Corpus-Paul

["Jeffrey B. Gibson" <jgibson000 AT mailhost.chi.ameritech.net>]

I'm forwarding a message from Troy Martin, as Troy seems to be having
some difficulty posting to the List

****
Greetings Rick.  In regard to your proposal that Paul was sick, you may
be interested
in my article entitled "Whose Flesh? What Temptation? (Gal 4:13-14),
which will appear
shortly in the Journal for the Study of the New Testament.  In this
article, I
discover through a Pandora Search on the TLG that Paul's phrase
"weakness of the
flesh" in Gal 4:13 does not occur before Paul.  The phrase "weak flesh"
does occur,
but it never means sickness or illness.  Rather, it refers to the
essential quality of
everyone's flesh in being able to absorb fluids.  On the basis of the
philological
evidence, therefore, the usual interpretation of  "weakness of the
flesh" as an
illness is dubious.  This illness interpretation is rendered more
doubtful since the
second time Paul uses the phrase "weakness of the flesh" (Rom 6:19), he
certainly does
not mean illness.  My study indicates that Paul was not sick in Galatia
but rather
sickened by the moral condition of those whose weakness of the flesh
provided an
inroad for sin.

Denying the illness interpretation in Gal 4:13 removes a significant
support for
illness interpretations in the Corinthian correspondence.  None of the
passages you
cite (1 Cor 4:11; 15:31; 2 Cor 1:8) convinces me that Paul refers to an
illness.  I am
not completely sure about the enigmatic statement in 2 Cor 12:7, but my
astonishment
in discovering that Paul does not refer to an illness in Gal 4:13 makes
me cautious
about diagnosing him as sick in the Corinthian correspondence.

Troy W. Martin
Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Saint Xavier University, Chicago

Rick Strelan wrote:

> I know that the Corinthian correspondence is usually read to support
the
> notion that Paul was self-supportive and refused financial help from
the
> Corinthians et al. Is it at all possible to read it differently,
namely,
> that this is rhetoric used to shame the Corinthians for not supporting
him
> [cf 1 Cor 4:14]?
> Is it also possible that Paul was sick and broke in Ephesus [or
wherever
> the Corinthian correspondence has its provenance]? Sick not with the
> congenital or permanent diasability that is proposed [blindness,
epilepsy
> etc] but just sick as a dog ['I die every day' 1 Cor 15:31; cf also 2
Cor
> 1:8]?
> Finally, how come Paul complains of hunger, thirst,illness,
homelessness
> etc [1 Cor 4:11;these are not rhetorical complaints] - where were his
> supporters?
>
> Thanks in anticipation for any response,
>
> Rick
>
> Dr Rick Strelan
> Studies in Religion
> University of Queensland
> Australia 4072
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to corpus-paul as: martin AT sxu.edu
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
$subst('Email.Unsub')




--
Jeffrey B. Gibson
7423 N. Sheridan Road #2A
Chicago, Illinois 60626
e-mail jgibson000 AT ameritech.net