As part of Paul’s notable farewell speech to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:32 has received little detailed attention. Scholars have noted the literary correlations between Paul’s commendation to the Ephesians in Acts 20 and the Mosaic blessing of Israel in Deuteronomy 33, yet without expanding on the implications for Jewish and Christian identity, Paul’s use of the OT, and the commendation’s role in the Lukan context. Conzelmann, for example, notes no allusion, while F.F. Bruce merely notes the linguistic similarities between the texts. J.D.G. Dunn provides one paragraph explaining the Pauline integration of Christians with Jewish heritage with only a passing, parenthetical reference to Deuteronomy 33. Even Keener, in his magisterial four-volume commentary, includes only one comment noting that Paul’s language parallels that of OT Israel, with no notation of Deuteronomy.
I contend that commentaries and scholars have overlooked the richness of the Deuteronomic allusion by demonstrating a two-fold purpose for Acts 20:32. First, Paul employed the Mosaic blessing in Deuteronomy 33:1-4 to encourage the fledgling Ephesian church by strengthening their identity and position as God’s sanctified people. Anticipating his departure and approaching death, Paul draws on treasured markers of Israelite identity to strengthen the resolve of local church leaders in a way that would be repulsive to unbelieving, antagonistic Jews. Second, in the Acts progression of the gospel, Paul’s biblical-theological application of Israel’s coveted identity further advances the motif of Jewish opposition to the Gospel. Thus, this single sentence is a positive encouragement in the apostolic speech but a negative intensifier in the Lukan narrative of the Jewish rejection of the gospel.
This paper, therefore, examines Acts 20:32 as a biblical-theological application of Deuteronomy 33:1-4. My inquiry proceeds in three sections, first highlighting the literary correlations between Paul’s commendation to the Ephesian elders and the Deuteronomic blessing to Israel, then examining the potential biblical-theological applications of the blessing to the Gentile Christians leading the Ephesian Church. The paper concludes by probing the impact of Paul’s biblical-theological commendation on the thematic progression of Luke-Acts.
It is hoped that this examination will 1) reveal the impact of Jewish identity on Paul’s commendation, 2) further clarify the significance of the commendation on Luke’s development of the Jewish rejection of the gospel and the Gentile mission, and 3) enlighten Paul’s early employment of Israel’s Scriptures in the inclusion of Gentiles.