The Promises of God : The Background of Paul’s Exclusive Use of 'epangelia' for the Divine Pledge

This study is the first to investigate why Paul makes exclusive use of 'epangelia' for the divine pledge when referring to the Abrahamic covenant, a usage of the term never found in the OT-LXX. After examining Jewish writings and Greek literature of the classical and Hellenistic periods, this study demonstrates that Paul is rather unique in his exclusive use of the 'epangelia' word group for the divine pledge and for using the term predominantly in reference to the Abrahamic promises. This exclusive usage is further deemed unexpected in that the 'horkos' and 'omnymi' lexemes are by far the terms most commonly associated with God's promises to Abraham in the OT, the literature with which Paul was most familiar. The study then moves to explain why Paul has chosen this path of discontinuity, where it is argued that Paul's exclusive choice of 'epangelia' for the divine promise is driven by its conceptual and linguistic correspondence with the 'euangelion', one of the terms Paul adopted from the early church that forms the core of his ministry. This conceptual word study of the divine promise will benefit Pauline scholars interested in Paul's use of the OT as well as his association of the 'euangelion' and 'epangelia' word groups. Contents 7 Citations 13 Abbreviations 15 1 Introduction and Method 19 1.1 Introduction 19 1.2 Method 23 1.2.1 Method in Part One: Discovering Synonymous Pledge Terms for Investigating the Divine Promise in non-Jewish and Jewish Greek Writings 26 1.2.1.1 Hebrew Counterparts to the Vulgate’s Promissio 29 1.2.1.2 Greek Counterparts to the Vulgate’s Promissio 32 1.2.2 Method in Part Two: Examining the Association of Two -a??e? Terms, ?pa??e??a and e?a???????, in the Undisputed Pauline Corpus 34 Part One:Paul’s Uniqueness in His Exclusive Use of ?pa??e??a for the Divine Promise 37 2 The Divine Pledge in Classical and Hellenistic Literature 39 2.1 Introduction 39 2.2 Classical Period 43 2.2.1 Eighth Century B.C.E. 43 2.2.1.1 Homer 43 2.2.1.2 Hesiod 45 2.2.2 Eighth to Sixth Century B.C.E. 46 2.2.2.1 Homeric Hymns 46 2.2.3 Fifth Century B.C.E. 47 2.2.3.1 Pindar 47 2.2.3.2 Aeschylus 48 2.2.3.3 Euripides 49 2.2.3.4 Herodotus 50 2.2.3.5 Thucydides 50 2.2.4 Fourth Century B.C.E. 51 2.2.4.1 Xenophon 51 2.2.4.2 Plato 51 2.2.4.3 Aristotle 52 2.3 Hellenistic Period 53 2.3.1 Third Century B.C.E. 53 2.3.1.1 Apollonius of Rhodes 53 2.3.2 Second Century B.C.E. 54 2.3.2.1 Polybius 54 2.3.3 First Century B.C.E. 55 2.3.3.1 Diodorus of Sicily 55 2.3.3.2 Dionysius of Halicarnassus 55 2.3.3.3 Strabo 56 2.3.4 First Century C.E. 57 2.3.4.1 Pseudo-Apollodorus 57 2.3.4.2 Plutarch 57 2.4 Conclusion 58 3 Synonymous Divine Pledge Terms in the LXX Books with MT Counterparts 62 3.1 Introduction 62 3.2 General Speech Terms: The Use of the ????/?a??? Word Groups with Regard to Key Texts Highlighting the Abrahamic Promises 64 3.2.1 Genesis 12:1–3,7 – God’s Seven (Eight) Promises to Abraham 66 3.2.2 General Speech Terms for the Divine Promise in the Rest of the Abrahamic Narrative 73 3.2.3 Genesis 22 – The Lord Swears with an Oath to Abraham 75 3.3 The ????? and ?μ??μ? Lexemes 78 3.4 The ?p?s?es??/?p?s????μa? Word Group 90 3.5 The ?pa??e??a Word Group 91 3.5.1 The Use of the ?pa??e??a Word Group for the non-Divine Promise in the LXX (MT) 92 3.5.1.1 Esther 4:7 92 3.5.1.2 Proverbs 13:12 93 3.5.2 The Use of the ?pa??e??a Word Group for the Divine Promise in the LXX (MT) 94 3.5.2.1 Psalm 55:9 (LXX) 95 3.5.2.2 Amos 9:6 97 3.6 Conclusion 100 4 Synonymous Divine Pledge Terms in OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 103 4.1 Introduction 103 4.2 OT Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and Other LXX Writings 105 4.2.1 2Maccabees 105 4.2.2 Sibylline Oracles 107 4.2.3 Apocalypse of Sedrach 108 4.2.4 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 109 4.2.4.1 Testament of Joseph 109 4.2.4.2 Testament of Judah 110 4.2.5 Testaments of the Three Patriarchs 111 4.2.5.1 Testament of Abraham 111 4.2.6 Life of Adam and Eve 116 4.2.7 3 Maccabees 117 4.2.8 Prayer of Manasseh 118 4.2.9 Psalms of Solomon 119 4.3 Heavenly Beings and Oracles 125 4.4 Conclusion 126 5 Formal Divine Pledge Term Usage in Philo and Josephus 129 5.1 Introduction 129 5.2 Philo 129 5.2.1 Writings that Employ All Three “Groups”: ?????/?μ??μ?,?p?s?es??, and ?pa??e??a 131 5.2.2 Writings that Employ Just Two “Groups”: ?????/?μ??μ? and?p?s?es?? 132 5.2.3 Writings that Employ Just Two Word Groups: ?p?s?es?? and ?pa??e??a 133 5.2.4 Writings that Employ Just One “Group”: ?????/?μ??μ? 134 5.2.5 Writings that Employ Just One Word Group: ?p?s?es?? 135 5.3 Conclusion of Philo 136 5.4 Josephus 138 5.4.1 The Contents of the Promises 141 5.4.1.1 General Care for the Israelites 142 5.4.1.2 Land of Canaan 145 5.4.1.3 Victory over Enemies 146 5.4.1.4 Davidic Kingship 148 5.4.1.5 God’s Help for Leaders to Accomplish Their Duties 150 5.4.1.6 Peace/Rest 151 5.4.1.7 God’s Presence 133 18 5.4.1.8 Deliverance/Salvation 152 5.4.1.9 Descendants 152 5.4.1.10 Reconciliation with God 153 5.4.1.11 Other 154 5.5 Conclusion of Josephus 155 Conclusion of Part One 158 Part Two:Paul’s Reasons for Exclusively Using ?pa??e??a for the Divine Promise 161 6 The Association of ?pa??e??a with e?a??????? 163 6.1 Introduction 163 6.2 Significance of the e?a??????? 165 6.2.1 The History of the e?a??????? Word Group for Paul 166 6.2.2 The Conceptual Correspondence Between e?a??????? and ?pa??e??a 170 6.2.3 God’s Promises to the First Patriarch in the Abrahamic Narrative 172 6.2.4 The Significance of e?a??????? for Paul 174 6.2.5 Continuity between God’s Promises and His Gospel 174 6.2.5.1 The Gospel Foretold in the Scriptures 174 6.2.5.2 God as the Source 175 6.2.5.3 Jesus as the Content 176 6.2.5.4 God’s Salvation 177 6.2.5.5 From Death to Life 177 6.2.5.6 Recipients 179 6.2.5.7 Faith 180 6.2.5.8 Discontinuity 181 6.3 The Linguistic Correspondence Between ?pa??e??a and e?a??????? 182 6.3.1 WordPlay Created by Shared -a??e? Stem 183 6.4 Conclusion 185 7 The Association of e?a??????? and ?pa??e??a in Romans 187 7.1 Introduction 187 7.2 The Framework of Romans 188 7.2.1 The Letter’s Opening 189 7.2.1.1 The Promised Gospel in Scripture 192 7.2.1.2 Means and Recipients 193 7.2.1.3 ??a??????? Serving as an Inclusio for the Opening 193 7.2.2 The Letter’s Closing 195 7.3 Body of Romans 197 7.4 Romans 4 and 9–11 199 7.4.1 Romans 4 199 7.4.2 Romans 9–11 206 7.5 Conclusion 211 8 The Association of e?a??????? and ?pa??e??a in Galatians and 2Corinthians as well as Other NT Writings 214 8.1 Introduction 214 8.2 Galatians 214 8.2.1 Galatians 1–3 214 8.2.1.1 Holy Spirit 221 8.2.2 Galatians 4 223 8.3 Conclusion of Galatians 224 8.4 2Corinthians 225 8.4.1 2Corinthians 1:20 226 8.4.2 2Corinthians 7:1 (and 9:5) 228 8.5 Conclusion of 2Corinthians 229 8.6 Divine Pledges in the Rest of the NT 230 8.6.1 Disputed Pauline Writings 230 8.6.1.1 Ephesians 230 8.6.1.2 1 and 2Timothy and Titus 232 8.6.2 Luke/Acts 233 8.6.3 Hebrews 235 8.6.4 Catholic/General Epistles 237 8.6.4.1 James 237 8.6.4.2 2Peter 238 8.6.4.3 1John 239 8.7 Conclusion to the Divine Pledges in the Rest of the NT 240 9 Conclusion 242 Bibliography 254 Index of Scriptures and Other Ancient Writings 277 Index of Ancient Authors 303 Index of Greek and Hebrew Words 304 Subject Index 306

