The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

79 with the restrictions of rigid Judaism: Peter lodges with a man who handled skins of animals which were technically unclean. " 72 This understanding is hardly likely, though , for several reasons . First, Luke portrays Peter as one whose loyalty to Moses is unflinching. His threefold protest to the thought of eating "unclean" animals is testimony that he was not questioning the place of Moses at least in his own personal practice (10: 14-16). Second , the prohibitions involving the uncleanness of dead animals only applied to those which died of natural causes (Lev 11 :31 ff.) , otherwise, even the priests would have been rendered unclean in their normal duties of sacrifice! As long as the tanner avoided the carcasses of animals which had died on their own he would be as clean as the next Israelite. Finally , historically, tanners were not considered unclean by first century rabbis. The occupation was somewhat despised , but only for practical, not for moral or religious, reasons. Because the process of tanning required acid , the tanner worked daily with animal dung . 73 Thus , while the tanner ,.,. may have been on the lower end of the social scale he was not a religious outcast. This under– standing seems to agree better with Luke's message of the gospel finding a home with the poor and the lowly. Peter ' s decision to reside with Simon is probably not an evidence of a soft attitude toward the Law. 74 72 Neil, Acts, 136. 73 Jeremias describes the trades of the tanner and dung collector which were pra ti ed al o in Jerusalem, a ones which were "certainly not considered di honourable, but wer repugnant especially because of the foul smell connected with them. Dung-collector and tanners went together, ince the former collected the dung needed for fulling and tanning. If anyone engaged in one of the three trade in thi Ii t, hi wife had the right t laim di r before th court , and to be paid the um of money which had been a ured h r in th marriage contract in ca e the marriage a di ol ed or h r hu band died," J a him J r mi Jeru alem in the Time of le us (Philadelphia: ortr Pr , 1 69), 0 . 74 M r hall come to the incl ud d b c u P ter' tor (10 ) cup ti n that et on w uld ith u h m n.