Pastoral epistles Pastoral Epistles

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Harmai, “‘That . . . the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom’: Δωη in Ephesians 1.17 and 2 Timothy 2.25.”

August 23, 2020 /

A brief technical article:

Harmai, Gábor. “‘That . . . the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom’: Δωη in Ephesians 1.17 and 2 Timothy 2.25.” Bible Translator 71.2 (2020): 231–35.

Abstract: The spelling of δώῃ in NA28 in Eph 1.17 and 2 Tim 2.25 is wrong. The correct form is δῴη, as in Westcott and Hort (WH), and a number of other old editions. An additional difficulty is that the NA apparatus does not illuminate the problem for the reader as the WH editions do. The problem is not serious in the translation of 2 Tim 2.25, where the real problem is the translation of μήποτε. In any case, if the verb is an optative, expressing a wish, we can understand better the irony of the author. Translations of Eph 1.17 that read δωη as subjunctive (expressing possibility) rather than optative are erroneous: The verb is in fact optative, as earlier translations correctly reflect.

Wieland, “Re-Ordering the Household: Misalignment and Realignment to God’s οἰκονομία in 1 Timothy”

August 21, 2020 /

Students of 1 Timothy will be interested in a newly available essay on “sin and its remedy” in 1 Timothy written by a well-known student of the Pastorals:

George M. Wieland, “Re-Ordering the Household: Misalignment and Realignment to God’s οἰκονομία in 1 Timothy.” Pages 147–60 in Sin and Its Remedy in Paul. Contours of Pauline Theology. Edited by Nijay K. Gupta and John K. Goodrich. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2020.

Wieland has made this biblical theological essay available on his Academia page (click here), where he gives this brief description: “An investigation of references to sin in 1 Timothy suggests that in this letter sin is whatever opposes or steps out of alignment with God’s oikonomia, as expressed both in the Law and in the gospel. The remedy is a realignment to God’s saving rule over creation, the world, and the church, and in that enterprise faithful, health-giving teaching is crucial.”

PE in Latest Issue of JSPL

August 18, 2020 /

Thanks to Mike Bird for pointing out that the latest issue of the Journal for the Study of Paul and His Letters contains papers from a recent conference on the Pastoral Epistles in Belgium. I have copied the list of papers and contributors below. It is a fascinating list.

JERMO VAN NES
The Pastoral Epistles: Common Themes, Individual Compositions? An Introduction to the Quest for the Origin(s) of the Letters to Timothy and Titus

JENS HERZER
Narration, Genre, and Pseudonymity: Reconsidering the Literary Relationship of the Pastoral Epistles

MATTHIJS DEN DULY
Pauline Biography and the Letter to Titus: A Response to Jens Herzer

PETER-BEN SMIT
Supermen and Sissies: Masculinities in Titus and 1 Timothy

SUZAN J. M. SIERKSMA-AGTERES
Faithfulness as Subhegemonic Antidote to a Precarious Existence: A Response to Peter-Ben Smit

ROB VAN HOUWELINGEN
The Meaning of Epiphaneia in the Pastoral Epistles

DOGARA ISHAYA MANOMI
Salvific, Ethical, and Consummative “Appearances” in the Pastoral Epistles? A Response to Rob van Houwelingen

ARMIN D. BAUM
Stylistic Diversity in the Corpus Ciceronianum and in the Corpus Paulinum: A Comparison and Some Conclusions

JOHN PERCIVAL
Deciding What Counts: The Difficulties of Comparing Stylistic Diversity.

STANLEY E. PORTER
Pastoral Epistles: Common Themes, Individual Compositions, and Concluding Reflections

Hoag, “Demystifying Gender Issues in 1 Timothy 2:9–15, with Help from Artemis”

August 18, 2020 /

I received notice today of a new article on that most controversial of Pastorals passages in 1 Timothy 2:

Gary G. Hoag, “Demystifying Gender Issues in 1 Timothy 2:9–15, with Help from Artemis.” Evangelical Review of Theology 44.3 (2020): 242–49.

