The article addresses the problem of the reception of Paul: how does the construction of the image of Paul in the Deuteropauline letters (Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians), the Pastoral letters, the Acts of the Apostles and the apocryphal Acts of Paul relate together? The difficult question of the relationship between Paul in his letters and Paul in Acts is treated first. A typology of the reception of Paul is proposed following three poles: documentary (his letters), biographical (his life) and doctoral (his permanent authority for the Church). The conception that Paul's letters were the only regulation for the memory of Paul in the first century is denied. This three poles typology is applied to some topics of the Pauline tradition: the status of the apostle, the suffering of the apostle, and his teaching. It is possible to observe finally how the writings which honor the memory of the apostle have interpreted these topics by working out a feature present in the writings of the apostle.

Mission in Matthew's Gospel is not limited to the obvious missional texts – Matt 28.16–20 and Matthew 10. Verbal and thematic parallels between Matt 28.16–20 and Matt 24.1–31 invite an interpretation of these texts as mutually significant. Matthew 24 portrays the present for Matthew's community as darker and more vulnerable than is generally observed in Matt 28.16–20. This article explores both the similarities and contrasts between these Matthean passages and some other key intertexts, particularly Isa 42.1–4. Matthew's eschatological program is discerned, including the nature of Christ's ‘presence’ in Matthew 24 and the mission to the nations as an eschatological imperative.

It is almost universally supposed that the narrative chronology of the Fourth Gospel does not turn to Hanukkah until 10.22, but the first explicit reference to ‘the feast of Dedication’ need not represent the point at which the narrative first turns to that feast. This article argues, in turn, for a Hanukkah setting throughout John 10, then throughout chap. 9, and finally throughout chap. 8 (minus vv. 1–11). Thus Jesus' claim to be ‘the light of the world’ (8.12) invokes the symbolism of Hanukkah rather than of Sukkoth.

The account of Vespasian's use of spittle to heal a blind man at Alexandria has long been noted as a parallel to the use of spittle in Mark's healing of the Blind Man of Bethsaida, but little has been made of the temporal proximity of these two stories. Vespasian's healings formed part of the wider Flavian propaganda campaign to legitimate the new claimant to the imperial throne; to many Jewish ears this propaganda would have sounded like a usurpation of traditional messianic hopes. This article argues that Mark introduced spittle into his story of the Blind Man of Bethsaida to create an allusion to the Vespasian story as part of a wider concern to contrast the messiahship of Jesus with such Roman imperial ‘messianism’.

Investigation of attitudes towards sexuality in Qumran and related literature shows that the myth of the Watchers served as an aetiology of wrongdoing, but not of sexual wrongdoing in particular as one might have expected, nor as its paradigm. Intermarriage was a major concern, although conflicts over sexual wrongdoing which feature in early sectarian writings disappear in what appear to be later ones. Extensions to holy space and time produce greater restrictions on sexual relations, but without disparaging them in proper space and time. Eschatology which leaves no space for sex created challenges for defending its place in the interim.

This study argues in three stages that virtually everything the Book of Acts says about Aquila and Priscilla can be derived or inferred from materials in the Pauline letters or can plausibly be attributed to the author's own literary, theological, and/or apologetic agenda. The argument supports the following propositions: (a) that the author of Acts knew and used at least some of the Pauline letters, (b) that Acts reflects a distinctly anti-feminist bias, (c) that the author's agenda included an anti-Marcionite component, and (d) that Acts is to be dated in the second century and perhaps as late as the middle of the century.

Mark 7.15, which contrasts two modes of defilement, appears in the gospel as a response to the Pharisaic custom of washing hands before eating. In this article, it is argued that this custom embodies an innovative approach to ritual impurity. Hand washing, which originated, so it is argued, in the Greco-Roman practice, was promoted by the Pharisees along with other purity laws, but stands in contrast to the biblical priestly purity system. In this logion, Jesus rejects the Pharisees' new conception of ritual purity, which was designed to guard the self from impurity. This interpretation offers both a coherent narrative and a plausible understanding of the custom within its historical-social context.

