Diaspora in the New Testament

by

Shively Smith, Zoë Towler

• LAST MODIFIED: 21 February 2022
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0294

Introduction

Diaspora in critical studies of the New Testament is evolving as a varied scholarly conversation. Some scholars talk about diaspora in relation to the history of Jewish dispersion from Judea, be it at the time of Babylon or beyond. Others talk about diaspora in the writings of the Christian Testament, exploring the presence and far-reaching significance of Hellenistic Judaism. In this case, to study diaspora is to fundamentally talk about Judaism as the chief symbolic world and foundational identity operative in the writings of the New Testament. Other scholars talk about diaspora at the level of semantics, focusing on the language and symbolic worlds created by deploying Greek terminology such as the noun, diaspora, or the verb, diaspeirō. Still other scholars explore the meaning of diaspora in the Christian Testament from the perspective of the experience of displacement, disenfranchisement, and difference. In these conversations, scholars seek to distill the ways diaspora is storied as a life experience of not just individuals, but kinship groups and peoples with multiple land attachments, including their homeland and host lands. It is a story of dispersed peoples, migrants, strangers, and foreigners who are forced to navigate matters of travel, borders, boundaries, accommodation, resistance, double consciousness, and empire. In its Greek noun form, diaspora means the condition of living as a scattered or dispersed collective group spread widely across a region or regions. Yet diaspora has grown to mean more than simply a state of being spread across a vast territory or having to live “elsewhere” while connected and committed to an original homeland. Diaspora also conveys the experience of managing multiple land and kinship group identities. It is a state or discourse of a people that engages matters related to space, place, time, culture, etiquette, and experiences of being a collective group in lands beyond the lands of their kinspeople or origin.

Diaspora in Israelite History and Greco-Roman History

The Jewish diasporic experience was common in Greco-Roman antiquity. Gruen 1986 and Rajak 2018 explore the Jewish Diasporic experience at length. Gruen 2002 is an entire book dedicated to the experiences of Jewish people within the diaspora during antiquity. The Jewish diaspora during antiquity was not monolithic, and more nuanced exploration of the experiences can be found in a two-part series, Edrei and Mendels 2007 and Edrei and Mendels 2008. Diasporan people are facing a social adjustment to their host land and simultaneously continuing a new relationship and experience of their homeland. Trotter 2018, Trotter 2019, and Mendelson-Maoz 2013 explore the Jewish diasporic experience with homeland.

• Barclay, John M. G. Jews in the Mediterranean Diaspora: From Alexander to Trajan (323 BCE–117 CE). Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996.

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  Barclay uses literary evidence to analyze the diaspora experience and the influence of Hellenization. He develops three categories by which he measures the degree the diaspora communities became Hellenized: assimilation, acculturation, and accommodation. For advanced students and scholars.

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• Edrei, Arye, and Doron Mendels. “A Split Jewish Diaspora: Its Dramatic Consequences.” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 16.2 (2007): 91–137.

  DOI: 10.1177/0951820706074303Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  An exploration of the increasing cultural “gap” between Western and Eastern diaspora Jews dating back to the 1st century. This study explores the gap as a result of language barrier atop a geographical divide, which can be seen in the (lack of) access to halakha. Implications of this divide are explored in the second part of the series, Edrei and Mendels 2008.

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• Edrei, Arye, and Doron Mendels. “A Split Jewish Diaspora: Its Dramatic Consequences Part II.” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 17.3 (2008): 163–187.

  DOI: 10.117/0951820708089934Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Continuation of Edrei and Mendels 2007; reader must engage Part I prior. Large biographical resources, both Jewish and non-Jewish, are used to support their thesis. Essential reading for scholars exploring Talmudic and Mishnaic periods.

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• Gruen, Erich S. “Judaism in the Diaspora.” In Early Judaism and Its Modern Interpreters. Edited by Robert A. Kraft and George W. Nickelsburg, 69–92. Centennial Publications. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986.

