The first-person testimonial of Rom 7:7-25 is better read as the autobiographical reflections of ... more The first-person testimonial of Rom 7:7-25 is better read as the autobiographical reflections of Paul, the letter's Jewish author, and not, as is now commonly done, as the προσωποποιία ('speech-in-character') of an imaginary gentile confessing his inability to keep the Jewish Law. There are two arguments in favor of this reading. First, according to the letter's programmatic description of gentiles in Rom 1:18-32, gentiles have been cursed by God to lead lives consumed with 'desire' (
Gerald O'Collins's insistence that scholars read Paul's encomium to Christ in Phil 2:6-11 as anti... more Gerald O'Collins's insistence that scholars read Paul's encomium to Christ in Phil 2:6-11 as anticipating later Christian orthodoxy confuses theological apologetics for historical interpretation. His claim that Paul anticipates Nicene Christology is anachronistic, tendentious, and methodologically confused. Phil 2:6-11 expresses a Jewish angel Christology, not a teleological foreshadowing of Nicene orthodoxy. A close reading of O'Collins's essay is instructive at a number of levels.
Abstract: 1 Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called 'slogans' in the ... more Abstract: 1 Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called 'slogans' in the commentary tradition, but which Paul's contemporaries would have called sententiae (Gk γνῶμαι). A handful of these appear to have been coined by rival teachers at Corinth. Others have obviously been composed by Paul himself, often in direct response to his competitors. Commentators have long studied these 'slogans', especially those attributable to Paul's rivals, for information about the Corinthian assembly. But why sententiae in the first place? And why at Corinth and not, say, at Paul's earlier foundation at Thessalonica? The answer to these neglected questions lies in the essential role sententiae came to play in the elite rhetoric of Paul's day, rhetoric Paul first confronted at Corinth. Paul would always lack the education to match the easy eloquence of his cultural betters. But he could with effort imitate their genus dicendi or manner of speaking in his written correspondence, which he first attempts in 1 Corinthians. The mixed result is neatly summarized in 2 Corinthians 10:10: 'His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; nevertheless, his physical presentation is weak and his speech contemptible'. Readers of Paul's Corinthian letters do well to consider his cultural precarity.
Die Exegesis des 2 Kor und Phil im Lichte der Literarkritik, 2020
My thanks to Professors Becker and Bieringer for inviting me to participate in this last session ... more My thanks to Professors Becker and Bieringer for inviting me to participate in this last session of your seminar. They have asked me to reflect on the "literary-critical" problems facing the interpreter of Philippians and to do so with a view to my recent commentary on the letter. 1 These problems are well known, so I will mention them only briefly. 2 I will focus instead on the larger question of what for lack of a better term I will call the hermeneutics of literary criticism. I am particularly interested to explore the relationship between Literarkritik and other traditional interpretive practices such as rhetorical criticism, genre analysis, history of religions comparisons, and so on. My thesis is that, while intuitively it may seem sound to distinguish between literary critical analysis and these traditional interpretative practices, and to begin with the former and then proceed to the latter, these two operations are in fact very much interrelated, and especially so in the case of Philippians, where the letter's famous literary critical conundrum at the beginning of chapter 3 effectively disappears in the wake of a careful genre analysis.
He said these things to prepare them for the death he was about to die, that they might bear it w... more He said these things to prepare them for the death he was about to die, that they might bear it with dignity. ~Chrysostom 1 Abstract Dubitatio is a complex figure of speech in which a speaker explicitly weighs her or his options in the course of making a difficult decision. Dubitatio was typically used to display a protagonist's character as revealed in her or his decision-making. In Philippians 1:22-26, Paul uses dubitatio to draw the readers into his deliberations whether to commit suicide in prison. In so doing, he not only reveals to them his own character but their character as well, in as much as it is their inordinate grief over his imprisonment that will ultimately determine Paul's decision. Dubitatio occurs already in Homer, but it was made famous in Greek tragedy, where it largely defined the genre. The tragic dubitatio was parodied in subsequent comedy and, by the Roman period, was beginning to appear in other genres, including political oratory, various poetic genres, history, and epistle. Paul's apt use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26 shows an obvious familiarity with the figure. By attending to Paul's use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26, we can arrive at a fresh and convincing interpretation of this challenging crux interpretum.
