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    Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson
    Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson
    Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson
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    Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson

    By Pickwick Publications

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    "We offer this collection as a token of our affection and admiration of our friend and colleague James Weldon Thompson. . . . His studies of the letter to the Hebrews and of Paul in their intellectual contexts (especially Middle Platonism) have contributed significantly to the ongoing quest for placing the New Testament in its socio-intellectual setting. Although his publications in this area date back more than thirty years, his best work is occurring now, and we may anticipate path-breaking contributions ahead. His more recent work on preaching and pastoral care in Paul both situate the Apostle in his own world and, just as importantly, offer correctives of some contemporary ministerial practices and invitations for improvements. Since 1993 Thompson has served as the editor of Restoration Quarterly, a significant venue for research in biblical studies, church history (especially of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement), and contemporary theology. His more popular works make available to a lay audience thoughtful, well-informed, and spiritually rewarding interpretations of much of the New Testament.
    "His achievements, however, do not end at the printing press. For more than thirty years, he has taught ministers and others at the Institute for Christian Studies (now Austin Graduate School of Theology) and Abilene Christian University. Students of the past and the present speak of him as a prepared, stimulating, and creative teacher unafraid of experimentation for a new generation of learners. At both institutions he also served as an administrator, first as President of ICS and then as Associate Dean of ACU's Graduate School of Theology. His colleagues respect his ability to enlist them for work as needed and otherwise to get out of their way, certainly a too rare set of skills in university administrators!"
    --from the Preface
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPickwick Publications
    Release dateNov 10, 2006
    ISBN9781498276481
    Renewing Tradition: Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson

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      Book preview

      Renewing Tradition - Pickwick Publications

      Renewing Tradition

      Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson

      edited by

      Mark W. Hamilton

      Thomas H. Olbricht

      Jeffrey Peterson

      RENEWING TRADITION

      Studies in Texts and Contexts in Honor of James W. Thompson

      Princeton Theological Monograph Series 65

      Copyright © 2007 Mark Hamilton. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf & Stock, 199 W. 8th Ave., Eugene, OR 97401.

      ISBN 10: 1-59752-828-5

      ISBN 13: 978-1-59752-828-3

      EISBN 13: 978-1-4982-7648-1

      Pickwick Publications

      An imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 West 8th Avenue • Eugene OR 97401

      Cataloging-in-Publication data:

      Renewing tradition : studies in texts and contexts in honor of James W. Thompson / edited by Mark W. Hamilton, Thomas H. Olbricht, and Jeffrey Peterson.

      Eugene, Ore.: Pickwick Publications, 2007

      Princeton Theological Monograph Series 65

      xvi + 318 p.; 23 cm.

      ISBN 10: 1-59752-828-5

      ISBN 13: 978-1-59752-828-3

      1. Bible—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Church history—Reformation. 3. Preaching. I. Thompson, James, 1942-. II. Hamilton, Mark W. III. Olbricht, Thomas H. IV. Peterson, Jeffrey. V. Series.

      BR166 R65 2007

      Manufactured in the U.S.A.

      Table of Contents

      Title Page

      Contributors

      Abbreviations

      Preface

      Traditions in Context

      Chapter 1: Praising God with One Mouth / One Voice

      Chapter 2: Early Christian Missionary Practice and Pagan Reaction

      Chapter 3: The Virtus Feminarum in 1 Timothy 2:9–15

      Chapter 4: Mark and the Inclusion of the Gentiles

      Traditions in Texts

      Chapter 5: The Rhetoric of Adventure

      Chapter 6: Hebrew Poetics and Biblical Interpretation: Insights from Psalm 120

      Chapter 7: The Faith (Faithfulness) of Jesus in Hebrews

      Chapter 8: Christ Our Pasch: Shaping Christian Identity in Corinth

      Chapter 9: The First Theologian: The Originality of Philo of Alexandria

      Chapter 10: Rhetorical Strategy in Isaiah 1–5

      Chapter 11: Seeing the Faith as Paul Sees It

      Renewing Contexts

      Chapter 12: Hebrews and Philosophy

      Chapter 13: A Reluctant Bride: Finding A Life For Damaris of Athens (Acts 17:34)

      Chapter 14: Looking through the Fish-Eye Lens: Panoramic Exegesis for Preaching

      Chapter 15: Language and the Reshaping of Life: Speech-Act Theory and the Use of the Bible as Scripture

