Grace
Theological Journal 4.1 (1983) 15-36
Copyright © 1983 by Grace
Theological Seminary. Cited with permission.
WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN
GALATIANS
DAVID ALAN BLACK
The Apostle Paul can rightly be regarded
as "the Theologian of
Weakness." Yet
Paul's theology of weakness developed in a dynamic
fashion in
response to the situations facing him, and his particular
formulations are
consistently adapted and designed to meet particular
issues at
hand. Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in those letters
in which the apostle finds
himself forced to answer the criticisms of
his opponents regarding his
own weakness (Galatians and 1 and
2 Corinthians).
After an examination of Gal 4:9 and 13, the author
concludes that
weakness language is Paul's way of making clear to his
readers in
in holiness is found, not
in one's religious activities (4:9) nor in one's
own personal strengths (
* * *
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
THE most unified and highly developed concept of
"weakness" in
the NT
is to be found in the writings of the Apostle Paul.1 It is
therefore all
the more surprising that the Pauline weakness ter-
minology has
received virtually no comprehensive study outside of
Romans and I
and 2 Corinthians.2 In this article our purpose is not
1The root a]sqen appears in the NT 83 times and in the Pauline Epistles 44 times,
or 53% of the total (Robert Morgenthaler, Statistik des
neutestamentichen Wort-
schatzes [
Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians,
where the words appear 38 times, or 86%
of the total in Paul. The single largest complex of the termini is
in 2 Corinthians 10-13,
where the words appear a total of 14 times; the second largest is in 1
Corinthians (15
times), and the third largest is in Roman (8 times). In other instances
(1 Thessalonians,
Galatians, Philippians, I and 2 Timothy)
the words occur only once or twice.
2The
interpretation of the Pauline use of a]sqe<neia and its cognates has centered
for the most part on "problem" passages such as I
Corinthians 8. 2 Corinthians 10-13
and Romans 14. Among the more important studies of the meaning of a]sqe<neia in
specific contexts are those of Gerd Theissen, "Die Starken und
Schwachen in Korinth,"
16 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
to discuss every
occurrence of a]sqe<neia and its cognates, but to
examine two
of the earliest, and in some ways the most unique,
occurrences of
the word-group found in a fascinating passage in
Galatians (4:1-20). We hope thereby to make a helpful contribution
to one
aspect of Pauline lexicography in particular and to Pauline
theology in
general.
EXEGESIS
OF THE TEXTS
In the letter to the Galatians weakness language occurs only
twice but
in two closely related places. The neuter plural adjective is
found in
the formulistic phrase ta> a]sqenh? kai> ptwxa> stoixei?a ("the
weak and
beggarly elements") in 4:9, while di
] a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j
("on account of a weakness of the flesh"), a reference to
the occasion
of
Paul's Galatian visit, appears in
ences are
in highly polemical settings, it seems evident that each plays
a
vital role in Paul's argument against the legalistic threat to the
Galatian churches. But because the terms are employed in two
different
paragraphs with differing themes and perspectives, each
occurrence must
be studied individually if we are to understand the
specific role
the motif plays in the argument of the author in
Galatians.
A.
Galatians 4:9
The first occurrence of a]sqenh<j is in the section which comprises
4:8-11,
where Paul begins a lengthy appeal to the Galatians based on
his
previous assertion that all Christians are sons and heirs of God
and
therefore free from the law. Although it would be a mistake to
try to
force logical cohesion all through this section-Galatians being
an emotional
apologia pro vita sua-we can
reconstruct with some
accuracy the
apostle's train of thought in the broader context as
follows: (a)
in 4:1-7 he first illustrates the freedom of the Christian
with an
example from ordinary life concerning the legal status of a
EvT35 (1975) 155-72; Max Rauer, Die
"Schwachen" in Korinlh und Rom (BibS[F]21;
(Giitersloh:
Mohn, 1975) 95-107; and Erhardt Giittgemanns, Der leidende Apostel und
sein Herr (FRLANT 90; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1966) 142-70. The
most thorough and comprehensive investigations of the words in their
wider meaning
are found in Ernst Kasemann, Die
Legitimitat des Apostels: Eine Untersuchung zu II
Korinther 10-13
(Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1956) 37-43; Eric
Fuchs, "La
faibless, gloire de l'apostolat selon Paul (Etude sur 2 CO 10-13),"
ETR 2
(1980) 231-53; and J. Cambier," Le critere paulinien de l'apostolat en 2
Co 12, 6s," Bib
43 (1962) 481-518. Special notes have been
devoted to the word-group in various NT
commentaries, but on a limited scale, and nowhere are the weakness-termini in
Galatians
given a unified treatment.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 17
child; (b)
in 4:8-11 he shows that the special observance of certain
portions of
the Jewish sacred calendar is a return to the "elements"
from
which the Galatians had been saved; and (c) in 4:12-20 Paul
makes a
personal appeal to the Galatians, based on his former
relationship with them, to accept him and his message.
The uniquely Pauline expression ta> a]sqenh? kai> ptwxa> stoixei?a
in 4:9,
which is to be understood in conjunction with the parallel
expression in
4:3, ta> stoixei?a tou? ko<smou
suggests a relationship of
some sort
between the first two of these paragraphs, i.e., between
4:1-7 and
4:8-11. This relationship is probably best understood in
terms of
Paul's concept of the status of Christians prior to the coming
of
faith. In 4:1-11 his main concern is to contrast the former
condition of
his readers with their new state after being converted.
Since Paul
views the human condition apart from Christ as servitude
to
"the elements of the world" (4:3), he is surprised to hear that the
Galatians
are ready to sacrifice all the privileges of their new religion
by
going back to their former state of slavery under these elements
(4:9). Formerly the Galatians, mostly pagans, had been under
bondage
to
heathenism, but have since "come to know God" (4:9). Do they
now wish
to enslave themselves again, this time to Judaism and its
ritual?
Paul argues against returning to the elements first of all with an
illustration' of guardianship (4: 1-7). The condition of man under the
law is
inferior, writes the apostle, because man under law is like an
heir who
has been placed under a guardian and has no freedom of
action.
With this familiar custom the Galatians are to realize that, by
returning to
their former condition they would be losing, not gaining,
and
would again become nh<pioi, dou<loi, u[po> e]pitro<pouj kai>
oi]kono<mouj (4:1, 2).
Next, Paul stresses that if the Gentile Galatians
adopt
Jewish practices, they will be returning to slavery from the
glorious
liberty enjoyed by the sons of God in Christ Jesus (cf.
Therefore
the apostle exhorts the Galatian Christians to leave behind
religious
ritualism lest they again become enslaved and forfeit their
rights as
heirs according to the promise (4:8-11).
In general, these verses are clear enough, but the passage is not
without its
problems. The main difficulty is the word stoixei?a
itself,
which in
4:9 the KJV represents by
"elements" and the RSV
by
"elemental spirits."3 What exactly were these
"weak" stoixei?a to
which the
Galatians were in bondage (4:3) and under whose power
they were
in danger of returning (4:9)? A consultation of the lexicons
reveals that
the word is capable of an extraordinary range of meanings
3Cf.
18 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
and its
usage in Paul is by no means settled.4 Of all the interpreta-
tions
advanced in the exegesis of this verse,5 three possible meanings
come into
play.
First, stoixei?a may be taken as referring to the law of
exclusively.
