Peter Spitaler, «Doubting in Acts 10:27?», Vol. 20 (2007) 81-93
The verb diakri/nomai occurs twice in the Acts of the Apostles. Many contemporary interpreters assert it means «hesitate/doubt» in 10:20 –a meaning of the middle and passive voices that, according to opinio communis, first surfaces in NT texts– and «contest/dispute» in 11:2, its classical/Hellenistic meaning. In this article, I first discuss and critique the criteria that guide scholars to render diakri/nomai in Acts 10:20 with a meaning that diverges from extra-biblical Greek meaning categories. Next, I investigate the verse within its immediate (10:9-20) and larger literary contexts (10:1-11:18) to show that interpretations of the phrase mhde\n diakrino/menoj that rely on a «NT meaning» of diakri/nomai (i.e., «doubting nothing») have no support in the text. Rather, the placement of Acts 10:20 within its literary context supports a rendering of diakri/nomai in accordance with classical/Hellenistic Greek conventions.
Peter Spitaler
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Some scholars interpret διακÏίνομαι in Acts 10:20 to be a reference
both to “debate/contest†(one of the verb’s classical/Hellenistic Greek
meanings) and “hesitation/doubt†(the verb’s “NT meaningâ€). For instance,
Joseph A. Fitzmyer translates μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος “without hesitationâ€,
but then explains that διακÏίνομαι literally means “’debating (about it)
in no way’. Peter is thus informed by God’s Spirit that there is no room
for dispute in this matterâ€.3 Conversely, Luke T. Johnson translates μηδὲν
διακÏινόμενος “without debating about itâ€, but then interprets, “Peter in
effect is told not to be filled with doubts about the course of events, which
will eventually lead him to understand how he is not to discriminate
between people (see 11:2, 12; 15:9)â€4. F.F. Bruce’s translations also vacil-
late between various options; he renders μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος in 10:20
“without any misgivingsâ€, and ἀναντιÏÏήτως in 10:29 “without demurâ€,
stating that this adverb is “practically equivalent†to Luke’s expressions in
10:20 (μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος) and 11:12 (μηδὲν διακÏίναντα); but later,
when discussing 11:12, Bruce states that, in 10:20, μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος
means “without any doubtingâ€5.
In contrast to interpretations of Acts 10:20 that rely on a “NT mean-
ing†of διακÏίνομαι, some scholars suggest that, in this verse, the middle
or passive has an active meaning, “make distinctions/discriminationâ€6.
On the other hand, Norbert Baumert interprets διακÏίνομαι as middle
voice and translates “to distance/separate oneselfâ€7.
These approaches to the meaning of διακÏίνομαι in Acts 10:20 and,
correspondingly, to the function of the phrase μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος
within its literary context have several shortcomings8.
Ben Witherington III, The Acts of the Apostles: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand
Rapids, Carlisle 1998) 351.
The Acts of the Apostles. A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary
3
(AB 31; New York etc. 1998) 456.
The Acts of the Apostles (SacPag 5; Collegeville 1992) 185. Johnson also translates the
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variant phrase μηδὲν διακÏινόμενος in 11:12 “without doubting†(198).
The Acts of the Apostles. The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary (Grand
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Rapids 31990) 257, 259, 269.
Cf. Barrett, Acts 150; Witherington, Acts 351 n. 100; Johnson, Acts 185. For the range
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of meaning of διακÏίνω, cf. Bertil Gärtner and Hans F. Bayer, “Unterscheidung/Zweifelâ€, in
TBNT 2: I-Z (Wuppertal 2000) 1719; Franz Rehkopf, Griechisch – Deutsches Wörterbuch
zum Neuen Testament (Göttingen 2000) 31; Norbert Baumert, “Das paulinische Wortspiel
mit κÏιν-â€, FilologÃa Neotestamentaria 15/29-30 (2002) 19-64, here 19-20.
“Wortspiel†23, 31-2. Unfortunately, I became aware of Baumert’s research only after
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submitting my own studies on the use and function of διακÏίνομαι in Jude’s letter, and on
patristic interpretations of NT passages with διακÏίνομαι; cf. “Doubt or Dispute (Jude 9
and 22-23): Rereading a Special New Testament Meaning Through the Lense of Internal
Evidenceâ€, Bib 87 (2006) 201-22; “∆ιακÏίνομαι in Mt. 21:21, Mk. 11:23, Acts 10:20, Rom.
4:20, 14:23, Jas. 1:6, and Jude 22 – The ‘Semantic Shift’ that Went Unnoticed by Patristic
Authorsâ€, NovT 48/3 (2006) 1-36.
Cf. Spitaler, “Semantic Shift†1-12.
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