      Chapter 16: The Reformation and Believer’s Baptism: Erasmus and the Anabaptists on the Great Commission

      Publications of James W. Thompson

      Princeton Theological Monograph Series

      Series Editor, K. C. Hanson

      Recent volumes in the series:

      Philip Harrold

      A Place Somewhat Apart: The Private Worlds of a Late Nineteenth-Century Public University

      Anette Ejsing

      Theology of Anticipation

      Caryn Riswold

      Coram Deo: Human Life in the Vision of God

      Paul O. Ingram, editor

      Constructing a Relational Cosmology

      Richard Valantasis et al., editors

      The Subjective Eye: Essays in Honor of Margaret Miles

      Stephen Finlan and Vladimir Kharlamov, editors

      Theosis: Deification in Christian Theology

      John A. Vissers

      The Neo-Orthodox Theology of W. W. Bryden

      Byron C. Bangert

      Consenting to God and Nature

      Sam Hamstra, editor

      The Reformed Pastor by John Williamson Nevin

      David A. Ackerman

      Lo, I Tell You a Mystery

      Contributors

      Everett Ferguson (Ph.D. Harvard University)

      Professor of Church History Emeritus

      Abilene Christian University

      John T. Fitzgerald (Ph.D. Yale University)

      Associate Professor of Religious Studies

      University of Miami

      Abraham J. Malherbe (Th.D. Harvard University)

      Buckingham Professor of Divinity Emeritus

      Yale University

      Allan J. McNicol (Ph.D. Vanderbilt University)

      Cox Professor of New Testament

      Austin Graduate School of Theology

      Mark W. Hamilton (Ph.D. Harvard University)

      Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible

      Abilene Christian University

      Rick R. Marrs (Ph.D. The Johns Hopkins University)

      Associate Dean and Professor of Old Testament

      Pepperdine University

      Thomas H. Olbricht (Ph.D. University of Iowa)

      Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Religion

      Pepperdine University

      Jeffrey Peterson (Ph.D. Yale University)

      Wright Associate Professor of New Testament

      Austin Graduate School of Theology

      Gregory E. Sterling (Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union)

      Senior Associate Dean and Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins, University of Notre Dame

      John T. Willis (Ph.D. Vanderbilt University)

      Coffman Professor of Old Testament

      Abilene Christian University

      Wendell Willis (Ph.D. Southern Methodist University)

      Associate Professor of New Testament

      Abilene Christian University

      Frederick D. Aquino (Ph.D. Southern Methodist University)

      Associate Professor of Theology

      Abilene Christian University

      J. W. Childers (D.Phil. Oxford University)

      Carmichael-Walling Associate Professor of Early Christianity

      Abilene Christian University

      Thomas G. Long (Ph.D. Princeton Theological Seminary)

      Bandy Professor of Preaching

      Candler School of Theology, Emory University

      Roy F. Melugin (Ph.D. Yale University)

      Research Professor of Old Testament

      Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University

      Darren T. Williamson (Ph.D. Simon Fraser University)

      Assistant Professor of History

      Cascade College

      Abbreviations

      AB Anchor Bible

      ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary

      ABR Australian Biblical Review

      ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library

      ALGHJ Arbeiten zur Literatur und Geschichte des hellenistischen Judentums

      ANF Ante-Nicene Fathers

      ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt

      BDAG Greek-English Leixcon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, ed. W. F. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, 3d edition

      BETL Bibliotheca ephemeridium theologicarum lovaniensium

      BHK Biblia Hebraica Kittel

      BHS Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia

      BHO Bibliotheca hagiographica orientalis

      Bib Biblica

      BKAT Biblischer Kommentar, Altes Testament

      BR Biblical Research

      BTS Bible et terre sainte

      BZ Biblische Zeitschrift

      BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

      CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

      CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series

      CC Continental Commentaries

      CHE Christian Higher Education

      ConBOT Coniectanea biblica: Old Testament Series

      CRINT Compendia rerum iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum

      CSCO Corpus scriptorium christianorum orientalium

      CSR Christian Scholar’s Review

      CWS Classics of Western Spirituality

      DBI Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation, ed. John H. Hayes

      EB Echter Bibel

      ECC Eerdmans Critical Commentary

      EKK Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar

      EKKNT Evangelisch-katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

      EPRO Etudes preliminaires aux religions orientales dans l’empire romain

      ExpTim Expository Times

      GBS Guides to Biblical Scholarship

      GKC Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, ed. E. Kautzsch, trans. A. E. Cowley

