Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

corpus-paul - Re: synagogues) in Thessalonika

corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Corpus-Paul

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Frank W. Hughes" <fwhughes AT sunbeach.net>
  • To: Corpus-paul <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: synagogues) in Thessalonika
  • Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 14:26:22 -0300

Jeffrey Gibson asked:
>At the risk of showing my ignorance here, is there any archaeological
>evidence that backs up the claim in Acts 17:1 that there was at least
>one synagogue in Thessalonika in mid first cent. CE? Any documentation
>of a Jewish presence in the city? And if so, any indication of just how
>large/influential it was?
To which Edgar Krentz responded:
To my knowledge none! There is eveidence, from the second century, of a
Samaritan presence. The person to contact about this is either Holland
Hendrix or Helmut Koester.
When I was in Thessaloniki in 1987 with Karl Donfried, we were asking that question as well.  The only synagogue that had been found archaeologically, as I understood the situation then, was a Samaritan synagogue, coming from after the time of Paul.  The basic problem is that the current city of Thessaloniki is built on top of the ancient city.  So a lot of archaeological questions that certainly can be asked are going to be impossible to answer without digging up the current city of Thessaloniki!  Of course at the same time as one tries to find a first century Jewish synagogue in Thessaloniki, one needs to deal with 1 Thessalonians 1:9 where Paul said to his converts, ". . . you turned to God from idols. . . ."  The majority of commentators on 1 Thessalonians have taken this as a strong indication of the completely or mostly Gentile nature of the Thessalonian church.  I agree with this.  My belief is that this is a classic case of what Acts says about Paul's ministry vs. what Paul says about his own ministry.  On 1 Thessalonians see my article, "The Rhetoric of 1 Thessalonians," in Raymond F. Collins, ed., The Thessalonian Correspondence (BETL 87; Leuven: Peeters, 1990) 94-116.  See also Karl Donfried's article, the first one in the same volume, entitled "1 Thessalonians, Acts and the Early Paul," pp. 3-26.

All best wishes,
Frank W. Hughes
Lecturer in NT Studies
Codrington College
Barbados
New phone & fax 246-423-1147



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page