Hellenistic Jews Research Articles

“God Is One” or “the One Is God” in Hellenistic Jewish and Greco-Roman Theology

Abstract “God is one” is the theological foundation of many of the world’s religions. The Greek version of this expression, heis theos, was especially significant to ancient religious development. Past scholarship has tended to place its emergence early, among the sixth century BCE Presocratic philosophers. In this article, I argue that the expression “God is one” in Greek likely develops later, in Jewish writings of the Hellenistic period. My work supports a minority opinion in the scholarship that attributions in second century Christian apologetics of this expression to Presocratics such as Xenophanes should not be relied upon. Rather, I suggest that the expression heis theos emerged in the context of second to first century BCE Alexandrian Jewish theology in conversation with ideas from Greek philosophy.

신약 고유명사의 새로운 표기법 제안 — 『개역개정』 사도행전의 인명과 지명을 중심으로 —

This paper reviewed proper names of people and places in NKRV and KCT as well as the most recently published the New Korean Translation The New Testament and Psalms (NKT NT&Ps), and transliterated the names in the original NTGSUP28/SUP text of Acts by the following below. The proposed new transcription follows the basic principles for foreign word transcription by the National Institute of Korean Language.BR In the consonant, that does not follow the method of the NKRV’s transcription from all the polisive as ‘ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ’, but the transcription of polisive ‘π, τ, κ,’ ‘ϕ, θ, χ’ into ‘ㅍ, ㅌ, ㅋ’, and the polisive ‘β, σ, γ’ into the aspirated sound ‘ㅂ, ㄷ, ㄱ’ instead of the fortis ‘ㅃ, ㄸ, ㄲ’. In the vowel, ‘u’ is written as ‘ㅟ’, but when ‘υ, ει, υι, οι’ is settled as ‘i’ and used for modern person and place names, it is written as ‘ㅣ’.BR The basic principle of foreign words transcription states the following: “The established usages of foreign words are respected, but the scope and usage are determined separately.” In this regard, proper names of people and place shall be established and indicated according to the following categories and guidelines. First, remove ‘-스’ that occurs in the final ending, but for the transliteration of the vowel in front of -s, follows the idiomatic use in the NKRV. Second, the names of Jesus, twelve disciples, and the other apostles and the titles of the four Gospels shall follow established transcriptions, but Greek names such as the name, it shall follow Greek. Fifth, the names of city or state formed during the Hellenistic period shall follow the transcription of Greek, reflecting the abbreviation and ‘i’ assimilation phenomenon. Sixth, cities where Latin names are preferred, such as capital cities of the Roman period, follow the transcription of Latin. seven Hellenistic Jews and names of the epistles shall be newly transliterated. Third, if the same person is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments, it shall be based on the Hebrew sound. But if the person has the same name, it shall follow the transcription of Greek while Roman officials and Latin names follow the transcription of Latin. Fourth, if the place name is the same as in the Old Testament, it shall be based on Hebrew, but if it is settled as a Greek place name, it shall follow Greek. Fifth, the names of city or state formed during the Hellenistic period shall follow the transcription of Greek, reflecting the abbreviation and ‘i’ assimilation phenomenon. Sixth, cities where Latin names are preferred, such as capital cities of the Roman period, follow the transcription of Latin.BR

Gammadiae, simbolo di santità e autorevolezza: cambiamenti morfologici dall’antichità al Medioevo

The so-called gammadiae are symbols similar to letters whose specific meaning is unknown. It is currently believed that they could have originated among Hellenistic Jews, and been inherited by Christians, who adapted them to own needs. They seem to have indicated the holiness of the characters marked by them. Building on previous analysis and on the recent systematic cataloguing of the Early Christian catacombs of Rome, as well as a range of other artefacts, we examine two lesser known archaeological finds, and finally consider some examples of gammadiae “of transition”, which appear during the Medieval period predominantly in manuscripts or in the mosaics of basilicas. These last symbols show differences from the Early Christian ones, even though they still appear systematically on the pallia of Christ, the martyrs, saints and other holy people.

