The blinding of ?

aul: Observations to a theme

N il s A k s e l R0SG

Let me state a puzzle ^s a point of introduction to my topic: In his own

account o f his call or a v e r s i o n , ?aul does not mention that he was
blinded outside of Damascus. Rather, what ?aul says is that God pleased
to reveal his Son to him (1a pokalypsai, apokalypsis; Gal 1:16.12). He also
has two more references to this: Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord?5 (1 Cor
9:1), and [Christ] appeared [literally: was seen, fthe] also to m e5 (1 Cor
15:8). These three very brief versions by ?aul him self are told several
years after the Damascus ^ e r i e n c e , some fifteen years or so. As such
they may be the output of ? a u ls long reflection of the incident, first for
three days in Damascus (Acts 9:9) and then during the following years.
However, Luke brings three much longer and more vivid accounts of
the same incident, in Acts ch. 9, 22 and 26. In all of these, and especially
in ch. 9 and 22, a core element is that ?aul saw nothing and was blinded
because of the bright light that suddenly appeared, and that even his com-
panions did not see or hear anything. To be more precise. Acts 9:7 says
that the companions heard the voice while Acts 22:9 states that they did
not hear the voice. Anyway, both these versions agree that they saw no
one, which seems to be the main point/

A il investigation o f blindness and seeing as a literary

m otif
O f course 1 am not the first person to be baffled about this. Is the m otif of
blinding/seeing nothing but a literary d e lo p m e n t in Acts? 1 will argue
elsewhere that the two versions need not to be in conflict,2 but even if the

1 For an extended discussion, see for example Witherington, Ben: The Acts o f the Apostles:
A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 302 ,? ff.
2 As for the blindness, there seems to be tliree options: 1. It may stem from Faul him self
and the actual incident outside Damascus, 2. It may derive from embellishment in the oral
tradition that Luke received about Pauls ex^rience. 3. The motif may come from Luke
himself. But on closer examination, it appears to be one o f the five constant factors in all
60 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

historical actuality might not be recoverable, it is still of interest to exam-

ine the literary level and its cross-connections.3 Blindness/seeing S a basic
metaphor o f religious language. The theme appears to be a significant
subject. It pays off to pursue it; it is both stimulating and interesting. From
the above it is motivated to ask more broadly for the phenomenon o f such
blindness/seeing as a literary motif. This is my present objective. To my
notice, few have asked systematically for the theme o f blindness and see-
ing, starting from the above cluster o f texts. These passages toemselves do
invite us to search for this opposition and its ^ectrum .
It is natural to ask for not seeing before seeing. In the following I
will look for both in three directions: 1. The gospels, Luke in particular,
with a brief outlook to the rest of the New Testament, 2. The Old Testa-
ment with Lukan reverberations, and 3. H ^ mirtic-Roman literature. My
two main research questions are: L Where do we find blindness/seeing,
litoral as well as ^ t^ h o r i c a l ? Obviously the ^ t ^ h o r i c a l use presup-
poses the litoral. 2. How is this theme used? What does it mean? Are there
any n n e c ti o n s or Smilarities between the o u r r e n c e s ? In the material
presented in the following, I will stick to what I have found to be some of
the most crucial passages.

1.1 N ew Testament ^ rsp e e tiv e s - baek into Luke and the

other gospels
Let us first turn to the New Testament. (1) The closest parallel is the
transfiguration on the mountain. Acts 9:?f says, as we saw: The men who
were travelling with him, stood ^ e c h le s s , hearing the voice but seeing
no one. Saul arose from the ground; and when his eyes were opened, he
could see nothing. In the toansfiguration it says - and for our purpose
here we quote Luke o f course: Now ?etor and those who were with him
were heavy with sleep, and when they wakened they saw his glory and the
two men who stood with him (Luke 9:32). We observe that this verse

three Lukan ersions o f the story, so it ^well point back from Luke and be part of
informal controlled oml tradition. See especially Dunn, James D. G.: Jesus in Oral
Memory, in Donnelly, Doris, ed.: Jesus: A Colloquium in the H oly Land, New
York/London: Continuum, 2001, 94ff; Bailey, Kenneth E.: Informal Controlled Oml
Tradition and the Synoptic Gospels, A sia Journal o f Theology 5 (1991), 34-54, reprinted
in Themelios 20:2 (1995), 4-11.
Here we cannot go into the psychological aspects o f the story either. These are certainly
interesting, too. Cf. for example Pilch, John: Visions andH ealings in the Acts o f the Apostles:
How the Early Believers Experienced G od, C lleg er tlle, Minn: Liturgical Fress, 2004.
 SE 71, 2006 161

with the sleep is inserted by Luke; it is not in Mark or Matthew. We note

that it introduces a moment of not seeing into the story, if not by blindness
then by keeping. It seems that Luke has rap h asized the toeophany by this
element. In both Acts 9 and Luke 9, there is a sequel o f first not seeing or
keeping and then seeing and understanding. Accordingly, we find that this
is a special interest with Luke.
(2) The conversion o f Saul in Acts and the transfiguration in Luke 9 are
also close to the resurrection appearances. In these the witnesses are not
blinded, but they do not find the body, they are perplexed (aporeisthai),
and certainly see nothing except angels at the grave, who speak to them
(Luke 24:1-12 pars). Here, too, we have an important meeting with the
mysterious and ttnscendent.
(3) Lukeshand is probably visible in the following passage, the Emmaus
story (Luke 24:13-35), which is again special material. Blindness is not
reported directly for the two disciples, but it is said that some of us went to
the tomb, and found itjust as the women had said, but him they did not see,
they only saw angels who said he was alive (v.23f). It is also said on the
road that their eyes were kept from recognizing him (v.16). Obviously,
however, the two disciples were made to see, when at the end they say to
each other: Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the
road, while he opened to us the S ip tu r e s ? (v.32). ?aradoxically this
recognition takes place ju stas Jesus had vanished out oftheir sight (v.31).
In vv. 25-27, Luke connects seeing to the Scriptures: Oh foolish men,
and slow at heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! This theme
he follows up in the preaching o f ?eter (Acts 3:18-21), Stephen (Acts
6:10; 7:2ff), ?hilip (Acts 8:30ff), ?aul and Barnabas (Acts 9:20.22.28f;
11:26; 13:15ff; 17:2f.l0f; 18:5.9), and Apollos (Acts 18:24-28).
(4) That very feature, which seems to be another specific concern of
Lukes, is strongly present in Luke 24, repeated in the ending in VV.44-
53: Then he opened their minds to understand the S ^ p tu re s . We find it
anew in Acts 26, where again Jesus quotes the S ^ p tu re s: the commission
of ?aul in Acts 26:16-18 alludes clearly to Jer l:5 ff and Isaiah 42:7. This
final commission of ?aul may be compared both to the transfiguration and
to Jesus commission o f the eleven in Mt 28:16-20/1 ,like 24:36-49/M ark
16:14-19 and fohn21:19-23.
In the n v ^ s i o n story itself (Acts 9 and 22), however, there is no direct
r^erence to the Scriptures; this appears only in ? a u ls subsequent preaching
62 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

in Damascus (9:20ff) and in Acts 26 etc. Accordingly, it seems that the

initial story outside Damascus was a bit different in preceding oral tradition.
(5) Luke is also alone among the synoptics, but in common with the gos-
pel o f John, to narrate the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples, Luke
24:36-43 : Again this is a sudden ^ pearance, and the disciples are startled
n d frightened (ptothentes kai emfoboi). They are not blinded, there is no
strong light, but they certainly do not see and do not believe. They are
troubled and questioning in their hearts, and hence admonished to see my
hands and my feet, that it is myself; handle me, and see; for a spirit has not
flesh and bones that you see that I have (v.39). In John, as known, this is
repeated and intensified with Thomas being present. In Luke 24:42 we
have instead the eating o f a piece of broiled fish (compare John 21:1-14).
We have thus pointed out five passages in a line. Luke, however, does
not have the ^p earan ce to Mary from Magdala (John 20:11-18, cf. Mk
16:9-11), which is also quite a memorable scene o f not seeing/under-
standing followed by recognition. What John gives here, Luke gives in-
stead in the story of the travellers to Emmaus (cf. Mark 16:12f).
We can make some distinctions in the above material in Luke. These also
indicate that the material is part of a continuum: First, some stories, as the
Emmaus incident, appear at first to involve no extraordinary seeing, only
Scriptures. But the risen Jesus ^ v e r s i n g the disciples is in itself something
extraordinary. Secondly, some stories involve the seeing of and speaking of
angels, which must be said to be extraordinary. Thirdly, two stories in
specific involve bright light and other X raordinary seeing with a heav-
enly voice as well, such as the transfiguration (glory, Moses and Elijah)
and the calling/conversion o f ?aul. In the fransfiguration moreover, there
is an element of momentary exclusiveness: And they kept silence and
told to no one in those days anything ofw hat they had seen (Luke 9:36b).