      GNO Gregorii Nysseni Opera

      GRBS Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies

      HALOT The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. L. Koehler, W. Baumgartner, and J. J. Stamm

      HKNT Handkommentar zum Neuen Testament

      HTKNT Herders theologischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament

      HTR Harvard Theological Review

      HTS Harvard Theological Studies

      HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual

      HUT Hermeneutische Untersuchungen zur Theologie

      IDB Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible, 4 vols., ed. G. W. Buttrick

      Int Interpretation

      JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

      JRS Journal of Roman Studies

      JSJSup Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplements

      JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series

      JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

      JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series

      JTS Journal of Theological Studies

      KAT Kommentar zum Alten Testament

      LCL Loeb Classical Library

      LHBOTS Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies

      LQ Lutheran Quarterly

      LS Louvain Studies

      LSJ A Greek-English Lexicon, ed. H. Liddell, R. Scott, and H. Jones, 9th edition

      NAC New American Commentary

      NCBC New Century Bible Commentary

      NewDocs New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity

      NHC Nag Hammadi Codices

      NIB The New Interpreter’s Bible

      NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

      NIDOTTE New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis

      NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary

      NovT Novum Testamentum

      NovTSup Novum Testamentum Supplements

      NPNF Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers

      NTD Neue Testament Deutsch

      NTL New Testament Library

      OBT Overtures to Biblical Theology

      OGIS Orientis graeci inscriptions selectae, ed. W. Dittenberger

      OrChr Oriens Christianus

      OTL Old Testament Library

      OTP Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed. James H. Charlesworth

      PAC Philo of Alexandria Commentary Series

      PG Patrologia graeca

      PL Patrologia latina

      ResQ Restoration Quarterly

      SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series

      SBLSBS Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study

      SBLSymS Society of Biblical Literature Symposium Series

      SBLTT Society of Biblical Literature Texts and Translations

      SC Sources chrétiennes

      SEG Supplementum epigraphicum graecum

      SHR Studies in the History of Religions

      SJT Scottish Journal of Theology

      SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

      SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series

      SPhA Studia Philonica Annual

      StPatr Studia patristica

      StSN Studia Semitica Neerlandica

      TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

      TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament

      THKNT Theologischer Handkommentar zum Neuen Testament

      TLZ Theologische Literaturzeitung

      TU Texte und Untersuchungen

      UF Ugarit Forschungen

      VT Vetus Testamentum

      VTS Supplements to Vetus Testamentum

      WMANT Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament

      WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

      ZAH Zeitschrift für Althebraistik

      ZDMG Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenländischen Gesellschaft

      Preface

      Religious traditions renew themselves by reexamining their past and by seeking from it meaningful orientations toward the future. When that past includes a sacred text that itself arose in the process of tradition-making, the possibilities for renewal abound, particularly when the texts’ readers engage deeply the competing or complementary ideas that coexist within and beyond those of the tradition itself. Never is this truer than with the Bible and with those traditions that attend to its perpetual ability to open doors to God and the things of God.

      The contributors to this volume explore some of the numerous ways in which biblical texts and their interpreters have sought to renew their communities of readers by critical engagement with social structures, philosophical currents, and the community’s uses of authoritative texts, traditions, and practices. The editors have imposed no agenda upon their fellow authors but have grouped their essays into three broad categories: traditions in context, traditions in texts, and renewing contexts. These rubrics reflect the fact that the Bible arose out of a critical interaction with ancient intellectual currents broadly conceived and has continued to function in a long (and far from finished) series of contexts around the world. While these essays make contributions to a range of particular discussions about Israelite and early Christian texts and their later uses down to the present, we can merely collect snapshots of the extraordinary work of art that is the now three thousand year-old tradition of biblical interpretation.

      Traditions, because of their deep rootedness in the currents of human history, must address the basic structures of society, including their potential for adding or subtracting from human well-being. Thus our authors consider issues of music in communal formation (Ferguson), domestic violence against slaves and wives (Fitzgerald), roles of women (Malherbe), and the Gentile mission in early Christian reflection (McNicol).

      Since the biblical tradition centers upon the use of authoritative texts, we must seriously consider the ways in which texts work. Thus our authors consider the rhetorical dimensions of Deuteronomy and Gilgamesh (Hamilton) and of Isaiah 1–5 (J. Willis), the stylistic and aesthetic aspects of Psalm 120 (Marrs), the intersection of christology and to some extent philosophy (Olbricht), the use of philosophy in the making of theology (Sterling), and Paul’s efforts at community formation (Peterson, W. Willis).