Meditatio Septuaginta: Torah recitation as a spiritual discipline

There is evidence that the practice of meditative reading was cultivated by Hellenistic Jews as a discipline analogous to the spiritual exercises of the philosophical schools. The present study traces (1) the Deuteronomic antecedents of this practice, (2) its reconfiguration in the Torah Psalms, and (3) finally its expression in Greco-Jewish translation, with special reference to the Greek Psalter. Taking its cue from the work of Pierre Hadot, it situates this development within the larger matrix of Hellenistic philosophical discourse. The philological focus of the study is the use of the Hebrew verb I הגה Qal in contexts where Torah study is thematic and its rendering by μελετάω in the Septuagint. To frame the lexical analysis, it draws on the slot-filler model pioneered by Charles Fillmore.Contribution: This article situates a key Greco-Jewish translation with reference to both its Deuteronomic antecedents and to practices cultivated within the philosophical schools of the Hellenistic period. The analysis demonstrates the relevance of Frame Semantics to philological investigation.

A semantic comparison of the conclusion of LXX Tobit and Semitic 4QTobit

At the beginning of the 20th century, the shorter Greek version of the book of Tobit, GI, which is included in the Catholic Bible, was thought to be the oldest version. It was defined as ‘a lesson on almsgiving and its redeeming powers’. As the discoveries of the Semitic copies of Tobit at Qumran, GI is recognised to be a reworking of the longer version GII, most probably originally written in Aramaic, between 225 and 175 BCE. In all versions of Tobit, the theme of almsgiving is introduced as specifically directed to Jewish kinsmen, but towards the end, is to be directed to all poor, suggesting that it may have been written by a Hellenistic Jew. Although the surface context of the narrative of Tobit is the Jewish tradition of proper observation of mitzvot and sacrifice and eventual reward, the various versions contain varying degrees of ancient Near Eastern wisdom, and an ironic, subversive reflection of hypocritical righteousness. This article questioned why the endings differ markedly in different versions. To try to find answers, a semantic comparison was made between GI and the most complete Aramaic version 4Q196.Contribution: This article considered the implications of source criticism in the reception of the various versions of Tobit. The possibility was examined that the pre-Christian, Aramaic version 4Q196Tobit does not confirm the excessive focus on almsgiving as righteousness apparent in the GI version of LXX Tobit.

Lot’s Wife is Still Standing: In Search of the Pillar of Salt

AbstractThis article explores how readers search for Lot’s wife at the shore of the Dead Sea and how they use the pillar of salt as a destination, as a symbol, and as a lasting memorial. Whether Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt that travelers to the Dead Sea can visit today is not relevant for this analysis. Spanning many centuries, this reception history of Lot’s wife argues that readers use her for their own interests to address their own cultural concerns. Three chronological areas are addressed for a broad-sweeping coverage of some trends and traditions about Lot’s wife. While the Hebrew text remains ambivalent about memorializing Lot’s wife, Hellenistic Jewish and early Christian sources reveal a concern to remember Lot’s wife in terms of God’s final judgments. The article then turns to medieval Christian travel narratives and maps that use Lot’s wife to mark the borders of Christendom, with pilgrims seeking her amid Crusades-era concerns. Finally, modern sources are discussed that deal with Lot’s wife in terms of symbolizing sexual trauma, deviance, and danger. Gender theory and queer theory are utilized in the article as secondary ideological lenses through which to engage reception history. What results is a complex picture regarding how people use Lot’s wife to negotiate boundaries, engage biblical myth, and further their own agendas.

Hidden Criticism of the Angry Tyrant in Early Judaism and the Acts of the Apostles by Drew J. Strait