1.2 ?hysical and m etaphorical blindness as a prominent theme

If not blinding, at least blindness is a prominent theme in the gospel tradi-
tion. We have already observed it in the calling o f Saul, and in the trans-
figuration and the r u r r e c tio n stories. It is also prominent in other meet-
ings with Jesus through his way. There are several such examples in Luke:
(1) Luke 18:35-43/ Mark 10:46-52 about Bartimaeus, the blind man
outside of Jericho. Mark alone names him. In Mart 20:29-33 two blind
men are given sight and go on to follow Jesus to see his faith in torusalem.
 SE 71, 2006 163

Matthew has two blind men in 9:27-31, too, followed by a deaf. This
seems to be a parallel.
(2) The other story o f a blind man in the synoptics is the special mate-
rial on the blind at Bethsaida in Mark 8:22-26. That story, however,
seems to be a plain healing story without any subsequent following. Ac-
cordingly, it has less of explicit christological recognition. The symbolic
element is not voiced. This man is not named by Mark.
(3) In Luke ll:14-23/M ark 3:22-33 we have a dumb demon that is ex-
pelled, leading to the B e^zebul controversy. In Matthew 12:22-24 this
man is both blind and dumb. In any case, in all gospels the opponents of
Jesus appear as blind.
(4) In the temple, too, The blind and the lame5 come to Jesus according
to Matthew 21:14. Luke brings the theme o f the lame in the temple in
Acts 3 :lf f and 5:15f. The man here had been lame all his life, which
seems to mean that he was born like that, just as the man born blind in
John 9. When he now leaps up, all the people saw him walking and prais-
ing God (Acts 3:9). It seems that Matthew takes an interest in the m otif
of blindness as well, and expands it. By contrast, Matthew brings con-
demnations on the blind guides, the scribes and the ?harisees (23:16f, 24).
(5) But Luke also takes special interest in the blind, in two passages of
special material in ch. 14: first in the teaching on humility (vv.7-14), whe-
re The poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind are to be invited to the
feast (v.13), and then once more in the parable of the great supper (vv.15-
24), when again The poor and maimed and blind and lame are specified
as guests to be invited (v.21). In John 5:3 too, the blind and the lame and
the paralysed are grouped as needy.
(6) Luke ty ^ M a tth e w 15:14 also brings a parable on judging others:
Can a blind man lead a blind? Witt they not both fall into a pit? And in
Luke 6:42f/Matthew 7:3-5 we find the saying about the speck in the
brothers eye and the lodge in ones own.
(7) More important is the seeing of The kingdom o f God. The king-
dom is a hidden secret, yet seen by some. It is already present here, and
still not yet entirely so. In Luke 2:29f the preparation is ended by these
words from Simeon: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou
hast prepared in the presence o f all peoples, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel. There is a direct line from
this saying to the double commission o f Saul both to the nations and to
164 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

Israel in Acts 26:16ff, 22:15 and 9:15. In addition to seeing, light to the
nations is one o fL u k es main themes.
In fact, Luke opens his two-volume work by referring to those who
from the beginning were e ^ i t a e s s e s (Luke 1:2). That is also the crite-
rion for the twelve (Acts l:21f).
However, there is an ambiguity in this seeing o f the kingdom, as attested
by two more sayings on eyes and seeing in Lukes gospel. One is the well
known l?:20f: The kingdom o f God is not coming with signs to be ob-
served; nor will they say, Lo,here it is! or There! for behold, the kingdom
ofG od is in the midst o fy o u ( 1entos hymin). The other is 10:23f: Then turn-
ing to the disciples he said privately, Blessed are the eyes that see what
you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what
you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
(8) Johns parallel to the blind men in the synoptics is of course the
man born blind in ch. 9. Here the combination o f literal and ^ ^ p h o r i c a l
blindness is exposed, especially since when the man becomes seeing, the
non-believers turn out to be blind: For judgement I came into this world
that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become
blind (v.39). Jesus opens the eyes o f the blind (John 11:37). Thereby the
glory o f God can be seen. Even more than in Matthew and in Luke the
^ ta p h o ric a l dimension ofblindness is clarified. In John it is connected to
light, one ofthe grand themes in that gospel (cf. 9:5 etc.).
To sum up: we have found at least eight occurrences ofblindness in the
gospels, and Luke takes part in four o f them. But Mark, Matthew and John
share this interest, too.
Here the blind man outside o f Jericho plays a special role in the plot,
leading up to an understanding of Jesus death and the following of him.
A similar role is played by the position o fth e man born blind in John 9,
which is also connected to the events in forusalem. But even in Mark 8 the
blind man at Bethsaida comes just before the turning point in the middle
o fth e story: the confession of Peter, the beginning o fth e passion predic-
fions, the saying on following and the transfiguration.
In total we have identified at least 5 + 4 = 9 passages on not see-
ing/seeing in Luke-Acts. We may visualize our observations in the ap-
pended table 1, which follows the theme of literal and ^ ta p h o ric a l blind-
ness. This theme can be followed further into the theme of baptism, cf.
Acts 9:18f; Eph 1:16-23; 5:14 etc.
 SE 71, 2006 165

2.1 Old Testam ent ^ rsp e e tiv e s with Lukan reverberations -

the book o f Isaiah in partieular
We saw that Luke has a strong interest in the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:2 ?
32, 45; Acts 1:16; 8:32, 35; 17:2; 17:11; 18:24 etc.). Now, there are quite
a number o f references to blindness in the Old Testament, both literal and
^ ^ p h o r ic a l. Has Luke - or the tradition applied by Luke - read and
made some use of the following? Was his theological picture informed by
them? According to this quest, I will first present the passages and then
also mention some of their Lukan and New Testament reverberations:
(1) Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who
gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? I will help you
to speak and teach you what to say (Ex 4:11). The stories of the calling of
?aul and the calling ofM oses do have a couple o f similarities: blindness
and ^ te n e s s . It is a basic tenet that God has power over sight, hearing
and p eak in g as well as over fate, life and death (cf. Hannah in Sam 2
etc., reflected by Mary in Luke l:46ff). Besides this, both in Ex 3:14 LXX
etc. and in Acts 9:5 we have the s^-identification by T am (eg eimi).
(2) The Lord opens the eyes of the blind (?salm 146:8). Also this
more general saying may belong to the background both of the several
stories of blind in the gospels and of the conversion/calling of ?aul. Jesus
him self does the work o f the Lord. In the LXX the rendering of this verse
is that God opens the eyes of the wise, sfoi. Thus the transferred meaning
is emphasized.
(3) However, especially in the book oflsaiah the theme of blindness is
prominent, and then in two ways. On the one hand, the Lord makes blind:
Be stunned and amazed, blind yourself and be sightless ... The Lord has
brought over you a deep sleep; he has sealed your eyes . . . he says to
Ariel, the city o f Jerusalem (Isa 29:9f). Again, the Lord has power. Inci-
dentally, we noted above that Luke 9:42 inserts the element of sleep into
the story of the fransfiguration.
On the other hand, the Lord is once more said to open the eyes o f the
blind: Tn that day, the deaf will hear the words o f the scroll, and out of
doom and darkness the eyes o f the blind will see (Isa 29:18, a continua-
tion and reversal o f the previous passage). This promise o f salvation is
continued in Isa 35:5f: Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened up and
the ears o f the deaf be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and
the mute tongue shout for jo y . The answer to John the Baptist in Luke
66 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

