The use of Psalm 68 in Eph. 4:8 has proved to be one of the most difficult interpretive problems in this enigmatic letter. In this article I will engage and critique a leading interpretive proposal and then offer an alternative reading that exploits the elements of divine triumph and divine warfare in Ephesians, and that satisfactorily accounts for the quotation and elaboration by the writer in vv. 9-10.
The current consensus in Ephesians scholarship regards the letter’s second chapter as an expansion or continuation of the blessing and thanksgiving section from ch. 1, maintaining that it does not contain any cogent theological argument or even a clear and consistent line of thought. This article challenges the consensus by reading the chapter through the lens of the ideology of divine warfare, which is found in texts throughout the ANE and utilized in both the Old Testament and New Testament. It is argued that reading the text through this paradigm brings to light the contours of the author’s argument, which is a listing of the triumphs of God in Christ that vindicate the claim that Christ has been exalted as Lord over all things (Eph. 1.20-23).
The nearly three decades since the publication of E. P. Sanders's work on Paul and Judaism have witnessed a spate of new proposals for reading Gal 3.10, one of the most difficult and contested passages in Paul's letters. For some, the 'traditional' interpretation is still preferred, though the 'exile/restoration' reading has gained some momentum recently. The following article will critique both of these readings, proposing a new interpretation of this passage, one that regards Paul as citing Deut 27.26 in continuity with its meaning in its narrative setting and that finds an interpretive grid in the logic he unfolds in Gal 2.15-21.
The enigmatic command in Ephesians 5:18, 'be filled by the Spirit', is often understood in terms of the empowerment of individual believers for discipleship and ministry. Such an interpretation leads to difficulties in relating the command to the jive participles which follow, and to the argument of the epistle as a whole. Reading the command as directed to the community as a corporate body, and the five participles which follow as participles of means, instead of result, solves a number of problems normally associated with this passage.
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