Reviewed by: Hidden Criticism of the Angry Tyrant in Early Judaism and the Acts of the Apostles by Drew J. Strait Linda Maloney drew j. strait, Hidden Criticism of the Angry Tyrant in Early Judaism and the Acts of the Apostles (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2019). Pp. xiv + 423. $130. Drew Strait's book could use a snappier title, but the one it has is descriptive of its content. S. is a Mennonite scholar; Hidden Criticism is based on his doctoral thesis for Gert Steyn at the University of Pretoria (2015). He received his A.M.R.S. at the University of Chicago Divinity School and his indebtedness to Prof. Hans-Josef Klauck at that institution is both acknowledged and well footnoted. Strait's book is essentially aimed at demonstrating that Paul's Areopagus speech (Acts 17) is an attack on idols, icons, and the emperor cult and by no means an apologia for them. In a foreword, David P. Moessner describes the work as "nothing less than an iconoclastic blast through a time-honored evaluation of Paul's classic speech against pagan idolatry to illuminate a new discovery from Hellenistic legitimations of divine kingship" (p. x). Probably the book's greatest strength is its deep and detailed examination of postexilic Jewish authors' veiled verbal resistance to Greek and Roman veneration for idols and, ultimately, for idolized emperors. It seems to me that S. is more indebted than he acknowledges to Todd Penner's earlier In Praise of Christian Origins: Stephen and the Hellenists in Lukan Apologetic Historiography (Emory Studies in Early Christianity 10; New York: T&T Clark, 2004), which has prepared the ground well in its treatment of the character, background, and purposes of Stephen's speech in Acts 7. After a first chapter introducing the subject and method, part 1, "Objects of Resistance," sets out the ways in which honor was bestowed on divine beings in the ancient world by means of images and sacrifices, and how such honors were ultimately hybridized to revere rulers. S.'s command of the ancient record, both written and epigraphic, is remarkable. In part 2, "Strategies of Resistance," he focuses on the means by the worship of idols and idolized rulers from Alexander onward was covertly undermined—by Greek philosophers but also and primarily in the Books of Maccabees and in Alexandria, especially by Philo. Special attention is paid to Roman imperial figures, particularly Augustus. S. examines how Philo and other Jewish writers of the period refined their approach to the First Commandment (which S. treats in Protestant fashion as two). In this presentation, the First Commandment asserts monotheism, the Second monolatry; thus there are separate treatments of the ways Jewish writers accommodated divine sovereignty with earthly rule and of how they coped with the question of images. For me the most interesting part of the book was chap. 7, "The Wisdom of Solomon and Empire." In S.'s portrayal, "Ps.-Solomon is an acculturated Hellenistic Jew who is more likely responding to local ethnic tensions under the hegemony of imperial power"—in Alexandria. Cited in support of this location (which is generally accepted) are "Wisdom's invective toward Egyptian theriolatry (Wis 13–14), animosity toward Egypt through its retelling of the Exodus narrative (Wis 10–19), and parallels with Philo" (p. 248). In particular, the Book of Wisdom paints a portrait of the ideal king of Israel (Solomon) as a counterexample to the earthly rulers the author knew. It begins (1:1): "Love righteousness, you rulers of the earth" and concludes its introductory section with chap. 6: "Listen therefore, O kings, and understand. … For your dominion was given you from the Lord, and your sovereignty from the Most High" (6:1-2). "Most High" is a key expression; Jews of the Hellenistic period were encouraged to see their God as supreme, and in a cultural climate [End Page 723] in which monotheism was scarcely understood by ordinary people that was a good strategy. Unjust rulers are equated with the wicked (cf. Wis 5:17-23), and God's condemnation of the wicked was a familiar theme in the Hebrew Bible as in the LXX. Still, according to S., "The...

Paul and the Greco-Roman Philosophical Tradition

Paul and the Greco-Roman Philosophical Tradition

An overlooked treatise in Greek political thought: An essay on 2 Maccabees as a Hellenistic politico-theological manifest

This essay does not dwell yet again on traditional issues associated with 2 Maccabees usually discussed through a Jewish lens by dozens of modern scholars. It also does not view the book within its traditional Jewish Hellenistic “Sitz im Leben,” with its self-evident Hellenistic-Jewish reading audience, and its aim is neither to draw a distinction between Greek topoi and biblical motifs nor to discuss its values as an historical text. Rather, the article assumes a pagan reading publicum alongside a Jewish Hellenistic one that, in contradistinction with its Jewish audience, could easily see in 2 Maccabees a standard narrative of a life in a Greek polis under foreign rule, where the “ancestral constitution” plays a significant role, so typical of Greek poleis from the classical period (Delian league) through the Hellenistic era (Macedonian Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires). Reading the book as a Greek would have can give us new insights concerning its socio-political and theological message (independently of its Jewish one). The article reconstructs a politeia as a learned Greek would have done. The book can actually be read as a reflection, or rather a microcosmos of the second century B.C.E. in the Greek sphere during the Hellenistic period. The overall message of the book emerges different than that broadcasted to the Hellenistic Jews, and constitutes a rich mine of theoretical information about the relationship between a subject city and an empire.

