Romans: A Jewish Perspective: Commentary and Translation

Romans has of course been such an important book for Christian perceptions and positions on Jews and Judaism, and Jewish responses. There is much at stake in both community's conceptions of the other, and of the obstacles and opportunities for better relations going forward, that continues to be imacted by interpretations of Paul's language in this letter. In this project I plan to go through the letter verse by verse in commentary style, offering translation alternatives and comments. Already I have discovered many new possibilities to add to those discussed in Mystery of Romans. It is an exciting project to undertake, and I hope to complete the work in 2010. Initiating discussions for publication venue.

Paul Between Christians and Jews

In this current book project, I seek to communicate the benefits of my reading of Paul as a Torah-observant Jew for contemporary Jewish - Christian relations. My target audience is the informed non-specialist, students, as well as specialists on Paul, the New Testament and early Christianity and/or Judaism, and Jewish - Christian relations. This project builds on recent lectures and a paper entitled: "A Torah-Observant Paul?: What Difference Could it Make for Christian/ Jewish Relations Today?"

Paul and Apostolic Judaism: An Introduction

Anders Runesson (of McMaster University) and I are co-writing a book project designed to introduce Paul as a Torah-observant Jew who believed that Jesus was the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the Nations. We have coined the term Apostolic Judaism to signify this dynamic. Discussions will focus on the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts of Paul and the various audiences of his letters alongside detailed examinations of the messages he communicated. The outline is designed to be suitable for a one semester introductory course on Paul, or to be used for the Paul component of a broader New Testament course.

Rival or Representative: Re-evaluating Paul's Perspective on the Jerusalem Church
This Hendrickson Publishers' project is in the intermediate stages of research and writing. It builds on research recently published on the Jerusalem Meeting and Antioch Incidents of Galatians 2. The focal point is the investigation of Paul's language regarding the Jewish coalition of believers in Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. Since Paul's extant letters provide most of the available material written prior to the Jewish Revolt of the late 60's-70 c.e., these will be the primary area of research, rather than, e.g., Acts, or the even much later Pseudo-Clementines. I hope to provide an historical construction of the Jerusalem Christ-believers' position as it relates to my interpretation of Paul's thought and behavior, for example, their policy on the admission of non-Jews into this coalition. Did it include the necessity of proselyte conversion? If not required, did it allow for it? A focus on Paul's attitude toward and relationship with the Jerusalem leaders of this coalition, such as James and Peter, will be sustained. The dynamics of Paul's collection project will be investigated. As a result of one of the areas of research I have begun to work on a related project investigating the allegory of Galatians 4:21-31, discussed below.

What Does "Present Jerusalem" (Gal 4:25) in Paul's Allegory Have to Do with the Concerns of the Galatians?

I am intrigued by Paul's introduction of language having to do with Jerusalem "now" versus "above" in his allegory of Galatians 4:21--5:1, and by the prevailing interpretations of this language. Moreover, I find the entire allegory interesting. It is so difficult to penetrate, calling upon familiarity with Jewish midrashic exegesis and various Jewish interpretive traditions about the stories of Abraham and his two wives and sons from Genesis, as well as Isa 54:1. The traditional and prevailing interpretations of this allegory depend upon decisions about the addressees and Paul that I do not share. So I am interested in investigating this allegory in depth, yet at the moment not sure what this endeavor will yield, or when. Some of the results of this research will be incorporated in a chapter in the Hendrickson project mentioned above, but the balance will likely lead to a paper and journal length project, and perhaps eventually a monograph.

Posted 6-10-09: "Romans 9—11 from a Jewish Perspective on Christian-Jewish Relations" (English version published as "Le relazioni christiano-giudaiche." In Paulus: An International Magazine on Saint Paul 1.12 (June, 2009) 271-73).

Posted 5-17-09: "Paul and Judaism." For Codex Paulinus (English version; forthcoming 2009 in Italian).

Posted 3-30-09: The Apostle Paul and Jewish Dietary Contexts in the First-Century (4 Lecture Series) Jewish Community Center, Overland Park, KS, 7-8:30pm, Tuesdays, 2009:

July 28: 1: Introduction to Paul and Judaism.

Aug. 4: 2: Table-fellowship Tensions in Antioch, Syria (Galatians 2:11-14)

Aug 12: 3: Idol Food Conundrums in Corinth, Greece (1 Corinthians 8--10)

Aug 19: 4: Vegetables-Only Attitudes in Rome, Italy (Romans 14--15)

-----

"Did Paul Observe Torah in Light of His Strategy 'to Become Everything to Everyone' (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)?" (Paper to be presented in the Pauline Epistles section of the Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, New Orleans)

"'Broken Branches': A Pauline Metaphor Gone Awry?" (Paper to be presented in the Ancient Jewish-Christian Relations section of the Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, New Orleans)

"When in Rome, Would the Paul of 'All Things to All People' (1 Cor 9:19-23) Do as the Romans Do?" (Paper to be presented for Paul and Pauline Literature, International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, Rome, Italy)

Posted 12-3-08: "The Myth of the 'Law-Free' Paul Standing Between Christians and Jews."

"Paul and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema" Lecture at the Jewish Community Center, Overland Park, Kansas, Dec. 4, 2008, 7pm.

Panel Discussion with Amy-Jill Levine on the Apostle Paul, William Jewell College, Liberty, Missouri, Tues., Oct. 28, 2008, 3:30-5:00pm.

Posted 10-27-08: "Paul and the Jewish Tradition" Villanova University, Philadelphia, Penn., Thurs., Oct. 23, 2008, 4pm (Lecture for the Jubilee Year of the Apostle St. Paul Seminar Series).

