Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 69:2 (NA 2018)
Article: ‘Mosaic Covenant’ As A Possible Referent For Νομοσ In Paul
Author: Matthew B. Leighton

TynBull 69:2 (2018) p. 161

‘Mosaic Covenant’ As A Possible Referent For Νομοσ In Paul

Matthew B. Leighton

([email protected])

Summary

Any serious enquiry into Paul’s view of the law must include lexical considerations regarding the meaning of νόμος (‘law’) itself. A general consensus has emerged that νόμος predominantly refers to Mosaic legislation. A few scholars, however, have suggested that νόμος should sometimes be taken as a synecdoche for the Mosaic covenant administration. This article attempts to substantiate the plausibility of that referent by appealing to precursors for it in the OT and intertestamental literature, examples of a few of Paul’s uses of νόμος, and linguistic considerations related to word choice.

1. Introduction

One of the most hotly contested topics in Pauline studies in the last decades has been the apostle’s view of the law. Debate abounds concerning a number of interrelated questions, such as: What role did Paul attribute to the law in sinful human beings finding acceptance with God? What place did Paul give to the law in the Christian life? How does one account for Paul’s varying evaluations of the law in his writings (positive, negative, even neutral)? Different approaches have been offered addressing these questions, resulting in voluminous literature on the subject.1

TynBull 69:2 (2018) p. 162

Exegetical work on pertinent passages related to Paul’s view of the law must include a study of the lexical value of the word νόμος itself. Even on this specific question there is considerable debate. While it is true that a general consensus has arisen around two referents for νόμος in Paul (‘Scripture’ [e.g. Gal. 4:21] and ‘Mosaic legislation’ [e.g. Rom. 13:8–10]), this agreement does not apply to some of Paul’s most interesting uses of the word. Significant differences of lexical opinion appear when discussing passages where Paul’s evaluation of the law is distinctly negative, usually in relation to justification (e.g. Rom. 3:20–28; Gal. 2:16; 3:10–13). For these contexts, many have attempted to establish some limiting factor for the referent of or a special meaning for νόμος. Some argue that Paul may use νόμος