Journal: Bulletin for Biblical Research
Volume: BBR 06:1 (NA 1996)
Article: A Brief Note on “Hellenistic Formal Receptions and Paul’s Use of ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΙΣ in 1 Thessalonians 4:17”
Author: Robert H. Gundry

---

BBR 6:1 (1996) p. 39

A Brief Note on “Hellenistic Formal Receptions and Paul’s Use of ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΙΣ in 1 Thessalonians 4:17”

Robert H. Gundry

Westmont College

This brief essay responds to an earlier essay by Michael R. Cosby (BBR 4 [1994] 15-34) which has created some confusion with respect to the meaning of ἀπάντησις in 1 Thess 4:17. The parallels between Paul’s description of the Parousia of Jesus in 1 Thess 4:15-17 and those of Hellenistic formal receptions are closer than Cosby allows. It is probable that Paul’s use of ἀπάντησις does indeed reflect such Hellenistic customs and traditions.

Key Words: Parousia, ἀπάντησις, 1 Thess 4:15-17, Hellenistic receptions

An article carrying the above-quoted title, written by Michael R. Cosby, and published in BBR 4 (1994) 15-34 left some confusion. On the one hand, “1 Thess 4:14-17 does not specifically mention any of the elements normally associated with receiving dignitaries” (p. 22); on the other hand, “the custom of the Hellenistic formal reception is part of the cultural background [later called ‘a loose pattern’] for Paul’s thinking” (p. 31). Again on the one hand, “most of … [the] usual elements [in Hellenistic formal receptions] are actually the opposite of what we find in Paul’s description of the Parousia” (p. 15); and again on the other hand, “the various descriptions of receptions reveal diversity in the way such meetings were conducted” (p. 31, n. 45).

What then of the contrasts used by Cosby to play down a similarity between Hellenistic formal receptions and Paul’s use of ἀπάντησις in 1 Thess 4:17? First-mentioned is the unexpectedness of the Parousia: “Christians anticipate Christ’s arrival but are unaware of when it will happen (1 Thess 5:1-4)” over against the expectedness of Hellenistic parousiai “at a particular time.”1 In 1 Thess 5:4, however,

BBR 6:1 (1996) p. 40

Paul says to his Christian audience, “But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness that the day [of the Lord] should overtake you as a thief “(italics added). It is only the sleepers, who are “of the night” and “of darkness�...

visitor : : uid: ()