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- Title
Γυνὴ τοῦ Πατρός:: Analytic Kin Circumlocution and the Case for Corinthian Adultery.
- Authors
RENO, JOSHUA M.
- Abstract
Modern exegesis of 1 Cor 5 has functioned under two assumptions: first, Paul's phrase γυνὴ τοῦ πατρός echoes similar locutions found in Leviticus or Deuteronomy, and, second, sexual liaisons between sons and their stepmothers were considered incestuous in Greco-Roman antiquity. By examining the use of analytic kin circumlocution, this article argues that Paul's periphrasis not only is a standard circumlocution for μητρυιά ("stepmother") but also is constructed to highlight the particularly egregious nature of this affair: it is an inner-οἶκος adultery. Roman, Greek, and Second Temple Jewish data indicate that son-stepmother trysts, while especially offensive, were considered adulterous. By removing this perceived pentateuchal anchor, this article opens new possibilities for reading 1 Cor 5 as a test case in Paul's homonoia argument in 1 Cor 1-4 and suggests marriage and the οἶκος as a new latticework for holding together the disparate elements of 1 Cor 5-7.
- Subjects
ADULTERY in the Bible; PERIPHRASIS; BIBLE. Corinthians; BIBLICAL commentaries; ROMAN antiquities
- Publication
Journal of Biblical Literature, 2016, Vol 135, Issue 4, p827
- ISSN
0021-9231
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.15699/jbl.1354.2016.157466