The Meaning of allēgoréō in Galatians 4.24 Revisited
Τhe Meaning of ἀλληγορέω in Galatians 4.24 Revisited
The meaning of the verb ἀλληγορέω stands at the heart of the debate concerning Paul's hermeneutic in Galatians 4.21-31. If by using the term Paul means ‘I am interpreting these things allegorically’, then the question of Paul's interpretive procedure would be all but answered - he would li...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
New Testament studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 70, Issue: 2, Pages: 174-186 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Paul Apostle
/ Bible. Galaterbrief 4,21-31
/ Allegory
/ Old Testament
/ Hermeneutics
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HC New Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Old Testament interpretation
B Allegory B Hermeneutics B Literal Sense B Typology B Paul |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The meaning of the verb ἀλληγορέω stands at the heart of the debate concerning Paul's hermeneutic in Galatians 4.21-31. If by using the term Paul means ‘I am interpreting these things allegorically’, then the question of Paul's interpretive procedure would be all but answered - he would likely be allegorising as the Greeks did before him and the early church fathers did after. However, if he does not mean this, then the question remains open. This article argues that the phrase ἅτινά ἐστιν ἀλληγορούμɛνα means ‘these things are symbolic’, which would indeed leave this question open. This rendering is best for two reasons: First, the majority of the uses of ἀλληγορέω available in the two hundred or so years surrounding the writing of Galatians mean ‘to speak symbolically’. Second, the contextual clues surrounding Paul's use of the term in Galatians itself, such as his call to hear the law in verse 21, strongly suggest such a reading. To prove this thesis, this article provides detailed exposition of the texts in which ἀλληγορέω occurred around the time Paul wrote Galatians before turning to Paul's own use of the term in Galatians 4.24. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-8145 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: New Testament studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0028688523000358 |