Abstract: “1 Timothy 2:9-15 is a source of considerable debate over women’s role in the church. Many aspects of the passage have long mystified interpreters. This article shows how a little-noticed contemporary love story from Ephesus may enable us to unlock this influential and often troublesome text. “

I have not seen the article yet, but it apparently draws upon Hoag’s work on the passage in his dissertation-turned-monograph, Wealth in Ancient Ephesus and the First Letter to Timothy: Fresh Insights from Ephesiaca by Xenophon of Ephesus (BBRSup 11; Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015), in which he engages the socio-rhetorical methodology of Vernon Robbins in conjunction with 1 Timothy and an ancient novel.

Reviews

August 9, 2020 /

It’s been some time since we’ve noted reviews, so there are quite a few to highlight. Over at RBL, Robert Yarbrough’s Pillar commentary on the Pastorals is still available for review by SBL members.

In Expository Times 131.3 (2019): 128-29, Paul Foster provides a positive review of Gerald Bray’s ITC volume, The Pastoral Epistles.

Jermo van Nes’s Pauline Language and the Pastoral Epistles: A Study of Linguistic Variation in the Corpus Paulinum (Linguistic Biblical Studies 16; Leiden: Brill, 2018) has been recently reviewed or summarized in: (1) Journal of Theological Studies 70.2 (2019): 817-19, by Christopher Hutson; (2) Svensk exegetisk årsbok 84 (2019): 257-60, by Tobias Hägerland (the review is in English); (3) Theologische Literaturzeitung 144:7-8 (2019): 768-69 by Bernhard Mutschler; (4) Journal for the Study of the New Testament 41.5 (2019): 84, by Dirk Jongkind.

Dorothee Dettinger’s Neues Leben in der alten Welt: Der Beitrag frühchristlicher Schriften des späten ersten Jahrhunderts zum Diskursüber familiäre Strukturen in der griechisch-römischen Welt (Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte 59. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2017), which has a significant Pastorals component, was reviewed by Martin Stowasser at Biblische Bücherschau (5/2019).

Christopher Hoklotubbe’s Civilized Piety: The Rhetoric of Pietas in the Pastoral Epistles and the Roman Empire (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2017) was reviewed by Raymond Collins in Interpretation 73.3 (2019): 313-14.

Cynthia Long Westfall’s Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2016), which engages the Pastorals at some length, is reviewed by Guy Prentiss Waters in Reformed Theological Review 78.3 (2019): 233-35.

Christoph Stenschke reviews Friedemann Krumbiegel, Erziehung in den Pastoralbriefen: Ein Konzept zur Konsolidierung der Gemeinden (Arbeiten zur Bibel und ihrer Geschichte 44; Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2013), appears in Filologia Neotestamentaria 52.32 (2019): 177-79. The review is in English, which is a boon for English-speaking Pastorals students; other reviews are in German: one by Lorenz Oberlinner in Biblische Zeitschrift 59.2 (2015): 300-4; and one by Karl-Heinrich Ostmeyer in Theologische Literaturzeitung 139.7-8 (2014): 891-93.

Robert Yarbrough’s commentary, The Letters to Timothy and Titus (Pillar New Testament Commentary; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), was reviewed by Benjamin Laird in JETS 62.4 (2019): 844-47; by James P. Sweeney in BBR 30.1 (2020): 158-161; and by Philip J. Long at Reading Acts (2018)

1 Timothy in P133

August 3, 2020 /

I hadn’t realized it until I stumbled across this online, but a few years back, one of the Oxyrhynchus papyri was published as containing text from 1 Tim 3:13-4:8, and as Peter Gurry noted, P.Oxy. 5259 became P133 as well. Here’s the editio princeps:

Shao, J. “5259. I Timothy 3:13–4:8.” Pages 3–8 in The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Volume LXXXI. Edited and translated by J. H. Brusuelas and C. Meccariello. Graeco-Roman Memoirs 102. London: The Egypt Exploration Society, 2016.

