The Colossian Hymn in Context
An Exegesis in Light of Jewish and Greco-Roman Hymnic and Epistolary Conventions
by Matthew E. Gordley
Paperback (Published)
(March 2007)
ISBN: 9783161492556
9.09 x 6.06 inches
Price: $99.00
On back order
The suggestion that the New Testament contains citations of early Christological hymns has long been a controversial issue in New Testament scholarship. As a way of advancing this facet of New Testament research, Matthew E. Gordley examines the Colossian hymn (Col 1:15-20) in light of its cultural and epistolary contexts. As a result of a broad comparative analysis, he claims that Col 1:15-20 is a citation of a prose-hymn which represents a fusion of Jewish and Greco-Roman conventions for praising an exalted figure. A review of hymns in the literature of Second Temple Judaism demonstrates that the Colossian hymn owes a number of features to Jewish modes of praise. Likewise, a review of hymns in the broader Greco-Roman world demonstrates that the Colossian hymn is equally indebted to conventions used for praising the divine in the Greco-Roman tradition. In light of these hymnic traditions of antiquity, the analysis of the form and content of the Colossian hymn shows how the passage fits well into a Greco-Roman context, and indicates that it is best understood as a quasi-philosophical prose-hymn cited in the context of a paraenetic letter. Finally, in view of ancient epistolary and rhetorical theory and practice, an analysis of the role of the hymn in Colossians suggests that the hymn serves a number of significant rhetorical functions throughout the remainder of the letter.
Matthew E. Gordley, Born 1972; 2000 M.Div., Alliance Theological Seminary; 2006 PhD in Theology, University of Notre Dame; currently associate professor of New Testament and associate dean of academics in the School of Divinity at Regent University (Virginia).
- By (author) Matthew E Gordley
Other Titles in this Series
Matthew and the Mishnah
Redefining Identity and Ethos in the Shadow of the Second Temple's Destruction
Volume 418
Herod Antipas in Galilee
The Literary and Archaeological Sources on the Reign of Herod Antipas and its Socio-Economic Impact on Galilee
Volume 215
Christusglaube
Studien zum Syntagma pistis Christou und zum paulinischen Verstandnis von Glaube und Rechtfertigung
Volume 227
The Characterisation of Jesus the Davidic Shepherd in Mark’s Gospel
A Narrative Analysis through the Lens of Metalepsis
Volume 626
“Make Disciples of All Nations”
The Appeal and Authority of Christian Faith in Hellenistic-Roman Times
Moral Transformation in Greco-Roman Philosophy of Mind
Mapping the Moral Milieu of the Apostle Paul and his Diaspora Jewish Contemporaries
Volume 515
Paul’s Teaching on the Pneumatika in 1 Corinthians 12-14
Prophecy as the Paradigm of ta Charismata ta Meizona for the Future-Oriented Ekklesia
Volume 455
Vielfalt der Emotionen in neutestamentlicher und frühchristlicher Literatur
Exegetische Studien zu Darstellung, Funktion und Deutung
Der Tag der Plagen
Studien zur Verbindung der Rezeption von Ex 7-11 in den Posaunen- und Schalenvisionen der Johannesoffenbarung und der Tag des Herrn-Tradition
Volume 387
The Hermeneutics of Divine Testing
Cosmic Trials and Biblical Interpretation in the Epistle of James and Other Jewish Literature
Volume 396
The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews
A Case Study in Early Jewish Bible Interpretation
Volume 260
Communal Participation in the Spirit
The Corinthian Correspondence in Light of Early Jewish Mysticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Volume 575
Portraits of Paul’s Performance in the Book of Acts
Luke's Apologetic Strategy in the Depiction of Paul as Messenger of God
Volume 556
The Doubt of the Apostles and the Resurrection Faith of the Early Church
The Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories of the Gospels in Ancient Reception and Modern Debate
Volume 495
Semantik und Ethik des Wortfeldes ‘Ergon’ im Johannesevangelium
Kontexte und Normen neutestamentlicher Ethik / Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics, Band VIII
Volume 431
Similar Books
Apocrypha, Magic, Liturgy
The Multiple Identities of Coptic Prayers in Late Antique and Early Islamic Egypt
Athanasius of Alexandria, Epistula ad episcopos Aegypti et Libyae
Old Slavonic Version and English Translation
Volume 261
Contesting Labeled Identities
The Sociology of Gentilics in Biblical and Northwest Semitic Literature
Cyril of Alexandria’s Christological Exegesis
Explorations of Partitive Exegesis in the Dialogues on the Trinity
Volume 70
Epiphanies of the Divine in the Septuagint and the New Testament
Fifth International Symposium of the Corpus Judaeo-Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti (CJHNT), 14-17 May 2015, Nottingham
Extracanonical Traditions and the Holy Land
Texts, Rituals, and Material Culture in Late Antique Palestine
From Joseph to Jesus
The Joseph Narrative as a Compositional Template from Old Greek Esther to the Gospel of Luke
Volume 125
Nicholas of Lyra’s Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and Luke
Franciscan Exegesis in a Time of Crisis
Paradise Lost in Transmission
The Return to Eden in the Apocalypse of Peter within Its Ethiopic and Early Christian Contexts
Punning in Odd or Elegant Constructions in Jeremiah
The Convergence of Linguistics, Rhetoric, and Textuality in the Hebrew Text of Jeremiah
