Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture (Paperback)

~ David Arthur Desilva (Author) "The culture of the first-century world was built on the foundational social values of honor and dishonor..." (more)
Key Phrases: purity maps, sacrilege pollution, pollution language, New Testament, Holy Spirit, Ben Sira (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Contemporary Western readers of the New Testament may find it surprising that honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship and family, and purity and pollution offer us keys to understanding the methods and message of the New Testament. But as recent scholarship has discovered and David deSilva demonstrates, paying attention to these cultural themes opens our eyes and ears to new facets and overtones within the New Testament documents.

Honor, Patronage, Kinship & Purity is a book that will reward readers with a deeper appreciation of the New Testament and the gospel and instruct us in how we can live more faithfully in Christian community today.

"David deSilva has presented us with a helpful primer on first-century cultural values, which, unlike some treatments of the subject, does not neglect either the Jewish or Greco-Roman evidence of relevance for illuminating the New Testament. This study is marked by clarity of expression and a careful ordering of the material, coupled with helpful exegesis of some of the key biblical texts. Highly recommended." Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament Interpretation, Asbury Theological Seminary "David deSilva invites his readers to read the New Testament according to the sociocultural categories of honor and shame, patronage and reciprocity, kinship, and purity and pollution that prevailed in the Greco-Roman world (including Judaism) of the first century. The clear explanations give fresh meaning to New Testament language about the church, grace, the household of God and holiness. This readable, accessible and contemporary text succeeds in placing New Testament teachings in their cultural context." Everett Ferguson, professor emeritus, Abilene Christian University

"David deSilva is a first-rate scholar with an excellent command of the primary sources of Greco-Roman antiquity. He invites the reader's attention to some prominent aspects of the New Testament (such as honor and kinship language) that most of us in Western culture miss and brings to bear a wider array of primary sources than most scholars who address these subjects. Unlike many other academic studies, this one also provides practical implications for how we relate to God and one another." Craig S. Keener, professor of New Testament, Eastern Seminary

"This book is a model of balanced approach to cultural-contextual study of New Testament writings. While shedding further light on many passages, David deSilva warns scholars against simplistic characterizations of ancient cultures. He cautions against ideological reading of certain texts and exposes moralistic trivializing of New Testament encounter with surrounding culture. Written with sustained clarity and ample account of modern discussions, at appropriate intervals this work takes academia into the public square. It invites Christians of all belief systems to critical examination of their own cultural contexts. Seminarians and ministers therefore dare not ignore the insights offered in this probing study." Frederick W. Danker, professor emeritus, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago

About the Author

David A. deSilva is associate professor of New Testament and Greek at Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio. He is the author of The Hope of Glory: Honor Discourse and New Testament Interpretation, Despising Shame: Honor Discourse and Community Maintenance in the Epistle to the Hebrews and 4 Maccabees in the Sheffield Guides to Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830815724
• ISBN-13: 978-0830815722
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #405,811 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, January 3, 2006

By	Lee E. Foster (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is helpful to the aspiring biblical scholar and to the Christian layman. It situates the Bible firmly in its 1st Century mediterranean culture, first by exploring the contemporary texts, then examining the scriptures. At the end of the chapters dealing with scripture, he briefly writes on the practical applications of this knowledge, which is particularly useful. Some feel that he wrecks his book this way, by forcing 1st Century culture into the service of 21st century protestant evangelicalism. However, it is always presented as either a way to fulfill the Great Comission or how to apply the New Testament, a group of books nearly 2000 years old, to our modern lives. I recommend this above Bruce Malina's "The New Testament World" because of its clarity and practical application, although both are wonderfully informative.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tremendous survey, July 11, 2005

By	Jimmy Archer (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

In studying the New Testament, or any ancient text, we must understand much about the environment it came out of--the societal values, the cultural assumptions, the historical context, etc--otherwise we unwittingly anachronize our interpretations and read ancient literature as if they were written in our day. David deSilva, a member of the Context Group, has here a wonderful and informative survey of four key social values. Not only does he have a very accessible explanation of each value, he follows with a series of application to the New Testament texts. The client-patron model is observed in Lk 7:2-10 (p.123), which serves as an excellent illustration of how patronage functioned. His discussion of grace (favor) is fascinating (ch. 3), presenting it through the eyes of the ancients. Grace must be met with grace; favor must always give birth to favor; gift must be met with gratitude. (p. 105) He cites Seneca's explanation of the three Graces , which is indeed, in deSilva's words, most revealing . This is an important book, one to be studied alongside other Context Group publications. It will, with diligent study, do much to 'unlock' the background of the New Testament.

I would also note, since there is an excellent review by Loren Rosson (my addition can be taken as supplementary or confirmatory), that the particular segment referred to in p.84 is a short section and can easily be skipped. One can come to the book strictly for the social sciences and skip over the application parts--or skim them for helpful references.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helps to understand the background and culture of the bible, February 18, 2008

By	Jeri Nevermind "loves to read" (Idaho) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

DeSilva argues in "Honor, Patronage, Kinship,and Purity" that we need to understand these four pivotal concepts in order to unlock the bible in its original context. Our culture, with its emphasis on individualism, has lost its sense of shame and dishonor which were so important in the ancient world.

When the Pharisees challenge Jesus because he eats without washing, they challenged his honor, not just his adherence to purity laws. A need to seek approval from others was pervasive throughout the ancient world, and especially so among Jews. Status and wealth were typically imbued with great honor among the Romans, but right behavior and leading a blameless life was more honorable among the Jews.

There is an interesting discussion of the early Christians. "Strict avoidance of participation in idolatrous worship meant that the Christians would need to remove themselves from much of the public life of their city" (p 47). They formed their own kinship group instead. The believers in Corinth, for example, gained honor by giving alms to congregations in need. Instead of the usual patronage system so common in Rome, a Christian was told to be grateful, not to his wealthy benefactor, but to the God who gave him life. "God's patronage of the Christian community is evidenced in the growth of...churches and members" (p 133).

Kinship was the primary source of status, a tendency even more pronounced in Jewish culture. Hence legitimacy of relationship is very important. Huge lists of genealogies were kept in the temple to show who was eligible to be a priest. And later, in early Christianity, much was made of Jesus being the son of the Father, and of adopting us as his legitimate heirs.

A very useful book.