Though this view is consistent with Paul's teaching on the
Mosaic
institution-that it enslaves men (
its
application to the Gentiles6 who were never under the Mosaic
system in
their pre-Christian state. Nor does this view explain the
additional
phrase tou? ko<smou (4:3) which implies a non-divine origin
of the stoixei?a, in contrast to the Jewish emphasis on the other-
worldly
character of the commandments.
Second, the reference to the former bondage to the "elements"
may be a
description of enslavement to personal spiritual beings
under
whose power the Gentile Galatians had been held prior to their
conversion.7 The word stoixei?a may come to mean "angels" or
4See esp. BAGD
768-69. Stoixei?a is
the neuter plural forth of the adjective
stoixei?a, which rneans
"standing in a row," "an elernent in a series." By
metonymy,
however, the
word came to refer to the ultimate parts of anything. It is used in classical
Greek to
refer to the letters of the alphabet, from which came the meaning
"rudiments,"
the
"ABCs" of any subject.
It can also refer to the component parts of physical bodies;
in
particular it was the Stoic term for the four elements: earth, water, air, and
fire. In
Christian
writers from the middle of the second century A.D. the term is used in an
astronomical sense to mean the heavenly bodies. In Hellenism the word came to
include not
only the physical elements but the spirits believed to be behind them, the
"cosmic beings." These personified stoixei?a came to be understood as the lords of the
world, the
final and most important principles of life, and as such were considered
worthy of
man's worship.
The precise meaning of stoixei?a in Paul is still a matter of debate, and the
question must
be left open until more evidence comes to light. For a detailed survey of
the
interpretations of the terrn in the pre-Christian, Christian, patristic and
modern
eras, see
C. J. Kurapati, Spiritual Bondage and
Christian Freedom according to Paul:
An Exegetical and Theological Exposition
of the Epistle to the Galatians (Unpublished
doctoral
dissertation, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1976); cf. A. J. Bandstra, The
Law and the Elements of the World. An
Exegetical Study in Aspects of Paul’s
Teaching (Kampen: Kok, 1964) 5-30; G. Delling, "stoixe<w, ktl," TWNT 7 (1964)
670-82. On
the meaning of stoixei?a in
Paul see esp. Bandstra, The Law and the
Elements, 57-68; Delling, " stoixe<w"
683-86; F. Mussner, Der Galaterbrief
(HTKNT; Freiburg: Herder, 1974) 293-303;
(ICC; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1950) 510-18.
5 In
the commentaries the term is usually discussed under 4:3. However, by
common
consent the meaning of stoixei?a is identical in both Gal 4:3 and 9, even
though in
the latter verse the expression tou? ko<smou is absent.
6The
context indicates that Paul wrote this section with the Gentile Galatians
especially in
mind: (a) they were obviously idol worshippers (4:8), and (b) they had
become
Christians directly and not through Judaism as proselytes (3:1-6); cf.
Galatians, 215.
7 So J. M. Boice (Galatians, in Vol. 10 of The Expositors Bible
Commentary
[Romans-Galatians] [
mentators. The law and the stoixei?a
are so intimately related that some scholars see
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 19
"spirits," and if this is Paul's meaning here, he will
be referring to
demonic
bondage which is the ultimate contrast to freedom in Christ.
The advantage
of this view is that it agrees with the reference to the
false gods
(or demons) in 4:8 which the Galatians, as pagans, no
doubt
formerly worshipped. The disadvantage is that it is hard to see
how Paul
could include himself,8 a Pharisee, among those who had
been in
bondage to weak and beggarly astral spirits who control the
universe.
Furthermore, this interpretation relies on literature some-
what late
for the period in which Paul wrote his letters.9
Third, the word stoixei?a may be taken as referring to the
elemental
stages of religious experience which are common to all
men.
According to this view, the expression "the elements of the
world"
indicates rudimentary teaching regarding rules, regulations,
laws and
religious ordinances by means of which both Jews and
Gentiles,
each in their own way, tried to earn their salvation.10 This
meaning of stoixei?a, or one closely related to it, is possibly involved
also in
Support for this latter viewpoint is, in our opinion, stronger
than
for the
two former interpretations. Paul seems to apply his remarks in
this
chapter equally to the Jewish and Gentile worlds. Only this view
allows for
that fact. It is evident also that at least in one respect the
stoixei?a against which the apostle warns in
Galatians involved
Mosaic-Pharisaic ordinances. When Gal 4:10 is considered as an
interpretation of 4:9,.this verse indicates that the stoixei?a can in a
general way
be considered merely as rudimentary religious obser-
vances,
void of any authentic intrinsic meaning or worth. Elementary
teachings
regarding regulations. such as these were employed by both
Jews and
Gentiles alike in their attempt to achieve redemption and
salvation.11 Jewish religion considered law-observance, as well as the
both Judaism
and paganism among the personal spirits; cr. Bo Reicke ("The Law and
the World
according to Paul," JBL 70 [1951] 259-76, esp. pp.
261-63) who identifies
the
"elements" with the good angels who ordained the law (cf. Gal. 3:19).
8Cf.
4:3: "So also when we were children, we were enslaved under ta> stoixei?a tou?
ko<smou."
9Cf.
Delling, "stoixe<w,
ktl," 682-83, and
Bandstra, The Law and the Elements,
43-46 and 58. The meaning "spiritual power" for stoixei<on is not
attested before
he Testamentum Salomonis
dated to the 4th century A.D.
10 So,
e.g., William Hendriksen, Exposition of
Galatians (NTC; Grand. Rapids:
Baker, 1968) 157.
religious
teaching possessed by the race.
11The
observance of "days, months, seasons and years" (4:10) implies cultic
activities known
to both Judaism and paganism and which are probably to be regarded
as
typical religious behavior; so Hans Dieter Betz, A Commentary on Paul's Letter to the
Churches in
these
activities are sacred Jewish seasons only, cr. John Eadie, A Commentary on
20 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
keeping of
the multitudinous rules added by religious leaders to those
previously
given at Sinai, as the way whereby salvation could be
attained. The
worshippers of pagan deities, on the other hand, sought
to
achieve salvation by their own rituals and in accordance with their
own
unregenerate nature, the sa<rc.12 But both Jews and Gentiles in
their
pre-Christian state are in bondage to ordinances and regulations.
Thus for the
Gentile Christians, under the influence of the false
teachers, to
turn again13 to the stoixei?a is in Paul's mind simply an
exchange of
one form of bondage (to heathenism) for another (to
Judaism).
In the question in 4:9 begun by pw?j--"How
is it possible that
you are
returning again to the weak and beggarly stoixei?a?"--Paul
expresses his
utter shock to learn that men who had been delivered
from the
enslaving teachings of paganism now wish to become
enslaved
allover again, this time by Jewish regulations. That
they
could
consider a return to such bondage is especially incompre-
hensible in
view of the fact that they had actually come to know God
in a
personal, genuine way.14 Although the Galatians had not yet
gone as
far as the Judaizers had wanted them to go-they have not
been
circumcised (5:2)--Paul fears his labor in evangelizing them will
eventually be
wasted (4:11). Their course of action is to the mission-
ary Paul
as inexcusable as it is inexplicable, and his astonishment
forces him
to take up once again, though now with new intensity, his
discussion of the deadly character of legalism.15
the Greek Text of the
Epistle of Paul to the Galatians (reprint,
1979) 315-17; Hendriksen, Galatians,
165-66.