      Moreover, the use of these texts continues in ever more robust ways. This ever-generative feature of the biblical tradition creates several issues that need addressing, such as the intersection of the Bible with philosophy (Aquino), the function of preaching (Long), and the nature of reading (Melugin). Of the many examples of biblical interpretation that deserve careful examination, two appear here: the traditions around Damaris from Acts 17 (Childers) and the nature of baptism in the Reformation (Williamson). We respectfully offer this collection to our colleagues in biblical studies and beyond.

      More pertinently, we offer this collection as a token of our affection and admiration of our friend and colleague James Weldon Thompson. The human propensity to honoring persons of achievement, especially when they are friends, is one of the more endearing traits of our species. Those of us who have experienced James’s steadfast friendship, his unaffected style of interaction, and his impatience with pretense and self-promotion think of him as a true credit to biblical studies and the Church.

      James’s work as a scholar speaks for itself. His studies of the letter to the Hebrews and of Paul in their intellectual contexts (especially Middle Platonism) have contributed significantly to the ongoing quest for placing the New Testament in its socio-intellectual setting. Although his publications in this area date back more than thirty years, his best work is occurring now, and we may anticipate path-breaking contributions ahead. His more recent work on preaching and pastoral care in Paul both situate the Apostle in his own world, and just as importantly, offer correctives of some contemporary ministerial practices and invitations for improvements. Since 1993 James has served as the editor of Restoration Quarterly, a significant venue for research in biblical studies, church history (especially of the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement), and contemporary theology. His more popular works make available to a lay audience thoughtful, well-informed, and spiritually rewarding interpretations of much of the New Testament.

      His achievements, however, do not end at the printing press. For more than thirty years, he has taught ministers and others at the Institute for Christian Studies (now Austin Graduate School of Theology) and Abilene Christian University. Students of the past and the present speak of him as a prepared, stimulating, and creative teacher unafraid of experimentation for a new generation of learners. At both institutions he also served as an administrator, first as President of ICS and then as Associate Dean of ACU’s Graduate School of Theology. His colleagues respect his ability to enlist them for work as needed and otherwise to get out of their way, certainly a too rare set of skills in university administrators!

      James has also been an engaged citizen of the varied communities to which he belongs. He has served on innumerable committees in the University. His friends know his devotion to his ecclesial tradition, Churches of Christ, to which he has made significant contributions for more than forty years. Currently he serves as Secretary of the Southwest Region of the Society of Biblical Literature, a challenging task that benefits others far more than the holder of the office.

      Perhaps most of all, it is James the man who inspires the sort of loyalty and respect that would lead friends and colleagues to write a volume such as this one. His devotion to his wife Carolyn, and hers to him, serve as a model for others. Although it is conventional in a Festschrift to utter a few obligatory niceties about the honoree’s spouse, in this case we must do more and note that James and Carolyn enjoy a close partnership. They complement each other to such an extent that each deserves considerable credit for the other’s successes. Carolyn’s work as copyeditor of Restoration Quarterly, as an encourager of many of James’s younger colleagues, as an amateur (but astute) biblical scholar, and as a professor of German in her own right warrant the fullest praise we can give.

      A book like this requires the work of many hands. The editors thank their families and their fellow authors for making this volume possible. Special thanks go to Kelly Shearon and David Skelton, Mark Hamilton’s assistants, for their work in preparing the manuscript for publication. We also are grateful to the College of Biblical Studies at Abilene Christian University and its dean, Jack Reese, for financial support of this project.

      Dag Hammarskjöld once mused that "Except in faith, nobody is humble . . . . And, except in faith, nobody is proud . . . . To be, in faith, both humble and proud: that is, to live, to know that in God I am nothing, but that God is in me."¹ On behalf of a person of faith who is both humble and proud, and thus truly alive, we express our prayers for many years of success ahead.

      Mark W. Hamilton

      Thomas H. Olbricht

      Jeffrey Peterson

      1 Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings (trans. Leif Sjöberg and W. H. Auden; New York: Knopf, 1968), 86 (emphasis in the original).

