2025/07/01 by David I. Starling
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Byzantine Studies and History #Classical Antiquity Studies #Historical and Linguistic Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/s0028688524000432
crossref issued 2025/07/01 · crossref published 2025/07/01 · crossref published-print 2025/07/01 · openalex publication_date 2025/07/01 · crossref published-online 2026/05/26 · openalex created_date 2026/05/27 · crossref created 2026/05/27 · crossref deposited 2026/05/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/28 · crossref indexed 2026/07/30
Abstract In the BDAG entry for the noun σκηνοποιός (used in Acts 18.3 to refer to the trade in which Priscilla, Aquila and Paul worked during Paul’s first visit to Corinth), Frederick Danker broke with tradition and listed the word’s primary sense as ‘maker of stage properties’. The more familiar translation of ‘tentmaker’ is listed second as an alternative possible meaning, but after a brief survey of the surviving evidence, Danker concludes that ‘one is left with the strong probability that Luke’s publics in urban areas, where theatrical productions were in abundance, would think of σκηνοποιός in ref. to matters theatrical’. Despite the far-reaching implications of Danker’s claim, if true, it has been given little consideration in subsequent scholarship and has been more frequently ignored than evaluated or adopted. In this article I assess Danker’s claim, beginning with the lexicographical evidence that he himself adduces before broadening the field of inquiry to include discussion of texts in which cognate terms such as σκηνοποιέω and σκηνοποιΐα are used with theatre-related meanings, the translation decisions made in the surviving Vetus Latina versions, the scenic architecture of Roman theatres in the early imperial period, and theatre-related attitudes and practices in first-century Judaism and early Christianity. After weighing the various evidence sources and contextual considerations, I conclude that Danker’s proposal is more likely than not, and that a stronger case can be made for it than he himself makes within the confines of the BDAG entry.