Galatians

Cornelia Mayer, Peter Arzt-Grabner, Peter Arzt-Grabner, John S. Kloppenborg, Mauro Pesce

• Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
• Year: 2026
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9783647502786
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Understanding the New Testament through language use in everyday life at the time lies at the heart of the PKNT series. The chapters of this volume contain new insights into passages and themes from Paul's Letter to the Galatians by situating them in the context of documentary papyri, ostraca, and tablets. The contributions explore the letter format and epistolary formulas, family terminology, Paul's opponents, Jews and Jewishness, curses and magical metaphors, the revocation of wills, inheritance, the adoption of slaves, as well as the deeper meaning of Paul's "birth pangs," the "proscribed Christ," and the "burden of love." Some notes on the material features of the papyri and parchments preserving Galatians conclude the volume. The appendix provides a glossary of terms frequently used in ancient administration, trade, and agriculture, as well as indexes of papyrological sources, passages of Galatians, and Greek terms including references to earlier volumes of PKNT.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Role of Artistic Judgement in Translation
• Chapter 2 Whispers of the Past: Languages and Literacy in Galatia
• Chapter 3 Galatians as a Letter
• Chapter 4 Family Terminology in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and Its Metaphorical Use
• Chapter 5 True Words about False Teachers: Using Documentary Papyri to Understand Paul’s Language about His Galatian Opponents
• Chapter 6 “We Who Are Jews by Nature” (Gal 2:15): The Papyrological Context of Ἰουδαῖος and Ἰουδαϊκός in Galatians
• Chapter 7 The “Proscribed” Christ: A Re-evaluation of Gal 3:1
• Chapter 8 Could It Be Magic? Curses and Magical Metaphors in Galatians
• Chapter 9 Gal 3:15 and the Revocation of Wills in First- and Second-Century Roman Egypt as Attested in the Papyri
• Chapter 10 Heirs According to Promise: The Mechanics of Inheritance in the Documentary Papyri and in Galatians
• Chapter 11 God’s Adopted Slaves: Paul’s Metaphor on the Transition from Slavery to Sonship in Papyrological Perspective
• Chapter 12 The Deeper Meaning of Paul’s “Birth Pangs” (Gal 4:19)
• Chapter 13 The Burden of Love (Gal 6:2): Some Papyrological Insights
• Chapter 14 The Use of a Secretary and Paul’s Handwriting
• Chapter 15 Some Notes on the Material Features of the Greek Papyri and Parchments of Galatians
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index