Sunday, November 17, 2019

Was The Soothsayer Speaking Sarcastically?

"And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour." (Acts 16: 16-18 kjv)

Why would the apostle Paul be grieved over someone constantly affirming that the apostles were God's servants who show men the way of salvation? Further, why would a possessor of demonic spirits say such a truth? Difficult questions, huh?

My own view is that the reason Paul silenced the woman by divine power was because she was saying the words sarcastically. If we add punctuation (which was originally absent from the text, and which was later added by translators to help give the meaning of the text, and regarding punctuation translators have disagreed concerning a particular text) in order to bring out this sarcastic meaning of the words uttered by the soothsayer, we would have these examples:

"These men are servants of the most high God?" (connotation: that is laughable! An instance of sarcasm)

Just by adding the question mark one sees the sarcasm.

"These men...show unto us the way of salvation?" (the intended meaning is that the thing is absurd. Again, another instance of sarcasm, I believe)

Implied Meaning in the Sarcasm

These men cannot possibly be servants of God! Look at them! The thought is laughable! These men show "us," the wise ones, the way of salvation? Yea, right!

I think this sarcasm represents what the soothsayer was intending to convey. The damsel did not really believe that Paul was a servant of God and was really showing the way of salvation. She intends to convey the idea that anyone who wants to know God and the way of salvation should consult the wise ones, and those who have the spirits of the gods within them, as she professed to have, rather than some little unknown Jew! Her words were not only a case of sarcasm but of mockery. The damsel was shouting these words in a mocking way, similar to the way the soldiers spoke the words "Hail! King of the Jews!"

That is my interpretation in any case. What think ye?

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