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  Gruen presents the topic of diaspora within Judaism, arguing the genesis for dispersion was centuries before 70 CE. Gruen frames his argument exploring the dispersion itself, the debate surrounding the genesis event, and Jews’ experience within their host locations. An elementary understanding and familiarity with the discourse is required to engage this chapter.

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• Gruen, Erich S. Diaspora: Jews amidst Greeks and Romans. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.

  DOI: 10.4159/9780674037991Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  A two-part study using literary sources and epigraphic data to analyze and explore diasporic living during the reign of Alexander the Great to Nero. Part One is a historical overview. Part Two explores how Diaspora Jews experienced their life away from their homeland.

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• Mendelson-Maoz, Adia. “Diaspora and Homeland-Israel and Africa in Beta Israel’s Hebrew Literature and Culture.” Research in African Literatures 44.4 (2013): 35–50.

  DOI: 10.2979/reseafrilite.44.4.35Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Explores themes of “home,” “diaspora,” and expulsion found in biblical narratives and Hebrew Ethiopian Israeli literature. Main consideration is the Beta Israel community in Ethiopia, who have dreams of returning “home” to Jerusalem. Accessible for undergraduates. Essential for scholars engaging diaspora.

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• Rajak, Tessa. “The Jewish Diaspora in Greco-Roman Antiquity.” Interpretation 72.2 (2018): 146–162. .

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  This work uses the writings of Josephus and Philo, in conversation with Luke-Acts, exploring a potential model of ethnic identity, self-understanding, and self-consciousness. Specific attention is given to Greek-speaking Judaism and what it meant for people within the diaspora to be Jewish. This work offers definitions of diaspora and a brief history of the use of the term.

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• Trotter, Jonathan R. “The Homeland and the Legitimation of the Diaspora: Egyptian Jewish Origin Stories in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods.” Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha 28.2 (2018): 91–122. .

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  This work examines the importance of storytelling for Diasporans, specifically strategies harnessed by Egyptian Jews in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Analysis of the practices of remembering, rewriting, retelling, and reimagining homeland by the Egyptian Jews.

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• Trotter, Jonathan R. “Going and Coming Home in Diasporan Pilgrimage: The Case of Philo’s ‘Ιεροπομποί and Diaspora-Homeland Relations in Alexandrian Jewish Perspective.” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Period 50.1 (2019): 26–51.

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  Using Philo’s portrayal of ‘Ιεροπομποί, this work suggests belonging for Diaspora Jews is in both host and homeland. Explores the role of elected community leaders as bridges for the diaspora community and their homeland.

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Diaspora in Israelite History and the Hebrew Bible

The term diaspora first appeared as a proper noun in the Septuagint (LXX), occurring twelve times (LXX Deut. 28:25; 30:4; Neh. 1:9; Jdt. 5:19; 2 Macc. 1:27; Ps. 146:2; Pss Sol. 8:28; Isa. 49:6; Jer. 15:7; 41:17; Dan. 12:2). In the LXX, the term functioned as part of the theological rationale for the geographical displacement and dispersion of God’s people, Israel, across the ancient Mediterranean world beyond Palestine. This topic can be explored broadly, as seen in Barclay 1996 (cited under Diaspora in Israelite History and Greco-Roman History) and Barclay 2004. Diaspora can also be explored through a more focused lens, beginning with texts in the biblical canon. Kim and Williams 2019, Davidson 2009, and Bedford 2002 engage diaspora from a more focused and specific starting point. Throughout diaspora identity is developed; Gruen 2016 explores the creation of this identity within Hellenistic Judaism for Diasporans; this work should be explored alongside Collins 1983.

• Barclay, John M. G. Negotiating Diaspora: Jewish Strategies in the Roman Empire. Library of Second Temple Studies 45. London and New York: T & T Clark International, 2004.

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  Reading Barclay 1996 (cited under Diaspora in Israelite History and Greco-Roman History) is advised, but not required prior to engaging this work. A series of essays introducing new frameworks for the study of diaspora and ever-changing geopolitical environments. Large emphasis on Jews in Rome, the influence of Josephus, and their practices as a community, such as fasting.

