historical perspectives: from the hasmoneans to bar kokhba in light ...

COMMUNITY OF GOODS 151
summary repeats and transposes the themes of the earlier passage,
at least 4:32 implies a different form of life and of the sharing of
material resources, as we shall now see in detail.
a) V. 32 begins with the statement, "The company of those who
had become believers had one heart and soul." Here the Greek word
should indeed be translated as "company," implying a
group that is not simply an indeterminate "crowd," but constituted
and of limited membership, if not in number at least by qualification
(here, those who had become believers), and capable of acting and
deciding. Once again, there is a correspondence with the vocabulary
of the Qumran documents, this time with On the other
hand, to describe them as having "one heart and soul" introduces
a different emphasis from that of the earlier passage, where "those
believing" were "together." We are dealing here with a company
which, though striving for unity of heart and mind—I so interpret
the Lucan hyperbole—did not practise strict community of life. The
WT insists, however, on the unity of the believers, by adding: "and
there was no separation among them." On the other
hand, Luke does not omit reports of certain dissensions within the
community itself, notably the "murmuring" of the Hellenists against
the Hebrews in 6:1, even though they are generally settled amicably. 9
The expressions "heart" and "soul" are frequently juxtaposed in
the Old Testament, especially in the familiar commandment of Deut.
6:5 (see also Deut. 10:12; 11:13; 13:4; 26:16; 30:2, 6, 10, etc.). Unity
or singleness of heart represents human integrity, and the prophets
promise in the name of God that, when the people return to the
Lord, he will give them "a single heart and a single way of life"
(Jer. 32:39), "a single heart and a new spirit" (Ezek. 11:19). Singleness
of heart can also, of course, represent unanimity. It occurs in this
sense in 1 Chron. 12:39, where all Israel is "one heart" in wanting
to make David king. The Septuagint translates this expression as
"one soul." The latter expression is found also in Greek literature.
It is quoted by Aristotle, Nic. Eth. 9.8.1168b, as a proverbial saying
on friendship. To Aristotle is also attributed the saying that a friend
is "one soul dwelling in two bodies" (Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the
Philosophers 5.20.) Similar expressions are frequent in Greek writings
on the theme of friendship. 10
9 An exception would be the sharp disagreement that led Paul and Barnabas to
separate (Acts 15:39), a rift that is not healed within the narrative of Acts.
10 For further examples, see the usual commentaries, also J. Dupont, "La com-