Is PROSWPON ever used in the sense of the latin PERSONA? According to my OED,
the Latin PERSONA means "a mask used by a player, a character or personage
acted, one who plays or performs any part..."
Neither BAGD nor Louw and Nida mention such a usage, but this seems to fit the
context well for this verse. In Galations 2:6, Paul seems to be referring to the
roles and reputation that "those who seemed to be important" played in the
church. They may have been men of importance to the church in Jerusalem, but
that doesn't impress God. This usage strikes me as similar to the Latin PERSONA.
None of the translations I looked at interpret it this way. Various translations
say "God does not judge according to appearances", or "God does not accept one's
person" (I assume that the latter uses the term "person" as a synonym for
"persona"), "God shows now partiality", "God shows personal favoritism to no
man", "God does not judge by external appearances", "God recognizes no external
distinctions".
Jonathan