Corpus-Paul

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

> Hello Moon,
> 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).
> 

Your reasoning seems quite interesting. But I wonder if I got
what you meant. Let me paraphrase what you wrote. Please see if
I am on the right track. 

Any Gentiles who are of works of the law are under curse, because
the Law itself declares that the Law people should obey all things
written in the book of law and those who failed to do so are cursed,
but the Gentiles are unable to keep all the commandments,
[ which the Jews can do, though. ] 

So, any Jews who are of works of the Law are NOT under curse, 
because they can obey the commandments of the Law, 
but any Gentiles who are of works of the Law are under curse
because they are not able to obey all the commandments of the Law.

Quite interesting! Is it how you understand the statement
"The Law was blessing to Jews but curse to Gentiles", which I 
remember reading from the book of Gaston?

According to this logic, those Gentiles who did not get 
under the Law were better off than those who did, because
the former were not under the Law and thus were not under 
curse. Or do you mean that the Law was a curse to Gentiles
whether they got under the Law or not?
  

> 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.
> 

I read 3:12 (hO DE NOMOS OUK ESTIN EK PISTEWS, ALLA
hO POIHSAS AUTA ZHSETAI EN AUTOIS ) as follows:

By the way (DE), the Law is not about faith but about doing
as it is written "those who do them will live in them".

More on this. I have to hurry up.

Moon



> 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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