You can read Shao’s work here (originally posted here). Gurry notes that with its 3rd-century dating, P133 has become the “earliest copy of 1 Timothy.”

You can view the actual papyrus here.

Weidemann, “Die Pastoralbriefe”

August 2, 2020 /

A relatively recent, and rather lengthy, status quaestionis article on the Pastorals is available online:

Weidemann, Hans-Ulrich. “Die Pastoralbriefe.” Theologische Rundschau 81.4 (2016): 353‒403.

Weidemann discusses recent research on the Pastorals under four headings: (1) Drillinge oder entfernte Verwandte? Die Corpus-These in der Diskussion; (2) Neue Diskussionen um Datierung und Bezeugung der Briefe im 2. Jahrhundert; (3) »Gender Trouble of a Pastor«: Geschlechtergeschichtliche Untersuchungen der Pastoralbriefe; (4) Glaube und Erziehung: Begriffsgeschichtliche und lexikalische Untersuchungen der Pastoralbriefe. (English)

Here is the online location, and if for some reason the link is broken, here is the article in pdf.

Sample Syllabi for Teaching the Pastorals

July 31, 2020 /

This post provides a number of sample syllabi used to teach the Letters to Timothy and Titus at various levels, listed chronologically. All of these examples were either available online (where we link to a pdf of the syllabus, not the online location) or provided by the professor. We will update this post over time as we come across other syllabi. (On a related note, class notes from Michael Theobald, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (2010) are available here).

Please drop me a note on my Academia page if you would like to contribute your syllabus for posting here as well.

Christopher Cone, Tyndale Theological Seminary (2020?)

John Himes and Paul Himes, Baptist College of Ministry (2020)

Liberty University (2020)

Benjamin Merkle, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (2020)

Sean du Toit, Alphacrucis College (2020)

William Barcley, Reformed Theological Seminary (2019)

Andrew Hudson, Maranatha Baptist Seminary (2019)

Carl Hinderager, Briercrest Seminary (2018)

Frank Kovacs, Tyndale University (2017)

George Wieland, Carey Baptist College (2016)

Aída Besançon Spencer, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (2008)

Daniel Leyrer, Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (2016)

Bud Talbert, Foundation Baptist College (2015)

Johnny Miller, Columbia International University (2014)

Gary Hendrix, Reformed Baptist Seminary (2013-2014)

Osvaldo Vena, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (2011)

Oral Roberts University (2002)

Bruce Terry, Ohio Valley College (2002)

Becker, “Ekklesiologie der sanften Macht. Der 1. Timotheusbrief und die antike Fürstenspiegel-Literatur”

July 30, 2020 /

Matthias Becker has just published an article of interest to students of 1 Timothy:

Becker, Matthias. “Ekklesiologie der sanften Macht. Der 1. Timotheusbrief und die antike Fürstenspiegel-Literatur.” Biblische Zeitschrift 64.2 (2020): 277–305.

Here’s the abstract: “Did early Christian church leaders and political rulers share common characteristics? By reading the First Epistle to Timothy through the lens of Greek and Roman “mirrors for princes” (specula principum) written in the first and early second centuries AD, this article intends to make a new contribution to this issue. The study’s interpretative focus lies on the idealized depiction of Timothy as a role model for early Christian officeholders as well as on the qualifications for bishops and deacons (1 Tim 3:1–13). The comparison of the features of the ideal ruler with those of ideal church leaders shows that central elements of the ecclesiology of First Timothy tap into the Greco-Roman discourse concerning ideal rulership. Yet not only that, it also helps to understand that the power that is undeniably attributed to officeholders is ultimately meant to be a soft power that serves the cause of “preservation” and “salvation” (σωτηρία).”

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