Antequam vero fines provinciae decretae sibi proconsul ingressus sit, edic-tum debet de adventu s... more Antequam vero fines provinciae decretae sibi proconsul ingressus sit, edic-tum debet de adventu suo mittere continens commendationem aliquam sui, si qua ei familiaritas sit cum provincialibus vel coniunctio. Ulpian, De officio Proconsulis 1, apud Dig. 1.16.4.3 2 Paulus schrieb seinen Brief an die Christen in Rom mit dem Ziel, ihre Unterstützung für seine geplante Missionsreise nach Spanien zu gewinnen. Als Provinzbewohner verwendete er verschiedene Strategien der Selbstpräsentation, um mit Hilfe dieses kulturellen Kapitals ("le capital culturel") eine positive Reaktion in der Hauptstadt des Römischen Reiches zu erreichen. Zwei besonders wichtige Strategien lassen sich mit der theoretischen Soziologie von Pierre Bourdieu erfassen, insbesondere mit seiner Theorie der Kapitaltypen: Paulus' Bemühen um "sprachliches Kapital" sowie um "re-ligiöses Kapital". Das erste ist evident in Paulus' vieldiskutiertem Gebrauch des Diat-ribenstils, der für Philosophenschulen charakteristisch ist, sowie im Gebrauch des so-genannten ardens-Stils, typisch für Rhetorikschulen und die beliebten Deklamatio-nen. Das zweite, Paulus' Bemühen um "religiöses Kapital", ist in seiner Behauptung erkennbar, sein Evangelium konstituiere einen neuen Typ von Lehre (t}por didaw/r), der allein fähig ist, Heiden von der Herrschaft der Begierde zu befreien und sie so auf das letzte Gericht vorzubereiten.
Die Apostelgeschichte im Kontext (Jörg Frey, et al. eds) , 2009
Quid? Non operienda sunt quaedem? ("What? Are not some things better left unsaid?") Quintilian, I... more Quid? Non operienda sunt quaedem? ("What? Are not some things better left unsaid?") Quintilian, Inst. 2.13.12 Scholars have long puzzled over the ending of Luke-Acts, which leaves its protagonist the Christian apostle Paul imprisoned in Rome awaiting trial on capital charges. To be sure, the author, whom for the sake of convenience I will call Luke, tries to put a good face on it. Here is the last sentence of his work: "And there [Paul] lived for two whole years at his own expense, and he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance"-as if Roman custody offered no "hindrance" to this most peregrine of apostles! 1 Nevertheless, this is hardly the ending one would expect to a story whose theme is the triumphant progress of the gospel and its enthusiastic reception by gentiles, a point Luke has Paul himself reiterate in the second-to-last sentence of the work: "Let it therefore be known to you [Jews] that the salvation of God has been sent to the gentilesand they will listen!" So why does Luke stop his story where he does, with Paul in Roman custody about to be placed on trial for his life?
Interpreters of Paul's letter to the Philippians continue to struggle to understand the place of ... more Interpreters of Paul's letter to the Philippians continue to struggle to understand the place of Paul's promise to send Timothy (Phil 2.19-24) in the overall rhetoric of the letter. However, if one reads Philippians as a letter of consolation the problems associated with this text can be solved. In particular, it becomes evident that the imprisoned and possibly soon-to-be-executed Paul offers Timothy to his anxious readers as his replacement, as another Paul or alius Paulus, according to the topos 'consolation by means of a replacement' for which there are many pertinent ancient parallels. This reading also explains why Paul describes Timothy as his 'child' (tev knon) in the gospel ministry-children were often seen as replacements for dead parents-and why he insists that Timothy is 'of like soul/mind' (ij sov yucon) to himself.