Philo’s Eschatology, Personal and Cosmic

AbstractAlthough first-century writings in the New Testament, Dead Sea Scrolls, and the pseudepigrapha are widely recognized for their descriptions of the ultimate destiny of individuals and the world, the views of Philo of Alexandria do not get the same attention. To situate the apocalyptic eschatologies of Jesus, the Qumran sectarians, and Enoch in their context, we must compare them to the eschatology of this contemporary Hellenistic Jew. I demonstrate that Philo’s eschatology is shaped by two convictions: (1) that God is good and can do no evil, and (2) virtue must be developed within people in this life. These convictions entail that the purpose of punishment must be solely for correction, and that God provides unlimited opportunity for souls to improve. Philo held that reincarnation provides just such an ever-improving spiral in which souls finally become wise by honoring God and consequently the world becomes a peaceful, prosperous paradise.

Influence of the Septuagint on the Christian Canon

As from February 8, 2006, the International Organization for Septuagint Studies (LXX) established on February 8 as the International Day of the LXX: a day for celebration and encourage its study. Robert A. Kraft of the University of Pennsylvania (USA) had reported that this Greek biblical version, and its protagonists, were the ones that facilitated Gentiles and Jews access to the Hebrew biblical texts. Some of the questions that arise from the reading of the Bible and particularly the Old Testament (OT) revolve around the antiquity of the texts that make up the biblical corpus. Also, do we wonder how the LXX has historically emerged? How has he contributed to the Christian canon? Why Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. abandoned it? What influence could he have had on the Hellenistic Jews? And something very important, what transcendence does the Septuagint have for theologians and for the Christian canon?

Tribals, Empire and God: A Tribal Reading of the Birth of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel by Zhodi Angami

Reviewed by: Tribals, Empire and God: A Tribal Reading of the Birth of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel by Zhodi Angami Zorodzai Dube zhodi angami, Tribals, Empire and God: A Tribal Reading of the Birth of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel (London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017). Pp. xvi + 314. $128. Using what Angami calls tribal reading and drawing from the contextual experiences of Northern Indian communities in rereading Matthew's infancy narrative (Matthew 1–2), A. argues that Matthew's infancy stories remind local people of their own experience of military occupation and their resistance against occupation and oppression—aspects that A. assumes were contextual realities for Matthew's community. To understand how Northern Indian communities read, A. employs reader-response criticism and other approaches such as historical criticism, social-scientific approach, contextual hermeneutics, marginal/minority readings, critical correlation, and postcolonial biblical interpretation. In chaps. 3–6, A. takes various aspects of the infancy narratives and interprets them from different hermeneutical perspectives. The long genealogy list (Matt 1:1-17) is interpreted as both counterimperial and antipatriarchal. Matthew's mention of titles such as Messiah (political), son of David, and son of Abraham is read has having political connotations. Furthermore, Matthew's inclusion of women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary—is "irregular" and clearly disruptive of patriarchal expectation where the son of a great figure is known through the patriarchal lineage. For tribal readers, the supernatural involvement in Jesus's birth, similar to Greek legends, is evidence of new creation, of the gods re-creating and reforming the present. Verse by verse, A. demonstrates how the infancy narratives were understood within the Greco-Roman worldview and also from the perspective of the tribes in Northern India. The birth of Jesus as king of the Jews has affinities with the birth and adventures of great Indian leaders. Further, the visit of the magi and the visible bright star remind the northern tribes of India of the importance assigned to stars. The birth of Jesus signifies the dawn of a new era in contrast to the oppressive rule of Herod. For A., the infancy story is a carefully crafted narrative of hope amid adversity. A. explains, "[E]mpire, as exemplified in Herod, is an evil mechanism, a killing machine that thrives to appease its own greed from wealth and power but has no concern for the subjects" (p. 258). Methodologically, A. offers a critical-analogical correlation of Matthew's historical context to Northern Indian communities. Analogies move from the known (Northern Indian communities) to the unknown (Matthew). Although A. uses the historical-critical method, he does not clearly demonstrate where he employs other approaches—social-scientific, contextual hermeneutics, marginal/minority readings, and postcolonial biblical interpretation. In the context of a critical-contextual correlation of Matthew's community to Northern [End Page 126] Indian communities, the Northern Indian communities' experience of military occupation and resistance to such oppression is read alongside that of Matthew. Angami's study is reminiscent of similar work by Gerald West of South Africa, who, through contextual Bible study, allows the readers to reflect on their experiences and their context in the reading process (Gerald O. West, "Contextual Bible Study in South Africa: A Resource for Reclaiming and Regaining Land, Dignity and Identity," in The Bible in Africa: Transactions, Trajectories, and Trends [ed. Gerald O. West and Musa W. Dube; Leiden: Brill, 2000] 595-610; idem, Reading Other-wise: Socially Engaged Biblical Scholars Reading with Their Local Communities [SBLSS 62; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007]). In contrast, while A. refers to contextual Bible reading, he does not recount where and how the Bible study was conducted. A.'s study raises the following questions: First, how anti-imperial were the Hellenistic Jews of Antioch? The assumption of using military terms in identity construction suggests that closed diaspora Jewish communities such as that of Matthew were daily conscious of their exclusive identity as occupied people. Though Antioch was one of the famous Greco-Roman cities, such a reconstruction may miss moments of coexistence, hybridity, and or assimilation. After studying Galilee, Jonathan Reed says that, far from being a closed region, Palestine shared intersectional identities with surrounding regions (Archaeology...