12According
to Bandstra (The Law and the Elements,
61-71), the two most
important
basic forces in the stoixei?a are the law and the flesh. Therefore the
yielding
of the
Galatians to the observance of feast days is at the same time an act of
submission to
the flesh; the observance itself is but evidence of their enslavement to the
sa<rc.
13Pa<lin does not mean "back" (retro) but "again" (iterum),
though the notion
of
"going back" to the elements is clearly implied in the prepositional
prefix of
e]pistre<fein.
14The
participle is gno<ntej
(4:9), not ei]do<tej;
(cf. 4:8). On this distinction see
Donald W.
Burdick, "Oi#da and Ginw<skw in
the Pauline Epistles," in New
Dimensions
in New Testament Study, eds. Richard
Rapids:
Zondervan, 1974) 344-56, esp. pp. 351-52.
15One
must, however, distinguish between Paul's evaluation of the situation and
what the
Galatians' point of view was. In Paul's mind the Galatians were about to give
up
Christianity and return to paganism (i.e., "slavery"). The Galatians,
on the other
hand,
desired only to switch from the Pauline form of Christianity to the Jewish form
which
required circumcision and law-obedience. They never imagined that the ac-
ceptance of the Torah meant a return to paganism,
that being u[po> no<mon was the same
as
being u[po> ta> stoixei?a tou? ko<smou; cf.
Betz, Galatians, 217; Boice, Galatians, 476;
Herman N.
Ridderbos, The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 21
Accordingly,
we believe that the most consistent answer to the
problem of stoixei?a in 4:9 is found when the term is understood as
referring to
elemental stages of religion whereby both Jew and
Gentile
sought to gain salvation. According to the context, service
under the stoixei?a must be wide enough to embrace both the service
of the
Jews under the law of Moses and that of the Gentiles under the
false
gods. If this interpretation is correct, Paul virtually identifies the
religious
celebrations of the Jews, who worship the true and living
God, with
those of the heathen, who worship toi?j su<sei mh> ou#sin
qeoi?j (4:8). This is in perfect agreement with
Paul's earlier teaching
that the
purpose of the Mosaic law was not to deliver, but to hold
Jews captive
in preparation for the deliverance which was to come
through the
promised "seed" (3:19-22).
However, it, should be noted that Paul's use of stoixei?a for the
common
enslavement of both Jew and Gentile does not involve an
identification in every respect. The Jew still sought to worship the
true God,
while the Gentile seisidaimoni<a involved objects of wor-
ship
which "by their very nature" (fu<sei) could not be considered
"gods" in any sense (4:8). Still, both situations are
equal in the single
point that
they both involve a bondage, in contrast to the glorious
liberty and
freedom enjoyed by the "sons of God" (3:26-4:7).16 In this
sense,
Jewish law is simply one particular manifestation of that which
inevitably
enslaves all men in a helpless condition which only faith in
the
promised Messiah can remedy (4:3-5). Thus, while there is not
identity,
there is such a similarity between the heathen cultus and the
Mosaic ritual
that both may be described by the same epithet, ta>
stoixei?a tou? ko<smou.
This brings us to the problem of the specific meaning of a]sqenh?
in 4:9.
If our interpretation of the stoixei?a which bring enslavement
is
correct, then the addition of the adjectival modifiers a]sqenh? kai>
ptwxa<
will be Paul's way of
emphasizing the total powerlessness of
the law
and its observance to gain the favor of God. This is an
important
facet of the apostle's overall argument in Galatians, fighting
as he
must against an overevaluation of the law by which obedience
to its
commandments becomes a way of salvation. To the preachers
of Judaism, Paul's gospel was in this respect woefully deficient and
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953) 161. Therefore Paul is anxious to show the Galatians that the
opponents are
actually enemies of the gospel who seek to destroy the church (1:6-9).
He who
chooses to follow their way not only falls back into the servitude of the
elements, but
is obligated to do the impossible: keep the whole law (5:3).
16 On
the significance of the motif of sonship in Galatians, see the excellent
monograph by
Brendan Byrne, "Sons of God"-"
Seed of Abraham" (An Bib 83;
Biblical Institute, 1979) 141-90.
22 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
therefore
merely a@nqrwpon (1: 11), for it needed to be "cor-
rected"
by the observance of special days, months, seasons and years
(4: 10), and
especially by the observance of the markedly Jewish rite of
circumcision (5:2-3, 6, 11; 6: 12). Incredibly, the Galatians were on the
verge of
adopting the entire cultic-ritualistic system of Judaism as a
means of
completing what had begun only "imperfectly" under the
tutelage of
Paul.
Since the Galatians do not regard their course as a dangerous
one,
Paul must try to convince them that their present drift toward
legalism is
in reality a return to slavery. Contrary to the claims of the
Judaizers,
the stoixei?a are ineffective for giving life, for they
are
a]sqenh? and lack the
inherent power to accomplish salvation. The
Mosaic law, as a member or component part (stoixei<on) of the
stoixei?a tou? ko<smou, requires what God demands, but is
powerless
to
accomplish anything ultimately positive. The law provokes sin and
transgression (Rom 5:20), condemns sin (Rom 4:15; Gal 3:10), and
serves as a
paidagwgo<j;17 (Gal 3:23-25), but it also is the power of sin
(1 Cor
15:56) and the occasion for sin (Rom 7:8, 11) and inevitably
leads to
death. Thus, in Paul's mind the "weak" law is in one aspect
definitely a force to be reckoned with as it operates
in the sphere of
the
flesh and ultimately issues in sin and death. The opponents, and
now the
Galatians, understood the elements as life-bringing forces,
but Paul
knows that they are really "weak and beggarly," completely
ineffectual to
do what the law-preachers have promised.
Because the law involves religious bondage, it is not surprising
to
find
Paul's warnings against it in this passage and indeed throughout
the
entire letter (cf. 1:9, 2:4-5, 15-21; 3:1-5; 5:1-4; 6:7-8, 12-13).
Inherent in
the Christian life is the potential danger of a man once
again
seeking to live according to the law and flesh. But this course of
life
brings men into bondage, "be it the bondage of the immature
heir, the
Jew, or that of the slave, the Gentile,”18 or, we might add,
that of
the misdirected Christian. Therefore, since any observance of
Jewish
ritual practices by Gentile converts amounts to nothing less
than a
return to bondage to the stoixei?a tou? ko<mou, Paul must go
17The
term paidagwgo<j; stresses the positive, but purely preparatory aspect of the
law's
function. Because the Judaizers attempted to extend that function beyond the
time of
Christ's coming, Paul must stress its provisional status. If J. W. MacGorman is
correct, the
English rendering of paidagwgo<j; should emphasize the custodial (i.e.
"custodian,"
"guardian") rather than the educative (i.e. "schoolmaster,"
"tutor')
function of
the law in Gal 3:24-25. See his article, "The Law as Paidagogos: A Study
in
Pauline Analogy," in New Testament
Studies. Essays in Honor of Ray
Summers,
eds.
Huber L. Drumright and Curtis Vaughan (Waco, Texas: Markham, 1975) 99-111,
esp. p.
110.
18Bandstra,
The Law and the Elements, 65.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 23
to
great lengths to convince the Galatians that these ritualistic celebra-
tions are
valid only for those who are still controlled by the old aeon.
With regard
to the salvation and sanctification of Christians, the
elements are
both a]sqenh? and ptwxa<, and indeed are a stumbling
block to
the Christian life.