During the Hellenistic period, the different philosophical schools developed different theories a... more During the Hellenistic period, the different philosophical schools developed different theories and techniques of consolation. Epicurean technique called for distracting the mourner by pleasant memories and was widely practiced, even by those who were not philosophical hedonists. Th e technique was altered slightly as it passed into popular use, where in it came to be conceived as a kind of mental dissimulation or even as a therapeutic "beguiling" of the mind by any of a number of pleasant distractions. Th is forms the likely background to Ben Sira's advice to those confronting death at xiv 16 and xxx 23 to "beguile your soul," an observation that provides further evidence of Ben Sira's contact with and measured appropriation of Hellenistic intellectual culture. Despite his traditionalism Ben Sira was influenced on a number of points by the cosmopolitan social mores of his time. 1 It remains unclear, however, to what degree he was influenced by Hellenistic intellectual culture. 2 Stoic parallels are sometimes cited, and it is likely that at least a few of these (e.g., doctrine of opposites) are genuine borrowings. 3 Ben Sira also shows certain similarities *) Matt Goff read an earlier version of this paper and off ered a number of helpful recommendations.
Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2005
sic auferre rogis umbram conatur, et ingens certamen cum Morte gerit, curasque fatigat artificum ... more sic auferre rogis umbram conatur, et ingens certamen cum Morte gerit, curasque fatigat artificum inque omni te quaerit amare metallo Statius, Silvae 5,1,7-9
Ancient rhetorical theorists valued the enthymeme, Aristotle's so-called ρητορικός συλλογισμός, n... more Ancient rhetorical theorists valued the enthymeme, Aristotle's so-called ρητορικός συλλογισμός, not only for the logical contribution that it made to a speech, but for its aesthetic and stylistic qualities as well. 1 Indeed, by the early Roman period the enthy meme had become one of the most highly prized verbal ornaments. Cicero said that it was to other expressions what Homer was to other poets. 2 Quintilian went one better: ut Homerus "poeta" "urbs" Roma (Inst. 8.5.9). In this short study I wish to examine Paul's use of this popular figure. 3 I begin with a brief history of the discussion of the enthymeme as an element of style, paying particular attention to its evolution from a type of proof to a figure of speech in the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods. I then discuss the figure as it occurs in the letters of Paul, especially in the so-called Haupt-briefe, where it is employed with some frequency and, I think, considerable skill. The application of ancient rhetorical theory to Paul's letters has been abused in the past and is often viewed with suspicion by many NT scholars. 4 1 hope that this study, in An earlier version of this paper was read on October 8,1998, at the Workshop on Ancient Rhetoric and Poetics sponsored by the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago and chaired by Professor Laura Slatldn. My thanks to the members of the workshop for their interest and helpful suggestions. I would also like to thank Professors Frank Thielman and Randy Todd at Samford University for their comments and suggestions. 1 For the ancient handbook evidence, see Josef Martin, Antike Rhetorik: Technik und Meth ode (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 2.3; Munich: Beck, 1974), 102-5; Heinrich Lausberg, Handbuch der literarischen Rhetorik (Munich: Huebner, 1973), §371. 2 Top. 13.55: ut Homerus propter exceüentiam commune poetarum nomen efflcit apud Grae-cos suum, sie, cum omnis sententia ενθύμημα dicatur, quia videtur ea quae ex contrants confleitur acutissima, sola proprie nomen commune possedit. 3 Previous studies by NT scholars have focused on the enthymeme as a mode of rhetorical proof: David Hellholm, "
The first-person testimonial of Rom 7:7-25 is better read as the autobiographical reflections of ... more The first-person testimonial of Rom 7:7-25 is better read as the autobiographical reflections of Paul, the letter's Jewish author, and not, as is now commonly done, as the προσωποποιία ('speech-in-character') of an imaginary gentile confessing his inability to keep the Jewish Law. There are two arguments in favor of this reading. First, according to the letter's programmatic description of gentiles in Rom 1:18-32, gentiles have been cursed by God to lead lives consumed with 'desire' (
Gerald O'Collins's insistence that scholars read Paul's encomium to Christ in Phil 2:6-11 as anti... more Gerald O'Collins's insistence that scholars read Paul's encomium to Christ in Phil 2:6-11 as anticipating later Christian orthodoxy confuses theological apologetics for historical interpretation. His claim that Paul anticipates Nicene Christology is anachronistic, tendentious, and methodologically confused. Phil 2:6-11 expresses a Jewish angel Christology, not a teleological foreshadowing of Nicene orthodoxy. A close reading of O'Collins's essay is instructive at a number of levels.