Annaeus Cornutus et la tradition allégorique stoïcienne : signification, sources et impact

The Roman Stoic Cornutus, who lived in the age of Nero, is the heir of an ancient and rich Stoic allegorical tradition applied to all aspects of traditional religion: literary myths, cultic epithets and attributes, and even iconographical representations of deities. Allegoresis (allegorical exegesis) was applied in antiquity to culturally and religiously authoritative texts. It was mainly practiced by “pagan” philosophers like Stoics and Middle and Neoplatonists and by philosophically minded Hellenistic Jewish and Christian exegetes, who read Scripture allegorically.Cornutus offers an excellent example of mythological allegoresis in his handbook of Greek theology. For each divinity, from Ouranos to Hades, Cornutus provides an allegorico-etymological interpretation of its names and epithets, its attributes, aspects of its myths and rituals, etc. Physical allegory (Zeus represents the ether, Hera the air, etc.) is prevalent, although there are also examples of ethical and historical exegeses. Special attention is demanded by Cornutus’ programmatic assertion—analysed below—that “The ancients were not people of no account, but they were also able to understand the nature of the cosmos and had the ability to philosophise on it by means of symbols and enigmata” (35). The ancient were nothing less than philosophers, since they were endowed with the understanding of the cosmos, of what exists. What they expressed allegorically are philosophical truths. Philosophical allegoresis interprets their expressions and finds philosophical tenets therein. Cornutus was strongly influenced by Chrysippus, Apollodorus of Athens, and Crates of Mallus, while Seneca, who was a Stoic but no allegorist, probably polemicised with Cornutus.Stoic allegoresis, as practiced by the Stoics Cornutus and Chaeremon roughly at the same time, later influenced not only the so-called Middle Platonists, but also the Christian Platonist Origen. Origen seems to have applied allegoresis not only to the Bible, like Philo and Clement before him, but also to Plato’s dialogues and myths. All these allegorisers aimed at finding deeper meanings and philosophical truths in traditional accounts, thereby rescuing them from accusations of superficiality or impiety. The goal was to find in ancient poets and other expressions of traditional religion, as well as in Scripture, meanings “worthy of the divine.” Remarkable structural similarities between the Stoic allegorical tradition inherited by Cornutus and Origen’s allegoresis will be pointed out.