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• Bedford, Peter Ross. “Diaspora: Homeland Relations in Ezra-Nehemiah.” Vetus Testamentum 52.2 (2002): 147–165.

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  An exploration of Judean self-identification during the Achaemenid Persian period (538–432 BCE). Main group explored is the repatriate’s relationship to Babylonian-Elamite diaspora. Prior knowledge of the time period is required for comprehension.

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• Collins, John J. Between Athens and Jerusalem: Jewish Identity in the Hellenistic Diaspora. New York: Crossroad, 1983.

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  Second edition (published 2000) includes robust biographical notes, a large range of literary sources, and annotated translations. Engages Philo’s writings and his philosophical approach to Judaism, the Ptolemaic era and the Roman period. Part of a larger study on normative self-definition in Judaism and Christianity.

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• Davidson, Steed V. “Diversity, Difference, and Access to Power in Diaspora: The Case of the Book of Esther.” Word & World 29.3 (2009): 280–287.

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  An exploration of the Book of Esther engaging the socio-literary influence regarding access to power and its influence on diasporic stories. Accessible and comprehensible for academic and non-academic persons.

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• Gruen, Erich S. The Construct of Identity in Hellenistic Judaism: Essays on Early Jewish Literature and History. Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Studies 29. Berlin and Boston: De Gruyter, 2016.

  DOI: 10.1515/9783110375558Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  A compilation of half a century’s work by Erich Gruen. The entire volume is cited, yet on the specific topic of diaspora, articles to focus on are “Hellenism and Judaism”; “Diaspora and Homeland”; “Hellenism and Persecution”; and “Herod, Rome, and the Diaspora.” Available online.

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• Kim, Hyun Chul Paul, and Harold B. Williams. “Ruth Vis-à-Vis Esther: Reading Intertextually Ruth the ‘Widow’ and Esther the ‘Orphan’ as Diasporic ‘Immigrants.’” 구약논단 (Korean Journal of Old Testament Studies) 25.4 (2019): 18–58.

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  This work engages diaspora readings, specifically the stories of Ruth and Esther, in the Hebrew Bible and the relevance for hermeneutics and theology. This work implores a range of biographical resources. A comparative work, examining the narratives of Ruth and Esther independently, intertextually, and beyond the biblical texts. Document can also be found in Korean.

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Diaspora in the New Testament

Within the New Testament, both the noun (John 7:35; Jas. 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1) and verb (Acts 8:1, 4; 11:19) forms appear only three times, respectively. An exploration of the former can be found in Frey 2012. Broader commentary on the entire New Testament can be found in Aymer 2015, Santos 2010, and Smith and Kim 2018. Zgambo 2017 suggests a nuanced reading of the New Testament, assessing the influence of ethnicity on the early New Testament church. Kaalund 2020 has a specific canonical focus, the Book of Hebrews and 1 Peter. Smith 2016 also focuses on 1 Peter, engaging diaspora as not only a Hellenistic Jewish conception but also an experience narrated in works like the Daniel court tales, the Letter of Aristeas, and Philo. A growing number of scholars are exploring diasporan influence on Christian mission (see Missiology and Diaspora); more on this can be found in Santos 2010.

• Aymer, Margaret P. “Sojourners’ Truths: The New Testament as Diaspora Space.” Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center 41 (2015): 1–18.

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  Lecture from the 2010 Annual Charles B. Copher Faculty Lecture. This work reimagines, recreates, and redefines God as a deity on the move. Good introduction to socio-literary works on diaspora. Both a good introduction to undergraduates and an important resource for scholars.

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• Frey, Jörg. “The Diaspora-Jewish Background of the Fourth Gospel.” Svensk Exegetisk Årsbok 77 (2012): 169–196.

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  Inspired by Charles Harold Dodd, this work encourages a reading of the Johannine text that accounts for and considers contemporary Judaism. Frey argues, given the Diasporic identity of the author and community in the Fourth Gospel, an understanding of Jewish customs, traditions, expectations, and Scriptures is essential.