Abstract: 1 Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called 'slogans' in the ... more Abstract: 1 Corinthians contains a number of well-known maxims, commonly called 'slogans' in the commentary tradition, but which Paul's contemporaries would have called sententiae (Gk γνῶμαι). A handful of these appear to have been coined by rival teachers at Corinth. Others have obviously been composed by Paul himself, often in direct response to his competitors. Commentators have long studied these 'slogans', especially those attributable to Paul's rivals, for information about the Corinthian assembly. But why sententiae in the first place? And why at Corinth and not, say, at Paul's earlier foundation at Thessalonica? The answer to these neglected questions lies in the essential role sententiae came to play in the elite rhetoric of Paul's day, rhetoric Paul first confronted at Corinth. Paul would always lack the education to match the easy eloquence of his cultural betters. But he could with effort imitate their genus dicendi or manner of speaking in his written correspondence, which he first attempts in 1 Corinthians. The mixed result is neatly summarized in 2 Corinthians 10:10: 'His letters, they say, are weighty and strong; nevertheless, his physical presentation is weak and his speech contemptible'. Readers of Paul's Corinthian letters do well to consider his cultural precarity.
Die Exegesis des 2 Kor und Phil im Lichte der Literarkritik, 2020
My thanks to Professors Becker and Bieringer for inviting me to participate in this last session ... more My thanks to Professors Becker and Bieringer for inviting me to participate in this last session of your seminar. They have asked me to reflect on the "literary-critical" problems facing the interpreter of Philippians and to do so with a view to my recent commentary on the letter. 1 These problems are well known, so I will mention them only briefly. 2 I will focus instead on the larger question of what for lack of a better term I will call the hermeneutics of literary criticism. I am particularly interested to explore the relationship between Literarkritik and other traditional interpretive practices such as rhetorical criticism, genre analysis, history of religions comparisons, and so on. My thesis is that, while intuitively it may seem sound to distinguish between literary critical analysis and these traditional interpretative practices, and to begin with the former and then proceed to the latter, these two operations are in fact very much interrelated, and especially so in the case of Philippians, where the letter's famous literary critical conundrum at the beginning of chapter 3 effectively disappears in the wake of a careful genre analysis.
He said these things to prepare them for the death he was about to die, that they might bear it w... more He said these things to prepare them for the death he was about to die, that they might bear it with dignity. ~Chrysostom 1 Abstract Dubitatio is a complex figure of speech in which a speaker explicitly weighs her or his options in the course of making a difficult decision. Dubitatio was typically used to display a protagonist's character as revealed in her or his decision-making. In Philippians 1:22-26, Paul uses dubitatio to draw the readers into his deliberations whether to commit suicide in prison. In so doing, he not only reveals to them his own character but their character as well, in as much as it is their inordinate grief over his imprisonment that will ultimately determine Paul's decision. Dubitatio occurs already in Homer, but it was made famous in Greek tragedy, where it largely defined the genre. The tragic dubitatio was parodied in subsequent comedy and, by the Roman period, was beginning to appear in other genres, including political oratory, various poetic genres, history, and epistle. Paul's apt use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26 shows an obvious familiarity with the figure. By attending to Paul's use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26, we can arrive at a fresh and convincing interpretation of this challenging crux interpretum.
