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Rhoda (Bibliography)

Rhoda (Gk ˁΡόδη) is an individual mentioned once in the New Testament. She appears only in Acts 12:12–15. Rhoda (whose name means "Rose") was a girl (Template:Lang-gr) living in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. To give context to Rhoda one must look at the verses prior to her mentioning. Acts chapter twelve verses one through eleven, gives a description to how Peter, with the help of an angle, escaped prison. Verse twelve states that Peter knew of a house church owned by a woman named Mary. When Peter arrived at the house church “He knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door” . As Rhoda, the slave girl, went to open the door there were people gathered in the house praying for Peter to get out of jail. Verse fourteen continues, “When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”. Commentary on the Book of the Acts (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964), 251.</ref> John Gill surmised that Rhoda recognized Peter's voice because she had "often heard him preach and converse family". However, theologians Donald Fay Robinson and Warren M. Smaltz have suggested that the incident involving Rhoda really represents an idealized account of the death of St. Peter, which may have occurred in a Jerusalem prison in 44 AD.. The people gathered praying responded, “You’re out of your mind,” . Rhoda kept insisting that is was Peter and they responded, “It must be his angel” . The same group of people who were praying for Peters escape from jail found it easier to believe it was his ghost then God answering their prayers. “Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished” . This is all that is recorded about a slave girl named Rhoda who had more faith then those who were gathered in prayer.

Rhoda, A feminist Perspective

I do not believe that Rhoda was written to be a comic relief but to challenge the very social “rules” of the day. In chapter two the writer of Acts quotes Peter, who is quoting the prophet Joel, stating, 17 “‘In the last days, God says,I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who call son the name of the Lord will be saved” . This passage correlates with the passage in Galatians chapter three. “26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” .

The writer of Acts begins with a focus on the lives of women, slaves, young men and women prophesying and seeing visions. Going against the social roles of the day by taking the core belief of the apostle Paul and eliminating them. Kathy Chambers in the book “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” states, “these scenes reveal more than Luke’s invocation of comedic elements: they demonstrate how Christian adaptations of comedic tropes challenged the dominant cultural construction of status and gender, of ecclesial authority, slaves, and women” . The writer of Acts believed that women and slaves would prophecy and used the story of Rhoda as evidence. However, “Rhoda lacked the necessary authority to have her message taken seriously because of her status of both woman and slave, and the resistance of her listeners completely prevented her message from being delivered” . The struggle is real with Rhoda, the people she serves “would rather believe that Peter is dead and so in the inefficacy of their prayer than heed the words of a female slave” . Rather then letting her status and those of the house church silence her she had enough courage and faith to keep insisting that it was Peter. It was not until the people of the house church saw Peter with there own eyes that they were amazed and believed it was him. “Acts 12 is that Rhoda’s appearance, especially when compared to that of Peter, confirms the import of the voice of women slaves. Rather than reinforcing the status quo, Luke’s play upon comedic conventions can be seen as challenging constructions of status and gender” . Rhoda, the only slave named in the Synoptic Gospels, is more then just a slave girl who “forgot” to open the door.

Rhoda compared to Mary Magdalene

Rhoda, the slave girl in Acts, can be closely compared to the well-known woman who was at the tomb at the time of Jesus’ resurrection, Mary Magdalene. In the book A Feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles, Kathy Chambers makes the statement “But if Rhoda’s voice—the voice of the woman and the slave—is now, like the voice of the women at the tomb, to be treated with respect” . When Rhoda heard the initial knock at the door and gained the knowledge that it was indeed Peter, the other people within the house did not believe her. Mary Magdalene was one of the three women at the tomb when Jesus miraculously rose from the dead. Mary Magdalene then proceeded to run back to the disciples and tell them that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. They, just as the people in the house with Rhoda, denied Mary Magdalene of what she had initially told them. These are two instances, in the bible, where one can see the acts of prophecy displayed by a woman, and a slave in the case of Rhoda.

Both women are similar in the sense that their voices were taken away by the act of being denied. Both women were well aware of the truth that they were speaking of. Rhoda and Mary Magdalene both have voices begging to be heard in each of their stories but are pushed to the side by the others around them. These women both lived in a patriarchal society where women were seen as inferior. In both situations their voices eventually were shown importance. “The good news for those seeking liberate readings from Acts 12 is that Rhoda’s appearance confirms the importance of the voice of women and slaves”

See also

• Rose (given name)

References

1. Joseph Henry Thayer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, RHODA.
2. (Acts 12:13)
3. Gill, J. Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible, (http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/acts/12.htm) accessed 31 August 2015
4. Robinson, D. F., 'Where and When did Peter die?', Journal of Biblical Literature Vol 64 (1945), supported by Smaltz, W. M., Did Peter die in Jerusalem?, Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 71, No. 4 (Dec., 1952), pp. 211-216 accessed 31 August 2015
5. (Acts 12:15)
6. (Acts 12:15)
7. (Acts 12:16)
8. (Acts 2:17-21)
9. (Galatians 3:26-28)
10. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 89.
11. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 94.
12. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 94.
13. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 96.
14. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 95.
15. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 96.
16. Holy Bible: New International Version. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI. 2005.

1. Chambers, Kathy (2004). “A feminist Companion to the Acts of the Apostles” (9th ed.). WIpf & Stock. p. 96.

• Women in the New Testament
• People in Acts of the Apostles
• Servants