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'Mercy and Righteousness Have Met' ‘Mercy and Righteousness have met’ Literary Structure as Key to the Centrality of Mercy in Romans A Thesis Presented to Mary Immaculate College University of Limerick In Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctorate in Philosophy Submitted by: Mary T. Brien PBVM, BA, MA Supervisor: Dr Thomas L. Brodie OP Submitted to: The University of Limerick June 2013 i DEDICATION I dedicate this work in gratitude to my students, past and present. They have been my teachers and my inspiration. Mary T. Brien PBVM Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick June 2013 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the contribution made to this research by Dr Thomas L. Brodie OP of the Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick, who supervised the work. It was at his suggestion that I took the first steps along the path of searching for one underlying literary structure in Romans (among the many possible ones) which might open a door to a fresh reading of Paul’s most famous Letter. Dr Brodie’s wisdom, patience and expertise kept the project on track for more than three years. I owe him an enormous debt of gratitude. For use of the excellent research facilities at the Library of the Dominican Biblical Institute, Limerick, I am extremely grateful. I acknowledge the assistance given to me by the staff at the Institute, especially Dr Jessie Rogers, Fr Brendan Clifford OP and Margaret McGrath. I also acknowledge my debt to Visiting Professors and Fellows at the Institute, especially in the area of Pauline studies. Deserving of special mention are Professor Morna Hooker, Professor Christopher Stanley, Dr Regina Plunkett-Dowling, and Dr Adam Winn, but there are others. I am grateful to my fellow-students in the Doctoral Programme at the Institute, John Shelton, Thomas Nelligan and Luke McNamara OSB, for their friendship and support. I acknowledge the unfailing kindness and courtesy shown me by administrative staff at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick. To Norma O’Neill in the Inter-Library Lending Service a special word of thanks is due. Lastly, but most importantly, I thank my Presentation Congregation for encouraging me to pursue my lifelong passion for biblical studies, and for facilitating this research in every possible way. Mary T. Brien PBVM Dominican Biblical Institute iii ABSTRACT 1 ‘Mercy and Righteousness and have met’ Literary Structure as Key to the Supremacy of Mercy in Romans Mary T. Brien The aim in presenting this dissertation is to establish the thesis that one fundamental literary structure identifiable in Romans provides a clue to a satisfactory reading of the Letter. By ‘satisfactory reading’ I mean a reading which respects all of the data while making sense of the totality of Paul’s message to Roman Christians. I discover that message to be what Paul says it is in Rom 1:1: “The Gospel of God” – The Revelation of God’s Good News for the world. This, in turn, is nothing less than God’s magnificent and merciful plan of salvation for all, Jew and Gentile alike. It includes the stunning revelation of God as being both righteous and merciful. Chapters 9-11 present this truth within a rather surprising, yet thoroughly biblical, context. The methodology used is described in detail in Chapter Three. In summary, it involves exercises in text delimitation, leading to the identification of literary panels/ dyads/triads. A fundamental and leading literary structure may be identified in Romans, firstly by a careful study of both Prologue and Epilogue. Both are shown to consist of two distinct but complementary ‘panels’ which function 1 Psalm 84:10 (LXX) iv dialogically and complementarily. A similar pattern of ‘panels in dialogue’ is then detected to be a feature found elsewhere in Romans. Sample texts from the beginning, middle and end of the Letter are found to bear this out (1:1-15; 1:16-3:20; 8:1-39; 12:1-13:14, 13:15- 16:27). Eventually, that structure is shown to be pervasive throughout, with one notable exception corresponding to a climactic phase in the Letter (Rom 9-11). The outcome is quite illuminating: A ten-fold literary structure can be discovered, using the tools of contemporary delimitation criticism. This ten-fold structure consists of nine dyads (‘panels’ in dialogue) and one important variant, which is crucial. This variant corresponds with the climax of Paul’s argumentation and the heart of his Gospel for Christians in Rome. If structure is a pointer to meaning in any literary work, as I believe it is, this fundamental structure in Romans provides an important signpost. It is not the only important structure in the Letter, but it is a basic and pervasive one which deserves attention. The thesis presented here is that this underlying structure opens the door to a fresh reading of Romans – a reading which respects both the integrity of the entire