Antequam vero fines provinciae decretae sibi proconsul ingressus sit, edic-tum debet de adventu s... more Antequam vero fines provinciae decretae sibi proconsul ingressus sit, edic-tum debet de adventu suo mittere continens commendationem aliquam sui, si qua ei familiaritas sit cum provincialibus vel coniunctio. Ulpian, De officio Proconsulis 1, apud Dig. 1.16.4.3 2 Paulus schrieb seinen Brief an die Christen in Rom mit dem Ziel, ihre Unterstützung für seine geplante Missionsreise nach Spanien zu gewinnen. Als Provinzbewohner verwendete er verschiedene Strategien der Selbstpräsentation, um mit Hilfe dieses kulturellen Kapitals ("le capital culturel") eine positive Reaktion in der Hauptstadt des Römischen Reiches zu erreichen. Zwei besonders wichtige Strategien lassen sich mit der theoretischen Soziologie von Pierre Bourdieu erfassen, insbesondere mit seiner Theorie der Kapitaltypen: Paulus' Bemühen um "sprachliches Kapital" sowie um "re-ligiöses Kapital". Das erste ist evident in Paulus' vieldiskutiertem Gebrauch des Diat-ribenstils, der für Philosophenschulen charakteristisch ist, sowie im Gebrauch des so-genannten ardens-Stils, typisch für Rhetorikschulen und die beliebten Deklamatio-nen. Das zweite, Paulus' Bemühen um "religiöses Kapital", ist in seiner Behauptung erkennbar, sein Evangelium konstituiere einen neuen Typ von Lehre (t}por didaw/r), der allein fähig ist, Heiden von der Herrschaft der Begierde zu befreien und sie so auf das letzte Gericht vorzubereiten.
Die Apostelgeschichte im Kontext (Jörg Frey, et al. eds) , 2009
Quid? Non operienda sunt quaedem? ("What? Are not some things better left unsaid?") Quintilian, I... more Quid? Non operienda sunt quaedem? ("What? Are not some things better left unsaid?") Quintilian, Inst. 2.13.12 Scholars have long puzzled over the ending of Luke-Acts, which leaves its protagonist the Christian apostle Paul imprisoned in Rome awaiting trial on capital charges. To be sure, the author, whom for the sake of convenience I will call Luke, tries to put a good face on it. Here is the last sentence of his work: "And there [Paul] lived for two whole years at his own expense, and he welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance"-as if Roman custody offered no "hindrance" to this most peregrine of apostles! 1 Nevertheless, this is hardly the ending one would expect to a story whose theme is the triumphant progress of the gospel and its enthusiastic reception by gentiles, a point Luke has Paul himself reiterate in the second-to-last sentence of the work: "Let it therefore be known to you [Jews] that the salvation of God has been sent to the gentilesand they will listen!" So why does Luke stop his story where he does, with Paul in Roman custody about to be placed on trial for his life?
Interpreters of Paul's letter to the Philippians continue to struggle to understand the place of ... more Interpreters of Paul's letter to the Philippians continue to struggle to understand the place of Paul's promise to send Timothy (Phil 2.19-24) in the overall rhetoric of the letter. However, if one reads Philippians as a letter of consolation the problems associated with this text can be solved. In particular, it becomes evident that the imprisoned and possibly soon-to-be-executed Paul offers Timothy to his anxious readers as his replacement, as another Paul or alius Paulus, according to the topos 'consolation by means of a replacement' for which there are many pertinent ancient parallels. This reading also explains why Paul describes Timothy as his 'child' (tev knon) in the gospel ministry-children were often seen as replacements for dead parents-and why he insists that Timothy is 'of like soul/mind' (ij sov yucon) to himself.
During the Hellenistic period, the different philosophical schools developed different theories a... more During the Hellenistic period, the different philosophical schools developed different theories and techniques of consolation. Epicurean technique called for distracting the mourner by pleasant memories and was widely practiced, even by those who were not philosophical hedonists. Th e technique was altered slightly as it passed into popular use, where in it came to be conceived as a kind of mental dissimulation or even as a therapeutic "beguiling" of the mind by any of a number of pleasant distractions. Th is forms the likely background to Ben Sira's advice to those confronting death at xiv 16 and xxx 23 to "beguile your soul," an observation that provides further evidence of Ben Sira's contact with and measured appropriation of Hellenistic intellectual culture. Despite his traditionalism Ben Sira was influenced on a number of points by the cosmopolitan social mores of his time. 1 It remains unclear, however, to what degree he was influenced by Hellenistic intellectual culture. 2 Stoic parallels are sometimes cited, and it is likely that at least a few of these (e.g., doctrine of opposites) are genuine borrowings. 3 Ben Sira also shows certain similarities *) Matt Goff read an earlier version of this paper and off ered a number of helpful recommendations.