      Traditions in Context

      1

      Praising God with One Mouth / One Voice

      Everett Ferguson

      The Greek phrases one mouth ( e(n sto/ma ) and one voice ( mi/a fwnh& ) had multiple idiomatic uses, an important one of which had to do with music, especially vocal music. ¹ The principal study that sparked interest in the phrase one voice was by Johannes Quasten, who found in the phrase support for the idea that early Christians favored monophonic singing. ² My wider examination of occurrences of the phrase shows the emphasis on unity and harmony, which Quasten also noted, but not an indication of monophony itself. ³ Indeed there was a recognition by Christian authors of differences in human voices. The main idea in one mouth and one voice was the particpation by all of a given group in a unified expression.

      One Mouth

      The Greek Bible represents some of the principal usages in Greek literature as a whole. Romans 15:6 provides my title and the starting point for this study.

      May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind [to_ au)to_ fronei=n] in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together with one mouth [e0n e(ni\ sto&mati] you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom 15:5–6)

      This prayer is part of Paul’s instructions on unity among Christians in Rome and how to coexist with their differences in customs. He wanted them to live together in harmony, and this unity would find expression in praising God with one accord (o(moqumado&n) as if from one mouth.

      Origen provides the earliest surviving commentary on the verse: For ‘one mouth’ is uttered where one and the same understanding and speech proceeds through the mouths of diverse people.⁴ This seems to be a fair and accurate summary of the import of the phrase from a Christian scholar learned in secular and biblical literature. To the uses of one mouth in that other literature we turn.

      Second Chronicles 18:12 records what a messenger of kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab said to the prophet Micaiah: "Look, the prophets spoke with one mouth [e0n sto&mati e(ni/]⁵ good things concerning the king; let your words be as one of them." These court prophets delivered a common message, words with the same import.

      Particularly important for our study, both for what it says and for its use later, is the introduction to The Song of the Three Youths: Then the three in the furnace as from one mouth [w(j e0c e9no_j sto&matoj] hymned, glorified, and blessed God.⁶ The qualification as or as if was frequently used with the idiom to signal its nonliteral use. The youths’ words in their hymn of praise were the same so that it was as if they spoke with only one mouth.⁷

      The idiom one mouth had long been present in classical Greek. One usage was for a group voicing their viewpoint by acclamation. The playwright Aristophanes has a line, All the council cried out with one mouth (Knights 670).⁸ Plato emphasized common agreement by use of the phrase when he spoke of the universal voice [literally ‘one mouth’] of mankind (Republic 2, 364a). He united the two phrases that are the subject of this study in making his point about unified agreement: With one voice and from one mouth they must all agree that the laws are all good (Laws 1.634e).⁹

      Turning to Christian usage, we find that the earliest noncanonical Christian use of the phrase one mouth was with reference to prayer: When we with harmony in conscience have gathered together in the same place, let us cry to God fervently as from one mouth (1 Clem. 34.7). The emphasis on harmony in the context adds to the sense of united prayer.

      Irenaeus piles up the expressions of oneness in speaking of the church believing and teaching the same faith:

      The church, although scattered throughout the world, carefully preserves [this faith], as living in one house. She likewise believes these things, as having one soul and the same heart, and harmoniously preaches, teaches, and delivers them, as possessing one mouth. (Against Heresies 1.10.2)

      The church everywhere (we allow Irenaeus some exaggeration) adhered to and taught the same message, as if speaking with one mouth.

      The Hortatory Address to the Greeks, falsely ascribed to Justin Martyr and probably from the third century, speaks of the harmony of the pro-phets in revealing the things of God because of their inspiration by the divine Spirit. They gave divine instruction as if with one mouth and one tongue (8).

      Gregory Thaumaturgus’s Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 12:11 says that some people will pass on those wise lessons they have received, as if everyone from one mouth described in unison and in greater detail what was entrusted to them.¹⁰

      Returning to the motif of praising God, we find several fourth-century references. The Apostolic Constitutions in a chapter that refers to both praying and hymning unites heavenly and human beings in glorifying God:

      As all the heavenly natures of the incorporeal powers glorify God harmoniously, so also all human beings on earth with one mouth and one attitude glorify the one true and only God. (7.56.1)¹¹

      The agreement in words of the mouth reflects the inner harmony of disposition. This work is now thought to reflect the hand of a Neo-Arian, specifically Eunomian, compiler, but the same thought is expressed by a champion of the Neo-Nicene cause, Basil the Great. In describing a vigil by his congregation in Caesarea of Cappadocia, he says: All in common as from one mouth and one heart, offer up to the Lord the psalm of confession, each making the words of repentance their own (Letter 207.3). The description speaks of reciting the same words without indicating sameness of tone.