7:21-23 par. quotes and reflects this (and Jer 31:8) both literally and sym-
bolically, cf. also ^ t t h e w 15:29-31.
The same m otif of salvation is repeated in Isa 42:6f: 1, the Lord, have
called you in ri^teousness. 1 will hold o fyour hand. 1 will keep you
and make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the gentiles,
to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release
from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. This is very similar to Isa
61 :I f on proclaiming freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners. We observe that Luke quotes these passages in two
very prominent places in his narrative: at the introduction (Luke 4:16ff) of
Jesus exposition of Isaiah 61 :I f in the synagogue of Nazareth, and then
again in Acts 26:16-18 in the third and final account of ?au ls calling,
where his commission is given by Jesus himself, quoting Isa 42:7.
Accordingly, we find that Luke is very well aware of the blindness theme.
He begins with it and ends with it. We have it in Isa 32:3f, too: Then the
eyes o f those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who
will hear will listen. The mind o f the rash will know and understand, and
the hamm ering tongue will be fluent and clear. What we see when our
eyes are opened to m ^erstand the Scriptures, is that there are many
points o f similarities/connections between Luke and the book o f Isaiah.
(4) This continues; in Isa 42:14, 16 the Lord says: For a long time I
have kept silent, I have been silent and kept m yself back. But now ... I
will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I
will guide them. I will turn the darkness into light before them ... I will
not forsake them. But those who trust in idols, who say to images You
are our gods will be turned back to utter shame. Is not this exactly what
Luke tells of ? a u ls story from outside Damascus?
Here Acts 17:22ff on idols in Athens is but one example of similarity
(as is ?aul him self in Corinth, Cor 8:4-6). The re u rrin g rescuing of
?aul in Acts from prisons and from the slanders of both Jews and gentiles
is another reverberation. ? a u ls way and his proclamation to both Jews
and gentiles is a third case. The commission o f Acts 26:16-18 mentions
his previous foiling to the ground, election from now, proclaiming light to
the gentiles and salvation both from his own people and from the nations.
(5) The other side o f this is that Israel is both blind and deaf, cf. Isa
42:18ff: Hear you deaf; Look, you blind, and see! Who is blind but my
servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one
committed to me, blind like the servant o fth e Lord? You have seen many
 SE 71, 2006 167

things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear noth-
ing ... this is a people plundered and looted.
Now, in the narrative o f Luke-Acts, this story repeats itself.4 First, of
course, it is the story of Jesus and Israel. The leaders of Israel and their
people reject the Messiah: T 0 you it has been given to know the secrets
of the kingdom o f God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing
they may not see, and hearing they may not understand (Luke 8:10 pars).
Again, this is a quote from Isaiah, this time 6:9f: Go toll this people: Be
ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiv-
ing. Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and
close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their
ears, mtoerstand with their hearts, and turn and be healed. This verse is
alluded to in Luke 5:31 pars, and the whole saying is taken up in the con-
elusion of Acts 28:26f, so it plays a prominent part in the rtructure. The
plundering and looting o fth e people is perhaps alluded to in Luke 20:43f,
which is again alluding to Isaiah 29:2-4.
Then the story repeats itself in the proclamation o f Stephen, Acts 6:8-
7:60. His preaching of Jesus is rejected by Israel, as they had earlier mal-
treated Josef, been disobedient to Moses and rejected the prophets. The
watchmen of Israel are blind; they all lack knowledge ... they love to
sleep ... they are shepherds who lack understanding (Isa 56:10ff).
Thirdly, the killing of Stephen leads directly to the spreading o f the
gospel to the gentiles (Acts 8:lff) and eventually to the calling of a new
servant ofthe Lord, Saul. While Israel was formerly the servant ofth e Lord,
because of their blindness and deafness and lack of attenfiveness, new
servants and messengers are now raised up. It is they who are now taking
over the task of Israel from the later parts o fth e book o f Isaiah: Lead out
those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. All the
nations gather together and the peoples assemble ... You are my witness,
declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen (Isa 43:8ff).
In short, the o n n ectio n between Luke-Acts and the book of Isaiah
seems to be quite strong. Especially the many links to its latter parts are
clearly visible. Throughout Luke-Acts the movement from darkness to
light is used as a metaphor for salvation in r^erence to Isaianic ideas. We
find it already from the prophecies of Zechariah in Luke 1:76-79 (Isa 9:2;

4 Cf. Moessner, D. p.: The Christ must suffer: New Light on Jesus, Peter, Stephen,
Paul: Parallels in Luke-Acts, N o v T 28 (1986), 220-256.
168 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

42:7), and of Simeon in Luke 2:29-32 (Isa 40:5; 42:6; 49:9.6; 49:13). We
find it also in the preaching o f ?aul and Barnabas in Antioch in ?isidia.
Acts 13:47 (Isa 49:6 again). That is a reflection of Jesus paradigmatic
speech in Luke 4:18. Luke obviously knew these verses well. Had he also
heard ?aul use them?

2.2 Seeing and not seeing in the Old Testament with Lukan
reverberations
A p ^ allel investigation to that o f blind and blindness can be made on
the topic o f seeing. According to Acts, Saul did not see Jesus because of
the sudden and very strong light in the middle o f the day. This, of course,
brings us to the theophany traditions.
(1) A good place to start is once more Isaiah 6, this time already from
v.lff. From what we have observed above, it is quite probable that Luke
was familiar with this text, too. But in Acts it is all a bit different. We
make some observations: 1) While Isaiah sees the Lord and his throne and
his urroundings very clearly in the temple and also hears the trishagion,
Saul sees nothing but the strong light, and his companions do not even
hear the voice (Acts 22:9). In some sense, then, the situation is irtensified.
2) While Isaiah cries out his Woe to me . . . , ?aul simply falls to the
ground as struck. While it is not said directly, Isaiah probably fell to the
ground, too, in proskynesis. The position of Saul is unknown; artists USU-
ally paint him on his back. 3) In Acts moreover, there are no seraphim, or
angels. They are not y a k in g . The one voice we hear is the Lords - that
is Jesus. In Acts, Jesus and the Lord appear to be one (9:5).5 4) Moreover,
^onem ent o f sin is not mentioned, ?erhaps we may take it as presup-
posed. In Acts, it is Ananias who fulfils the role of ^ s s e n g e r o f the Lord.
He is the first to say Here I am, Lord, send m e (9:10b). And he is the one
to bring ?aul to atonement by Ceansing, that is, to baptism (9:18). 5) The
message confined to Isaiah is not the one confined to ?aul. Isaiah is told
directly that his message would shut ears and close eyes, ?aul is told to be
an i^ r u m e n t to carry my name before the Gentile nations and kings and
before the sons of Israel (in that order. Acts 9:15; cf. 22:14 and 26:16-
18). The consequences may however turn out to be the same, as we saw in

I am simply referring to the textual leel. There are strong discussions on identifications
o f Jesus as Lord and God in present New Testament h o la r sh ip . A recent 0erew
and a contribution as well is to be found in Hurtado, Tarry w .: L ord Jesus Christ: Devo-
tions to Jesus in Lartiest Christianity, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.
 SE 71, 2006 169

the two quotations from Isaiah 6 in Acts 28:25ffby Paul and in the par-
able chapter by Jesus (Luke 8:9f pars; cf. also Ps 69:23; Rom 11:10; Ps

115:5 135:16
So, while we find it very probable that Luke had the calling o f Isaiah in
mind, we see that he also made a number o f adaptations to it.
(2) Otherwise, we find that seeing God is a very difficult and paradoxical
thing both in the calling of Paul and in the Old Testament. The general
picture is that this is outright impossible, even to Moses. Here, Acts and the
Old Testament agree. Men can see the works ofGod, his acts o f salvation, his
glory, the pillar o f smoke and fire, the cloud, or even his angels, his heavenly
court ofseraphim, but not himself. Even with the ^ tria rc h s the sight o f God
is exceptional. Yet it may happen. The best Old Testament illustrations of
this ambiguity are some passages about Moses, Elijah and the people of
Israel. In the story of the transfiguration there are in fact strong connec-
tions to the Old Testament with the r^erence to Moses and Elijah. Some
o f our most significant findings are collected in the appended table 2.
We see that seeing God is reserved to exceptional cases, which is ex-
actly the point. It may befall Moses and prophets like Micha ben Jimia or
Isaiah, in exceptional cases even the elders of Israel. It may befall patri-
archs. It may even befall righteous, upright men.
It remains to be noted that light and lightening are regular features in
the Old Testament theophanies (for example Exod 19:6; 2 Sam 22:15).
But in Acts we must rather speak about a christophany.
All these passages may well provide a background to the calling of
Paul. Paul, however, was not a righteous man. That is the peculiar thing
about his calling. Paul was a persecutor, as he him self underscores (1 Cor
15:9; Gal 1:1323 ). God is here calling his enemy. 1 suppose this is re-
fleeted by Paul himself in Romans 5 :1 -1 1 which may also be read as an
autobiographical text.
The cloud o f the Lord in the Old Testament and his sh a k in g from it
may also be the background for this phenomenon in the fransfiguration
(Luke 9:34f). This cloud, nefel, is common in all synoptics, but Matthew
calls it bright or shining, fdtein.
Others, too, have pointed to n n e c ti o n s between Luke-Acts and the
Old Testament. Lukes use of the Old Testament, quite apart from his 45
70 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

