Corpus-Paul

["Mark D. Nanos" <nanosmd AT comcast.net>]

Title: Re: [Corpus-Paul] Acts 18:2 expulsion

Calvin McCain wrote:
> Acts 18:2
> 2 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.
> Hello All:
>  
> I was wanting some information on the parenthetical remark in the above verse. What was the motive behind such banishment? Was the deteriorated relation between Claudius and Herod Agrippa a source of the expelling? Did he view all Jews as conspirers? Puzzled?????
>
> Calvin,
> This topic was discussed last Oct., which can be accessed at the former Corpus-Paul site: http://franklin.oit.unc.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=corpus-paul
> and then search for:
>
> Tensions in Rome
> Expulsion of Jews under Claudius

> In addition to useful discussion, some bibliography is mentioned. One matter to be resolved is the extent of the expulsion that effected the Acts 18:2 reference, another is the reason for the expulsion, yet another is when it occurred. Mitigating factors for thinking it involved all the Jews of Rome or had anything to do with confession of Christ include:
> - that full-scale expulsion of the Roman Jewish population is not mentioned in any other sources (e.g., Philo or Josephus); 
> - would have been problematic for many reasons, not least that some were citizens and could not be so easily expelled; 
> -and the writer of Acts can have leading Jews in Rome in 28:22 only vaguely aware of some disturbances that have been the result of the Christ-believing groups!
> - in addition, the sources that mention any such action are from later writers and do not agree in their descriptions and are not clear just when in Claudius' reign this occurred.
> -among others... see my The Mystery of Romans, which has an appendix with extensive discussion on this matter.
>
> Regards,
> Mark
> -
> Mark D. Nanos, Ph.D.