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7 The Association of εὐαγγέλιον and ἐπαγγελία in Romans

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The Promises of God
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7 The Association ofεαγγλιονandπαγγελαin Romans7.1 IntroductionThis chapter examinesεαγγλιονandπαγγελαin Romans in order to showthe close correspondence between the two terms. This correspondence becomesmore evident as a result of a closer investigation into how Paul does the follow-ing: shows how theεαγγλιονof God fulfills theπαγγελαof God, uses the twoterms strategically in the structure of the letters framework, links the two termsat the beginning of the letter, and uses the terms at times in a near-synonymousmanner. Furthermore, the lack ofρκος/μνυμιlanguage, especially when mak-ing reference to the Abrahamic promiseswhere the term is prevalent in the OT-LXX for suchrequires consideration for Pauls use ofπαγγελα. Discussion fol-lows regarding all the passages in Romans whereεαγγλιονandπαγγελαap-pear together, including the opening (ch. 1) and closing sections (chs. 1516) andalso chs. 911. Romans 4, so important for its use ofπαγγελα, is also examined,even thoughεαγγλιονlanguage is not found there.As important as theεαγγλιονword group is as a theme in Romans, sur-prisingly it is found only twelve times in the entire letter,¹with eight of those in-stances located in either the opening or closing sections²and three of the re-maining four occurrences found in chs. 911. Half of the tenπαγγελαwordgroup occurrences are found in these same passages with one occurrenceeach in the opening and closing sections and three of the remaining eight instan-ces located in chs. 911. The remaining five occurrences are all found in Rom 4.This study begins by looking at the use of bothπαγγελαandεαγγλιονin theSnodgrass (1994: 288) asks,If his desire was to explain his gospel, why did he not focus morespecifically on the gospel rather than on large sections that contribute little directly to itsunderstanding (1.183.20; 7.725;and most of chs. 911)? By comparison, the passages describingthe gospel arebrief(emphasis original).The noun is found in 1:1,9,16; 15:16,19 and the verb is found in 1:15 of the opening section,while the noun is found in 16:25 and the verb is found in 15:20 of the closing section. Mason(1994: 287) argues that the relatively rare usage of the word group in Romans is due to the closeassociation of Pauls gospel with the Gentiles. Furthermore, Mason holds to the minority viewthat the Roman church was comprised mostly of Jews, rather than Gentiles, and since hisreaders would have been mostly Jewish, he withholds the use ofεαγγλιονin the letter exceptwhen mentioning his apostleship, especially in reference to the Gentiles (cf. Gal 2:29; 1Cor 9:2;15:910; 2Cor 11:5).PaceByrne 1996: 19 and 1994: 277287.

7 The Association ofεαγγλιονandπαγγελαin Romans7.1 IntroductionThis chapter examinesεαγγλιονandπαγγελαin Romans in order to showthe close correspondence between the two terms. This correspondence becomesmore evident as a result of a closer investigation into how Paul does the follow-ing: shows how theεαγγλιονof God fulfills theπαγγελαof God, uses the twoterms strategically in the structure of the letters framework, links the two termsat the beginning of the letter, and uses the terms at times in a near-synonymousmanner. Furthermore, the lack ofρκος/μνυμιlanguage, especially when mak-ing reference to the Abrahamic promiseswhere the term is prevalent in the OT-LXX for suchrequires consideration for Pauls use ofπαγγελα. Discussion fol-lows regarding all the passages in Romans whereεαγγλιονandπαγγελαap-pear together, including the opening (ch. 1) and closing sections (chs. 1516) andalso chs. 911. Romans 4, so important for its use ofπαγγελα, is also examined,even thoughεαγγλιονlanguage is not found there.As important as theεαγγλιονword group is as a theme in Romans, sur-prisingly it is found only twelve times in the entire letter,¹with eight of those in-stances located in either the opening or closing sections²and three of the re-maining four occurrences found in chs. 911. Half of the tenπαγγελαwordgroup occurrences are found in these same passages with one occurrenceeach in the opening and closing sections and three of the remaining eight instan-ces located in chs. 911. The remaining five occurrences are all found in Rom 4.This study begins by looking at the use of bothπαγγελαandεαγγλιονin theSnodgrass (1994: 288) asks,If his desire was to explain his gospel, why did he not focus morespecifically on the gospel rather than on large sections that contribute little directly to itsunderstanding (1.183.20; 7.725;and most of chs. 911)? By comparison, the passages describingthe gospel arebrief(emphasis original).The noun is found in 1:1,9,16; 15:16,19 and the verb is found in 1:15 of the opening section,while the noun is found in 16:25 and the verb is found in 15:20 of the closing section. Mason(1994: 287) argues that the relatively rare usage of the word group in Romans is due to the closeassociation of Pauls gospel with the Gentiles. Furthermore, Mason holds to the minority viewthat the Roman church was comprised mostly of Jews, rather than Gentiles, and since hisreaders would have been mostly Jewish, he withholds the use ofεαγγλιονin the letter exceptwhen mentioning his apostleship, especially in reference to the Gentiles (cf. Gal 2:29; 1Cor 9:2;15:910; 2Cor 11:5).PaceByrne 1996: 19 and 1994: 277287.
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