Jews and Non‐Jews: Paul's Ethnic Map

Abstract

Abstract Pauline scholarship has typically downplayed Paul's ethnic language, masked it as something else, or juxtaposed ethnic particularity with a universal faith in Christ. This chapter offers an examination of Paul's “us/them” language and shows how ethnicity, far from being invisible or irrelevant in Paul's thinking, organizes his religious categories. Paul employs oppositional ethnic construction (a phrase borrowed from Jonathan Hall) to contrast the plight of the gentiles (before Christ) with the Jews. This juxtaposition highlights the primary problem he seeks to address: gentile alienation from the God of Israel. The chapter concludes with a survey of Paul's ethnic terminology, which is often presented in the form of oppositional pairs: Jew/gentile, Jew/Greek, circumcised/foreskinned, etc. These pairings highlight the “otherness” of non-Jews on Paul's ethnic map.