direct quotations, has attracted considerable attention in some studies.6

Luke has so shaped his story in the manner of Old Testament language,
themes, structure, organization etc. that he appears consciously to write
biblical history. Here he seems to go even beyond Matthew, John and
Mark. Brodie has suggested that Lukes foundational model was the
Elijah-Elisha narrative.^ When I read that narrative through I am time and
again struck by the parallels to the stories ofJohn the Baptizer and Jesus.
To sum up: Above we have pointed in specific both to the foeophany
and to the prophetic calling. The rejection by the people is also decisive.
Here, seeing and not seeing appears as a crucial issue. It is in fact also
possible to investigate Lukes use of the Old Testament in terms of the
H ^ e n istic literary practice known as imitatio (mimesis). This method was
one of the basic dements in rhetorical education and method from the
time of Plato and Aristotle and well beyond the rhetoric as evidenced for
example in Lukes ^ te m p o r a r y Quintilian (Inst. Or. 3.5.1 etc.; imitatio
is placed aside talent, theory and training). So, now it is time to turn to
some H ^enistic-R om an pespecfives.

3.1 ? esp e c tiv e s from the Hellenistic-Roman literature

When we go to this material, we are entering a somewhat different world.
But it should certainly not be neglected: an H ^ e n istic ^ m e n t a r y to the
New Testament is much welcome.9 It is just as important as a Rabbinic

6 For example Arnold, B. T.: Lukes ^aracterizing Use o f the Old Testament in the Book
o f A cts, in Witherington, Ben, ed.: History, Literature, and Society in the Book o f Acts,
Cambridge: UnAersity Fress, 1996, 300-323; Green, Joel B.: Irternal Repetition in Luke-
Acts: Contemporary Narratology and Lukan H itottography, in Wtherington, Ben, ed.:
History, Literature, and Society in the Book o f Acts, Cambridge: University Press, 1996,
283-299; Rosner, Brian s.: Acts and Biblical History, in Winter, Bruce and A. D. Clarke,
eds.. The Book o f Acts in its A ncient Literary Setting, vol. 1, Grand Rapids, Mi: Eerdmans,
1993, 65-82; Fitzmyer, j. A.: The use o f the OH Testament in Luke-Acts, in SBL 1992
Seminar Papers (vol. 31), Atlanta: Scholars Fress, 1992; Brodie, T. L.: Towards Unravel-
ing the Rhetorical Imitation o f Sources in Acts: 2 Kings 5 as one C m ponent o f Acts 8 ,9 -
4 0 , Bblica 67 (1986), 41-67; Brodie, T. L.: Towards R a v e llin g Lukes Use o f the Old
Testament: Luke 7.11-17 as an Imitatio o f 1 Kings 17.17-24, N TS 32 (1986), 247-267.
^Brodie, T. L.: Luke-Acts as an Imitation and Emulation o f the Elija-Elisha Narrative, in
Richard, Earl, ed .:New Views on Luke and Acts, Collegeville, Minn: Liturgical Fress, 1990.
8 Cf. Sandnes, Karl Olav: Paul, One o fth e Prophets? A Contribution to the Apostle s Self-
Understanding (WUNT 2,43), Tbingen: Mohr, 1991.
9 Cf. for example Boring, M. Eugene, Klaus Berger and Carsten Colpe, eds.: Hellenistic
Commentary to the New Testament, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995; Sampley, Paul: Paul
in the Greco-Roman World: A Handbook, Harrisburg: Trinity Press, 2003, and in general
the works o f A. Malherbe, w . A. Meeks, D. Aune and many others.
 SE 71, 2006 171

one.10 Archaeology and texts point in the direction that the world of ?aul
and the first Christians was both a local and regional one, and at the
same time a cosmopolitan one.
Some sa m p le s: In Acts 26:14, Luke almost makes Jesus quote the
Greek dramatists (Aeschylos, Agamemnon 1624; Prometheus 325; Eurip-
ides, Bacchae 795; ?indar, Pythian Ode 2.94f; Julianus, Or. 8.246b etc.).
It may be that this is an allusion to a common proverb, but in any case it
seems to stem from literature. A similar case is Cor 15:32-33. O f the
few remaining quotations and allegations to Greco-Roman literature in the
New Testament, several also stem from Euke-Acts (Acts 17:28; 20:35).
Euke, like Mark (cf. 7:3f), writes into the Greco-Roman world.
In what respect is this world somewhat different when it comes to the
subject of blindness and seeing o f the divine? In what respects is it simi-
lar? I will limit the present investigation first to a comparative look at two
vision reports, and then to some observations on seeing and blindness in
the gospels in a comparative perspective.

3.2 Vision reports - a genre with two eomparative s a m p le s

It has been proposed that a variety of New Testament vision reports are
in s tru c te d on a base o ^ id e s p re a d traditional material.13 Here, the paral-
lels can be spontaneous/independent or they can be genetically/inter-
textually depending on each other. For example, there are good reasons to
think that the calling o f Saul in Luke refers also to the callings of Moses,
Isaiah and other prophets, as argued above. It is more uncertain whether it
refers to visions of Asclepius, Isis, Demeter or other gods. There have
been discussions of ^ ra ll^ o m a n ia and regarding history ofreligion the
question o f similarity/ d i^ m ila rity has been raised.15

10 The tradition from Strack-Billerbeck.

Cf. for example Cill, D. w..Behindthe Classical Facade: Local Religions in the Roman
Empire, in Clarke, A. D. andB. w. Winter, eds.: One God, OneLord: Christianity in a World
o fR eligious Pluralism, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992, 85-100; Wallace, Richard and Wynne
Williams: The Three Worlds o fP a u l ofTarsus, London/ New York: Routledge, 1998.
Cf. for example Thiede, Carsten Peter: The Cosmopolitan World o f Jesus: New Light
fro m Archaeology, London: STCK, 2004.
Boring et al, Hellenistic Commentary, 319.
14 Sandmel, Samuel: Parallelomania, JBL 81 (1962).
For sa m p le Mller, K.: Die religionsgeschichtliche Methode: En^gungen zu ihrem
Verstndnis und zur Praxis ihrer Vollzge an neutestamentlichen Texten, B Z N F 29
(1985), 161-192.
72 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

The genre o f vision reports is an interesting case.16 Several factors can

be seen as important: 1) Sometimes one vision fades into another, with the
turning around o f the visionary placed between the visions and linking
them; cf. John 20:14 She [Mary from Magdala] turned around and saw
Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 2) The question
Who are you, and the sequel answer I am , often occur together; cf.
Acts 9:5: 1 am the one whom you persecute, or Exod 3:6, 14 1 am the
God o fyour fathers, Answer that I am [yhwh] has sent me to you. 3)
Frequently there is an ^ p earan ce of the i n f e s t a t i o n , as in the calling of
Saul or o f Moses; sometimes this occurs in a nocturnal vision, cf. Acts
16:9 And a vision [horama] appeared to ?aul in the night; A man from
Macedonia was standing b re e c h in g him and saying: Come over and help
us, or in the visions of Asclepius. 4) The purpose ofthe vision often turns
out to be a commission, cf. Isaiah 6:8: Whom shall I send, and who will
go for us? And I said: Here I am, send me. He said: Go and toll this
people , and similarly with Moses in Exod 3 and with Saul in Acts.
To throw light on the calling o f ?aul, om parisons with visions o f As-
clepius and Isis may be made. I will refer to one of each. First a vision of
AsclepiuS; from The letter ofHippocrates (1st cent. B.C.E):^

In that night ... 1 had a dream, from which, 1 believe, nothing dangerous
will come. But 1 woke up terrified, for 1 thought 1 saw Asclepius himself,
and he came near to m e ... But Asclepius did not look as he usually does
in pictures, gentle and mild, but his gestures were wild and quite terrible to
behold. Dragons followed behind him ... But the god stretched out his
hand to me, and 1 took it and asked him to heal me and not to leave me.
However, he said, At the moment you need nothing from me, but this
goddess ... will lead you .... So 1 turned around and saw a large woman,
with a simple hairdo, splendidly clothed, ?ure light streamed forth from
the pupils of her eyes, like lightning from stars. And the god withdrew
from me, but the woman grasped my hand ...A s she then turned around, 1
said, ?lease toll me who you are and how 1 should address you. She re-
plied, Truth ... which you see appearing: shine ...