Paul's view that the law in
its weakness works spiritual death
finds its
main parallel in his acknowledgment that in the death and
resurrection of Christ the law and the stoixei?a have been conquered.
This fact is
not insignificant in our quest to understand Paul's
weakness
language in Galatians, nor is it without parallel in the
apostle's
other writings: "God did what the law, weakened as it was
by the flesh
[e]n &$ h]sqe<nei dia> th?j sarko<j],
could not do; sending his
own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin
in the
flesh" (Rom 8:3). Paul rejects the works of the law because
God has
rejected in the person and work of Christ a life dedicated to
nomistic
service. The condition of man under law has now in Christ
been
superseded by a new set of conditions, namely, faith in Christ
and his
confession before men. God's people are therefore marked by
faith, as
indeed Abraham was (3:6-9), not by the works of the law.19
Thus Paul
insists that legalism is a betrayal of the whole gospel (5:2-
for
righteousness before God is a result only of faith and is a free
gift
which cannot be merited by a man (5:5). Nothing
therefore is able
(sqe<noj) to
earn salvation or sanctification-neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision (5:6).
Having condemned such behavior, the apostle adds that life in
Christ
involves a different kind of bondage, which he defines ex-
plicitly in
5:13-14 as one's love of his neighbor. With six Greek words
he
reduces all of the statutes of the Jewish law into a single one:
a]gaph<seij to>n plhsi<on sou w[j seauto<n
"you shall love your
neighbor as
[you love] yourself" (5:14). His purpose of course' is to
show that
in the single commandment to love of Lev 19:18 are
summarized all
the requirements of the Christian faith.20 Here Paul
can
speak favorably of the law, for when Christians love and serve
go
others, the law is fulfilled. This fact, however, in no way weakens
Paul's argument against law and in defense of a' gospel of pure
grace.
The law as a
system of rules and regulations has no place in the life of
the a
Christian, for it cannot effectuate its own fulfillment, but the
the
essential ends of the law can and will be met through those who live
is in
and are led by the Spirit (5:16-18). This life in the Spirit (pneu<mati)
19Cf.
in this connection Joseph B. Tyson, "'Works of Law' in Galatians," JBL 92
(1973) 430-31. See also Markus Barth's discussion of Paul's use of pi<stij in
Galatians, in
"The Kerygma of Galatians," Int 21 (1967) 143-45.
20Victor
Paul Furnish (The Love Command in the New
Testament [
Abingdon,
1972] 96-97) offers an excellent discussion of this subject.
24 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
is
characterized neither by legalism nor by license, but by a life of
faith and
love which Paul discusses in concrete terms in the following
verses
(5:19-26).21
This being the case, there is a certain presumption in viewing the
stoixei?a (and the law) not as something positively
evil per se, but as
elements
which are a]sqenh? and ineffectual,
and therefore open to the
dangerous
possibility of enslaving men who were redeemed by Christ
and
through him have begun a new existence in the Spirit. Or to use
Paul's
terms, while the stoixei?a are not inherently harmful, they are
"weak," for they are incompetent to bring salvation and
life, and
"beggarly," for they have no wealth whereby they can
provide an
inheritance.
Since they are operative in the ko<smoj,
within the sphere
of
human activity, and among a fallen mankind, they are unable to
set men
free as Christ has done by redeeming them through his death
on a
tree (3:13).
The accent in Gal 4:3 and 9 would therefore appear to lie on the
modifying
expressions tou? ko<smou and a]sqenh? kai> ptwxa<.
The latter
expression can
be considered as a substitute for the former, for the
words
"weak and beggarly" in 4:9 describe what in essence is meant
by the
genitive "of the world" in 4:3.22 The noun ko<smoj here does
not mean
"the 'Universe" or "the material world," but "the
world of
mankind,"
the present eschatological age, and hence the stoixei?a are
those
elements which enslave the members of the old aeon to which
the
Galatians are tempted to return. The adjectives a]sqenh? and
ptwxa< are therefore only too appropriate to
describe the impotence
of the stoixei?a of the ko<smoj to provide salvation for man and
deliverance from
his present bondage. The ascription a]sqenh? does
not deny
the harmful potential of the enslaving powers, but emphasizes
their
identity with the sphere of human activity which belongs to the
old aeon
and which is passing away, and signifies the total powerless-
ness of
commandments with reference to spiritual deliverance. Thus
the stoixei?a are a]sqenh? "parce qu'ils ne peuvent pas
operer ce qu'ils
pretendent, conduire
les hommes au salut.”23 They are also ptwxa<, a
term
which in classical Greek referred to basic economic deprivation
but came
to mean, metaphorically, deprivation of power and dignity.24
Its meaning
here is that the religious elements of the old age are not
21Cf.
Wolfgang Schrage, Die konkreten
Einzelgebote in der paulinischen
Paranese (Giitersloh: Mohn,
1961) 231-33.
22S0
Reicke, "The Law and the World," 264-65; cf. Delling, "stoixe<w, ktl," 685:
"Man kann fragen ob a]sqenh? kai> ptwxa< nicht den Genitiv tou? ko<mou interpretieren;
jedenfalls ist mit beiden negativen Wendungen alle vorchristliche Religion
zusam-
menfassend abgeurteilt."
23M. J.
Lagrange,
24Emst Bammel, "ptwxo<j,
ktl,"
TWNT 6 (1959) 885-915, esp. p.909.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE
IN GALATIANS 25
only
powerless but also resourceless to supply what is needed to
extricate man
from his bondage to sin and the flesh, in contrast to
"the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Heb 7:8).
Therefore, while it is not necessary to restrict the meaning of
a]sqenh? too rigidly,25
in view of the emphasis in this section upon the
inadequacy of
the law, it would seem that the apostle is thinking
especially of
the impotence of legal enactments to secure salvation or
progress in
holiness, regardless of whatever beneficial side-effects
such
"fundamental religious elements" might have. These stoixei?a,
common to
both pagan and Jewish religion, not only cannot procure
spiritual
blessings, but ultimately bring men into bondage to their
own
impulse to be made perfect in the flesh (3:3) and are thus to be
avoided by
the Christian at all costs.
B. Galatians
4:13
The second occurrence of weakness-termini in Galatians is found
at the
beginning of the highly enigmatic paragraph (4:12-20) devoted
to a
discussion of the Galatians' former attachment to Paul and
why they
should now follow his earnest counsel to reject the gospel of
the
false teachers. Considerations of space preclude a disproportionate
discussion of
the critical problem concerning the chronology of
Galatians
raised by to>
pro<teron in v 13. Within the scope of this
study we
must accept the possibility that the words can mean "on the
former of
two occasions," though in our view 4:13 does not demand
two
visits of Paul to
can just
as easily be rendered "originally," or "previously").26
Certainly
the
question of whether 4:13 does or does not support the south-
Galatian
hypothesis cannot be resolved here; regardless of one's
position on
that issue, however, these verses clearly refer to Paul's
preaching on
the occasion of the founding of the Galatic churches.
There are few NT phrases which can boast of such a variety of
interpretations
as di
] a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j; in Gal 4:13. Paul makes
it
clear that the Galatians know what his "weakness" actually is, but
his
readers today have not had their eyewitness advantage, and they
are left
to infer from the context the identity of Paul's a]sqe<neia.
