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JEWS OR NOT? RECONSTRUCTING THE “OTHER” IN REV 2:9 AND 3:9

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2002

David Frankfurter
David Frankfurter
Affiliation:
University of New Hampshire
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Abstract

John of Patmos describes his opponents in both Smyrna and Philadelphia as “those who say that they are Jews but are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9; 3:9). But when the historian of early Christianity tries to give some historical dimension to these opponents, there unravels one of the signature conundrums of ancient labelling: are the opponents Jews? Non-Jews? Which interpretation is simplest, according to the criterion of Ockham's Razor? And what could these terms have meant for John? Most critically, what terms can we ourselves use to designate these parties without resorting to anachronistic definitions of “Jew” or “Christian”?

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 94 , Issue 4 , October 2001 , pp. 403 - 425
Copyright
© 2001 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

* For criticisms and discussion of this paper in previous forms, and for sharing unpublished materials, I am grateful to Daniel Boyarin, John Collins, Paul Duff, Pamela Eisenbaum, John Gager, Martin Goodman, Martha Himmelfarb, John Marshall, Ann Merideth, and Adela Yarbro Collins. A version of this paper was presented to the Society of Biblical Literature Section on Early Jewish/Christian Relations, Annual Meeting, November 20, 2000.