“Were the Jews of Qumran Hellenistic Jews?”

Abstract The people who produced and used the scrolls offer us a particularly fascinating example of the extent to which we might call the people/communities of the scrolls “Hellenistic Jews.” The default concept of antiquity that scholars use, the way the term “sectarian” gets employed, and the geography of the Hellenistic world all separate the yaḥad from the larger Hellenistic world. Yet, the scrolls compare well with Hellenistic discourses and practices of collection, textual scholarship, and scientific knowledge. Moreover, if we read the scrolls alongside of other Jewish texts usually considered Hellenistic, we see similar patterns of thought and common interests. In this sense, then, the yaḥad and the scrolls fit well into their Hellenistic environment.

The Lion, the Honey, and the New Timnite Woman: Joseph and Aseneth and the Samson Cycle

This study presents a solution for the symbol of the honeycomb employed in Joseph and Aseneth, an ancient Hellenistic Jewish novel, by recognizing signals throughout the rest of the narrative that point to an allegorical reading of Samson's encounter with the lion in Judg. 14.5–9. The thesis is that the author of Joseph and Aseneth is providing an allegorical reading of Judg. 14.5–9, where Samson is a type of wayward Israel and the Timnite woman represents foreign domination. The lion and the honey are interpreted as symbols of Samson's subsequent victory over his Philistine foes, and this symbolical movement is applied to Aseneth's transformed identity. Aseneth is a new Timnite woman and Joseph is a new Samson, reconfigured to triumph over her seductive influence. Parallels are drawn between a constructed allegorical reading of the Samson cycle and the encounter of Aseneth with Joseph and later with the heavenly man. The theological themes upon which such a reading relies are discussed.

„Obroń mnie przed moim przeciwnikiem” (Łk 18,3). Status wdowy w Opus Lucanum

In the present article I propose a reflection on the status (situation) of widows named in Luke’s Work in order to answer the question: can we find in the above New Testaments texts any suggestion of theoretical or practical violence towards this specific group of women? The article is composed of four parts: the first one pertains to the Greek term of “widow” and its use in Luke’s writings; the second point contains the treatment of texts from the Third Gospel where widows are mentioned: Anna the Prophetess (2:36–37); a fragment of Jesus’ inaugural address in the Nazareth synagogue where Jesus says that “there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time (4:25) but the prophet was sent to “a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon” (4:26); a widow of Nain (7:12); the parable of the unjust judge and the persistent widow (18:3–5); Jesus’ statement about the teachers of the law who “devour widows’ houses” (20:47) and the story of the widow’s mite (21:2–3). The third part contains the analysis of two texts from the Acts of the Apostles: the story of the choosing of the Twelve where Luke writes that the Hellenistic Jews complained against the Hebraic Jews claiming that “their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food” (6:1) and the story of Tabitha being raised from the dead where the author mentions the presence of widows who were helped by the Gazelle (9:39–41). The final part of the article is a summary and reveals a widow as the recipient of Jesus’ and Christian community’s mercy. According to Luke, a widow is a symbol of hospitality, trust in God, faith, sacrifice and unconditional commitment to God. The analyzed fragments allow to state unequivocally that in Opus Lucanum we do not find any suggestion whatsoever of violence against women. What is more, the presented texts oblige Jesus’ followers to a specific kind of merciful gentleness towards distressed women, with widows being undoubtedly thought as such. The texts warn explicitly against any form of oppression and unfair use of widows’ weak social position. They stigmatize all instances of this type of behaviour, such as devouring widows’ houses by the Pharisees (20:47), lack of interest in widows’ plight and refusal to help them, as in the case of the unjust judge (18:4), or any form of neglect in charitable acts (Acts 6:1). The Acts of the Apostles, which show the first years of the existence of the community of Jesus’ disciples, recommend in particular a specific kind of “structural” care of widows, which was even more markedly stressed by St Paul’s tradition, especially in pastoral epistles.