16 Especially Berger, Klaus: Studien und Texte zur Formgeschichte (Texte und Arbeiten
zum neutestamentlichen Zeitalter 7), Tbingen: Francke Verlag, 1992, 75; idem: Die
Auferstehung des Propheten und die Erhhung des Menschensohnes: Traditionsgeschicht-
liehe Untersuchungen zur D eutung des Geschickes Jesu in frhchristlichen Texten (Stu-
dien zur Umwelt des Neuen Testament 13), Gttingen: V a^enhoeck & Ruprecht, 1976,
153-170; Barrett, Charles Kingsley: The New Testament Background: Selected Docu-
ments, rev. and expanded ed., San Fransisco: Harper & Row, 1989, 91ff.
17 See text in Boring et al: Hellenistic Commentary, 319.
 SE 71, 2006 173

Some differences from the calling of Saul can be noted at once: 1) Asele-
pius is terrible to behold, with dragons following him, and it is important
to note that it was not dangerous. Jesus appears invisible in an M onishing
light. 2) Asclepius can be touched by hand. Sometimes the risen Jesus can
be touched by the disciples and he even eats, as we saw (Luke 24:42), but
to ?aul he does none o fth e kind. 3) Asclepius is sought ^ by the suppli-
cant. Jesus comes unexpectedly. 4) To Asclepius the needs o f the suppli-
cant is in focus. With Jesus the call and commission is in focus. 5) Asele-
pius is in a polytheistic setting with other gods and goddesses with human
appearances. By contrast Jesus appears to be identified with the Lord him-
self; at least there is no traditional pol)ttheistic setting.*
Another example is from the ^ p earan ce o f Isis to Lucius in the novel
of The Golden Ass by the Roman author Lucius Apuleius (2nd century
C.E.). The most important passage is the rather long story from the begin-
ning o f b o o k l l .19

About the first watch ofthe night, when 1 had slept, 1 awoke with sudden
fear, and saw the moon shining bright as when she is at full, and seeming
as though she leaped out ofthe sea. Then 1 thought to myself that this was
the most secret time, when that goddess had most puissance and force,
considering that all be governed by her providence ... Wherefore shaking
off my drowsy sleep 1 arose with a joyful face, and moved by a great af-
fection to purify myself, 1 plunged my head seven times into the water of
the sea ... Then vety lively and joyfully, though with a weeping counte-
nance, 1 made this oration to the puissant goddess ...

We cannot here give a full analysis of the following m y teries where

again divine revelations and conversation take place. Suffice it to state
that also here the differences to the calling of ?aul are notable: I) In Acts
the story is short, and it is even shorter with ?aul himself, as we noted.
With Apuleius it is ^ ten siv e. Bofo descriptions and conversations are
long in that text, and they are repeated. 2) In Acts the calling comes as
sudden lightening from heaven, so to speak. By Apuleius the ^ p earan ce
of Isis is well prepared; all knew that such ^pearances could take place
both to people seeking the help of Asclepius and the help and initiation
with Isis. 3) With Isis the ^ p earan ce is connected to a natural light, the

18 Cf. again Hurtado: L ordJesus Christ on this topic.

19 Here from Wordsworth Classics o f World Literature, translated by William Adlington,
Ware, Hertfordshire: W r d ^ o r th Editions Ltd., 1996.
174 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

moon. With Paul the light is extraordinary; the sun is not mentioned, sup-
posedly it is there already. 4) In Acts Paul falls to the ground and cannot
see for the light. In Apuleius Lucius both sees and hears well. 5) While
there is conversation in both stories, in Acts, Jesus takes the initiative with
his question, with Apuleius, Lucius asks first. Also, the exchange in Acts
is very terse, limited to the barest essentials. 6) With Apuleius, Lucius
seeks rescue and salvation from his fate. Paul has him self asked for noth-
ing and asks for nothing; he is only told what to do. 7) With Apuleius, the
goddess needs to present herself and her powers extensively. In Acts that
is taken for granted. Lhis is similar to the Old Testament, with Moses,
Elijah and Isaiah. 8) With Apuleius the purification o n e s e l f comes first,
like with Isaiah. By Paul the baptism follows. We could go on like this.
One has asked if Rom 6 and some other New Testament passages may be
associated with parallels in the mystery religions.20 Two things may be
said at once, however: 1) that Christian baptism is a baptism of forgive-
ness of sins, and 2) that it is a baptism to the death o f Jesus Christ. Such is
not the case in the other mysteries.
When we compare the calling o f Saul in Acts with these two texts, one
from the century before and the other from the century after, some differ-
enees between Jesus outside Damascus on the one hand, and Asclepius
and Isis on the other, have appeared: 1) The gods were ^ p ro ach ed by
humans in or by their a c tu a r ie s , while in Acts, and also in the version by
Paul him self in Gal 1, Jesus acts in an unpredicted manner and in the open
air. Admittedly, Lucius seeks out a secret place on the sea coast to lie
down to sleep, but we are later told that there is an Isis sanctuary at
C nchreae. And in his shape of an ass, access to the sanctuary was obvi-
ously denied him. 2) Bofo in Apuleius and with Asclepius the visions
come in sleep at night, in incubations. In Acts it comes in the middle o fthe
day. 3) In Apuleius and with Asclepius there are no others present as wit-
nesses; in Acts there are witnesses. They at least see the light and evidence
Paul foiling to the ground, even if they (possibly) do not hear the voice.
A cordingly, it is not natural to think that the accounts in Acts are
formed under the direct inspiration of stories o f incubations with Asele-
pius. Nor is it natural to think that Apuleius has read Acts and is inspired
directly by Luke or by the Old Testament. The element of fear that ap

20 Cf. Wagner, Gnter: Pauline Baptism and the Pagan Mysteries: The Problem o f the
Pauline Doctrine o f Baptism in Romans VI. I-II, in the Light o f its Religio-Historical
P arallels(tr. j. p. Smith), Edinburgh: OlLer and Boyd, 967; ^ er sn a p , Soren: Baptism
and the New Life: A Study ofR om ans 6.1-14, Aarhus: UnAersity Press, 999, esp. ch. 2 4 .
 SE 71, 2006 175

pears both in the story with Asclepius and that of Isis is common to the
theme of what Rudolf Otto called the mystery of shivering and fascina-
tion in front o f the holy, which we also find in the Old Testament.^ But
there does not appear to be a direct connection here.
The observations above are limited to two texts only. Whether there are
general influences from H ^ n is tic -R o m a n texts/patterns is of course a
larger question which we cannot solve here.

