GREEN 'She and her household were baptized' 79
Secondly, throughout this section, 9.32-11.18, the landscape of Luke's
narrative is dotted with references to houses, households, and household
hospitality:^22
- the saints 'make their homes' (KCXTOiKeco) in Lydda (9.32);
- Aeneas was 'bedridden' (KaTaKei|ja), presumably homebound
(9.33); - the residents (KOCTOiKeco) of Lydda and Sharon turn to the Lord
(9.35); - Tabitha is laid in an upstairs room (uuepcpov) (9.37), and this
setting becomes a place of effective prayer (9.40; cf. Lk. 19.46);
Peter lodges with and enjoys the hospitality (pe vco [cf. Lk. 10.7]- £evi£co) of Simon the tanner, whose house (OIKICX) is by the sea
(9.43; 10.5-6,17-18,32);
as the narrative unfolds, Peter will pray from the rooftop of this
house (ave(3r).. .km TO Scopa; 10.9) and extend the hospitality of
the house (eioKaXeoMai + £evi£co) to Cornelius's ambassadors
(10.23);
Cornelius 'feared God with all his household' (OIKOS; 10.2), a
household that includes, at least, household slaves (oiKeTT}s;
10.7) and a devout soldier (10.7);
Cornelius prays in his house (OIKOS; 10.3, 30);
Cornelius gathers together into his house both 'relatives and
close friends' (10.24),^23 welcomes Peter and his entourage into
his home (10.23,25, 27; 11.12), and asserts that God is present
in his house (10.33);
- £evi£co) of Simon the tanner, whose house (OIKICX) is by the sea
- Cornelius and his household invite Peter to stay (STTI pe VCO) with
them for several days; - Upon returning to Jerusalem, Peter is upbraided for entering Cor-
nelius's home and sharing his hospitality (11.3);
Context of the Canon', in Robert W. Wall and Eugene Lemcio, The New Testament as
Canon: A Reader in Canonical Criticism (JSNTSup, 76; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic
Press, 1992), pp. 129-40.- This is noted in Gaventa, From Darkness to Light, p. 113; Matson, Household
Conversion Narratives, pp. 102-24: 'The story of Cornelius is striking for the way it
makes the spatial setting of the house a central component of its plot' (p. 103). - In fact, although the focus is initially on Cornelius, by the end of story Luke has
employed a wide-angle lens—emphasizing that the Spirit had fallen on 'all who heard
the word' (10.44) and, indeed, 'on the Gentiles' (10.45; 11.18).