This
means that
in order to gain an accurate knowledge of the content of
25E.g., Boice (Galatians,
473) offers the interesting suggestion that there is a subtle
link
between the ideas of redemption and adoption in 4:5 and the phrase "the
weak and
beggarly
elements." H. Schlier (Der Brief an die Galater [KEK;
14th ed.;
Vandenhoeck &
Ruprecht, 1971] 203) correctly emphasizes the powerlessness of the
elements
"gegenuber der Macht
und dem Leben Gottes und seiner 'Sohne', und erweist
sich ihre Verehrung als die angestrengte und furchtsame Leistung an
uberwundene und
verfallende Gatter."
Many other parallels and points of contrast could be noted.
26See
BAGD 722.
GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL 26
the term
a]sqe<neia in 4:13, it is once again necessary to
study the
word in
the context of Paul's wider argument in this portion of the
letter.
At this juncture in Galatians 4 Paul has turned from formal
argument to
an appeal to the former bond of unity which existed
between him
and the Galatian churches. The intensely personal
quality of
this appeal is seen throughout, but especially in v 19 where
the
apostle compares himself to a mother enduring birth-pangs and
the
Galatians to a human embryo in the process of being formed. The
metaphors need
not be pressed too far; indeed, the whole image
seems to
break down because the formation of a child in the womb
can
hardly be said to follow labor pains. This is, however, no reason
to
regard this verse as a later interpolation:27 Paul simply wants to
emphasize by
the use of word-pictures his great pastoral concern and
love for
his converts.
This intensely personal and highly enigmatic entreaty poses an
interesting
question of interpretation: Why does the apostle suddenly
bring up,
in the middle of his discussion of the Christian's freedom
from the
law, the subject of the particular circumstances of the
founding of
the Galatian churches, including his a]sqe<neia? The
Galatians
were already quite aware of the situation (cf. oi@date, 4:13).
How can this
intimate account be an argument against those who
were
wooing the Galatians into legalism?
The obscurity of this passage perhaps cannot be explained in a
purely
logical way; it is possible that Paul was so overwhelmed by
emotion at
this point in writing that he simply lost his train of
thought. For
this reason many scholars are of the opinion that Paul
has
ceased argumentation and has turned to emotional begging and
appealing.28 But psychological interpretations of the passage, while
properly
pointing to the intensity and passion of Paul's appeal, fail to
recognize the
rhetorical character of these verses.
27Cf.
J. C. O'Neill (The Recovery of Paul’s
Letter to the Galatians [
1972] 61-62)
who ascribes the words me<xrij ou$ morfwq^? Xristo>j e]n u[mi?n to
a glossator.
28According
to Lagrange (Galales, 110-11), Paul's appeal is "moins un raisson-
nement qu'un desir
passionne d'union par une bonne volonte reciproque. Paul a fait les
premiers pas: que les Galates
en fassant autant!" The
same idea is expressed by A.
Oepke, Der Brief des Paulus an die Galater (ThHK
9; 2nd ed.;
Verlagsanstalt, 1957) 140-41;
Robertson
writes: "It is just in writers of the greatest mental activity and
vehemence of
spirit that
we meet most instances of anacoluthon. Hence a man with the passion of
"Paul
naturally breaks away from formal rules in the structure of the sentence when
he
is
greatly stirred, as in Gal. and 2 Cor." A. T. Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek
New Testament in the Light of Historical
Research (Nashville:
Broadman, 1934) 435.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN
GALATIANS 27
Betz29
has demonstrated the remarkable similarity between this
section and
the standard Hellenistic literary topos of "friendship"
peri> fili<aj,
which calls for a change between heavy and light
sections and
an emotional appeal to offset mere abstract argumenta-
tion.
Both the Galatians and Paul would have been acquainted with
this
theme, and if the similarity here is more than coincidental, Paul
will be
arguing that his relationship with the Galatians (his "true
friendship")
now, as then, requires the reciprocity of his converts. The
force of
the argument lies in the fact that when Paul needed help the
most, the
Galatians did not hesitate to provide without reservation
the
assistance required to restore him. And though they could have
found
cause to despise him, they had proven their friendship by
accepting Paul
as an a@ggelon
qeou?,
w[j Xristo>n ]Ihsou?n (v 14). But
they had
not only received Paul with open hearts-they had also
accepted the
message of life which accompanied him to
creating
between them a bond of Christian fili<a. It is this "friend-
ship"
that forms the basis of Paul's present appeal to the Galatians.
This means that the present passage in Galatians "is neither
inconsistent nor lacking argumentative force,”30 but serves to ac-
centuate the
paradox that these same ones who had once so en-
thusiastically received Paul now consider him as their enemy and
reject his
gospel. The appeal of this section, then, is an argument for
the
reestablishment of a good personal relationship which each party
had once
enjoyed but which the Galatians' present inclination to live
by the
law has soured.
Paul opens his appeal with the puzzling words gi<nesqe w[j e]gw<
o!ti ka]gw> w[j u[mei?j
"become as I, for I also as you" (4:12). The
expression is
capable of a wide variety of interpretations. In view of
the
preceding reference to law and the elements (4:1-11), the probable
meaning is
that Paul is asking the Galatians to enter into the freedom
from law
which he now enjoys, while at the same time reminding
them of
his former identification with the Gentile Galatians in order
to win
them for Christ (cf. 1 Cor 9:20-22). If this interpretation is
right, we
can paraphrase the expression as follows: "Become as I am,
for I
also became as you were."31 In other
words, in seeking to win
them to
Christ, the end of which was to make them like himself-free
from the stoixei?a--Paul had made himself like the Galatians by
disclaiming any
special privilege as a Jew and by renouncing the
29 Galatians, 220-23.
30 Ibid., 221.
31Greek
reconstruction: gi<nesqe w[j e]gw< ei]mi, o!ti ka]gw> e]geno<mhn w[j u[mei?j h#te
cf.
Lagrange, Galates, 111. For an
interesting parallel between Paul's use of a]sqe<neia in
Gal 4:13 and
his reference to "the weak" in I Cor 9:22, see the present writer's
forthcoming
article in Biblica: "A Note on
'the Weak' in I Cor, 9.22."
28 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Mosaic law. On that basis, he now appeals to the Galatians to rid
themselves of
the no mists and become like him in regard to his
Christian liberty.
Paul's original reception by the Galatians is described in vv 13-
15. The
brief statement in v 12, "you have done me no wrong" (ou]de<n
me
h]dikh<sate, which really belongs with these verses,
is a litotes and
should be
understood as expressing an affirmative idea: they had
treated him
properly.32 Exactly how properly is recounted in what
follows.
In these verses there are six major statements, three concerning
Paul, and
three in regard to the Galatians. Concerning himself, the
apostle
first reminds his readers that he had preached the good
tidings
among them, but that he did so on account of bodily infirmity
(or, notwithstanding it), and that his condition had
subjected the
Galatians to the temptation to reject him and his message. Regarding
the
Galatians, he affectionately recalls how they had resisted their33
impulse to
condemn or loathe him on account of his infirmity, and
how they
had received him with enthusiasm-so much so that they
would have
parted with anything, even their own eyes, as an expres-
sion of
the depth of their attachment to him. It is in this context-
where Paul
states his desire that the Galatians might return to the
true
gospel by recollecting what they had once gladly accepted from
him-that
the apostle uses for the first time the noun a]sqe<neia (or
any of
its cognates) to refer to himself.