sixteen-chapter text and the rich complexity of Paul’s thought. v ABBREVIATIONS BIBLE TEXTS LXX The Septuagint. Ancient Greek Text MT Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Scriptures NA 27 Nestle-Aland 27th Edition of the Greek NT JB Jerusalem Bible NAB New American Bible NJB New Jerusalem Bible NRSV New Revised Standard Version RSV Revised Standard Version JOURNALS AND SERIES AB Anchor Bible ABD Anchor Bible Dictionary ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library ANTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries AnBib Analecta Biblica BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridium Theologicarum Lovaniensium Bib Biblica BNTC Blacks New Testament Commentaries vi Bib T Bible Today BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin CBQ Catholic Biblical quarterly CBQMS Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph Series ETL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses Exp T Expository Times HCBD HarperCollins Bible Dictionary HCHCB Hermeneia. A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible HTR Harvard Theological Review IBR Bulletin for Biblical Research IBS Irish Biblical Studies IBT Interpreting Biblical Texts Int Interpretation ISBE International Standard Bible Encyclopedia JBC Jerome Biblical Commentary JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament JSNTS Journal for the Study of the New Testament Series JSNTSS Journal for the Study of the NT Supplement Series JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JTS Journal for Theological Studies vii NCBC New Century Bible Commentary Neot Neotestamentica NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament Nt Novum Testamentum NTS New Testament Studies PIBA Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association RB Revue Biblique RSR Recherches de Science Religieuse RTL Revue Théologique de Louvain SBL Society of Biblical Literature SBLSBS Society of Biblical Literature Sources for Biblical Study SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series Sem Semeia SNTSMS Society for the NT Studies Monograph Series SPS Sacra Pagina Series ST Studia Theologica TB Tyndale Bulletin TD Theology Digest T Greg Tesi Gregoriana WBC World Bible Commentary WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament viii LIST OF TABLES Number/Title Page 1. God’s Righteousness revealed through faith.................................................... ..82 2. God’s Righteousness revealed in Christ............................................................. 83 3. God’s Righteousness revealed in daily life ....................................................... 84 4. The Literary Structure of Romans .....................................................................85 5. God’s Righteousness revealed through faith – not works .................................159 6. Panel 1: Proto-Prologue (Rom 1:1-7)................................................................161 7. Panel 2: Deutero-Prologue (Rom 1:8-15) ........................................................163 8. The First Dyad (Two-fold Prologue): General Structure .................................166 9. The Second Dyad: God’s Righteousness revealed through Faith (Rom1:16-3:20).....................................................................................................184 10. The Second Dyad: Dialogical Structure in detail...........................................185 11. The Second Dyad: Internal Dyadic Structure ...............................................186 12. The Third Dyad: God’s Righteousness revealed outside the Law in Christ (Rom 3:21-4:25)................................................................................................. 196 13. Block 2: God’s Righteousness revealed in Christ (5-11)...............................201 14. The Fourth Dyad: Realm of Christ/Realm of Adam (Rom5:1-11)................212 15. Mirror-Dyad: Adam-Christ Typology...........................................................213 ix 16. The Fifth Dyad: Freedom, Sin and the Law (Rom 6:1-7:25)........................222 17. Mirror-Dyad: Paul and the Law................................................................... 223 18. The Sixth Dyad: The Spirit -Source of Life/hope of Glory (8:1-39).............231 19. The ‘Discordant Seventh’ – a Triad (Rom 9-11)...........................................253 20. Block 3: God’s Righteousness revealed in Daily Life (Rom12-16).............258 21. The Eighth Dyad: The Gospel Applied (Rom 12:1-13:14)...........................271 22. Mirror-Dyad: Civic and Divine Authority (Rom 13:1-7).............................272 23. The Ninth Dyad: Love in Practice (Rom 14:1-15:13)..................................280 24. The Tenth Dyad: Two-part Epilogue (Rom 15:14-16:27) .........................288 25. Romans at a Glance ....................................................................................311
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