      Basil’s friend, Gregory of Nazianzus, juxtaposes the one voice of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) and Christians with allusion to Romans 15:6:

      We have become one lip, one voice [language] in contrast to those who built the former tower. They were in agreement for evil, but for us the things of harmony are for all the best in order that together we might with one mouth glorify Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Oration 23 [On Peace].3).

      Once more, the emphasis is on the togetherness of the group in its vocal praise rather than on the musical manner.

      A later Latin contemporary, Paulinus of Nola, evoked The Song of the Three to describe Christian song: So let the holy lyre of our combined voices resound as though three tongues were singing with one mouth (Songs 21.275). This statement more nearly evokes the practice of monophony, but even so the context, where an instrument of discordant notes brought into harmony serves as an illustration of vocal harmony, stresses agreement and unity.¹²

      John Chrysostom did not preach on Rom 15:6 in his Homilies on Romans, but he did recall its phraseology. He describes monks rising and having made one choir, with their conscience bright, all as if from one mouth sing hymns harmoniously to the God of all (Homilies on Matthew 68[69].3). He continues in the next section to contrast the songs of monks with the music of the theater: Here the grace of the Spirit sounds forth, employing instead of aulos, kithara, or syrinx, the mouths of the saints (68[69].4).

      He combines the phrases one mouth and one voice in discussing 1 Cor 14:33, but one voice is used literally and only one mouth is used metaphorically. Rebuking his congregation for talking on other matters in church, he pleads for their silence so that the one leading an activity was the only person speaking.

      There ought to be always but one voice in the church, just as there is one body. The one reading speaks alone, and even the bishop sits and maintains silence. The chanter chants alone; although all give the response, the voice is borne as from one mouth. The one who preaches, preaches alone. (Homilies in 1 Corinthians 36.9)

      Chrysostom maintains his point about a single voice at a time by describing the congregational responses to the singing of the Psalms by the chanter as the many voices of the congregation so united as to come from one mouth.

      The unifying theme in these varied uses of one mouth is that of different persons being in agreement, an agreement expressed principally in the same spoken words. This agreement might take the form of acclamations, voicing a common opinion or judgment, teaching the same thing, prayer, or especially praising God in song.

      One Voice

      One voice is a parallel phrase to one mouth, but it is much more frequent and thus offers more variety in usage. Many of these uses are the same as one mouth, and the underlying idea again is agreement or harmony. The phrase sometimes has the literal sense in the forefront, yet some of the metaphorical uses lose a connection with vocal expression. Once more, I begin with texts from the Greek Bible.

      Genesis 11:1 describes all the people of the earth at one time as having one lip and one voice [fwnh_ mi/a], meaning one language.¹³ In Exod 24:3 all the people with one voice gave their acceptance to the words of the Lord delivered to them by Moses. A musical use occurs in 2 Chron 5:13, which states that There was one voice [sound, i.e., harmony] in the trumpeting and singing and proclaiming with one voice of acknowledgement and praise to the Lord. The thought of the Greek translators here could hardly have been of monophonic or strictly unison sound, since trumpeters and singers were both involved, so the emphasis was upon the notes of the instruments and singers being in harmony. In 4 Macc 8:29, when the tyrant tried to persuade the seven brothers to eat defiling food, they all with one voice together, as if from the same soul, refused. Thus was described their united response. These four texts exemplify the meanings for one voice of a common language, united expressions of acceptance (the words of God) or refusal (commands of a pagan ruler), and harmony of musical sounds.

      The New Testament adds specific content to these usages. Acts 24:21 quotes Paul as referring to this one statement [voice] he made concerning the resurrection of the dead.¹⁴ Acclamations or shouting in unison is represented by Acts 19:34, where the mob at Ephesus became one voice, all crying out for about two hours, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ This unison shouting involved all saying the same words together without any necessary implication of the same tone. There is a literal use of the phrase one voice in Rev 9:13, I heard one [a single] voice from the four horns of the altar.

      Classical usage of one voice is even more varied and more extensive. It was noted above that Plato uses one voice with one mouth (Laws 1.634e). The same work witnesses to the classical usage of fwnh& or language: many slaves who speak the same language [voice] (Laws 6.777c). The literal meaning is found in the statement that sound which passes through the mouth whether of all or of an individual is one yet infinite (Philebus 17b). Plato gives an explicit statement to monody, but in the metaphorical language of the harmony of the spheres. In speaking of the seven planets and the Siren, he has the phrase, hymning a single tone [or note, i.e., sound] with the eight forming one harmony (Republic 10, 617b).