Zeitschrift für die Neutestamentliche Wissenschaft, 2005
sic auferre rogis umbram conatur, et ingens certamen cum Morte gerit, curasque fatigat artificum ... more sic auferre rogis umbram conatur, et ingens certamen cum Morte gerit, curasque fatigat artificum inque omni te quaerit amare metallo Statius, Silvae 5,1,7-9
Ancient rhetorical theorists valued the enthymeme, Aristotle's so-called ρητορικός συλλογισμός, n... more Ancient rhetorical theorists valued the enthymeme, Aristotle's so-called ρητορικός συλλογισμός, not only for the logical contribution that it made to a speech, but for its aesthetic and stylistic qualities as well. 1 Indeed, by the early Roman period the enthy meme had become one of the most highly prized verbal ornaments. Cicero said that it was to other expressions what Homer was to other poets. 2 Quintilian went one better: ut Homerus "poeta" "urbs" Roma (Inst. 8.5.9). In this short study I wish to examine Paul's use of this popular figure. 3 I begin with a brief history of the discussion of the enthymeme as an element of style, paying particular attention to its evolution from a type of proof to a figure of speech in the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods. I then discuss the figure as it occurs in the letters of Paul, especially in the so-called Haupt-briefe, where it is employed with some frequency and, I think, considerable skill. The application of ancient rhetorical theory to Paul's letters has been abused in the past and is often viewed with suspicion by many NT scholars. 4 1 hope that this study, in An earlier version of this paper was read on October 8,1998, at the Workshop on Ancient Rhetoric and Poetics sponsored by the Department of Classics at the University of Chicago and chaired by Professor Laura Slatldn. My thanks to the members of the workshop for their interest and helpful suggestions. I would also like to thank Professors Frank Thielman and Randy Todd at Samford University for their comments and suggestions. 1 For the ancient handbook evidence, see Josef Martin, Antike Rhetorik: Technik und Meth ode (Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft 2.3; Munich: Beck, 1974), 102-5; Heinrich Lausberg, Handbuch der literarischen Rhetorik (Munich: Huebner, 1973), §371. 2 Top. 13.55: ut Homerus propter exceüentiam commune poetarum nomen efflcit apud Grae-cos suum, sie, cum omnis sententia ενθύμημα dicatur, quia videtur ea quae ex contrants confleitur acutissima, sola proprie nomen commune possedit. 3 Previous studies by NT scholars have focused on the enthymeme as a mode of rhetorical proof: David Hellholm, "
cloth 129,00 € ISBN 978-3-16-151552-1 eBook PDF 129,00 € Published in English. Following a schola... more cloth 129,00 € ISBN 978-3-16-151552-1 eBook PDF 129,00 € Published in English. Following a scholarly conference given in honor of Adela Yarbro Collins, this collection of essays o ers focused studies on the wide range of ways that women and gender contribute to the religious landscape of the ancient world. Experts in Greek and Roman religions, Early Christianity, Ancient Judaism, and Ancient Christianity engage in literary, social, historical, and cultural analysis of various ancient texts, inscriptions, social phenomena, and cultic activity. These studies continue the welcomed trend in scholarship that expands the social location of women in ancient Mediterranean religion to include the public sphere and consciousness. The result is an important and lively book that deepens the understanding of ancient religion as a whole. With contributions by:
Die Bewältigung von Vorurteilen. Der erste Petrusbrief aus sozial-psychologischer Sicht.] 2009. X... more Die Bewältigung von Vorurteilen. Der erste Petrusbrief aus sozial-psychologischer Sicht.] 2009. XVI, 317 pages. WUNT I 244 ISBN 978-3-16-149961-6 cloth 89,00 € ISBN 978-3-16-151533-0 eBook PDF 89,00 € Published in English.
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