Strangers in the Light: Philonic Perspectives on Christian Identity in 1 Peter (Biblical Interpretation Series)

227 Pages·2005·0.73 MB·English

by  Torrey Seland

STRANGERS IN THE LIGHT
Biblical Interpretation Series
Editors
R. Alan Culpepper
Ellen van Wolde
Associate Editors
David E. Orton, Rolf Rendtorff
Editorial Advisory Board
janice capel anderson • mieke bal
phyllis a. bird • erhard blum • werner h. kelber
ekkehard stegemann • vincent l. wimbush • jean zumstein
VOLUME 76
Strangers in the Light
Philonic Perspectives on Christian Identity
in 1 Peter
by
Torrey Seland
BRILL
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2005
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Seland, Torrey.
Strangers in the light : Philonic perspectives on Christian identity in 1 Peter /
by Torrey Seland.
p. cm. — (Biblical interpretation series, ISSN 0928-0731 ; v. 76)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 90-04-14491-9 (alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T. Peter, 1st—Social scientific criticism. 2. Strangers in the Bible.
3. Philo, of Alexandria. I. Title. II. Series.
BS2795.6.S8S45 2005
227'.9206—dc22
2005046992
ISSN 0928–0731
ISBN 90 04 14491 9
© Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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printed in the netherlands
Birger Løvlie
Per Magne Aadnanes
MØ §gkatal¤p˙w f¤lon érxa›on,
ı går prÒsfatow oÈk ¶stin ¶fisow aÈtƒ,
o‰now n°ow f¤low n°ow:
§ån palaivyª, metÉ eÈfrosÊnhw p¤esai aÈtÒn.
Sirach 9:10
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ...................................................................... ix
Introduction: Strangers in the Light ...................................... 1
Chapter One: The Making of 1 Peter in Light of
Ancient Graeco-Roman Letterwriting and Distribution .... 9
Chapter Two: Paroikos kai parepidemos:
Proselyte Characterizations in 1 Peter? .............................. 39
Chapter Three: The ‘Common Priesthood’ of Philo
and 1 Peter: A Philonic Reading of 1 Peter 2:5 & 9 ...... 79
Chapter Four: The Moderate Life of the Christian
paroikoi: A Philonic Reading of 1 Peter 2:11 .................. 117
Chapter Five: “Conduct yourselves honorably among
the Gentiles” (1 Peter 2:12): Assimilation and
Acculturation in 1 Peter ...................................................... 147
Epilogue .................................................................................... 191
Works Cited .............................................................................. 193
Index of Authors ...................................................................... 205
Index of Scriptural References ................................................ 209
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My scholarly career first brought me into studies of the early Chris-
tians as presented in the Lucan Acts of the Apostles; then to Philo
of Alexandria, and then further back to the New Testament. The
present work contains a collection of studies carried out in the last
decade, dealing with issues both in the works of Philo, and in the
New Testament as represented by the 1 Letter of Peter.
1
Three of the studies presented here have been previously published.
I am grateful to the Publishers for their acceptance of my request
to reuse these works in the present volume. Two have been pre-
2
sented as papers at seminars and or conferences. The first chapter
is not previously published or made public in any other ways, but
as it deals with one particular introductory question on the making
of 1 Peter, it is included here.
All of the studies included have been written during my employ-
ment at Volda University College in Volda, Norway. I am grateful
to my colleagues and members of our Research Seminar, the FAKK
Forum, for their willingness to read some ‘obscure stuff ’ from Philo,
and for their discussions in the sessions of that seminar.
1
Torrey Seland, “The ‘Common Priesthood’ of Philo and 1 Peter: A Philonic
Reading of 1 Peter 2.5,9,” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 57 (1995): 87–119;
Torrey Seland, “pãroikow ka‹ parep¤dhmow: Proselyte Characterizations in 1 Peter?”
Bulletin for Biblical Research 11.2 (2001): 239–68; Torrey Seland, ‘The Moderate
Life of the Christian paroikoi: A Philonic Reading of 1 Pet 2:11,’ in Philo und das
Neue Testament Wechselseitige Wahrnehmungen. Hrg. Von Roland Deines und Karl-
Wilhelm Niebuhr. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 172
(Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2004), 241–264.
2
Most of Chapter Four: ‘The Moderate Life of the Christian Paroikoi: A Philonic
reading of 1 Pet. 2:11’ was read as a paper at a conference in Eisenach 1–4 May
2003 on ‘Philo and the New Testament—The New Testament and Philo’. Chapter
Five: “Conduct your selves honourably among the Gentiles” (1 Pet 2:12): Assimilation and
Acculturation was read as a seminar paper at Divinity College, University of
Edinburgh, during my stay there as a Visiting Nordic Scholar in November 1998.