3.3 Seeing and blindness in a G r ^ - R n m a n e n m ^ ra tiv e

^rspeetive
We will now turn to comparative perspectives on seeing and blindness in
the gospels.^ As we saw, in Luke and Matthew the blind man at Jericho is
anonymous, but in Mark one of the blind persons in the gospels is named
Bar-Timaios, the son of Timaios (Mark 10:46). That is very interesting,
because here is a combination o f an Aramaic prefix for son (ben in He-
brew) and a Greek name, as Mark indicates. Such om binations were
common: Bar-Tolomaios is probably originally an Egyptian combination.
Bi- and trilinguality can also be shown: ?eter is a Greek version o f the
Aramaic K efa, and his Hebrew name was Simeon, which Jesus normally
uses (Mk 3:16). ?eter and Andreas (Andrew) were from the fishing city of
Beth-Saida, meaning the house of hunting/fishing, which acquired the
Roman cognomen Julias after the daughter o f Augustus. Andreas (mean-
ing m anly) is a very Greek name, and so is ?hilip (cf. A l^ a n d e rs fa-
ther), who was from the same city (John 1:44). Another o f their acquaint-
anees however, Nathanael, had a definitely Hebrew name. So has Levi/
Matthaios, Judas, Jaakov, Jochanan etc.
All this points to a multilingual and also cosmopolitan world. So does
actual travelling. Just after John 12:19 reports the ?harisees to say that all
the world [kosmos] has gone after Jesus, the gospel says in 12:20 that among
those who went to worship in Jerusalem were also some Greeks, Hel-
lenes. In view of Acts 6: Iff; 9:29; :20 this means Greek speaking people.
There were also diaspora synagogues and Jews from the diaspora in the
city, both from Cyrene, Eibya, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Cilicia, Cap-

21 Cf. Raphael, Melissa: R u d o lf Otto andthe Concept o f Holiness, Oxford: Clarendon, 1997.
22 Cf. for preHous overviews Michaelis, w.: hora k tl\ TDNT, vol. 5, Grand Rapids, Mi:
Eerdmans, 1967, 315-382; Schrge, w.: tyflos, tyflo \ TDNT, vol. 8, G ra ^ Rapids, Mi:
E^dmans, 1972, 270-294.
176 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

padocia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Asia, Pontos, Greece, Rome etc., people from
Cyprus and Crete, freebom or ^ n u m itte d (libertini). All the oikoumen
around and nearly all social classes were represented (Acts 2:5ff; 6:9;
20:27). In Jerusalem some o f these G r ^ - ^ e a k i n g people approached
Philip who was from Bethsaida in Galilee because they wanted to see
(idein) Jesus (John 12:21). With the ambiguity h r a c te r is tic of John, this
^ p re ssio n may literally mean seeing or meeting (so in Luke 9:9b), but at the
same time it can mean seeing on a deeper level, ^ t^ h o r ic a l ly : under-
standing, get to learn about and know. Greek idein means to see, but oida
means know. They are ofthe same root. What 1 know is what 1 have seen.
Now, the name Timaeus is not unique in antiquity. For example, there
is also a Greek historian with the same name, mentioned by Josephus (Ap
l,16f, 221). But does the name Bar-Timaios also have a ^ ta p h o ric a l
meaning? Is there a way from Mark to Plato? That has been asserted
lately. Some scholars point to Platos long dialogue with the same name,
a discourse on the nature o fth e universe. This is the p h i l o ^ h e r s most
extensive cosmological speculation. Among ancient educated people in
the H ^ e n istic world, the Timaeus would have been the most likely work,
after Homer, to have been read in Greek.^ The Timaeus was the only
Greek prose work that up to the third century A.D. every educated man
could be presumed to have read.^ Between 100 before Christ and 100
after Christ no single dialogue o f Plato drew as much interest as did the
Timaeus'.25 Therefore, it is asserted, there is no surprise to ftnd references
to the Timaeus also in the New Testament, notably in the letter to the He-
brews, for example in 11:3, 10, where the idea o f creation out of nothing
and ofthe demiurge, significant Timaean themes, recur.^
In Timaeus, Socrates plays a less prominent part than in the other Pla-
tonic dialogues, and it seems that the work represents the later Plato. The
Timaeus begins with Socrates briefly summarizing the Republic as a way
to invite his companions to keep their promise to entertain him with fur-
ther reflections of all things. Timaeus, who appears as a Pythagorean phi-
losopher, is the one to recount the genesis o fth e cosmos. In the middle of

23 See espeeially Lathrop, Gordon: H oly Ground: A Liturgical Cosmology, Minneapolis:

Fortress, 2003, esp. 25ff.
24 Runia, D. T.: Philo ofA lexandria and the Timaeus o fP la to , Leiden: Brill, 1986, 57.
25 van lersel. Bas and Jan Nuchelmans: Die zoon van Timeus en de zoon van David,
Tijdschriftvoor Theologie 35 (1995), 107-124, 118.
26 Lathrop: Holy G round, 26.
 SE 71, 2006 ??

his elaborations is found a small speech in praise o f sight that God has
bestowed (47a-c).27

Vision, [opsis] in my view, is the cause of the greatest benefit to us, inas-
much as none ofthe accounts now given concerning the Universe [the All,
to pan] would ever have been given if men had not seen the stars or the
sun or the heaven. But as it is, the vision of day and night and of months
and circling years has created the art of number and has given us not only
the notion of time but also means of research into the nature ofthe '-
verse. From these we have procured philosophy in all its range, than which
no greater boon ever has come or will come, by divine bestowal, unto the
race of mortals. This 1 affirm to be the greatest good of eyesight. As for all
the lesser goods, why should we celebrate them? Be that is no philosopher
when deprived ofthe sight thereof may utter vain lamentations! But the
cause and purpose of that best good, as we must maintain, is this - that
God devised and bestowed upon us vision to the end that we may behold
the revolutions of Reason [nous] in the Heaven and use them for the
revolvings ofthe reasoning that is within us, these being akin to those, the
perturbable to the imperturbable. And that, through learning and sharing in
calculations which are correct by their nature, by imitation of the abso-
lutely unvarying revolutions of the God we might stabilize the varying
revolutions within ourselves.

Here, says Timaeus, philosophy and insight into the universe and the nature
of things, are ultimately derived from sight. The very words of his COS-
mology depend on sight - wise sight, sight made the basis o f reflection,
but sight nonetheless, as Lathrop remarks in his analysis.2But that phi-
losophical sight is not shared by ordinary men, or by women and children.
In view of this, the occurrence o fth e name son of Timaeus in Mark
10:46-52 certainly invites our reflection. A few scholars have pointed in
this direction lately, and perhaps Lathrop has developed it most.29 He finds
a whole series o f intertextual clues in the passage o f Bartimaeus, and in
the gospel o f Mark as such, including the young man and the angel at the
grave (Mark 14:51f and 16:5-7). He even finds it in the heavens opened in
John 1:49-51, there combined with the story of Jacobs vision o fth e lad-
der. However, none o f the indications he finds in the texts is a forcing
parallel. But others have suggested connections of mimesis or similarities

27 For Flato (Republic, Timaeus) and Sophocles (O edipus) below 1 refer to Loeb Classical
Library.
28 Lathrop: Holy G round, 28f.
29 Lathrop: Holy G round47 ,38- 30 .
178 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

with Greco-Roman literature, both ways. MacDonald has suggested sev-

eral allusions and structural mimesis to Homeric texts in M ark.^ As such
Mark seems to play with both Homer and ?lato. Conversely, it has been
suggested that in his work Satyrica, the Roman author ?etronius at the
court of Nero in the 60ies C.E. made a play on the Markan passion narra-
tive, alluding directly to the crowing cock, the G^hsem ane, etc.31
However, not only in the Timaeus, but elsewhere, too, ?latos dia-
logues and writings on the theme of not seeing/seeing come to mind.
Above all, ?lato is the one who describes our senses as compared to real-
ity, the ideas o f things. The most famous passage is the well-known par-
able o f the cave from the beginning of book 7 in the Republic.
So, is there a way from Luke to ?lato? If there is a way from Mark to
?lato, is there a similar one from Luke to ?lato, but on a more general
level? O f course the blind man at Jericho in L u k e 18:35-43 could be an
ordinary blind man and his healing, simply one of the many miracle sto-
ries. But literally just before going up to Jerusalem this incident also takes
on symbolical, ^ ^ p h o r i c a l meaning, in Luke as well as in the other three
gospels. That is even more probable since we have already seen how fre-
quent the theme o fn o t s in g /s e e in g is in Luke-Acts.
Well, Luke does not call the blind man Bar-Timaios; only Mark does
that. But did Luke know the theme of not seeing/blindness and seeing
from Greco-Roman lig a tu re ? He was familiar with the existence of Epi-
curean and Stoic philosophers (Acts 17:18). He was familiar with Athens.
In Athens there were also the followers o f ?lato and Aristotle. In Athens
was the Academy, the Lyceion (?eripatos), the Garden, the Stoa and so
on. These and other schools of ]^ilosophy were spread all over the inner
M ^iterranean, in ?ergamon, Ephesus, Milet, Tarsus, Antioch, Apamea,
Damascus. They were even present in the Decapolis: At Gadara, Jesus
performed a miracle (Luke 8:26-39 pars). In the first century, this area
epitomized Greco-Roman culture, philosophy and poetry, with some of
the most popular writers o f Hellenistic hterature, Menippus and Meleager.
The Epicurean philosopher ?hilodemus of the first century B.C.E. was
from foere.^ Even in the late first and early second century C.E., Gadara