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• Kaalund, Jennifer T. Reading Hebrews and 1 Peter with the African American Great Migration: Diaspora, Place, and Identity. London and New York: T & T Clark, 2020.

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  An entire monograph engaging diaspora from new starting points. The author develops a hermeneutical framework by beginning her intellectual endeavor with the literary trope “New Negro.” An exploration of identity development through the framework of religion. Accessible to undergraduates. Important for scholars at any level to engage, the work offers a creative and critical exploration of diaspora and identity.

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• Santos, Narry F. “Diaspora in the New Testament and Its Impact on Christian Mission.” TTJ 13.1 (2010): 3–18.

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  An excellent brief introduction to jargon and discourse of diaspora in the New Testament. An exploration of diasporan communities, specifically engaging proselytes, synagogues, and God-fearers.

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• Smith, Mitzi J., and Yung Suk Kim. Toward Decentering the New Testament. Foreword by Michael Willett Newheart. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2018.

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  Throughout this inter(cont)textual work one can find commentary on diaspora and the New Testament. Smith and Kim elevate the voices of scholars at the margins who engage with topics ranging from diaspora, movement, and immigration to power, intersectionality, and beyond. The beauty of this anthology is the accessibility to both academic and lay communities.

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• Smith, Shively T. J. Strangers to Family : Diaspora and 1 Peter’s Invention of God’s Household. UPCC Book Collections on Project MUSE. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016.

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  This monograph expands the discourse on diaspora in the New Testament by analyzing the meaning and function of the language and imagery in 1 Peter in conversion with other conceptions of diaspora present in other Hellenistic Jewish writings such as the Daniel court tales, the Letter of Aristaeus, and the writings of Philo. It frames diaspora, conceptually, as a culture-making tool and strategic social response in service to survival for the community.

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• Zgambo, Humphreys Frackson. “An Investigation into the Socio-historical Influences Overcoming Ethnicity in the Early New Testament Church.” Stellenbosch Theological Journal 3.2 (2017): 607–625.

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  This article examines the early New Testament church’s exploration of ethnic expression by the people of Corinth and Rome, the response of church leaders, and the influence on church culture. This work is aimed at academic readers who have some familiarity with this topic.

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Luke-Acts and Diaspora

Diaspora as a verb appears in the New Testament exclusively in Acts 8 and 11. In light of this, many scholars explore and exegete Acts 8. Some scholars are drawn to the pericope concerning the Ethiopian eunuch—see Edwards 1973 and Wilson 2014. While others are drawn to the top of Acts 8, the discussion of Stephen’s death. For example, see Thompson 2016. Barreto 2016, and Barreto 2018 explore the practical expression and influence of diaspora on the communities seen in Luke-Acts.

• Barreto, Eric D. “Crafting Colonial Identities: Hybridity and the Roman Empire in Luke-Acts.” In An Introduction to Empire in the New Testament. Edited by Adam Winn, 107–122. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.

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  This chapter employs rhetorical criticism, analyzing the author of Luke-Acts’ exploration of empire and resistance. Namely, engaging Luke-Acts as a rhetorical response and resistance to empire. For undergraduates and advanced scholars.

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• Barreto, Eric D. “A Gospel on the Move: Practice, Proclamation, and Place in Luke-Acts.” Interpretation 72.2 (2018): 175–187. .

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  An examination of literary and theological functions of movement, travel, hospitality, and being in Luke-Acts. No previous engagement with diaspora is necessary.

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• Edwards, Otis Carl, Jr. “Exegesis of Acts 8:4–25 and Its Implications for Confirmation and Glossolalia: A Review Article on Haenchen’s Acts Commentary.” Anglican Theological Review. Supplement Series 2 (1973): 100–112.

