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The Role of the Disciples in the Prophetic Mission of Jesus

Hägerland, Tobias LU (2015) p.177-201
Abstract
This article discusses what it meant for Jesus’ disciples to be disciples of a prophet and, consequently, what the presence of such prophet-disciples can tell us about his mission. This is done by situating the Gospel material about Jesus’ disciples in the context of early Jewish conceptions of prophetic discipleship, ultimately based on the Old Testament narratives about ancient Israelite prophets and on the prophetic books themselves. Among the ‘prophets of old’, the portrayals of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and their disciples will be considered. Despite the differences between various portrayals in the Old Testament and in early Jewish interpretations of it, there are some traits that are common to several of the... (More)
This article discusses what it meant for Jesus’ disciples to be disciples of a prophet and, consequently, what the presence of such prophet-disciples can tell us about his mission. This is done by situating the Gospel material about Jesus’ disciples in the context of early Jewish conceptions of prophetic discipleship, ultimately based on the Old Testament narratives about ancient Israelite prophets and on the prophetic books themselves. Among the ‘prophets of old’, the portrayals of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and their disciples will be considered. Despite the differences between various portrayals in the Old Testament and in early Jewish interpretations of it, there are some traits that are common to several of the prophet-disciples and that we may also detect in the disciples of the historical Jesus. Jesus’ disciples took on a threefold role in their capacity as prophet-disciples: first of all, they were tradition-bearers and as such probably expected to replace their master; secondly, they were representatives and co-workers who shared in tasks such as preaching, healing and baptising; thirdly and finally, they were informants from whom Jesus learned about his own reputation and prospects as a prophet. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
disciples, historical Jesus, memory, New Testament, prophet
host publication
The Mission of Jesus : Second Nordic Symposium on the Historical Jesus, Lund, 7-10 October 2012
editor
Byrskog, Samuel and Hägerland, Tobias
pages
177 - 201
publisher
Mohr Siebeck
ISBN
978-3-16-153335-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000)
id
94c1b33d-8062-4fd0-bf05-c65a34c61f0d (old id 4464167)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:09:49
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:03:03
@inbook{94c1b33d-8062-4fd0-bf05-c65a34c61f0d,
  abstract     = {{This article discusses what it meant for Jesus’ disciples to be disciples of a prophet and, consequently, what the presence of such prophet-disciples can tell us about his mission. This is done by situating the Gospel material about Jesus’ disciples in the context of early Jewish conceptions of prophetic discipleship, ultimately based on the Old Testament narratives about ancient Israelite prophets and on the prophetic books themselves. Among the ‘prophets of old’, the portrayals of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and their disciples will be considered. Despite the differences between various portrayals in the Old Testament and in early Jewish interpretations of it, there are some traits that are common to several of the prophet-disciples and that we may also detect in the disciples of the historical Jesus. Jesus’ disciples took on a threefold role in their capacity as prophet-disciples: first of all, they were tradition-bearers and as such probably expected to replace their master; secondly, they were representatives and co-workers who shared in tasks such as preaching, healing and baptising; thirdly and finally, they were informants from whom Jesus learned about his own reputation and prospects as a prophet.}},
  author       = {{Hägerland, Tobias}},
  booktitle    = {{The Mission of Jesus : Second Nordic Symposium on the Historical Jesus, Lund, 7-10 October 2012}},
  editor       = {{Byrskog, Samuel and Hägerland, Tobias}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-16-153335-8}},
  keywords     = {{disciples; historical Jesus; memory; New Testament; prophet}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{177--201}},
  publisher    = {{Mohr Siebeck}},
  title        = {{The Role of the Disciples in the Prophetic Mission of Jesus}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}