Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 69:1 (NA 2018)
Article: Paul’s Use Of Jewish Traditions
Author: Stefan Bosman

TynBull 69:1 (2018) p. 157

Paul’s Use Of Jewish Traditions1

Stefan Bosman

([email protected])

Despite the common practice of appealing to Jewish texts to inform a historic reading of passages in the Pauline Hauptbriefe, close in-depth tradition-historical studies have been limited. Furthermore, even among these tradition-historical studies, one finds a great diversity of approaches. Differences of opinion exist in terms of: (1) whether post-Pauline Jewish texts should even be considered as instructive; (2) what constitutes an entity that may be compared, e.g. mere traditions or initially only whole documents; and (3) when one can speak of a tradition having influenced a particular text.

The present study seeks to investigate tradition-historically three Pauline texts that are clearly biblical yet are not direct scriptural quotations, viz. 1 Corinthians 10:4, Galatians 6:16, and Romans 5:12–21. It is hence plausible, if not probable, that these three texts contain interpretative statements and would therefore benefit from a comparison with both preceding and successive Jewish exegetical texts, both synchronically and diachronically. In the case of a diachronic comparison, rather than comparing Pauline and Jewish texts based on only one or a few shared features, a more specific and arguably more reliable way of juxtaposing these texts is applied, which consists of placing a respective Pauline text into a Jewish exegetical trajectory, covering a minimum of three texts.

By seeking to locate the three aforementioned Pauline texts within Jewish exegetical trajectories, Paul’s use of Jewish traditions in these three texts can be examined. This in and of itself, at times, allows for a comparison and contrast of Paul and these uncovered Jewish exegetical traditions, showing his appraisal as well as reshaping of these traditions.

TynBull 69:1 (2018) p. 158

A more detailed discussion of the thesis follows in which the three fields of Old Testament, New Testament, and early Judaism converge. Sandwiched between an introduction and a conclusion are three chapters that deal with the aforementioned texts, i.e. 1 Corinthians 10:4, Galatians 6:16, and Romans 5:12–21. An overview of the introduction and these chapters follows.

Among other topics, the introduction discusses some of the attitudes within scholarship toward comparing the New Testament with Jewish...