      Aristotle shows a literal use of one voice.

      Why does a human being show great variety of voice, but other animals have only one, unless they are of different species? Or, has the human being only one voice, though many varieties of speech [or many languages]. (Problems 10.38, 895a)

      Another literal use appears in an illustration from music. The two [notes] played against one voice [or, sound] make the other note imperceptible (Problems 19.16, 918b). A nonliteral grammatical use of fwnh& occurs in the phrase, affirm a single predicate [meaning, significance] (Interpretation 11, 20b).

      Diodore of Sicily was fond of the phrase and often used it for unison acclamations. They united in acclaiming him [Gelon of Syracuse] with one voice benefactor, savior, and king (Library 11.26.6). Describing agreement on a course of action, he wrote, with one voice they asked their commander to lead them (ibid. 11.19.3). In keeping with the Greek custom of choosing their generals, the multitude cried out in an election as if from one voice (ibid., 16.10.3). (The qualification as if is frequent.) When [Demetrius] had called together an assembly under arms . . ., the crowd shouted with a single [one] voice (ibid. 19.81.2). Always implicit or explicit was the idea that a large number were involved.¹⁵

      Dionysius of Halicarnassus employs the expressions, The Romans cried out with one voice (Roman Antiquities 4.67.2), and one mind and voice (ibid. 6.87.1). Dio Chrysostom expresses harmonious agreement with the phrase, speaking the same language [voice] (Oration 39.3).

      Plutarch uses one voice with some frequency in his extensive works. Sometimes this is literal, In the theater [at Delphi] one voice reaches all (The Obsolescence of Oracles 8; Moralia 414c). Or again, They give the name ‘Seven-voiced’ to the Stoa at Olympia, which reverberates many times from a single utterance [voice] (Talkativeness 1; Moralia 502d). Or, one voice could be used for a phrase, Then expressing this one word [voice], followed by a short quotation (Pompey 72.2). Similarly, So great influence had a flatterer’s one word [voice] (Demetrius 18.7).

      A nonliteral use by Plutarch is indicated by an incident where many were probably not shouting the same words but words that had the same meaning: the soldiers and horsemen were crying out loudly with one voice, ordering the private citizens out of their way (Galba 26.3). The phrase often is used for acclamations, whether spontaneous or organized. One cry [voice] came from all, recognizing Galba as emperor (ibid. 14.5). When Timoleon arrived at the theater, the people would greet him and call him by name with one voice (Timoleon 38.3). The people of Utica assembled together, calling Cato with one voice their benefactor, savior, the only one free and only one unconquered (Cato the Younger 71.1). As a general expression of unity and harmony Plutarch gives this description: a lover of harmony among nations, community of cities, unanimity [one voice] of council and assembly [theater] (Aratus 10.2).

      Plutarch has one usage in a description of musical practice at Greek banquets that closely approximates Christian language: some say that first the guests would sing the god’s song together [koinw~j, ‘in common’], all raising their hymn with one voice (Table-Talk 1.1, Moralia 615b). Then each person who wanted to do so sang individually in turn to the accompaniment of a lyre. These solo performances thus contrasted with the group or unison singing that was characterized as with one voice.

      A work of the first or second century CE ascribed to Apollodorus contains the riddle of the sphinx that uses the word voice with the meaning name: What has one voice [name] and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed? (Library 3.5.8).¹⁶ The answer is a human being, for a person begins by crawling on all fours, learns to walk on two legs, and in old age requires the assistance of a walking stick.

      Lucian of Samosata describes a crowd in a theater displeased with an actor in this way: They all cried out in a single [one] voice (On Dance 76). In another place he speaks of a crowd shouting, All cried out with one voice as if by prearrangement (Nigrinus 14).

      Athenaeus uses one voice to refer to the same language (Learned Banquet 1.6.87 and 2.1) or to making one sound (ibid.1.10.83). Chariton (second century CE?) employs the phrase to introduce a statement, sending forth one voice followed by a quotation (Chaerea and Callirhoe 8.1). The grammarian and rhetor Aelius Herodianus (second century CE) represents the literal meaning, one sound among many languages, and the grammatical sense, they seek two [grammatical] cases in one sound. Cassius Dio contains a literal use of one voice but qualified by if indeed: [M]ention the things which the whole people would have celebrated with one tongue, if indeed they could speak with one voice (Roman History 44.36.2).