Posted 8-4-08: "'Broken Branches': A Pauline Metaphor Gone Awry? (Romans 11:11-24)." (Revision of a paper presented in Göttingen, Germany, May 3)

Posted 5-28-08: "Rethinking the 'Paul and Judaism' Paradigm: Why Not 'Paul's Judaism'?" (Paper presented at McMaster University, March 12; University of Toronto, March 13; Lund University, Sweden, May 7; Linköping University, Sweden, May 8)

Posted 1-15-08: "The Polytheist Identity of the 'Weak,' And Paul's Strategy to 'Gain' Them: A New Reading of 1 Corinthians 8:1—11:1." Revision of the Paper presented in Corinth, Sept., 2007, and a seminar at Lund University, Sweden, May, 2008.

Posted 11-22-07: "'Have Paul and His Communities Left Judaism for Christianity?': A Review of the Paul-Related Chapters in Jewish Believers in Jesus and Jewish Christianity Revisited." Paper presented November 19, 2007 at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, San Diego, in the Jewish Christianity Consultation.

"'But this knowledge is not in everyone' (1 Cor 8:7): Who Were the 'Weak' in Corinth, and What Was the Harm Paul Feared They Would Suffer?" (Paper presented at an International Conference in Corinth, Greece: "Saint Paul the Apostle and Corinth," 1950 Years Since the Writing of the Epistles to the Corinthians, Sept. 24, 2007)

Updated 1/17/08: "Paul's Reversal of Jews Calling Gentiles 'Dogs' (Philippians 3:2): 1600 Years of an Ideological Tale Wagging an Exegetical Dog?" Lecture at Central States SBL, St. Louis, March 25, 2007. Also title of lectures at universities at Helsinki, Finland, and Gothenburg, Sweden, May, 2007. An edited video of part of the Helsinki lecture is available here (for Windows Media Player).

Recent Discussions of the Implications of My Work for Jewish-Christian Relations and Pauline Studies:

"The Myth of the 'Traditional View of Paul' and the Role of the Apostle in Modern Jewish-Christian Polemics," by Daniel R. Langdon, Journal for the Study of the New Testament 28.1 (2005) 69-104.

"Following in the Footnotes of the Apostle Paul," by Pamela Eisenbaum, pages 77-97 in Identity and the Politics of Scholarship in the Study of Religion, eds. J. I. Cabezón and S. G. Davaney, Routledge, 2004.

"Paul's Religious Experience in the Eyes of Jewish Scholars," by Alan F. Segal, pages 321-43 (specifically 340-43), in Israel's God and Rebecca's Children, eds. D. Capes, et al., Baylor University Press, 2008.

"Jewish Interpretation of Paul in the Last Thirty Years," by Michael F. Bird and Preston M. Sprinkle, Currents in Biblical Research (CBR) 6.3 (2008): 355-76.

Supersessionism: A Not So Super Idea. Bill Tammeus of the Kansas City Star in an August 19, 2006, discusses recent conference papers on supersessionism in the Letter to the Hebrews, and the implications for Christian/Jewish relations today.

Taking Another Look at Paul: Researchers are clearing apostle's name of anti-Semitism associations: May 22, 2004 article in the Kansas City Star by Bill Tammeus explaining the implications of our work on Paul for Jewish/Christian Relations

Forthcoming Publications:

"Romans." Introduction and annotations for The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Eds. Marc Brettler and Amy Jill Levine (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2010). 

"Paul and Judaism." In The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Eds. Marc Brettler and Amy Jill Levine (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2010).

"Paul and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema." In Celebrating Paul. Festschrift in Honor of J. A. Fitzmyer and J. Murphy-O'Connor. Ed. Peter Spitaler (CBQMS; Washington D.C.: Catholic Biblical Association of America, forthcoming 2009).

"'Broken Branches': A Pauline Metaphor Gone Awry? (Romans 11:11-24)." In Romans 9—11 at the Interface Between the 'New Perspective on Paul' and Jewish-Christian Dialog (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming 2009).

"Paul and Judaism: Why Not Paul's Judaism?" In Mark Given, ed., Paul Unbound: Other Perspectives on Paul (forthcoming, Hendrickson, 2009).

"Galatians." A 7500 word entry for Blackwell's Companion to the New Testament, ed. David Aune, forthcoming 2009.

"New or Renewed Covenantalism?: A Response to Richard Hays' '"Here We Have No Lasting City": New Covenantalism in Hebrews.'" In R.J. Bauckham, D.R. Driver, T.A. Hart and N. MacDonald, eds. The Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, forthcoming 2009).

"Paul's Reversal of Jews Calling Gentiles 'Dogs' (Philippians 3:2):
1600 Years of an Ideological Tale Wagging an Exegetical Dog?" (forthcoming 2009, Biblical Interpretation).

"The Myth of the 'Law-Free' Paul Standing Between Christians and Jews" (Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations [SCJR]: forthcoming 2009).

"Paul and Judaism." In Codex Paulinus (forthcoming 2009).

Recently Published Essays:

"Le relazioni christiano-giudaiche." In Paulus: An International Magazine on Saint Paul 1.12 (June, 2009) 271-73 (English version submitted as "Romans 9—11 from a Jewish Perspective on Christian-Jewish Relations")

"The Polytheist Identity of the 'Weak,' And Paul's Strategy to 'Gain' Them: A New Reading of 1 Corinthians 8:1—11:1." In S. E. Porter, ed., Paul: Jew, Greek, and Roman (Pauline Studies 5; Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2008) 179-210.