 153
4.1.3. Other Functions of the Artemision 159
4.1.3.1. Asylum 159
4.1.3.2. Bank 160
4.1.3.3. Administration of Land 161
4.1.3.4. Mint 161
4.2. The Goddess 163
4.2.1. Origin 163
4.2.2. Cult Figure 164
4.2.2.1. Origin 164
4.2.2.2. Appearance 166
4.2.2.3. Conclusion 170
4.2.3. The Honorific Titles and (Divine) Attributes of Artemis 172
4.2.3.1. Titles in Honour of Artemis 172
4.2.3.2. Artemis' Care for Adherents' Needs 177
4.2.3.3. The Great Name of Artemis 179
4.2.3.4. Arrows as the Main Weapon of Artemis 179
4.2.4. The Bond between Artemis and the City of Ephesus 180
4.2.4.1. Ephesus as the ???????? of Artemis 180
4.2.4.2. Further Inscriptional Evidence 182
4.3. The Cult of Artemis 184
4.3.1. Processions 185
4.3.2. Festivals 188
4.3.3. The Mysteries of Artemis: Ephesus' Most Important Festival 190
4.4. Summary 193
Chapter 5: Ephesians in the Light of Artemis 198
5.1. Analogies in Terms of the Temple of Artemis 199
5.1.1. Building of the Temple 199
5.1.1.1. Building Terminology 200
5.1.1.2. Temple and Temple Building Terminology 202
5.1.1.3. Summary 209
5.1.2. The Use of ??????? 210
5.1.3. Sacrifices 213
5.1.4. Wealth and Inheritance 217
5.1.4.1. Wealth 217
5.1.4.2. Inheritance 219
5.2. Analogies in Terms of the Goddess 221
5.2.1. Honorific Titles and Divine Attributes 222
5.2.1.1. Linguistic Similarities 222
5.2.1.2. Analogies to ??????????? 227
5.2.2. Taking Care of Needs 231
5.2.3. Thanksgiving 236
5.2.4. Armour 238
5.2.5. Arrows 242
5.2.6. Protection 246
5.2.7. Greatest Name 249
5.2.8. Citizenship, Covenant and Exclusion 251
5.2.8.1. Citizenship 253
5.2.8.2. Covenant 254
5.2.8.3. Exclusion 256
5.2.8.4. Excursus: The Dividing Wall of Hostility 257
5.2.9. The Concept of a Glorious Church/City 261
5.2.10. The Concept of Nurturing 264
5.2.11. Fruit/Fertility 266
5.2.12. Identity 267
5.3. Analogies in Terms of the Cult of Artemis 272
5.3.1. Light and Darkness, Life and Death 272
5.3.1.1. Light and Darkness Terminology in Ephesians 272
5.3.1.2. The Use of Quotations in Ephesians 273
5.3.1.3. Ascent and Descent in Ephesians 4:8 - 10 274
5.3.1.4. The Quotation in Ephesians 5:14 277
5.3.1.5. Comparison with the Cult of Artemis 279
5.3.2. Purification 282
5.3.3. Mystery 286
5.3.4. Singing Praises 291
5.3.5. Wine and Debauchery 294
5.4. Excursus: The Cult of Artemis in Other New Testament Books 297
5.4.1. Luke's Narrative of Demetrius' Riot in Acts 19:23 - 41 299
5.4.2. Paul's Fight with Wild Beasts in 1 Corinthians 15:32 311
5.4.3. Summary 313
5.5. Evaluation 314
5.5.1. A Body of Knowledge Shared by Author and Readers 314
5.5.1.1. How Well Did Readers in Ephesus Know the Cult of Artemis? 315
5.5.1.2. How Well Did Paul Know the Cult of Artemis? 316
5.5.1.3. Summary 318
5.5.2. The Extent and Clarity of the Artemis Analogies in Ephesians 318
5.5.2.1. Missing Cultic Elements in Ephesians 319
5.5.2.2. Similarities with Regard to Language and Content 319
5.5.2.3. The Cultic Inscriptions in Comparison to Ephesians 322
5.5.2.4. Coverage of the Cult of Artemis in Ephesians 324
5.5.2.5. Summary 325
5.5.3. Dissimilarity of Ephesians to Colossians and the Pauline Corpus 326
5.5.3.1. The Hapax Legomena of Ephesians 326
5.5.3.2. Ephesians, Colossians and the Inscriptions of Ephesus 327
5.5.4. Conclusion 330
Chapter 6: Ephesians as a Teaching Letter to Former Adherents of Artemis 334
6.1. Ephesians has a Specific Life-Setting 334
6.2. Ephesians is Addressed to Former Adherents of Artemis 336
6.3. Ephesians is a Contextualised Letter 341
6.4. Ephesians is an Authentic Letter 344
6.5. Ephesians as a Source for the Development of the Early Church in Ephesus 345
Chapter 7: Overall Conclusion 348
Appendixes 352
Appendix 1: The Hapax Legomena of Ephesians 352
Appendix 2: Common Words of Ephesians and the Inscriptions of Ephesus 354
Appendix 3: Literary Testimonies to Artemis, her Cult Figure and Temple 407
Appendix 4: Artemis and the Inscriptions of Ephesus 413
Appendix 5: Maps 417
Appendix 6: Ephesus in Ancient and Modern Times 419
Bibliography 426
Index of References 458
Index of Modern Authors 476
Index of Subjects and Places 482

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.7.2017
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
• ISBN-10: 3-16-155443-4 / 3161554434
• ISBN-13: 978-3-16-155443-8 / 9783161554438