      The Neoplatonist Plotinus describes complete unity with the phrase It is as if one voice and one word (Enneads 6.4.14). Toward the close of pagan Greek literature the rhetor Libanius has the phrase, everywhere the same word [voice] (Letters 1350.3).

      Thus we find over the long span of classical Greek literature a variety of uses of one voice, not always as a set idiom: the literal meaning of one sound, standing for a word or a statement, the same spoken language, agreement in attitudes or policies, most frequently in unison acclamations whether staged or spontaneous, and the heavenly bodies singing the same tone or a group singing the same words together.

      Jewish authors picked up the Greek classical and biblical uses of the idiom one voice. Philo quotes Gen 11:1 and then gives an allegorical interpretation of the one lip and one voice as the agreement in evil deeds (Confusion of Tongues 1.1; 5.15). He describes an occasion in Alexandria where the crowd called for the death penalty against Isidorus: "They all cried out together [o(moqumado_n]¹⁷ with one voice" (Flaccus 17.144). In contrast to this shouting out a negative condemnation, there is a positive affirmation recorded by Josephus of the greeting the Jews gave to Alexander the Great: All the Jews together greeted Alexander with one voice (Antiquities 11.8.5, 332).

      The Book of the Similitudes, the latest component of 1 Enoch, often speaks of praying and glorifying with one voice. Thus, [T]he holy ones who dwell in the heavens above will unite with one voice, and supplicate, and pray, and praise, and give thanks, and bless in the name of the Lord of Spirits (47.2).¹⁸

      And all those in the heavens above received a command, and power and one voice and one light . . . [T]hey will all speak with one voice, and bless, and praise, and exalt, and glorify the name of the Lord of Spirits. . . . [A]nd they will raise one voice, and will bless, and praise, and glorify, and exalt (him) . . . and they will all say with one voice: Blessed is he, and blessed be the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever. (61.6, 9, 11)¹⁹

      Although I have limited this study primarily to Greek literature without thorough examination of Latin and Hebrew texts, I note that the late rabbinic Midrash Rabbah on Song of Solomon gives as one interpretation of Song of Solomon 8:13, "When Israel go into their synagogues and recite the shema‘ with devotion, with one voice and with one mind and thought. This kind of recitation is contrasted with reciting inattentively, one before the other, and without fixing their minds on the words" (8.13.2).²⁰ An interpretation of 8:14 is, "When Israel recite the shema‘ with one mouth, one voice, one chant" (8.14.1).²¹

      The Christian edition of the Ascension of Isaiah also has the motif of the angels in heaven praising God with one voice, stated three times. The angels on the right (who had the greater glory) and on the left of the throne in the fifth heaven all sang praises with one voice (7.15).²² In the sixth heaven all the angels were equal, and Isaiah joined in their praise: And there they all named the primal Father and his Beloved, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, all with one voice (8.18). In the seventh heaven there was one whose glory surpassed that of all, and all the righteous from Adam forward and all the angels worshiped him, and they all praised him with one voice, and I also was singing praises with them (9.28). It is difficult to draw conclusions from these statements about the nature of the singing, but since a human joined with the angels (my praise was like theirs; 8.18 and 9.28), the one voice would seem to refer to the content of the united praise and not to the tonal likeness of the sound.

      This Jewish Christian theme of the righteous joining the angels in praising God with one voice occurs also in the Apocalypse of Peter 19. The righteous were in a place of bliss where angels were present, and All who dwell there had an equal glory, and with one voice they praised God the Lord, rejoicing in that place.²³

      This heavenly praise was a model for the earthly church. Ignatius of Antioch uses a comparison from instrumental music to express the unity desired in the congregation but then describes Christian practice as vocal music.

      For your justly famous presbytery, worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, as strings to a kithara. On account of this by your unanimity and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is being sung. Now each of you together become a choir so that being harmoniously in unanimity and receiving the keynote from God in unity, you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father. (Ephesians 4.1–2)

      The emphasis in the passage is clearly on unity and harmony. The unison singing might have been monodic, but what Ignatius seems to have had in mind was the whole congregation participating in a harmony that found expression in singing the same thing. Unison tonality would not seem to be required by one voice any more than by other words in the description; if it was practiced, that would have to be

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