Corpus-Paul

["Jim Hester" <hester AT jasper.uor.edu>]

Peter Dunn wrote:

> Both Clement of Alexandria and Origen thought
> that Phil 4.3 referred to Paul's spouse.  Since these two native Greek
> speakers thought that a natural interpretation, it would seem to me far from
> a waste of time to consider the possibility, especially as it affects the
> exegesis of 1 Cor 7.

Peter, don't have any comment on the practice of self-control, etc., as it
might have been observed by some Xians in Corinth. Whatever the situation,
it appears to me that Paul is once more offering himself as a model for Xian
living. I also can't disagree with Jack K.'s observation that marriage and
expectation that folks would get married were part of the culture; that
would seem to hold true even in the 20th century in most places in this
world. I'm not sure however that an argument that because X is true for the
majority, it must also hold true for the individual can be made absent other
evidence.

On the other hand, I am a bit perplexed by your reference to Phil 4:3.  I
haven't read Origen or Clement on the passage, so I am not sure how they
explain a reading of a masculine vocative as reference to a "wife." A quick
look at Liddell-Scott for meanings for "gnhsie suzuge" suggests a
translation something like "a true [Xian] comrade." In fact "yoke fellow"
can be understood as a comrade in arms, part of a phalanx. (Forgive me the
obvious; I am sure you know all this!) The commentaries I looked at
dismissed out of hand a reading of the phrase as reference to a wife.

Granted Clement and Origen were native speakers of Greek, but then so are
the British, Australians, and Americans "native" speakers of English. Does
anyone want to claim that they all would understand and agree upon the
meaning of an admittedly abscure phrase written more than a century earlier
by an Indian whose primary language was Hindi? Clement and Origen as
interpreters of the text have no greater claim to understanding of its
meaning than we do!

Enough said! On to Galatians.
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