Corpus-Paul

["Roy E. Ciampa" <Roy_Ciampa AT compuserve.com>]

Jerry, 
        Thanks for your response.  I agree with you that "Finding verbal
similarity or correspondence is just the beginning step of identifying a
good parallel."  It seems to me that here there is much more than verbal
similarity (and it should be pointed out that in both texts "works of the
law" seems to function as a technical term/expression for a precise
concept).  Among other things, the halakhic context of the different texts 
that use the expression also speaks in favor of a similar meaning.

        You suggest that part of the reason you doubt that the expression
means the same thing 
in both documents is "the very different rhetorical function the expression
has in the differing documents."  But meaning and rhetorical function are
two very different things aren't they?  Take "the Law of Moses" for
example.  We may find that expression in a marcionite document and also in
a Rabbinic text.  In those two different texts the same expression will
probably have opposite rhetorical functions (in one it is the bad guy that
is presented in such a way as to make us hiss and in the other it is the
divine hero wearing the white hat).  But that does not change the fact that
they both have the same thing in mind when they refer to "the Law of
Moses".

        On the other hand, I am not on a crusade to convince people of the
value of 4QMMT.  I just wanted to offer my suggestion regarding a very
important literary and conceptual background to Paul's usage.  Thanks for
the debate!

Roy