Paul and the Author of 1 Clement as Entrepreneurs of Identity in Corinthian Crises of Leadership

When Paul and the author of 1 Clement write letters to Corinth to address crises of leadership, both discuss Moses’ παρρησία (frankness and openness), yet they evaluate it rather differently. In this article, I view both authors as entrepreneurs of identity and explore the ways in which they try to shape their audience’s social identity and influence their behaviour in the crisis by selectively retelling scriptural narratives related to Moses. The article shows that social psychological theories under the umbrella term of the social identity approach help to illuminate the active role of leaders in identity construction as well as the processes of retelling the past in order to mobilize one’s audience.

The Claromontanus Stichometry and its Canonical Implications

The stichometric list inserted into the sixth-century Codex Claromontanus presents a NT list of 27 books, but not the familiar canonical collection. Alongside one OT (Judith) and five NT titles (ad petrum prima, Barnabas, the Shepherd, the Acts of Paul, and the Revelation of Peter) horizontal dashes have been placed, which are commonly said to denote secondary status. A history of misunderstanding surrounding these obeli, originating with Tischendorf in the nineteenth century, has obscured the stichometry’s role in the history of the NT canon. This article traces that history, showing that the later addition of the obeli indicates precisely the opposite of what has often been claimed of the stichometry – that it should resemble nearly or exactly the later-canonized NT list. Rather, the original inclusion of four alternative scriptural texts in the stichometry indicates a lasting interest in such texts and the continued elasticity of the NT canon.

To Quote or Not to Quote? Categorizing Quotations in the Epistle to the Hebrews

An overview of the appendices in NA28 and UBS5 reveals that the editors agreed regarding the number of quotations in Hebrews on 37 occasions. They disagreed, however, as to whether an intertext was a quotation or an allusion on nine occasions. The compilers of these lists did not provide a basis for their conclusions, and inability to agree on the number of intertexts could be due to multiple reasons. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to develop a set of criteria by which to identify quotations in Hebrews. Auctor’s quotations were determined to possess four characteristics: (1) introductory formula, (2) a recognizable source, (3) verbal correspondence with the hypotext and (4) syntactical tension. These four characteristics were then utilized to assess the nine disputed intertexts between NA28 and UBS5. By assessing the nine intertexts for the presence of the criteria, four out of the nine were determined to be quotations, whereas five were deemed to be allusions.

The Alleged ‘Letter Allegedly from Us’: The Parallel Function of ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν in 2 Thessalonians 2.2

The nearly unanimous consensus of modern scholarship is that 2 Thess. 2.2 refers to a letter either written or alleged to have been written by Paul, as captured in the most common rendering of the text, ‘a letter allegedly from/by us’. The thesis of this article is that the relevant phrase, ὡς δι’ ἡμῶν, does not serve to qualify ‘letter’ or the other two substantives that precede (‘a spirit’, ‘a word’), but that it identifies Paul (the implied author) as a medium of information alternative to the other three media, thus posing a contrast between teaching conveyed through Paul and teaching conveyed through not-Paul, in a manner analogous to Gal. 1.8. In addition to the greater probability of this interpretation grammatically, this interpretation is offered as resolving further difficulties concerning 1 Thess. 2.2, as well as its relationship to 2.15. Evidence is also offered that the consensus view does not find unanimous support among ancient interpreters.

Between the Cherubim: The ‘Mercy Seat’ as Site of Divine Revelation in Romans 3.25

Although the long-standing debate about the meaning of hilastērion in Rom. 3.25 has led to no consensus, readings are nearly always either (1) metaphorical ( hilastērion as place of atonement/expiation) or (2) metonymic ( hilastērion as a means of atonement/expiation). However, in many Second Temple Jewish texts, the word refers to a place of divine revelation. Proposing a fresh semantic topology of usages of hilastērion, this article argues that there is no unambiguous metonymic usage of the word, and that references to atonement in Lev. 16 are secondary to the revelatory function of the ‘mercy seat’. Attending to overlooked intertextual complexities, it suggests that the hilastērion was the site where God promised to reveal the definitive interpretation of his law. The revelatory function of the hilastērion possesses prima facie plausibility as a reading of Rom. 3.21-26, which is driven by the theme of God’s self-revelation in Jesus.