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  Prior engagement with Haenchen’s commentary is not essential for comprehension of Edwards’s article. Haenchen’s commentary, originally published in 1956, was translated from German to English in 1971. This article explores the exegetical impact after the translation, specifically movement and conversion in the Lucan account of Simon’s conversion and the mission of Philip in Samaria.

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• Thompson, Robin. “Diaspora Jewish Freedmen: Stephen’s Deadly Opponents.” Bibliotheca Sacra 173.690 (2016):166–181.

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  This work implores a hermeneutic of exploration accessing syntax, historicity, and cultural identity. Archaeological findings are referenced throughout. More advanced work, yet accessible to undergraduate scholars, thanks to the author’s intellectual mapping and clear framework.

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• Wilson, Brittany E. “‘Neither Male nor Female’: The Ethiopian Eunuch in Acts 8.26–40.” New Testament Studies 60.3 (2014): 403–422. .

  DOI: 10.1017/S0028688514000083Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Engages the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26–40 pericope as an example of boundary-crossing characters in the New Testament. Explores the complexity of the eunuch’s multiple identities and suggests a new reading of the Acts 8:26–40 text. Author situates the reader in the story contextually well; requires no previous engagement with diaspora.

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Defining Diaspora

The language, imagery, and conception of diaspora grew out of the complex experiences of Hellenistic Judaism, in which the term and concept was sometimes deployed to connote forced, punitive departure from a homeland exacted by God on God’s people. Other times, particularly as it was deployed sparingly in the writings of the New Testament, it was deployed to signify voluntary communal departure, travel, resettlement, or a new ethnoreligious corporate identity. These different meanings served a variety of purposes, from pilgrimages to purposes of discipleship and new community formation. As the term reemerges in modern literature, scholars are exploring the definition of diaspora. Butler 2001 and Cohen 1997 are excellent introductory works. For a historical account exploring the linguistic use of diaspora, see Dufoix 2015 and Dufoix 2017. Waldinger 2015 examines the term through a modern lens, assessing modern immigration and migration. An excellent supplement exploring the term beyond the biblical canon is Rössner 2021. Smith 2019 engages the rhetorical exploration with contemporary examples of respectability politics.

• Butler, Kim D. “Defining Diaspora, Refining a Discourse.” Diaspora 10.2 (2001): 189–219. .

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  An important article discussing the various meanings of the concept known as “diaspora.” Biographical references can serve as an additional resource for undergraduate and undergraduate students.

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• Cohen, Robin. Global Diasporas an Introduction. Global Diasporas 1. London: UCL Press, 1997.

  DOI: 10.4324/9780203228920Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  An introduction for new students and scholars to the discourse; engages the complexity of global diaspora communities. Incorporates sociological, political, and religious material, creating an expansive and useful cross-disciplinary bibliography. Differentiates diaspora communities by a general typology—victim, labor, trade, imperial, and cultural.

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• Dufoix, Stéphane. “The Loss and the Link: A Short History of the Long-Term Word ‘Diaspora.’” In Diasporas Reimagined: Spaces, Practices and Belonging. Edited by N. Sigona, A. Gamlen, G. Liberatore, and H. Neveu Kringelbach, 8–11. Oxford: Oxford Diasporas Programme, 2015.

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  A survey of the denotative and connotative history of diaspora. The aim of the essay is to account for the widest possible historical sense of the word diaspora, by tracing no less than five shifts in its meaning and significance. It beginning with the first textual-based occurrence in the Septuagint to its current textual-based uses in contemporary papers about globalization and economics.

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• Dufoix, Stéphane. The Dispersion: A History of the Word Diaspora. Brill’s Specials in Modern History 1. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2017.

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  In a historical and sociological investigation, the author explores the historical use of the term diaspora. Dufoix describes the task of this book as an “attempt both to explain the reasons for its [diaspora’s] recent metamorphosis and to grasp, in the long term, the social, political, intellectual and economic patterns which have overseen the development of the various uses of the term and rendered it richer, with multiple and often contradictory significations” (p. 2).