The study examines bioi by two Greco-Roman authors (Plutarch and Philostratus), two Jewish authors (Philo and Josephus), and finally, the Third Gospel, in the light of the progymnastic topic lists, arguing that all the bioi employ topic lists as a compositional template, guiding the narrative in its overall structure and content. The study shows, moreover, that the Third Evangelist employs the lists with rhetorical skill comparable to the most educated of the biographers surveyed, Plutarch and Philo.

The endings of Pauline letters have been studied as providing clues to the letters' contents. The text of 2 Corinthians is no exception. But what constitutes the ending of that text, and is there more than one letter-ending in it? Rhetorical criticism provides some criteria for attempts to answer those questions, and has sometimes been claimed as providing evidence for the unity of 2 Corinthians. This article reviews that evidence and questions its reliability. The possibility that there may be more than one letter-ending points to a different solution and exposes important features of the text's composition.

Mc (et, en partie, Mt et EvHe) montrent que le Jourdain a été le cadre d'une double scène au début de la vie de Jésus: son baptême par le Baptiste et une vision sans témoins qui l'aurait suivi. Le baptême de Jean, à l'eau, scèlle la conversion présente et prépare le pardon, le don eschatologique futur, comme le montre la formule ‘baptême de conversion pour le pardon des péchés’. De son côté, Jésus a accepté de recevoir ce signe, le ‘baptême de Jean’, parce qu'il l'a reconnu comme l'expression de l'arrivée du kairos. D'autre part, la vision de type prophétique qu'il a eu après son baptême l'a confirmé dans son choix.

Der Osterglaube verdankt sich einmal der besonderen Heilserfahrung, die Jesu Jünger mit seinem Wirken angesichts der andringenden Gottesherrschaft gemacht haben; zum anderen entspricht er im Blick auf die Überzeugung von Jesu himmli_scher Erhöhung dem außerordentlichen Sendungsbewusstsein des irdischen Jesus als Repräsentant der Gottesherrschaft, das ihn mit Ostern zum himmlischen Mandatar derselben werden ließ. Dan 12.1–3 ist dabei die grundlegende Verstehenstradition, die sowohl den Glauben an Jesu Auferweckung wie den an seine Erhöhung bestimmt hat.

L'attention de la majorité des commentateurs qui se sont penchés sur l'étude de Jn 3.29 a été focalisée par le contenu de l'expression ο ϕιλος του νυμϕιου, expression souvent rapprochée du “garçon d’honneur” de la tradition juive, et la signification théologique profonde du verset s’en est souvent trouvée occultée. Le présent article se propose de montrer – notamment à travers un examen des prédéterminations et du schéma eschatologiques de ce verset – que la joie accomplie du Baptiste apparaît ici comme étant le résultat du salut effectif, opéré par la révélation plénière et définitive apportée par Jésus. En ce sens, il constitue l'une des expressions de l'eschatologie inaugurée du quatrième Évangile.

Interpreters of Paul's Letter to the Romans frequently identify preparations for the Spanish mission—mentioned within only two verses at the end of the letter—as the primary reason for writing. Paul's extensive use of Isaiah suggests to some that he viewed Spain as the fulfillment of the reference to ‘Tarshish’ in Isa 66.19. The Hebrew Bible, however, does not provide any evidence that Tarshish is in Spain rather than in Cilicia. Evidence is lacking in the Hellenistic and Roman eras for a Spanish Tartessos–Tarshish connection. The Spanish mission thesis also overemphasizes the importance of Rom 15.24, 28.

This article argues that αρραβων in 2 Corinthians (1.22 and 5.5) does not mean ‘down payment’ or ‘first installment’ but ‘pledge’ without any sense of pars pro toto. After showing that the meaning of the word depends on its context, the study goes on to examine the two occurrences of the word, concluding that Paul either appeals to the Spirit as God's pledge for his apostolicity (1.22) or as a pledge for the surety of bodily resurrection (5.5). The common view that αρραβων depicts the Spirit as the present realization of salvation is thus exegetically unfounded.