This study is the first to investigate why Paul makes exclusive use of 'epangelia' for the divine pledge when referring to the Abrahamic covenant, a usage of the term never found in the OT-LXX. After examining Jewish writings and Greek literature of the classical and Hellenistic periods, this study demonstrates that Paul is rather unique in his exclusive use of the 'epangelia' word group for the divine pledge and for using the term predominantly in reference to the Abrahamic promises. This exclusive usage is further deemed unexpected in that the'horkos' and 'omnymi' lexemes are by far the terms most commonly associated with God's promises to Abraham in the OT, the literature with which Paul was most familiar. The study then moves to explain why Paul has chosen this path of discontinuity, where it is argued that Paul's exclusive choice of 'epangelia' for the divine promise is driven by its conceptual and linguistic correspondence with the 'euangelion', one of the terms Paul adopted from the early church that forms the core of his ministry. This conceptual word study of the divine promise will benefit Pauline scholars interested in Paul's use of the OT as well as his association of the 'euangelion' and 'epangelia' word groups.

After examining Jewish writings and Greek literature of the classical and Hellenistic periods, this study reveals that Paul is unique in his exlusive use of theἐπαγγελία word group for the divine pledge, which finds its antecedent in the Abrahamic covenantal promises. It is then argued that Paul's choice ofἐπαγγελία is driven by its conceptual and linguistic correspondence with εὐαγγέλιον, the term that forms the core of his ministry. --From publisher's description