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• Rössner, Michael. “Translating Diaspora.” In On Migration: Diasporization—Transculturality—Transmediality. Edited by Cornelia Sieber and Alfonso de Toro, 33–44. Hildesheim: George Olm Verlag, 2021.

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  This work engages the New Testament only briefly, focusing mainly on texts outside of the biblical canon. An etiological and historical analysis is well done and is accessible to both academic and lay readers.

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• Smith, Mitzi J. “Paul, Timothy, and the Respectability Politics of Race: A Womanist Inter(Con)Textual Reading of Acts 16:1–5.” Religions 10.3 (2019): 1–13. .

  DOI: 10.3390/rel10030190Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Uses an African American/womanist hermeneutic. An interdisciplinary work examining Timothy’s circumcision, in Acts 16, by Apostle Paul and the relationship between the Acts’ narrative and the experience of race/racism/respectability politics for Black women. The latter concepts are used heuristically and metaphorically to create a hermeneutic dialogue with rhetorical distinctions between Jews and Greeks/Gentiles. Robust biography and footnotes.

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• Waldinger, Roger. The Cross-Border Connection: Immigrants, Emigrants, and Their Homelands. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015.

  DOI: 10.4159/harvard.9780674736283Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  A literary exploration of “borders,” engaging the modern migrant experiences and response to borders. Waldinger argues that all migrants are both immigrant and emigrant, responding to their host-state and in relationship with their home-state simultaneously.

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Diaspora and Biblical Theology

The interpretive work concerning the term diaspora within the biblical text has rippling effects. Scholars are using the concept of diaspora to explore human relationships, treatment of others, and difference. Smith-Christopher 2002 and Newsome 1979 introduce readers to the history and theology of biblical exile, which some scholars name the “diaspora communities.” Barreto 2011 explores the formation of ethnicity in Acts of the Apostles, while Karakolis 2013 explores the ethnic identity formation within Pauline communities. Kartzow and Moxnes 2010, LaBoy 2018, and Powery 2008 take a socio-literary approach, exploring the influence of nuanced readings of the New Testament. Kang and Ingram 2014 explores modern implications of theological development regarding diaspora and identity.

• Barreto, E. D. “Negotiating Difference: Theology and Ethnicity in the Acts of the Apostles.” Word & World 31.2 (2011): 129–137.

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  An exploration of Acts 16:16–40, examining Paul and Silas’s engagement with their ethnic and cultural identities, which occurs as they choose to follow Jesus. Large emphasis on the importance of ethnic and cultural identity in Luke-Acts and the broader canon.

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• Kang, Namsoon, and Laurie Ingram. Diasporic Feminist Theology: Asia and Theopolitical Imagination. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2014.

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  A vibrant addition to the diaspora feminist discourse. A compilation of previously published book chapters and articles focusing mostly on the Asian, Asian American, and Korean diaspora experiences, ranging broadly in religious praxis and belief. Explores home, location, and being.

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• Karakolis, Christos. “Church and Nation in the New Testament: The Formation of the Pauline Communities.” St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly 57.3–4 (2013): 361–380.

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  This study engages the letters of the Apostle Paul exclusively, placing the temporal location of this work in 52 CE to approximately 63 CE. The author assesses the role of ethnic identity in the biblical text and the response of the Apostle Paul. An exploration of the eschatological influence on ethnic identification for Jews of the Diaspora within the Roman Empire.

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• Kartzow, Marianne Bjelland, and Halvor Moxnes. “Complex Identities: Ethnicity, Gender and Religion in the Story of the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:26–40).” Religion & Theology 17.3–4 (2010): 184–204. .

  DOI: 10.1163/157430110X597827Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  While this work indirectly explores diaspora, the article offers tools and analysis for the exploration and importance of identity. The work focuses on identity formation in antiquity as a tool for modern readers as they engage Acts 8:26–40. Author offers a brief review of helpful literature.

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• LaBoy, Felicia Howell. “You Want Me to Talk to Whom?: Explorations in Fear and Faith from the Underside of the Bible.” Review & Expositor 115.1 (2018): 26–39. .

