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  • From: Richard Fellows <rfellows AT shaw.ca>
  • To: dhindley AT compuserve.com, Corpus-Paul <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: [Corpus-Paul] Cephas and Peter in Galatians
  • Date: Sun, 08 Aug 2004 11:32:14 -0700

Dave Hindley wrote:

> I have heard something along the lines you suggested that "explains" why
the
> letter of Galatians alternatively uses "Peter" and "Cephas" in chapter 2.
> Supposedly, the name "Peter" was used when alluding to a (presumably well
> known) church document that defined the territories of Paul and Peter. The
> readers/hearers, it is assumed, would have been aware of the allusion.
>
> While I personally don't buy into this (I think Gal 2:7b-8, "just as Peter
> had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked
> through Peter for the mission to the circumcised worked through me also
for
> the Gentiles)" is an interpolation), the idea presented by such a
hypothesis
> requires that the readers be aware of the tradition or facts that the
> allusion refers to.

I don't think there is any real mystery in the way Paul alternatively uses
"Peter" and "Cephas" in Galatians. He may do so merely for stylistic
reasons, as Allison has suggested (see D. Allison, 'Peter and Cephas: one
and the same', JBL 111(1992), pp. 489-495). The switch between Cephas and
Peter in Galatians avoids a cumbersome use of the same name six times in the
same letter.

Similarly in 2 Corinthians we have two mentions of the name "Timothy", after
which Paul switches to the name "Titus", which he used 8 times. It is
understandable that Paul should prefer to switch to the shorter name to
avoid laborious repetition of "Timotheus".

Richard.






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