Israel’s Prophets Meet Athens’ Philosophers 211 was provoked by all the idols. One can find similar statements in the Scriptures of Israel. 1 Kgs 16,13 records that God was provoked by the idols of the people. (Cf. 1 Kgs 16,26; 2 Kgs 17,16-17; Jer 8,19). This is not to suggest that Paul is standing in the place of God, but that to speak of one being provoked by idols is a well-known concept in the Scriptures of Israel. This means that the narrative context of Paul’s speech begins with something common in the Scriptures of Israel: being provoked by idols. Then Paul begins his speech and immediately starts with echoes of scriptural traditions. Since the narrative context of Paul’s speech begins with scriptural echoes, and his speech is pervaded by them, from a narrative perspective Luke’s discourse about Paul’s speech in Athens exemplifies framing in discourse via echoes of scriptural intertexts. When Luke’s audience first encounters Acts 17,16, some of them at least will recall the background in the Scriptures of Israel concerning God, or the prophets or kings being provoked or grieved over the idols of the Israelites. This would lead Luke’s audience to expect a narrative about condemnation of idolatry. When Paul is presented as saying the same kinds of things that Israel’s prophets from the past said about idols, Luke’s audiences will naturally interpret Paul’s speech, based on this “prophetic” discursive framing as anti-idol polemic in the mold of the prophets of old (33). Luke has purposely composed his narrative to frame his discourse with scriptural echoes, especially those that point to the contrast between pagan worship and conceptions of God, and proper worship and correct understanding of the one true God. Since Luke provides this framing in discourse through the Scriptures of Israel, his audience will be led to expect a similar prophetic condemnation of pagan worship and beliefs about the (false) gods. At every turn, Paul echoes the traditional, scriptural concepts that are used by Israelite prophets in their condemnation of idolatry. Therefore, on a narrative level, Luke’s audience will be led to interpret Paul’s speech as the same type of anti-idol prophetic critique. This discursive framing guides Luke’s audience in how to read the story of Paul at Athens and in how to (33) This is not meant to suggest that there are specific categories of framing in discourse, including a prophetic one. Framing in discourse does not come in categories but is a narrative strategy to help an audience understand a narrative. Therefore, when I refer to Luke’s discursive framing in this speech as “prophetic”, I am only observing that in this particular account, and in this particular speech, Luke uses intertextual echoes of prophetic anti-idol polemic to frame his discourse. This is not like form criticism, where there are allegedly a small number of categories into which every gospel pericope must fit.