GREEN 'She and her household were baptized' 89
slot at the bottom rung of an oppressive system. Thus, thinking that those
under his charge have escaped, he apparently fears his own death (cf.
12.18-19) and opts for the honor of suicide over the shame of execution
(16.27).^46 How should we read his question to Paul and Silas, Kupioi, xi
|J6 5ei TTOIEUMVCC OCO0CO; In spite of parallels in Lk. 3.10-14; Acts 2.37, it
is doubtful that we should hear in his voice a request for salvation in the
full Christian sense as this is developed in the Lukan narrative. And his
address to Paul and Silas as K\ipioi is hardly an attempt at polite address,
given their status only hours ago as humiliated, beaten prisoners. Rather,
the jailor has had to reconsider his evaluation of them on account of the
supermundane character of their escape. Either he fears them, as though
they were more than human, or he sees in them a power capable of
rescuing him from his certain fate in the service of the emperor. Thus, he
addresses them with a term, Kiipios, prominently used in the imperial cult
of the emperor.^47 The message he receives, which Luke characterizes as
'the word of the Lord' (16.32), names Jesus as Lord (16.31), and this
serves to render unambiguous the source both of the power behind the
spectacular events and of authentic deliverance.
The effect is that an enemy—who because of his own oppressed status
must fear for his life even though he has made a livelihood as the instru-
ment of oppression for others—and with him his whole household, are
transformed. They believe, rejoice, extend hospitality to Paul and Silas,
and are baptized. The true Lord is named, such that this household comes
under the lordship of Jesus rather than that of Caesar.^48 We would like to
know the rest of the story perhaps—e.g. what shape 'repentance' might
take in the everyday life of this jailor (cf. Lk. 3.10-14)—but this is not the
narrative Luke has provided. The focus falls rather on the validation of the
faith and accompanying practices of this jailor and his household. Within
the narrative of Acts, as the community of God's people discerns God's
acceptance of persons, those persons are incorporated into the community
through baptism, signifying forgiveness and acceptance. Household bap-
tism in this case thus signifies God's acceptance of these persons, authenti-
cates their faith and hospitable practices as markers of the new order over
which Jesus is Lord, and, together with the experience of Lydia and her
- Cf. Tacitus, Ann. 6.29.
- Cf. Donald L. Jones, 'Christianity and the Roman Imperial Cult', in ANRW
23.2, p. 1031. - The jailor's offer of hospitality is itself an illegal act, according to Rapske
{Paul in Roman Custody, pp. 390-92), and this underscores the shift in his allegiances.