The key for conceptualizing both the Galatians' former pagan religion and an existence ‘under the Jewish law’ as ‘serving the στοιχεια’ (Gal 4.3, 9) lies in their characterization as ‘weak and impotent’ in Gal 4.9. As suggested by passages in the writings of Philo, the στοιχεια do not possess inherent creative power and thus are unable to solve the anthropological problem of sin. To overcome the passion of σαρξ, Philo suggests a process of forming and strengthening the immortal soul by way of the Mosaic law. Paul, by contrast, denies the renewing, life-giving power of the νομος and thus categorizes the law as στοιχεια του κοσμου.

The idea of δοξα is a crucial theme of the Fourth Gospel and a test case for scholarly approaches. Starting from two recent monographs, the article develops the central issues to be discussed. In debate with the approaches of Bultmann, Käsemann, and Bornkamm, it is shown that the Johannine narrative is focussed on the act of ‘glorification’ in Jesus' hour, which the author considers foretold in Isaiah and in which the universal salvation is rooted. The Johannine image of Christ as revealing his glory during his earthly ministry is, therefore, a retrojection from the post-Easter perspective. Even more is the notion of his preexistent glory a final consequence rooted in the view of the glorification of the crucified one in his ‘hour’.

There are striking thematic and verbal parallels between Isaiah 24–27 and Rom 8.18–30 that suggest that Isaiah 24–27 provides the primary source for Paul's description of the ruin and groaning of creation in Rom 8.19–22, a possibility that is strengthened by the fact that Paul elsewhere explicitly cites Isa 25.8. If Paul has used Isaiah 24–27 in this way, it helps to explain the emergence in Romans 8 of a cosmic theme in the context of resurrection hope; it also implies that a historic ‘fall of nature’ in the traditional sense is not strictly in view, but that Paul rather considers creation to be enslaved to the effects of ongoing human sin and divine judgment. This slavery itself can be considered the result of God's decision to link the fate of the natural world and humankind through what Isa 24.5 calls an ‘eternal covenant’.

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’ (τεκνον) in the gospel ministry – children were often seen as replacements for dead parents – and why he insists that Timothy is ‘of like soul/mind’ (ισοψυχον) to himself.

This article wishes to handle the subject of the Nomos in Paul from a new perspective, namely from Religious Studies, within a framework where rituals and Ritual Studies receive priority. Nomos is generally translated as ‘the Law’ (with a capital ‘L’), meaning the Torah of Moses, the Pentateuch; by implication, it also covers the rabbinic modes of Torah explication. Commonly, the term and the negation of its religious relevance mark the manner in which Christianity views itself as superseding Judaism. However, the article argues that this understanding of the term and its significance in the writings of Paul is wrongly oriented. Paul himself discusses the issue of religious rules and regulations as part of the life of the communities, which he addresses in his Letters. If Paul is taken at his own words, rituals are important components in Christianity. Thus, the ‘Protestant’ oriented criticism of the cult is tantamount to making Paul address issues that Paul has no intention to take at their face value. This article, therefore, intends to reach new conclusions with regard to the common understanding of Paul's handling of the subject of the Law.

Paul typically uses ουδε to convey a single idea, as do the two closest syntactical parallels to 1 Tim 2.12. In the overwhelming majority of Paul's and the NT's ουκ + ουδε + αλλα syntactical constructions, ουδε joins two expressions to convey a single idea in sharp contrast to the following αλλα statement. Furthermore, the earliest known commentary on 1 Tim 2.12, Origen's, treats it as a single prohibition. Accordingly, the most natural reading of 1 Tim 2.12 conveys, ‘I am not permitting a woman to teach and [in combination with this] to assume authority over a man’.