No Longer Living As The Gentiles: Differentiation And Shared Ethical Values In Ephesians 4:17-6:9 -- By: Daniel K. Darko

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 59:2 (NA 2008)
Article: No Longer Living As The Gentiles: Differentiation And Shared Ethical Values In Ephesians 4:17-6:9
Author: Daniel K. Darko


No Longer Living As The Gentiles: Differentiation And Shared Ethical Values In Ephesians 4:17-6:91

Daniel K. Darko

The starting point of this work is an observed tension in recent scholarly discussion of the ethical content of Ephesians 4:17-6:9. On the one hand, Ephesians 4:17-5:21 has been interpreted as drawing a social or ethical contrast between the addressees and the outside world, and even as encouraging or legitimating social withdrawal or separation from outsiders. On the other hand, the household code in Ephesians 5:21-6:9 has been read as encouraging integration into the wider society in an attempt to curb accusations of social disruptiveness. These social goals seem to be at odds, but rarely are these reflected on or addressed in scholarship—hence this investigative task.

In the course of this work, I utilise traditional exegetical methods, comparative analysis and social identity theory to show that Ephesians 4:17-6:9 has a consistent social and moral strategy: to promote ingroup distinctiveness while utilising Graeco-Roman ethical traditions to foster internal cohesion.

The first chapter reviews Ephesians 4:17-6:9 in recent interpretation, focusing particularly on views of the author’s moral and social aims. I show that the contrastive patterns in 4:17-5:21 have tended to be understood as encouraging or supporting some sort of social or moral separation. Some argue that the textual unit calls for physical separation (an introversionist stance), others that it sets out a pattern of morality that is radically different from what is known and prevalent in the wider society. Such conclusions are reached on the basis of the old-new, darkness-light and fool-wise antitheses in 4:17– 5:21. Conversely, my review of 5:21-6:9 demonstrates a widely held opinion that the passage adopts the Graeco-Roman topos of household

management, which reflects and reinforces the patriarchal structures of the time. It seems to be assumed that the community somehow lacked these patriarchal structures, leaving it susceptible to public accusations of disrupting the social order. The Ephesians’ Haustafel is thus understood to have an apologetic function, and to be aimed at integrating the believing community into the larger society.

In chapter two, I an...

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