  DOI: 10.1177/0034637317754282Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Modern assessment of the correlation between Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26–40 and the treatment of racial ethnic scholars in predominantly white institutions. The article utilizes an African American and womanist biblical hermeneutic, enhancing the intersectional identities found in the pericope at hand. This work explores themes of “speaking truth to power,” identity, and response to iniquity.

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• Newsome, James D. By the Waters of Babylon: An Introduction to the History and Theology of the Exile. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979.

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  Author uses a historical and theological approach as he overviews 600–500 BCE, Josiah to Nehemiah and Chronicles. This work is accessible to non-academic readers and is profoundly useful for scholars at all levels. A robust historical account of 600–500 BCE, acute synthesis of biblical and extra-biblical work, and a large addition of maps.

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• Powery, Emerson B. “Under the Gaze of the Empire: Who Is My Neighbor?” Interpretation 62.2 (2008): 134–144.

  DOI: 10.1177/002096430806200203Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Explores neighborhood through Jesus, Paul, and James’s references throughout the New Testament to the Levitical command (Lev. 19:18). An excellent analysis, critical eye, and keen perception. Accessible to students and scholars at all levels exploring diaspora, power, and “neighbor.”

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• Smith-Christopher, Daniel L. A Biblical Theology of Exile. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2002.

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  A socio-scientific methodological work exploring “biblical theology of exile.” Examines exile in various time periods: the Persian period, the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and post-exilic period. Christian-centric, and an overt use of Christian expression that may be difficult for non-Christian readers.

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Missiology and Diaspora

In recent years the relationship between (Christian) mission and diaspora, or diasporic communities, has become popular among scholars. Some scholars are exploring the diaspora communities as actors in Christian mission, as in Cueva 2018 and Hanciles 2013. Others are engaging the topic more generally. Santos 2010 and Moses 2018 examine this topic broadly using narratives within the New Testament as their starting points. Weissenrieder 2014 uses a specific pericope within the New Testament, problematizing readings that do not account for the role of ethnicity and embodied space. Vieira 2014 and Tira and Uytanlet 2020 explore questions of Missio Dei, examining the relationship between “insiders” and “outsiders.”

• Cueva, Samuel. “Reciprocal Mission Theology for Diaspora Mission.” Evangelical Review of Theology 42.4 (2018): 346–353.

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  Explores briefly the relationship between diaspora, theology, and mission, specifically assessing the effects diaspora ought to have on theology of mission.

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• Hanciles, Jehu. “Migrants as Missionaries, Missionaries as Outsiders: Reflections on African Christian Presence in Western Societies.” Mission Studies 30.1 (2013): 64–85. .

  DOI: 10.1163/15733831-12341258Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  An exploration of migrant experiences in the early church and the biblical text, giving special attention to Luke-Acts. A socio-literary reading assessing the influence on modern immigrant Christian communities.

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• Moses, Danny. “A Biblical Reflection on Diaspora—Acts 17.” In Diaspora Christianities: Global Scattering and Gathering of South Asian Christians. Edited by Sam George, 17–28. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018. .

  DOI: 10.2307/j.ctv47w3nj.6Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Part of a larger body of work exploring Christian diaspora within South Asian communities, Danny Moses uses Acts 17 as a biblical framework to engage this topic, nuancing Christian mission and exploration.

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• Santos, Narry F. “Diaspora in the New Testament and Its Impact on Christian Mission.” TTJ 13.1 (2010): 3–18.

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  An excellent brief introduction to jargon and discourse of diaspora in the New Testament, linking it to matters of discipleship and Christian mission and evangelism. An exploration of the preparation of the New Testament diaspora for modern Christian mission.

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• Tira, Sadiri Joy, and Juliet Lee Uytanlet. A Hybrid World: Diaspora, Hybridity, and Missio Dei. Pasadena, CA: William Carey, 2020.

