David and Jesus : the portrayal of David in Luke-Acts in the light of early Judaism

This study is an analysis of the figure of David in the Lukan corpus. In Luke’s writings the life of David is closely associated with that of Jesus; therefore, for a complete analysis of Luke’s use of the figure of David (Lk 1-2; 3; 6; 18; 20; Acts 1-2; 4; 7; and 15), we need to consider the portrayal of David and his typological relationship, as well as his genealogical relationship, with the Messiah, Jesus. In the first part of the thesis, we seek to grasp the Jewish perceptions of the picture of David. The thesis examines David in the OT (ch. 2), in the OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (ch3), in the Qumran MSS (ch4), in the writings of Philo and Josephus (ch.5), and in early rabbinic thought (ch. 6), and concludes with a synthesis of the portraits of David in the OT and early Judaism (ch. 7). In the second part of the thesis, we analyze Luke’s use of the figure of David in the light of the first-century Jewish perceptions of David. The thesis examines David in Acts (ch. 8) and in Luke’s Gospel (ch. 9) and then proceeds to a conclusion (ch. 10). Our final goals are three. First, we summarize Luke’s understanding of the picture of David according to the nine categories that we identify in the first-century Jewish perceptions of David. Second, we uncover the overall function of Luke’s efficient and well-organized use of the figure of David in this narrative to legitimize Jesus as the Davidic Messiah. Finally, we point out several new aspects that arise from our stress upon the typological character of Davidic messianism in Luke’s writings and lead to an understanding of the relationship between David and Jesus that previous Lukan Davidic studies have not emphasized.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo