My JSNT Article on Gal. 3.4 is Out

The September 2013 issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament is now available online and will be in print shortly. My article on the meaning of the Greek word ΠΑΣΧΩ in Galatians 3.4 is included in the volume (“Suffering In Vain: A Study on the Interpretation of ΠΑΣΧΩ in Galatians 3.4,” JSNT 36.1 [2013]: 3-16). If your College/University/Seminary has access to JSNT then you can download the .pdf file by navigating this link to the appropriate issue.

Here is the abstract for the article:

 Modern scholarship is divided on the interpretation of πάσχω in Gal. 3.4, and there has yet to be a definitive study on the subject attempting to rectify the disagreements. The clear consensus prior to the late seventeenth century was that πάσχω possessed negative connotations in this passage. This interpretation was briefly challenged by Justus Christoph Schomer (1648–1693), influencing the majority of German scholarship and creating a major polarity among scholars in the English-speaking world. After making this history of interpretation known, the present study tries to demonstrate that, lexically, thematically and contextually, the preferable interpretation regards πάσχω as a reference to suffering, in keeping with the longstanding interpretative tradition.

Essentially my article attempts to rectify what I regard to be an unnecessary polarity on this passage. My aim is to show how the meaning of the Greek word in question is best rendered as “suffering” in accordance with it’s consistent usage in the Old Testament (LXX) & the New Testament (and beyond), in the light of the context of Galatians 3.1-5, in broader coherence with the themes of suffering in the letter to the Galatians, and in agreement with the history of interpretation until the post-Reformation period.

This article represents a small glimpse into my doctoral dissertation which I’m writing under Professor NT Wright at the University of St Andrews. Time will tell how my ideas are received.

If there are any questions about my article, such as how to access it, feel free to contact me at jad22@st-andrews.ac.uk