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  This work was developed as a result of the Lausanne Movement and Global Diaspora consultation in 2018: “Hybridity, Diaspora and Missio Dei: Exploring New Horizons.” The consultation and this work explore the influence of hybridity and diaspora on the mission of God. In that effect, this work is framed by missiology as a response to diaspora, and more specifically hybridity as a result of diaspora and the response of God’s people (and God) to this “scattering.”

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• Vieira, Alexandre. “Holy Spirit, Church, and the Outsiders: A Brief Study of the Relation between Baptism and Holy Spirit in Acts 8:14–17.” Missio Apostolica 22.1 (2014): 109–117.

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  Offers a new reading of Acts 8:14–17 that highlights the importance of baptism seen in this pericope. Suggesting a new reading could offer inclusion of those who are different and have often been excluded within “the church of God.”

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• Weissenrieder, Annette. “Searching for the Middle Ground from the End of the Earth: The Embodiment of Space in Acts 8:26–40.” Neotestamentica 48.1 (2014): 115–161.

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  Challenges readings of Acts 8:26–40 that center a missiological lens, arguing a geographic and spatial lens are more fitting to explore embodiment. Uses Ebed Yahweh to support her thesis.

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General Diaspora Studies beyond Biblical Studies

In addition to the terminology, diaspora also functioned as a concept or social construction that Second Temple writings like Daniel, Tobit, Esther, the Letter of Aristeas, or even Philo’s writings narrated. Outside the LXX within the broader literature of the Greco-Roman world, the verb form, diaspeirō, was used by the classical Greek writers Herodotus and Sophocles to describe the action of military conquest over a people (Hdt., Hist. 3.13; Soph., El.748). Part of diaspora living was resistance; more can be read in Da Valle 2017, Dayal 1996, and Scott 1990 on this topic. A general overview of diaspora living can be found in Sheffer 2003 and Cohen and Frerichs 2020. Cohen and Frerichs 2020 offers a range of perspectives with writings from authors across the discourse.

• Cohen, Shaye J. D., and Ernest S. Frerichs, eds. Diasporas in Antiquity. Atlanta: Brown Judaic Studies, 2020. .

  DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvzpv5ccSave Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  In this second edition conference volume, the authors explore “adaptation” and how diaspora communities of antiquity engaged in questions of self-identity and communal cohesion. The works of Shaye J. D. Cohen, Ramsay MacMullen, Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski, and Sylvie Honigman can be found in this distinguished volume.

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  • Medline

• Da Valle, Horacio R. “Constructing Liberating Identities: Power, Resistance, and Dignity in the Latino Diaspora.” Review & Expositor 114.3 (2017): 388–402. .

  DOI: 10.1177/0034637317722145Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  This article uses a Foucauldian approach to explore power and resistance seen in Latino/a Christians in the United States. This work engages diaspora, empire, praxis, the relationship to Latino/a praxis of resistance, and the connection to Jesus. Excellent biographic references, helpful for undergraduate and graduate students alike. No prior engagement with Foucault is needed to engage this work, as author does an adequate job framing Foucault’s argument.

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• Dayal, Samir. “Diaspora and Double Consciousness.” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 29.1 (1996): 46–62.

  DOI: 10.2307/1315257Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  The author explores double consciousness expressed in diaspora communal living. Using film and creative writing as biographical resources, the author implores a new lens wrestling with gender, race, sexuality, nation of origin, and class within diaspora living.

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• Scott, James C. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.

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  In this exploration of power, political expression, speech, and ideology, the author uses class and feminist theories to engage domination, response of communities to domination, and daily resistance. Suggesting daily resistance is seen in hidden transcripts, such as laughter, lies, ideological inversion, and intention.

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• Sheffer, Gabriel. Diaspora Politics: At Home Abroad. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

  DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511499432Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  According to Stéphane Dufoix, Sheffer is “one of the pioneers of the conceptualization of diaspora” (Dufoix 2017, cited under Defining Diaspora). The author avoids case studies intentionally, focusing on themes within previously explored case studies, namely ethnicity and ethnic politics. The work offers a review of the literature, raising issues for consideration within the discourse.

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