Neglected Endings: The Significance of the Pauline Letter Closings

273 Pages·13.054 MB·English

by  Jeffrey A. D. Weima

l i b r a ry o f n e w t e s ta m e n t s t u d i e s

neglected endings
the significance of the Pauline letter closings

jeffrey a.d. weima
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
101
Executive Editor
Stanley E. Porter
Editorial Board
Richard Bauckham, David Catchpole, R. Alan Culpepper,
Joanna Dewey, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Robert Fowler,
Robert Jewett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Dan O. Via
JSOT Press
Sheffield

Neglected Endings
The Significance
of the Pauline Letter Closings
Jeffrey A.D. Weima
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series 101
Copyright © 1994 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by JSOT Press
JSOT Press is an imprint of
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
343 Fulwood Road
Sheffield S10 3BP
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
EISBN 9781850754886
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 7
List of Tables 8
Abbreviations 9
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION 11
1. Epistolary Analysis: A Historical Survey 12
2. Epistolary Analysis: Its Relationship to Rhetorical Criticism 23
3. Summary 26
Chapter 2
CLOSING CONVENTIONS IN ANCIENT HELLENISTIC LETTERS 28
1. The Farewell Wish 29
2. The Health Wish 34
3. The Greeting 39
4. The Autograph 45
5. The Illiteracy Formula 50
6. The Dating Formula 51
7. The Postscript 52
8. Summary 55
Chapter 3
CLOSING CONVENTIONS IN ANCIENT SEMITIC LETTERS 57
1. Corpus of Semitic Letters 59
2. Formal Analysis of Semitic Letters 63
3. Summary 76
Chapter 4
CLOSING CONVENTIONS IN THE PAULINE LETTERS:
FORMS AND VARIATIONS 77
1. The Grace Benediction 78
2. The Peace Benediction 87
6 Neglected Endings
3. The Greeting 104
4. The Autograph 118
5. The Doxology 135
6. The Hortatory Section 145
7. Miscellaneous Conventions 148
8. Summary 152
Chapter 5
CLOSING CONVENTIONS IN THE PAULINE LETTERS:
HERMENEUTICAL SIGNIFICANCES 156
l.Galatians 157
2.1 Thessalonians 174
3. 2 Thessalonians 187
4. Philippians 191
5.1 Corinthians 201
6. 2 Corinthians 208
7. Romans 215
8. Philemon 230
Conclusion 237
Bibliography 240
Index of References 259
Index of Authors 266
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The writing of a PhD thesis is a daunting task, full of uncertainty,
frustration, even fear. It is a task that one cannot complete without the
spiritual, academic and emotional support of others. I wish to acknowl-
edge, therefore, those who have been instrumental in the completion of
this writing project.
First and foremost, I give thanks to God for answering my prayers
and equipping me with the insight and perseverance needed to complete
the task. Second, I wish to acknowledge the help of my supervisor,
Dr Richard N. Longenecker, whose combination of academic ability and
Christ-like disposition resulted not only in greatly improving the quality
of the thesis but in setting an example of truly Christian scholarship that
I can only hope to emulate in the years to come. Finally, I want to give
thanks to my dear wife, Bernice. In a ten-year span of marriage that
involved the birth of five children and the death of one, as well as the
experience of moving fourteen times, she was and continues to be a
source of constant encouragement and love. It is to her that this work is
dedicated.
LIST OF TABLES
1. Grace Benedictions 80
2. Peace Benedictions 89
3. Other Benedictions 102-103
4. Greetings 106-107
5. Doxologies 137
6. Hortatory Sections 146
ABBREVIATIONS
Aeg Aegyptus
AJP American Journal of Philology
AsSeign Assemblies de Seigneur
ATR Anglican Theological Review
AusBR Australian Biblical Review
AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bib Biblica
BibLeb Bibel und Leben
BJRL Bulletin of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester
BSac Bibliotheca Sacra
BT The Bible Translator
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZNW Beiheftezur ZNW
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CTJ Calvin Theological Journal
CurTM Currents in Theology and Mission
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
EvT Evangelische Theologie
ExpTim Expository Times
GRBS Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies
HNT Handbuch zum Neuen Testament
HTR Harvard Theological Review
IBS Irish Biblical Studies
IDB G.A. Buttrick (ed.), Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible
IDBSup IDB, Supplement Volume
IEJ Israel Exploration Journal
Int Interpretation
ITQ Irish Theological Quarterly
JAC Jahrbuch fur Antike und Christentum
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBL Journal of Biblical literature
JETS Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
JJS Journal of Jewish Studies
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies