Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 59:2 (NA 2008)
Article: Semantic Variation Within The "Corpus Paulinum"
Author: Armin D. Baum

TynBull 59:2 (2008) p. 271

Semantic Variation Within The Corpus Paulinum

Linguistic Considerations Concerning The Richer Vocabulary Of The Pastoral Epistles1

Armin D. Baum

Summary

It is generally conceded that the vocabulary of the Pastoral Epistles is substantially richer than the vocabulary of the other ten Paulines. Still, most of the hapax legomena of the Pastorals are close semantic neighbours to the vocabulary shared with the rest of the Corpus Paulinum. From a strictly linguistic perspective the semantic richness of the Pastorals indicates that in the process of composition their author had more time at his disposal than the author(s) of the other ten Pauline Epistles. Both in terms of syntax and semantics the style of the Pastoral Epistles simply has a greater affinity to written language than that of the rest of the Corpus Paulinum which more closely resembles (conceptual) orality. Therefore the historical question concerning the authorship of the Pastorals cannot be answered primarily on the basis of their stylistic peculiarities. In his often quoted study P. N. Harrison concluded that particularly for stylistic reasons the Pastorals cannot have been written by the same author as the rest of the Pauline epistles. However, in the light of recent linguistic research this conclusion appears to be questionable. Indeed, other criteria must be judged more significant than the semantic (and syntactic) peculiarities of the Pastorals.

TynBull 59:2 (2008) p. 272

The stylistic peculiarities of the Pastoral Epistles have been described in great detail for over a hundred years. Within German-speaking scholarship a work by H. J. Holtzmann published in 1880 has been of primary importance. In this monograph he dedicates one chapter to the style of these three Paulines that have been disputed since the days of Schleiermacher.2 Of similar significance within English-speaking Pauline scholarship is the more recent and thorough work of P. N. Harrison.3 The findings presented by Holtzmann and especially Harrison have been supplemented (and modified) by subsequent studies.

Harrison employed a unique method for displaying his results in his text of the Pastoral Epistles. All Greek words that also occur in the other ten Paulines are in normal print, whereas words that are used only in the Pastorals appear in colour (printed here in bold). Additionally, he has underlined (and thus highlighted) ‘the extraordinary number of phrases … which coincide more or less closely … with Paul’s own most characteristic expressions in the ten ep...