Commentary Par XXX 49

Tommaseo (DDP Tommaseo.Par.XXX.49-51) was apparently the first commentator to hear the echo of the passage in the Book of Acts (22:6) that features the fairly rare verb circumfulgere.  Scartazzini (DDP Scartazzini.Par.XXX.49) also did so.  Their view was shared by Poletto (DDP Poletto.Par.XXX.46-51) and at least nine commentators in the following century, from Torraca to Bosco/Reggio.  Disagreeing with such as these, who think that Dante's Latinizing verb form circunfulse (shone all around) reflects the circumfulgere of Acts 22:6 (or either of two other passages in that book), Dronke (Dron.1989.1), p. 37-38, insists on the greater relevance of Luke 2:9, the only other biblical passage that contains this verb, describing the shepherds keeping watch on the night of the Nativity: 'And the glory of the Lord shone around them' (et claritas Dei circumfulsit eos).  Dronke objects to claims for a linkage here between Dante and Saul, 'the fanatical persecutor whom the circumfulgent light blinds for three days, stunning him into a change of heart.'  However, what works against Dronke's hypothesis is the very context that he tries to turn against those who take the reference as being to Saul/Paul, since he fails to take into account the noticeable fact that Dante, like Paul (and unlike the shepherds) is blinded by the light.  For Dante's Pauline identity here, see Foster (Fost.1977.1), pp. 70-73; Di Scipio (Disc.1980.1); and Shaw (Shaw.1981.1), p. 201: 'There can be no doubt that Dante expects us at this point to think of Saul on the road to Damascus.'  And see Hollander (Holl.1993.5), pp. 14-15 (n. 34).  Kleinhenz (Klei.1995.1), pp. 458-59, is also of this opinion; on p. 468, n. 5, he refers to Dronke's hypothesis with dubiety, as does Bellomo (Bell.1996.1), p. 45, n. 19.