A Sub-Christian Epistle? Appreciating 2 Peter as an Anti-Sophistic Polemic

Drawing from recent ancient historical, New Testament and Second-Sophistic scholarship, this article proposes that the enigmatic 2 Peter can be better understood with closer reference to anti-sophistic polemical writings. Increasing light has been shed on the sophists’ interest in wisdom, display and rhetoric in contexts such as Athens, Rome, Corinth and cities of Asia Minor in the first centuries CE. After introducing historical attempts to identify a worldview compatible with 2 Peter’s polemical response, this article (1) describes the nature of the Second Sophistic in the first century with reference to two contemporary anti-sophistic polemicists, Epictetus the Stoic and Philo the Jew, (2) highlights features of 2 Peter which resonate with contemporaneous anti-sophistic writings, beginning with 2 Pet. 1.16-21 and (3) observes the way in which the Ante-Nicene Fathers, when seeking to discredit later sophistic opposition, drew heavily from 2 Pet. 2–3. It may outrun the evidence to conclude that 2 Peter’s opponents were professional σοϕισταί‎ per se. It can be affirmed, however, that 2 Peter bears significant resemblance with first- and second-century anti-sophistic polemic and may be best understood with reference to it.

Ioudaismos and ioudaizō in Paul and the Galatian Controversy: An Examination of Supposed Positions

The use of ἰουδαϊσμός in the literature of the Second Temple period until Paul’s time suggests a more specific meaning than Judaism in general and points to a perception of it under siege and in need of defence. Additionally, the verb ἰουδαΐζω describes the inclinations of non-Jews to the Jewish way of life. Both terms reflect two different ideas of Israel: one segregated from all other peoples, the other porous and more flexible. These ideas were at odds by the end of the Second Temple period and held by the groups of believers in Christ. Read in the foil of that conflict, the controversies that Paul faces in the letter to the Galatians show the continuity and discontinuity of his life after the revelation of the Son, and explain why he considered himself a faithful Judean but no longer ἐν τῷ Ἰουδαϊσμῷ.

‘If they Will Enter my Rest’: The Impact of the Greek Translation Technique of Psalm 95 for the Argument of Hebrews 3 and 4

Hebrews 4.3-5 introduces tension where the author cites Ps. 95.11b, ‘they will never enter into my rest’, then describes the available rest, and then quotes Ps. 95.11b again. The author appears to undercut the promise of rest by citing the prohibitive oath. This article argues that the tension in Heb. 4.3-5 can be dissolved by translating Ps. 95.11b not as an emphatic negative oath (‘they will never enter into my rest’) but as an open-ended conditional statement (‘if they will enter into my rest’). This is argued in the following way: first, the issue of an assumed Hebraism is explained. Second, three problems with the Hebraism solution are presented. Third, the Interlinear Paradigm of the New English Translation of the Septuagint (NETS) is introduced resulting in two further criticisms of the Hebraism translation. Last, the author’s argument in Heb. 4.3-5 is read with the meaning of the open-ended conditional.

The Spirit of Resurrection in Romans 8 and Its Jewish Correspondences

This article studies the role and identity of the Spirit of resurrection in Rom. 8. First, possible references to the Spirit of resurrection in the OT and Jewish literature of the Second Temple period are explored. Next, the argumentation of Rom. 8 is analysed, where the apostle links the Spirit of resurrection with the work of Christ (Rom. 8.1-4, 10-11), describes its function of making believers resemble the Son (Rom. 8.5-6, 9-11, 14-17) and shows it as sustaining hope for the legacy of glory with the Firstborn (Rom. 8.18-30). The Spirit of resurrection is argued to be a specifically Pauline idea which differs both from the OT and from the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period.

Philo of Alexandria on the Obligations of Wealth

The views of Philo of Alexandria on wealth have been a source of controversy between those who argue that Philo was at times critical of wealth and those who contend that these criticisms were not of wealth but of the dangers posed by wealth. This article evaluates Philo’s position first by examining the evidence for his own wealth and then by considering two sets of texts from the Exposition of the Law: one set that interprets the biblical prohibitions against interest on loans (Spec. 2.74-78; Virt. 82-87) and another that evaluates the use of wealth (Spec. 2.16-23). The former set of texts are evaluated against the realia of Jewish loan practices in Egypt, while the second set is evaluated against Philo’s own family situation. The conclusion is that Philo was not critical of wealth per se, but of the misuse of wealth and the neglect of the poor.