Corpus-Paul

["moon-ryul jung" <moon AT saint.soongsil.ac.kr>]

Dear Loren,
our discussion becomes quite interesting and seems to go somewhere.
You raised a very important question. I would like to have time
to think about it. 

Moon


> Hello Moon,
> 
> For now I’ll focus only on the text of Gal. 3:10-14:
> 
> > It is natural to take "we" in Gal. 3:13 to refer to
> > the Jews. Otherwise, the logical sequence from 3:13
> > to 3:14 would be broken, and we would have to
> > interpret so that they refer to the same thing.
> 

[Loren]
> It is most unnatural to take “we” in 3:13 as referring
> to Jews, if for no other reason than because Paul
> hardly believed that the Jewish people needed
> redeeming from the law as a “curse”. In antiquity,
> being under a “curse” meant that you were in just
> about the most disastrous state imaginable. We need to
> tread carefully here: 
> 
> 3:10: “For all who rely on the works of the law are
> under a curse. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone
> who does not observe and obey all things written in
> the book of law’.”
> 

> “All”refers to Gentiles, for Paul didn’t believe that
> Jews who relied on the works of the law were under a
> curse. On the contrary, he knew very well that they
> could “observe and obey all things written in the book
> of law”, and he himself is a stellar example (Philip.
> 3:6).


> 
> 3:11-12: “Now it is evident that no one is justified
> before God by the law, for ‘the one who is righteous
> will live by faith’. But the law does not rest on
> faith. On the contrary, ‘whoever does the works of the
> law will live by them’.”
> 
> This citation of texts makes for awkward reading. Paul
> says that the law is not connected with faith, but
> that the person who performs the “works of the law”
> will live by them. To me, this implies that no one
> actually performs the “works of the law” adequately,
> because life comes from faith, not the Torah. On your
> (and Dunn’s) own reading of “works of the law” -- as
> Jewish identity markers, as opposed to “deeds in
> general” (with which I agree) -- this can only refer
> to Gentiles. The Jewish people performed the “works of
> the law” (circumcision, purity regulations, etc.) more
> than adequately.
> 
> 3:13-14: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
> law, by becoming a curse for us -- for it is written,
> ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree’ -- in order
> that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might
> come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the
> promise of the Spirit through faith.”
> 
> Paraphrase: “Christ redeemed us Gentiles from the
> curse of the law by becoming a curse for us Gentiles
> -- for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on
> a tree’ -- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing
> of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we
> Gentiles might receive the promise of the Spirit
> through faith.” This may sound redundant ("referring
> to the same thing", as you put it), but it’s no more
> awkward than the text of 3:11-12 (and not a few other
> Pauline passages) -- and it’s the only sense I can
> make of the text in light of what precedes it. To undo
> the redundancy, paraphrase it this way:
> 
> “Christ redeemed us Gentiles from the curse of the law
> by becoming a curse -- for it is written, ‘Cursed be
> everyone who hangs on a tree’ -- in order that the
> blessing of Abraham may come, so that we Gentiles
> might receive the promise of the Spirit through
> faith.”
> 
> Moon, the context of Galatians -- Gentile Christians
> considering proselyte conversion apropos Gentile
> non-Christian proselyte influencers -- convinces me
> that this reading of Gal. 3:10-14 is correct, even if
> it makes for somewhat redundant reading... and even if
> your own reading follows as a logical and rhetorical
> implication.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Loren Rosson III,
> Nashua NH
> rossoiii AT yahoo.com
> 
> 
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