30 MacDonald, Dennis R.: The H omeric Epic and the Gospel o f Mark, New Haen: Yale
University ?ress, 2000.
31 Thiede, Carsten ?eter: Ein Fisch f r den rmischen Kaiser. Juden, Griechen, Rmer:
D ie Welt des Jesus Christus, Mnehen: Luehterhand, 1998, 110-121.
32 Cf. Sehrer, Emil: The History o f the Jewish People in the A ge o fJesu s Christ, rev. ed.,
Edinburgh: Clark, 1979, 2:135.
 SE 71, 2006 179

remained a source of Greek philosophy: Oenomaus, a Cynic who may

have been of Jewish origin, lived there at the time. Eusebius, the fourth-
century church historian and bishop from Caesarea quoted him at length
and used some o f his tenets in arguments against paganism.^
We also have the theatre: Luke refers in Acts :20-23 to Herod Agrippa
1, taking a seat of honour in Caesarea maritima and p e a k in g publicly to the
people. According to Josephus this happened in the theatre (Ant 19.343).
Luke also knows the theatre in Ephesus (Acts 19) and doubtless the thea-
tres in other cities as well, from Antioch to Corinth, ?aul, too, knows the
theatre (1 Cor 4:9; 15:33). In Sepphoris, the capital o f Galilee close to
Nazareth, there was a theatre. By the ^ p re ssio n hypocrites Jesus refers
in a general way to the actors, in Luke 6:42; 12:56; 13:15; 12:21 etc.^
Now, the theme o f blindness is also very prominent in the tragedies.
That is part o f the problem to be solved, as Aristotle describes it in the
Poetics. Among the probably best known plays, apart from the satires,
which were very popular in the Roman period, were those o f Oedipus, the
unhappy blind man. He was blind in a figurative sense and thus became
blind in a literal sense, too, by blinding him self as a token and pm ^hm ent.
He tries to atone for killing his father and for his incest with his mother
(Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus 1268-1279, cf. Dio Chrys Or 11 ;8.):

For he broke off the golden pins from her raiment, with which she was
adorned, and lifting up his eyes stuck them, uttering such words as these:
tha they should not see his dread sufferings or his dread actions ...

If Luke, or the noble Theophilus - or ?aul for that sake - had seen this
play in the theatre or even heard about it, just like we have today, they
would certainly also have that in their mind and their background.
In recent years there is a growing insight that M arks gospel and its
plot is written in a tragic sty led To some extent that will also go for

Thiede: Cosmopolitan World, 47.

34 For this cf. B a te y , Richard A.: Jesus and the Forgotten City: New Light on Sepphoris
and the Urban World o f Jesus, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1991.
35 Kitto, H. D. F.: Greek Tragedy: A Literary Study, London: Methuen, 1978, originally
1939; Lesky, Albin: Die griechische Tragdie, Stuttgart: A l f r d ^ n e r Verlag, 1968.
36 Cf. Smith, Stephen H.: A Lion with Wings: A Narrative-Critical Approach to M a rk s
Gospel, Sheffield: Academic Fress, 1986, 112-122 with r^erences. In the ru rrectio n
story there may be traces oHragicomedy, cf. Via, Dan 0 . Jr.: Kerygma and Comedy in the
New Testament, Fhil^ephia: Fortress, 1975.
80 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

Luke's gospel, ^s far as it is similar to Mark. Attempts to clarify the gos-

pel plot as tragedy will ask for the Aristotelian literary principles for this.
If we compare the Markan plot structure with that o f the drama o f king
Oedipus, which Aristotle praises so highly, it is possible to see that, in
essentials at least, the gospel conforms rather well to the literary tradition
underlying the tragic genre.^
E lsw h ere too in the Greco-Roman context, blinding and blindness is
well known.38 In antiquity, inabilify to see was one o f the worst blows o f
fate that could smite a man. Seeing was more important for the Greeks
than hearing.3 Eyes are better witnesses that ears (Heraclitus, Fr. 101a).
Sight is the sharpest o f our bodily senses (?lato, Phaedros 250d). The
fact that there are so many verbs for seeing, and that they cover such a
wide and varied range o f meaning, is an indication o f the high estimation of
seeing, and ^ re s p o n d s to its indisputable importance for man. In a very
special sense, the Greeks were a people o f the eye. The eye was regarded
the chief organ of sense, thus the blind were pitied. One would have been
better dead than living blind (Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 1368).
Accordingly, blindness is frequently used both in comparisons and in a
ttn sfe rre d sense in antiquify. So is seeing. Most commonly, blindness
and seeing are used in the sphere o f the capacify for fonctions o f under-
standing and knowledge. Seeing and other senses were connected to the
nous. But also that which blinds a man could be called blind or blindness,
for example wealth, wrath, greed, lust or blind powers, fate.
O f special interest in this connection is whether and how far deity or
the divine can be seen in the Greco-Roman world, cf. above for the Old
Testament perplexify or ambiguity on this. In mythology, and in poetry
using its themes, an anthropomorphic idea o fth e gods allows the assump-
tion that they can be seen by human eyes. But even in the Greek and R 0 -
man contexts there are reervations against this, for example: One cannot
bring the deity near to oneself as accessible to our eyes, or touch it with
the hands (Empedocles, Fr. 133). To the ?latonic tradition in particular,
horan was contrasted with noein. The world o fth e senses, the aistheton,
can be oraton, but that of the ideas, the true realify is aoraton. It is only
noeton, only accessible to the nous. For this, theorem, theoria and theast-
hai are used. The question arises whether this group originally derives
from the cultic and religious world.

8 Smith: Lion with Wings, 7.

38 Cf. Schrge tyflos 270, ff.
3 Miehaelis h o ra \ 316ff.
 SE 71, 2006 181

Now, in Acts 9, ?aul foils to the ground and only hears. His followers
heard the voice/sound, but did not theorem anybody. And opening
his eyes again, ?aul eblepen nothing. Thus, a Greco-Roman reader would
also be able to perceive the ^rsp ectiv es o f the story o f Saul outside Da-
mascus. This vision story, and that o f the transfiguration or ^ ta m o rp h o -
sis, would prove more acceptable to the Greek mind than that ofthe incar-
nation, which was to become a subject o f definition for centuries.
We may now come back to and answer our question about Luke and
?lato: It is not necessary to go through the name Bar-Timaios and the
gospel o f Mark to see that Lukes blind man outside Jericho in 18:35-43
may be also associated with blindness and seeing in the Greco-Roman
world in general, and maybe even in a ?latonic sense. Was Luke aware of
?lato s ideas on a general level, for example the parable o fth e cave? Did
he also have Oedipus and the tragedies in mind, or other examples of
blindness and seeing in Greco-Roman writings? Was the honourable
Theophilus so versed? Were L uk^s readers? Without making them ?lato-
nists, 1 think they probably were. It is like when we today read the pas-
sages of the blind meeting Jesus in Luke; the story of seeing the light in
?lato may come to our mind in a general way, too.
I guess we are only at a new beginning o f exploring timilarities and
connections between Luke-Acts and Hellenistic-Roman literature.

