Texts in Conversation
Joel promises wonders in heaven and on earth before a coming day of judgment. In Acts, Peter’s speech is based on the Greek version of Joel but adds “above” and “below” and “signs” on earth, changing the text to reshape its use for the narrative.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Joel 3:3
Septuagint
2 And on my servants and on my handmaids in those days will I pour out of my Spirit. 3 And I will shew wonders in heaven, and upon the earth, blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke. 4 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord come. 5 And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for in mount Sion and in Jerusalem shall the saved one be as the Lord has said, and they that have glad tidings preached to them, whom the Lord has called.
Acts 2:19
New Testament
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 And I will perform wonders in the sky aboveand miraculous signs on the earth below, blood and fire and clouds of smoke. 20 The sun will be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes. 21 And then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
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Notes and References
“... The citation is very close to the Septuagint. But there are three significant differences between Luke and the Septuagint. First, the Septuagint has ‘after these things’ (meta tauta) in agreement with the Masoretic Text, whereas Luke has ‘in the last days’ (en tais eschatais hemerais, 2:17). Second, Luke has ‘and they will prophesy’ (kai propheteusousin) in Acts 2:18 in addition to the one already present in Joel 3. Rather than the Septuagint’s ‘wonders in the heaven and on earth below,’ Luke has in 2:19 ‘wonders in heaven above and signs on earth below,’ adding the adverb kato (below), as well as the substantive semeia (signs). Observing the differences is the easy part. Assessing them is difficult. ...”
Johnson, Luke Timothy
Septuagintal Midrash in the Speeches of Acts
(p. 20) Marquette University Press, 2002
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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