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  • From: "Mark D. Nanos" <nanos AT gvi.net>
  • To: "Corpus-paul" <corpus-paul AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: THi ELEUQERIAi in Gal 5:1
  • Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 15:00:35 -0500 (CDT)


Antonio Jerez wrote on June 12:

>The problem is that Paul never says in Rom. 11 that "I'm a Jew". What
>he actually says is that "I'm myself an Israelite". This is an interesting
>distinction that should not be overlooked or glossed over. As far as I
>recall Paul never calls himself a Jew. Why? Because the designation
>appears to have had bad associations for him. In this he is in good
>company with the author of GJohn. Paul preferred to call himself an
>Israelite or a Hebrew (just like "John" - if GJohn 1:47 is any good
>indication).

Dear Antonio,
Sorry to be so late with this comment.

While you are correct in making this distinction in Rom. 11, it is not the
case across the board with Paul: cf. Gal. 2:14; which suggests that you
claim too much for the silence in Rom. 11 on this point. Paul knows Jewish
identity in both negative and positive terms, depending upon the context of
his politicized comments: cf. Rom. 2:17-3:2. Here the ideal of being
Jewish/identified as a circumcised one is maintained in making his point
that this identity as righteous ones involves a responsibility to live
righteously. He shares this view with other Jewish people who do not share
his faith in Jesus Christ.

It is common in the sources we have for Jewish people of Paul's time to
refer to themselves as Israelites or Jews depending upon the rhetorical
context of the comments. Jews may often be better rendered Judeans, with
association to the land of this ethnic group in view (cf. 2 Macc. 1:1, 7,
10; 3:32; 4:11, 35), but this is not always in view (cf. Gal. 2:14; 2 Macc.
6:1-11; 9:17). See the useful discussion of S. Cohen, "Ioudaios: 'Judeans'
and 'Jew' in Susanna, First Maccabees, and Second Maccabees" in
"Geschichte--Tradition--Reflexion" eds. Cancik, Lichtenberger, Schafer
(Mohr Siebeck, 1996).

I do not see that Paul operates along the ideological line you suggest, or
that it would be implied for other Jewish people of this period in general
either.

Regards,
Mark Nanos






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