There is some discussion as to the correct translation of the
preposition dia< in v
14. A number of scholars think di
] a]sqe<neia
refers to
an accompanying circumstance,34
while others construe the
expression
causally, making the illness the occasion35
of Paul's
preaching in
32It is
imprecise to say, as Schlier does (Galater,
209), that the statement also
applies to
the present situation. Although the aorist, as a tense, does not necessarily
refer to
past time (cf. Charles R. Smith, "Errant Aorist Interpreters," GTJ 2
[1981]
207-209),
the aorist indicative h]dikh<sate probably should be given a past
signfication,
as
should also the following series of verbs in the aorist indicative.
33 u[mw?n ("your temptation"), read by x* A B D* F G it (most) vg Ambrosiaster
appears to
have better external attestation than the reading mou ("my temptation"),
supported by
p46 C*vid Db,c
K P Y Bzy ita. Chrysostom. The latter pronoun may have
replaced the
former "in order to alleviate the difficulty of the expression to>n peirasmo<n
u[mw?n" Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New
Testament
(London/New York: United Bible Societies, 1971) 596.
34E.g.
Oepke, Galater, 105, "den
begleitenden Umstand"; Ridderbos, Galatians,166;
Giittgemanns, Der leidende Apostel und sein Herr, 175.
35E.g.,
Eadie, Galatians, 321-22; Betz, Galatians, 224; Boice, Galatians, 478;
Schlier, Galater, 210; Mussner,
Galaterbrief, 307.
36Lagrange
(Galates, 112) overstates the case
when he says that the expression
"ne peut avoir
qu'un sens: 'a, cause d'une maladie de la chair'."
BLACK: WEAKNESS
LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 29
on the
whole it seems most likely that the latter significance of old is
to be
preferred here. The continuous or characteristic condition of the
preacher
would, be expressed by dia< plus the genitive,37 not the
accusative; but
in the Greek text the only reading that was trans-
mitted is a]sqe<neian. And while examples of dia< plus
the accusative in
inexact
usage can be cited (e.g., Rom 3:25; 8:20), the most natural
meaning of
the word in terms of the context is plainly "because of.”
The preposition, then, signifies either that Paul was detained in
was
forced for his health's sake to visit
would not
have visited. In the latter case, even
if the illness was the
occasion of
Paul's visit to
persisted for
a period of time while he was there. But while it is best
to
understand di
] a]sqe<neian as the specific cause for Paul's preaching
in
in the
appointment of God which Paul carried out in obedience as a
dou?loj of Christ (Gal1:10) and an oi]kono<moj of God (1Cor 4:1),
compelled by a
deep sense of devotion to the Lord (2Cor 5:14-15)
and for
his sake (2Cor 4:5,14). As the latter verse clearly indicates-
h[ ga>r a]ga<ph tou? Xristou? sune<xei h[ma?j--Paul preached the gospel
In the first
place dia> Xristo<n,
not di ] a]sqe<neian.38
It is generally agreed today that a]sqe<neian refers to a physical
condition of
the apostle, and not to an unimpressive appearance,
timidity, the
emotional scars from persecution, sexual desires, human
frailty in
general, or some other figurative meaning. However, a few
modern
scholars still prefer the metaphorical meaning of the phrase
a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j over
the literal. For example, H. Binder, in his
article
entitled "Die angebleche Krankheit des Paulus,”39 argues that
"seine astheneia, d.h, seine 'Schwachheit', bestand nur
darin, dass er
teilhatte am
menschlichen Wesen.”40 A purely physical
Interpretation
of a]sqe<neia is excluded because "in der Sprache
des Paulus bedeutet
astheneia nie
'Krankheit' sondern immer Schwachheit, Kraftlosig-
keit'."41 If this
premise is true, it naturally follows that:
Hier wie dort vertritt Paulus den Gedanken der Armseligkeit,
der
Bedurftigkeit, der, Scawache, der Kraft-und
Hilflosigkeit, des zum
Scheitern Verurtelltsems-nicht
der “leiblichen” Beschaffenhelt des
37Cf 2Cor 2:4 dia> dakru<wn
("in tears"); Rom 4:11, a]krobusti<aj ("in
the
condition of
circumcision”)
38Cf,
Theodor Zahn, Der Brief des Paulus an die
Galater (KNT;
39TZ 32 (1976) 1-13.
40 Ibid., 13.
41 Ibid., 4
30 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Menschen
sondern-seiner Existenz in der "Fleischlichkeit", im
"Fleisch",
in der Gottesferne.42
Although this interpretation is possible-especially in view of the
fact that
Paul must have had an especially sturdy bodily constitution
to
endure his travels and trials (cf. 2Cor 11:23-33)-the plausibility
of
Binder's argument diminishes when one considers his major pre-
mise in
greater detail. Binder expresses the "fact" that Paul never uses
a]sqe<neia or
its cognates to refer to a physical condition, and con-
cludes from
this that therefore Paul cannot have bodily infirmity in
mind in
Gal 4: 13. But Binder's argument at this point is a pure petitio
principii: his conclusion is not surprising, since
it was also his
premise! It
is not sufficient merely to state that Paul never uses
a]sqe<neia in a
physical sense; in light of Pauline usage elsewhere this
premise is
tenuous indeed. Certainly if Paul did ever use the word to
describe the
illness of others, he could conceivably have employed it
to
describe his own, and the force of Binder's argument would be
considerably weakened.
It is, in fact, manifest that Paul does on occasion employ the
word-family to
refer to a purely corporeal condition. In the Pastorals
we
learn that Trophimus remained in
capacitating illness (2 Tim 4:20), and Timothy was urged to drink
wine for
medicinal purposes because of his frequent ailments (1 Tim
5:23).
Certainly Epaphroditus' distressing condition involved a physi-
cal
sickness of some sort (Phil 2:26, 27).43 In
each of these cases an
a]sqe<neia-word
is employed. This euphemism usually implies in Greek
(and the Pauline letters are evidently no exception) poor
health.44 In
Gal 4:13,
the phrase a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j as well as the context of
the
passage itself is clearly in keeping with this euphemistic usage,
meaning
"bodily infirmity." It is not surprising that Paul employs this
expression for
a physical condition, for bodily illness is an inherent
quality of
the sa<rc,45 the old aeon, and the sphere of human
activity
which is
temporal and weak.
42Ibid., 7.
43That the nature of Epaphroditus' condition was physical and not
psychological is clear from the context: Only a grave physical condition can
account for (a) the Philippians' severe distress of mind, and (b) the
expression
paraplh<sion
qana<t&
("at death's door") in 2:27.
44See BAGD 115. Binder's treatment of these passages, found only in a
footnote, is inadequate: "Epaphroditus war nicht krank geworden,
sondem in eine
Situation geraten, der er nicht gewachsen
war (Phil. 2, 26). Trophimus blieb nicht
krank in Milet zuruck, sondem in einer schwierigen, fast aussichtslosen
Arbeit (2 Tim. 4, 20).
Vielleicht war auch Timotheus nicht krank, als
Paulus an ihn I Tim. 5, 23 schrieb" ("Die
angebliche Krankheit des Paulus," 13n.).
45John A. T. Robinson, The Body (SBT 5; London: SCM Press, 1957) 20.
