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corpus-paul - [Corpus-Paul] Re: Was Paul sponging off Gaius?

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  • From: "John Dickson" <jdickson AT bigpond.com>
  • To: "Corpus-Paul" <corpus-paul AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Corpus-Paul] Re: Was Paul sponging off Gaius?
  • Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 10:05:10 +1000

Dear Richard,
A quick response to the following:


> I am not convinced that your suggestions entirely solve
> the problem. Your first suggestion is that Paul paid Gaius for his
> accommodation, and I'll address this first. XENOS in Rom 16:23 means
'host',
> and would surely have given the impression that Gaius was providing
> accommodation to Paul for free. That was the usual sense of the word, in
> such cases. I have found no evidence that XENOS could mean 'landlord'.

I appreciate your thoughtful comments. I also appreciate the point that
XENOS often implied an (unpaid) 'host'. However, this is not determinative
since the language of 'hospitality' (FILOXENIA) is also used in connection
with paid-for lodging. A quick search uncovered a good example in Jewish
Antiquities 1.250. There Josephus praises Isaac for the way he conducted
himself while staying with Rebecca's family: "nor would he be burdensome
(BARUS - a suggestive Pauline term) to them, but would pay a price (MISQOS)
for their gracious hospitality (FILOXENIA) and live at his own expense."

The parallel is not exact, of course, but it suggests to me that we cannot
easily rule out the possibility that XENOS in Rom 16:23 refers to (and would
be read as) 'hospitality' which was (at least in a token manner) paid for by
the apostle. If the Roman congregations knew of Paul's no-maintenance
policy, this reading becomes more likely. The fact that Paul nowhere in the
letter hints that he intends to seek lodging among the members of the
congregations of Rome (even though he makes clear he intends to enjoy their
company) may provide indirect evidence that news of his policy had reached
even the capital. We must remember that Paul's financial policy was quite
radical in early Christianity and must have made the 'Top 10' list of things
people found unusual about the apostle.

Thank you for the interaction,

John



Dr. John Dickson
Department of Ancient History
Macquarie University
Sydney, Australia






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