From: perry.stepp@chrysalis.org
Date: Thu Feb 08 1996 - 10:34:10 EST
Dr. Conrad--
I'm not sending this to the whole list because I've not been able to follow the
entire thread. But I have an observation.
It seems to me that Paul's reading of Habbakuk here is akin to his concluding
that concepts like ERGON NOMOU, DIKAIOSUNJN EK NOMOU, DIKAIOSUNJN DIA PISTEWS
XRISTOU, and such should be expressed as subjective genitives. Paul's
wrestling with his own life and conversion experience led him to conclude that
NOMOS and PISTOS are opposing, almost personal forces, each given by God for a
specific purpose, which provoke opposite reactions/results in the lives of
people. And this personal interpretive context led him to read the Habbakuk
passage "slightly askew" from how it was originally intended. (I as an
Evangelical would also argue that he was led to this reading by the Holy
Spirit, but I hesitate to invoke pneumatology to explain such questions in the
B-Greek setting.)
I guess what I'm saying is that we can't expect Paul to approach and interpret
OT or LXX texts from a Western post-Enlightenment hermeneutical stance: witness
the way he handles "seed/seeds" in Gal 3.16, making a point with an argument
that we might not consider legitimate. The confluence of Hellenistic and
Judaic backgrounds makes Paul a difficult fellow to pin down at times, I think.
Grace and peace,
Perry L. Stepp, Baylor University
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