According to
BLACK:
WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 31
Therefore, though it is not completely certain that the words
a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j must
be understood in a literal way as an
actual
distressing physical condition, it is nevertheless the most
probable
meaning in this context. This usage is entirely consistent
with that
in the Pastorals and Philippians where the word-group
appears with
the obvious meaning of sickness and harmonizes per-
fectly with
the common meaning of a]sqe<neia in the Synoptic gospels.
We must
however, register our agreement with one emphasis of
Binder’s
interpretation, namely, that Paul was, generally speaking, a
healthy man.
It is evident from both the epistles and the Acts that, in
spite of
the constant attacks made upon him by Jews and Gentiles
alike and
the many dangers he continually faced, the apostle remained
a
surprisingly strong individual. This point is well taken, but it does
not
exclude the possibi1ity of an occasional prepossessing physical
condition, as
Binder maintains. We thus agree with the majority of
commentators46 that
the statement di
] a]sqe<neian th?j sarko<j should
be
explained to mean that Paul was suffering from some sort of
Physical indisposition.
If we are certain that an unpleasant physical condition lay
behind
Paul's initial visit to
precise
nature. The difficulty of finding an answer lies primarily in the
poverty of
source materials. The apostle is always reticent to recount
his own
personal experiences, and when he does it is only briefly and
without
exception in polemical or argumentative contexts which do
not lend
themselves to precise forms of expression. That we know
little of
the person of Paul is not surprising, for his letters, though
personal, are
basically pastoral communications to
congregations and
are
intended for public reading in the context of the churches’
meetings.
Therefore revelations about "Paul the Man” are
largely
incidental and
usually of ancillary Importance to the writer's overall
purpose.47
This means that we should not expect Paul to define his a]sqe<neia
for us
in any specific terms. Paul is aware that the Galatians know
already what
it is, and its mention might have detracted from his
should be understood in its physical sense; so also Bo Reicke,
"Body and Soul in the
New
Testament," ST (1965) 201.
46Cf. H. Schlier, Grundziige einer paulinischen Theologie
(Freiburg; Herder, 1978)
101: "korperliche Hinfalligkeit";
Oepke, Galater, 105: "leibliche
Krankheit"; Zahn,
Galater, 215: "eine
Krankheit des Leibes"; Betz, Galatians,
224: "illness of the flesh"
Eadie, Galatians, 323:
"infirmity of the flesh"; .Hendriksen, Galatians, 171: “physical
infirmity"; Robert Jewett, Paul’s Anthropological Terms. A
Study of Their Use In
Conflict Settings (AGJU 10;
Leiden: Brill, 1971) 154: "bodily frailty."
47For a brief, but
excellent discussion of the autobiographical Paul, see Victor
Paul Furnish, Theology and Ethics in Paul (Nashville: Abingdon, 1968) 10.
32 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
main
appeal that is based not so much on his condition but on the
Galatians' warm reception of him and his gospel.
In spite of these difficulties, research has fostered a wealth of
hypotheses and
inferences concerning the precise nature of Paul's
a]sqe<neia th?j sarko<j,48 but
neither Acts nor Galatians mentions it
specifically, and even the most careful examination of the text will
reveal no
significant clues. The attempt to link Paul's illness to his
"thorn in the flesh" (sko<loy t^? sarki<, 2Cor12:7)
is common, but
despite the
similarities in language and subject matter, it is not
necessary to
find a reference to his sko<loy t^? sarki< in this text. As Bring
notes, to
introduce the idea of a chronic ailment here is to introduce a
Corinthian
nuance which is foreign to the atmosphere of this letter .49
If one adopts the South Galatian hypothesis-that Paul is writing
to the
churches in the
Paul's a]sqe<neia th?j sarko<j was the result of what he suffered from
his
enemies on the so-called first missionary journey (Acts 13-14). If
so, a]sqe<neia refers not to a particular sickness or
disease, but to the
physical
abuse and resultant weakened physical condition which
accrued to
Paul in the form of maltreatment at
along with
Barnabas) and of stoning at Lystra (Acts 14: 19): the latter
incident
being so severe that Paul was left for dead (cf. 2 Tim 3:11).50
The
advantage of this view is that it accords with the Lucan account
of
Paul's travels in Acts, but it carries conclusive weight only with
those
already convinced of the South Galatian theory and the early
dating of
the letter.
The desire of the Galatians to pluck
out (e)coru<cantej) their
eyes-which
they would have done had not the restriction in ei]
dunato<n intervened--is evidence to some that
Paul's a]sqe<neia was a
form of
ophthalmic disorder (4:15). If the gift could have relieved
Paul's poor
vision, so the argument goes, the Galatians would have
parted with
their own eyes quite willingly. However, although some
type of
eye disorder may have been involved in Paul's infirmity, it is
not
necessarily the meaning of this verse. The expression "to pluck
out the
eyes" is a common one both in the OT as well as in a great
48E.g.,
migraine headaches, epilepsy, malaria, rheumatism, chronic
ophthalmia, etc. For
extensive listings of scholarly opinion on this issue, see esp.
K. L.
Schmidt, “kolafi<zw," TWNT 3 (1938) 818-21; BAGD 441-42; J. B.
Lightfoot,
186-91; Eadie, Galatians,
329-45.
49"Es scheint sich dort aber eher urn
ein chronisches
akuten Krankheitsfall zu handeln."
R. Bring, Der Brief des Paulus an die Galater
(Berlin: Lutherisches Verlagshaus, 1968) 185. But even sko<loy in 2Cor 12:7 may
not refer to a chronic physical problem.
50So, e.g., Ridderbos, Galatians, 30, 166-67.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 33
variety of
secular authors,51 and is most likely used here proverbially
to
emphasize the willingness of the Galatians to sacrifice their all for
Paul:
"Cela peut vouloir dire simplement qu'ils etaient prets a sacrifier
pour lui
les biens les plus precieux.52 Thus tou>j o]fqalmou>j is here a
synonym for
that which is most precious to a man. As to the
question,
however, whether or not Paul was suffering from an eye
ailment, we
can draw no certain conclusions of any kind from Gal
4:15.53
On the basis of 4: 14-"the temptation to you in my flesh you
did
not despise
nor loathe (ou)de> e]ceptu<sate54)--others
have supposed
that Paul
was epileptic, taking the aorist of e]kptu<w literally with the
meaning
"to spit." While it is true that the ancient Greeks would
expectorate at
the sight of an epileptic seizure, the word e]kptu<w
contains also
a metaphorical sense of loathing or rejecting,55 and
because the
verb is coupled with e]couqenei?n ("to despise"), and
follows it,
the figurative meaning here is the most likely.
Many other attempts to account for Paul's a]sqe<neia
could be
listed, but
most of the suggestions carry the point too far, and all are
open to
legitimate inquiry and controversy. Whether or not Paul had
one of
the specific conditions mentioned above is finally a matter of
pure
conjecture. At any rate, in his use of a]sqe<neia the
writer
assumes that
his readers are familiar with the word and the idea it
connotes so
that no further explanation is required.
As to the specific identity of the illness, then, it is possible
to
reconstruct only
the most general description. We can infer from the
context that
the malady was suitable to give at least the impression
that
Paul's person and message were weak, even an object of derision
to
those who saw him in such a condition. We know further that this
situation
hindered Paul-at least he felt it could--but was overcome
by the
gracious reception of the Galatians who accepted the ill
missionary as
if they had been receiving the Lord himself. The illness
must have
also been severe enough to hinder Paul's mobility, yet not
so
severe as to prevent him from preaching the gospel. At the same
51See Eadie, Galatians,
327, who cites such examples as Deut 32:10; Ps 17:8;
Prov 7:2;
Zech 2:8; Horace, Sat ii.5, 33; and Terence, Adelph, v.7-5.