3.4. Other Hellenistie texts - Philos moral and !foilosophieal

b h d ^ s^ se ein g
Philo o f Alexandria (ca. 30 B.C.E. 45 C.E.) is a ^ rticu larly interesting
case, since he bridges Judaism and the H ^lenistic world in the first cen-
tury. Philo is slightly earlier than ?aul and Luke, but from a different mi-
lieu. Space does not allow an extended treatment, but one main observa-
tion is that in Philo the theme o f b h ^ ^ s / s e e i n g is mainly placed within
a moral and p]tilosophical, epistemological context. Philo has 63 occur-
rences of tyflos and generally uses blindness in a transferred sense. He
refers many times to wealth as usually blind or making blind, whereas
there is a true wealth (Agr 54; Sobr 40; Fug 19; Somn 1.248; Jos 258; Mas
1.153; Spec 1.25; 2.23, 77; Virt 5, 7; Praem 54; Contempl 13; Prov 2.12).
?assion, appetite, is blind (Sacr 134; Leg 114). Blindness is lack of reason
cL eg A ll 3.91, 108-110; Deus 130; Agr 81; Cow/27, 191; Congr 109; cf.
also Cher 58-62). It is lack o f virtue (Migr 123; ^ 48, 76; M ut 143; cf.
82 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

Abr 25; Spec 3.79). It is ignorance, foolishness, aberration of mind, and

lack oftrue knowledge (Migr 18.38; Her 250; Fug 122f, 144; Somn 2.192;
Abr 65, 85; Spec 1.54; 4.5, 70, 189, 198; Prov 2.20).
In De Virtutibus 175ff, Philo speaks about repentance, stating that
even if they were blind previously they have now received their sight,
beholding the most brilliant of lights instead o f the most profound dark-
ness5 (179).4 This can be compared to Lukes language on Paul and his
commission in Acts 9, 22 and 26.
Especially irteresting is the passage of De Somniis 1.164 and its set-
ting, asking Is it not titting that even blind men should become sharp-
sighted in their minds to these and similar things, being endowed with the
power o f sight by the most sacred oracles, so as to be able to ^ te m p la t e
the glories o f nature, and not be limited to the mere understanding of the
words? Translation is difficult/* but in any case Philos allegorical inter-
ests are apparent here.
As we see, Philo, too, speaks o f revelations, however as dreams, not as
an xtraordinary bright light and a clear voice such as befell Paul outside
Damascus and the apostles at the tianstiguration. Philos dreams are also
different from vision by insight in Platos Timaeus and Republic or in
Sophocles Oedipus Rex, where dreams are not the main point. There is
however a certain interest for dreams as well, both in the Old Testament,
especially in connection with Jacob, Joseph etc. in Genesis, and also else-
where in Greco-Roman traditions. We saw that both Asclepius and Isis
were seen at night. But to Luke the r u r r e c tio n ^pearances are not at
night, not in dreams, and Paul did not have a dream at night outside Da-
masciis. That is a rtriking difference.

4. A b rief conclusion: sinificance o f the topic

We have found and tried to draonstrate: 1. That there is a ^ rp le x ity of
not seeing/blindness and revelation/seeing between Lukes three narrative
accounts o f the calling of Saul in Acts on the one hand and Pauls three

40 Translation from Yonge, C. D.: The Works ofP hilo, new updated ed., Teabody, Mass:
Hendrickson, 1993.
41 The Loebwersion (5:383) has: Might it not hae been expected, 1 ask, that these and
like lessons would cause even those who were blind in their understanding to grow keen-
sighted, receiving from the most sacred oracles the gift o f eyesight, enabling them to judge
the real nature ofthings, and not merely rely in the literal senses?
 SE 71, 2006 183

short accounts o f the same event on the other. This state o f affairs has
provided an introduction to our present inquiry.
2. The theme o f blindness/not seeing and seeing can be followed back
from Acts into Luke and the other gospels. There it plays a prominent part
in a series of quite crucial passages. Our investigation has identified and
tabled a line of some 9 passages on not s in g /s e e in g in Luke-Acts. Sto-
ries where no extraordinary seeing is implied can be distinguished from
stories where X raordinary seeing and voice is involved. We have also
pointed to connections between our theme and baptism.
3. We have followed this cluster topic back into the Old Testament. In
particular on the theme of blindness/not seeing we have found many simi-
1a.rities and connections between Tuke-Acts and the book of Isaiah. The
blindness o f Israel is repeated time and again, in the stories of Jesus him-
self, Stephen, and ?aul. On the theme of see/seeing in connection with
God, we have found that the Old Testament texts are more widely distrib-
uted. We have pointed to the central and also paradoxical role of seeing
God in the Old Testament. That paradox is taken up in the calling of Saul.
4. In fact, it is also taken up in Greco-Roman literatore. We have ar-
gued for the necessity o f reflecting also on the ^ lln is tic -R o m a n litera-
ture for context and for ^ p a r i s o n s . In particular we have found how the
theme o f opening the eyes of the blind and seeing has a ^ t ^ h o r i c a l
meaning in well known Greco-Roman texts and traditions, too. One ex-
ample that has a prominent role in the gospels is the blind man at Jericho.
In Mark be is even named as the son of Timaios, which may remind of
one of ?latos most well known dialogues. But in Luke-Acts the theme of
blindness may well have a more general r^erence, both to ?latos parable
of the cave {Republic book 7) and to the Greek dramas such as that on
Oedipus. Luke and his readers may well know these.
5. Our study has pointed to the exegetical significance o f the topic of
blindness/seeing, and thus also to its significance in preaching. You shall
open their eyes, so they turn away from darkness to light (Acts 26:18).
Many o f the texts here collected are found in the lectionaries of the
churches. The lines between them and the role of the theme as such may
well be followed and worked out in sermons, both directly and indirectly.
It will be stimulating if these aim both to demonstrate the lines within the
New Testament, the lines between the Testaments, and not the least the
lines^rom New Testament texts to general human questions and concerns
as we find them voiced also in H ^ mirtic-Roman literatore.
184 Nils Aksel R0sceg: The blinding ofPaul: Observations to a theme

Table 1 Blindness in Lnke-Acts: the borders between literal and metaphorical

blindness are fluid
Literal blindness/not seeiug - in- Understanding/seeing by Scriptures
eluding openness to metaphorieal
blinding/not seeiug
^ansfiguration Luke 9:32
They were heavy with sleep, but when they
wakened they saw his glory and the two men
who stood with him
Resurrection Luke 24:1-12
They see nothing except angels at the grave,
who speak to them
Emmaus Luke 24:13-35
Not seeing in V. 16 and 24, but just as Jesus had there is opening ofth e Scriptures and under-
vanished out oftheir sight, V.31. standing in v.32
Resurrection T,uke 24:36-43
see my hands and my feet, that it is myself;
handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and
bones that you see that I have, V.39.
Commission Luke 24:44-53
Then he opened their minds to understand the
Scriptmes
Damascus Acts 9:7ff pars.
Paul could see nothing, But he recovers after
three days and is baptized
Commission at Damascus Acts 26:16-18
alluding to Jer l:5 ff and to Isa 42:7

Even before that we have the following stories:

Literal blindness/not seeing - in-
eluding openness to metaphorieal
blinding/not seeing
Seeing the kingdom o f God, or not yet seeing it
Luke 2:29f, Luke 17:20f, Luke 10:23f

Metaphor, Luke 6.39.42f

The controversy over Beelzebul
Luke 11 : 2 3- 4 par; in Matt the man is both
blind and dumb
the poor, the lame, the maimed and the blind
Luke 14:13.21
[The blind man Bethsaida Mark 8:22-26]
The blind man Jericho Luke 18:35-43 par
[The man bom blind John 9]
[The blind and the lame come to Jesus in the
temple M att21:14,
cf- the man bom lame in Acts 3 : lff
 SE 71, 2006 185

Table 2 The perplexity of seeing the Lord in the Old Testament

Impossible to see God - OT/NT Seeing of God-OT/NT
Gen 3:8 They hid from the Lord God Gen 16:13 Have I not now really seen the One
who sees m e?
Gen 22:14 On the mountain where the Lord is
seen
Gen 32:20 I saw God face to face, and yet my
life was spared
E x 3 : lff Do not come closer. Moses hid his

E x 19:9 I am coming to you in a dense cloud
E x 24:2.17 the people not allowed to proceed
E x 33:12ff You cannot see my face, for no-one
m ay see me and live, cf. Eev 16:2
E x 20:21 Moses drew near to the thick dark-
ness where God was.
E x 24:9ff saw the God o f Israel, but God did
not raise his hand against them, and they ate
and drank-- - Then Moses entered the cloud.

Num 12:4ff with Moses I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form o f
the Lord.
D ent 5:23 The Lord our God has shown us his
glory and his m ajesty... Today we have seen
that man can live even if God speaks with him.
Judges 13,22 Now we must die; we have seen Judges 6:22f I have seen the angel o f the Lord
God. face to facejY oi] are not going to die.

1 Kings 19 Elijah on Horeb 1 Kings 22:19 I saw the Lord sitting on his
throne

Isaiah 6:5 My eyes have seen the Lord A1-

m ighty

Psalm 11:7 upright men will see his face.

Psalm 36:10 in your light we see light.


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