Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 11:1 (Spring 2006)
Article: Are the Daughters of Philip Among the Prophets of Acts?
Author: Jeffrey T. Riddle

JBMW 11:1 (Spring 2006) p. 20

Are the Daughters of Philip Among the Prophets of Acts?

Jeffrey T. Riddle

Pastor,
Jefferson Park Baptist Church,
Charlottesville, Virginia

The mention in Acts 21:9 of the four virgin daughters of Philip at Caesarea who prophesy has long intrigued interpreters of the Acts of the Apostles. Who were these women and what role did they play within the early Christian movement? What is Luke’s view of these women? Does his brief mention of them highlight or obfuscate their role within the early Christian movement? As we shall see, some have pointed to these women as evidence of Luke’s progressive, egalitarian views on the role of women within early Christianity. These interpreters have seen Luke as presenting an approving picture of these women as prophetesses in the biblical tradition of Deborah, Huldah, the wife of Isaiah, and Anna. Others, however, have seen a very different picture. For these, it appears that Luke desires to subordinate the role of women within the church of his day; therefore, he downplays the significance of Philip’s daughters within Acts. This study is an attempt to understand Luke’s presentation of the daughters of Philip and to determine if he does, indeed, view them as being among the prophets of Acts.

Prophets in Acts

In order to answer the question as to whether or not the daughters of Philip are, indeed, among the prophets of Acts, we must first examine Luke’s presentation of prophets and prophetic activity in general within Acts. Who are the prophets in Acts and what do they do? Some have chosen such broad definitions that nearly every primary character in Acts is said to be a prophet. In his commentary on Luke, Luke Timothy Johnson, for example, argues that Luke’s use of “proof from prophecy” is “his most important literary device” in the Luke-Acts narrative.1 Johnson then argues that Luke presents nearly all the major Christian figures in Acts as acting like prophets. In describing his profile of the prophetic figure in Acts, Johnson says that each leading character in Acts is “filled with the Holy Spirit,” is “bold”

JBMW 11:1 (Spring 2006) p. 21

in proclamation of the “Good News” or “the word of God,” is a “witness,” works “signs and wonders,” and preaches and performs wonders “among the people.”2 He concludes, “Taken together, these characteristics point unmistakingly to one image in the biblical tradition, that of the prophet.”3 Another contemporary work, Roger Stronstad’s The Prophethood of...