52 Andre Viard,
53The reference to "large letters" (phli<ka gra<mmata) in 6:11 is said to
support this view, but the expression is better understood to mean that
Paul
enlarged his writing to emphasize his personal greeting and impress his
authority
upon his readers than on the hypothesis that he so wrote
because of age, infirmity,
or lack of practice in writing Greek characters; cf.
Lightfoot, Galatians, 220-21.
54p46 lacks these words, no doubt an oversight of a scribe due to
homoioteleuton.
55BAGD 244; Joseph Thayer, A
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament
(4th
ed.;
34 GRACE
THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
time Paul
must have found enough relief to permit him to continue
his
journey later.
But all we can say with certainty is that a]sqe<neia refers to some
bodily
infirmity which befell Paul and which was a potential source
of
offense to the Galatians. Since we do not have enough information
for a
diagnosis, all the suggestions as to the exact nature of his illness
must
remain conjectures.
CONCLUSION: WEAKNESS IN GALATIANS
In Galatians
Paul's main object is to show that man is free from
the law
and that faith in Jesus Christ, not works of righteousness,
brings
salvation and eternal life. An essential part of his argument is
the
reference to "the elements of the world" which belong to the old
aeon and
bring men into bondage.
Because the stoixei?a are set over against both God and man,
Paul's
attitude toward the elements is always negative and fiercely
polemical. His
concern time and again is to demonstrate the total
superiority
of Christ over all powers, be they a]rxai<, e]cousi<ai,
duna<meij, ku<rioi, kurio<thtej, a@rxontej, qro<noi, a@ggeloi or
in our
passage, ta> stoixei?a tou? ko<smou.56 This is because to be subservient
to the
elements means to be in bondage to sin and, eventually, death.
Servitude to
the stoixei?a finds its only remedy in the incarnation,
death, and
resurrection of Christ, who triumphed over them on the
cross.57 It is therefore beyond Paul that anyone
delivered from these
elements
could desire to return to a position of slavery under them,
especially if
he had already appropriated the; victory of Christ by
"coming to a knowledge of God or, rather, being known by
God"
(4:9).
In Galatians Paul includes in the same category--the stoixei?a
--the Mosaic
law (the rudimentary teaching of the Jews) and the
heathen
systems from which the majority of the Galatians had been
emancipated.
These stoixei?a are wholly inadequate to secure spiritual
deliverance or
progress in holiness, a fact which the religious past of
all
Christians-whether Jew or Gentile--has shown to be true. It is
only
through the sending of the son (4:4) that status as sonship is
conferred.
This is achieved by pure grace working through faith.
Therefore
the stoixei?a can be described as a]sqenu? kai> ptwxa< "denn
56See
Ragnar Leivestad, Christ the Conqueror: Ideas of Conflict and Victory in
the New Testament (London: S.P.C.K.,
1954) 92-95.
57The
imagery of man's enslavement to and eventual triumph over the elements of
the world is one of the major Pauline salvific motifs; see Eldon J.
Epp, "Paul's Diverse
Imageries of the Human Situation and His
Unifying Theme of Freedom," in
Unity and Diversity in New Testament Theology, ed. Robert A. Guelich
(Grand
Rapids: Eerd-mans, 1978) 105-8.
BLACK: WEAKNESS LANGUAGE IN GALATIANS 35
sie
konnen nicht bewirken und verleihen, was Gott durch die Sendung
seines
Sohnes bewirkt und verliehen hat.”58 They are no longer
applicable to
sons and heirs of God since they have been overcome by
Christ the
Conqueror and because the situation of slavery has been
Resolved.
It is therefore important
for the apostle to emphasize the help-
lessness of
all men u[po> ta> stoixei?a tou? ko<smou in his attempt to
contrast the
situation of slavery with the present situation of salvation
in
Christ. In comparison with the power and wealth of the gospel, the
old
religious systems fade into insignificance. Even the Jewish law,
which is
both good and God-given (Rom 7:12, 22), when distorted
into a
means of earning salvation, can be used by Satan to bring men
into
bondage. Paul can therefore refer to a return to the elements and
the
adoption of the Mosaic law in the same breath, for the rudi-
mentary
teachings of the Gentiles correspond exactly to the ritualistic
element in
the law which is a]sqenh<j to produce life.
In view of this, it is clear that Paul's main contention, and his
primary
purpose m ascribing to the stoixei?a the modifier a]sqenh? is
to show
that since a man is not justified by the keeping of the law,
there are
no Jewish requirements to be submitted to. Circumcision,
feasts, clean
and unclean meats, fasts, special days, etc, are now
obsolete and
have no meaning for the Christian. It is therefore
unnecessary to
adopt Jewish (or pagan) ordinances, for their obser-
vance is a
return to the slavery involved in the elements and inevitably
will
destroy the work of Paul and the faith of his Galatian converts.
Amid the multitudinous possibilities of interpreting Paul's
a]sqe<neia in
4:13, it is not easy to find one's way. But if our
interpretation of the word 's context is correct, then Paul there
describes it
the term his own corporeal condition which forced him
to
visit
to
despise him. While the translation "Illness" is perhaps a tendentious
paraphrase for a]sqe<neia in this phrase, it best and most plainly
conveys what
the author desires to express with the words a]sqe<neia
th?j sarko<j. Of this illness, however, we know only
that it existed
and had
an impact on his travel plans.
Since Paul's entire apostolic ministry was one of travels, the
hopes and
disappointments involved with his itinerary must have had
special
significance. In spite of, or better, because of the many
frustrations encountered along the way, Paul had a firm conviction
that his
travel plans were in the Lord's hands. Even the physical
problem
which stranded him in
58F.
Sieffert, Der Brief an
die Galater (KEK 7; 7th ed.;
Vandenhoeck Ruprecht, 1880) 238.
36 GRACE THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
disguise:
Paul was able to evangelize an otherwise untouched area,
thus
accomplishing more than he had originally set out to. He learned
through that
experience that even an illness could be the occasion for
preaching,
just as later his imprisonment in Caesarea and
would work
for the dissemination of the gospel.59
Through his Galatian experience Paul had also been reminded of
his own Menschlichkeit and the power of God in
spite of it. Just as
the stiuxeu>a belong to the old aeon, so in a sense does Paul. But this
continuing
participation in the ko<smoj through suffering, weakness
and
illness forces him to look away from himself to the power of God
for
strength and sustenance. Paul's existence as an "apostle of
weakness"
in an earthen pot (2Cor 4:7) has tremendous significance
in that
it serves to make clear to others that the source of his power is
God and not himself. Evidently the Galatians recognized this, for
they did
not receive him on the basis of his personal appearance,
physical
health or rhetorical prowess, but because he was indeed the
messenger of
God bearing the word of Christ (Gal
59Mussner
(Galaterbrief, 307) aptly states:
"Fur einen Mann wie Paulus wurde
alles zum Kalp61;. wenn es gaIt. das Evangelium zu
verkundigen."
This
material is cited with gracious permission from:
Grace
Theological Seminary
www.grace.edu
Please
report any errors to Ted Hildebrandt at:
thildebrandt@gordon.edu