Book Review: Greco-Roman & Hellenistic Jewish Context of Early Christianity: Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts (eds), Christian Origins and Greco-Roman Culture: Social and Literary Contexts for the New Testament: Christian Origins and Hellenistic Jewish: Social and Literary Contexts for the New Testament

Book Review: Greco-Roman & Hellenistic Jewish Context of Early Christianity: Stanley E. Porter and Andrew W. Pitts (eds), Christian Origins and Greco-Roman Culture: Social and Literary Contexts for the New Testament: Christian Origins and Hellenistic Jewish: Social and Literary Contexts for the New Testament

The Sexual Use of Slaves: A Response to Kyle Harper on Jewish and Christian Porneia

Kyle Harper has argued that by the first century CE, porneia “was the chief vice in a [Jewish] system of sexual morality rooted in conjugal sexuality. For Hellenistic Jews, in a culture where sex with dishonored women, especially prostitutes and slaves, was legal and expected, the term condensed the cultural differences between the observers of the Torah and Gentile depravity” (“ Porneia : The Making of a Christian Sexual Norm,” JBL 131 [2012]: 374). Harper argues that for Paul, as for other first-century Jews, porneia encompassed “that wide subset of extramarital sexual activity that was tolerated in Greek culture, the sexual use of dishonored women” (p. 378). I demonstrate, however, that Hellenistic Jewish writers did not use the word porneia to refer to a man’s exploitation of slaves he owned. Moreover, while Jewish writers promoted conjugal sexuality, they were tolerant of extramarital sexual relationships between slaveholders and enslaved women. We have no evidence that Paul challenged that sexual norm. This article thus (1) clarifies the parameters of the contested term porneia ; (2) contributes to an understanding of the logic of Jewish sexual ethics during the Second Temple period; and (3) locates Paul’s silence on the sexual exploitation in the context of first-century Jewish teaching.

The Sexual Use of Slaves: A Response to Kyle Harper on Jewish and Christian <em>Porneia</em>

Kyle Harper has argued that by the first century CE, porneia “was the chief vice in a [Jewish] system of sexual morality rooted in conjugal sexuality. For Hellenistic Jews, in a culture where sex with dishonored women, especially prostitutes and slaves, was legal and expected, the term condensed the cultural differences between the observers of the Torah and Gentile depravity” (“Porneia: The Making of a Christian Sexual Norm,” JBL 131 [2012]: 374). Harper argues that for Paul, as for other first-century Jews, porneia encompassed “that wide subset of extramarital sexual activity that was tolerated in Greek culture, the sexual use of dishonored women” (p. 378). I demonstrate, however, that Hellenistic Jewish writers did not use the word porneia to refer to a man's exploitation of slaves he owned. Moreover, while Jewish writers promoted conjugal sexuality, they were tolerant of extramarital sexual relationships between slaveholders and enslaved women. We have no evidence that Paul challenged that sexual norm. This article thus (1) clarifies the parameters of the contested term porneia; (2) contributes to an understanding of the logic of Jewish sexual ethics during the Second Temple period; and (3) locates Paul's silence on the sexual exploitation in the context of first-century Jewish teaching.

The Christian Laws in Paul: Reading the Apostle with Early Greek Interpreters. By MIKAEL SUNDKVIST.

In this Ph.D. thesis, Mikael Sundkvist elicits the help of Greek Church Fathers to determine the meaning of four elusive passages in Paul—Gal. 6:2, 1 Cor. 9:21, and Rom. 3:27 and 8:2—which he groups together as the ‘Christian laws’. Though not every section ultimately proves valuable in advancing beyond contemporary exegetical impasses, Sundkvist’s overview does produce compelling readings for each of these difficult texts, providing validation for his methodology as potentially constructive for modern exegesis. In Part I, Sundkvist introduces the problem of contemporary division on the meaning of Paul’s ‘Christian laws’, and offers an apology for reading the apostle alongside his early Greek interpreters: as Paul himself was a Hellenistic Jew, his subsequent readers often shared similar cultural and conceptual worlds, and faced similar challenges from Jews regarding non-observance of the Law. Turning to methodology, Sundkvist makes a case for examining early exegesis as a heuristic tool, as interests like historical background are shared by early readers—particularly Antiochenes—and moderns alike.