In early Christian literature the death of Judas is broadly understood as a fitting end to the life of the betrayer of Jesus. Papias’ description of Judas’ death can be illuminated by comparison with ancient biographical and medical literature, in which oedema and parasitic infections are a consequence of greed, and also apocalyptic texts, in which worms become an emblematic form of divine punishment after death. Viewed in this context the death of Judas serves a pedagogical function as a warning about the dangers of greed.

In this paper, I examine several sources of authority to which Origen laid claim as he set about the task of interpreting scripture. On occasion, in both his commentaries and his homilies, Origen provided accounts of his access to three different, though connected sources of authority that contributed to his self-presentation as an expert interpreter. These sources are as follows: 1) participation in the lineage of the apostles, particularly his exegetical role model, Paul. The second source of authority is a result of the first: 2) direct communication from the Logos, whom he understands to be Christ himself, and 3) angelic assistance and engagement with his pastoral exegetical project. In some instances, Origen even claimed to be on par with two of these sources of authority; he can be found claiming to have exegetical abilities similar to Paul's and, on some rare occasions, to have reached the same epistemological level as the angels. This analysis provides us not only with a case study of the kind of self-fashioning and authorising strategies used by elite scriptural exegetes in the first few centuries of the common era, but it also allows us to shift our focus away from exegetical methods towards the figure, personality and social position of the exegete him or herself. From this shift of focus we gain a better appreciation of a topic to which exegetical authors themselves dedicated considerable energy: just who it was that could occupy the office of authoritative Christian exegete and why.

The saying about the birds and lilies presents a challenge to the expected domestic roles of men, in providing food, and women, in providing clothing, opening the possibility that these duties can be neglected because of a higher priority. This challenge is relevant to situations reflected in other Q texts. The challenge is a threat both to a family's livelihood and to honor status. Evidence is presented showing that spinning and weaving have special importance in cultural models of the ideal woman and contribute to a woman's honor. This evidence broadens our awareness of the potential conflict with social norms in the birds and lilies passage.

Der bekannte Satz, da² kein Meister vom Himmel fällt, gilt auch für den Exegeten. Zur Erlernung dieser höchst verwickelten Aufgabe bedarf es eines erfahrenen tüchtigen Lehrers, weicher sprachliche Kenntnisse, hermeneutisches Vestandnis und geschichtskritischen Sinn in gleicher Weise in sich vereinigt. Von Walter Bauer darf man sagen, da² er als historisch kritischer Forscher durch gründliche Werke ausgewiesen ist, vom Leben Jesu im Zeitalter der neutestamentlichen Apokryphen angefangen bis zu seinem lange Jahre nicht sehr beachteten, aber in letzter Zeit stark diskutiertem Werk über Rechtgliubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum.

Since Joachim Jeremias' Jesu Verheissung für die Völker (1956) it has often been assumed that in Matt 8.11–12 Jesus looked forward to the inclusion of gentiles into the kingdom at the eschaton. However, several recent studies, most notably by Dale C. Allison, have called this view into question and have instead advocated that the logion refers to the regathering of the Diaspora. The purpose of this study is to evaluate Allison's arguments and to propose that a gentile reference is implicit in the logion based on: (1) the broader context of the inter-textual echoes of passages concerning the regathering of Jewish exiles; and (2) a wider ethnic membership for those who participate in the patriarchal banquet based on the reference to ‘Abraham’. Furthermore, the logion is interpreted in the historical Jesus' ministry through the lens of a partially realized eschatology. As such the saying represents Jesus' contention that Israel's restoration was already becoming a reality and that gentiles were already entering the kingdom as an embryonic foretaste of their inclusion at the eschaton.

Out of all the NT books, the Gospel of John has the most witnesses among the papyrus MSS – twenty-two to date (P2, 5, 6, 22, 28,36, 39, 44, 45, 52, 55, 60, 63, 66, 75, 76, 80, 84, 90, 93, and 95). Two of these MSS, P66 and P75, contain a good portion of this gospel by themselves; and when all the MSS are compiled together, they cover nearly the entire book, with a great deal of overlap. The missing portions are as follows: 14. 31; 15.1; 16. 5, 8–10; 21.10–11, 14, 16, 21–22. Many more verses, especially in chapters 14–21, have lacunae.

Was meint Paulus mit den Ausdrücken ‘Gesetz des Glaubens’ (Röm. 3. 27) und ‘das Gesetz des Geistes des Lebens’ (Röm. 8. 2)? Lange Zeit waren die Interpreten fast einmütig: Paulus spielt mit Worten und gebraucht den Terminus νόμος in einem allgemeinen, übertragenen bzw. uneigentlichen Sinne. Das Wort bezeichnet an beiden Stellen nicht die alttestamentliche Torah, sondern es ist etwa mit ‘Regel’, ‘Ordnung’, ‘Norm’, ‘System’ oder ‘ ‘Prinzip’ wiederzugeben. Das sind die hauptsächlichen Übersetzungsvor-schläge zu 3. 27. Zu 8. 2 wird ein noch weiteres Spektrum geboten. Außer den schon genannten werden u. a. ‘Herrschaft’, ‘Religion’, ‘Kraft’, ‘Autorität’, ‘Äone’, ‘Sphäre’, ‘régime’ und ‘pattern’ vorgeschlagen. An 3. 27 geben auch einige moderne englische Bibelausgaben νόμος mit ‘principle’ wieder (RSV, NEB); an 8. 2 sind die Übersetzungen mehr reserviert.

There are many ways in which the Fourth Gospel can be compared with the Synoptics. One may, for example, set John over against the others as a group. One notes the resemblances, but more especially the contrasts, between John and the others in respect to chronology, geography, miracle, Jesus' discourses, Christology, and so on. Most of these differences are obvious even to the casual reader, and they will be found tabulated in almost any good introduction to the Fourth Gospel.

Within the current discussion of myth in New Testament theology this article reconsiders the ongoing myth debate between Greco-Roman, Jewish and Christian authors against the background not of atheism but of philosophical theology. Over against its challenges Greco–Roman authors defend the myth as exemplum within a sociologically framed accommodation theory and interpret problematic texts using allegorical exegesis. Jewish and Christian authors follow these patterns. In particular, ancient Christian commentators on the Bible use the ancient category of ‘myth as exemplum’ to understand the activities of God and Jesus Christ not only as the base but also as an exemplum for the pious life.

This research was started with the desire to ascertain whether in the papyri of Didymus1, which were discovered at Toura in 1941, and whose regular publication began in 1962 and is still continuing2, it was possible to discover some fresh evidence for the existence of a later Alexandrian text of the Gospels.

The existence of this text is taken for granted by manuals of textual criticism today. B. M. Metzger, for instance, states that Alexandrian witnesses are to be divided into Proto-Alexandrian [466675 B Sahidic (in part), Clement of Alexandria, Origen (in part)] and Later Alexandrian [(C) L T W (in Luke I. 1–8, 12 and John) (X) Z Δ (in Mark) Ξ ψ (in Mark; partially in Luke and John) 33 579 892 1241 Bohairic]3.

In giving their appraisal of the host of then unexamined minuscule codices of the Greek New Testament, Westcott and Hort wrote these intriguing words: ‘Valuable texts may lie hidden among them; many of them are doubtless sprinkled with relics of valuable texts now destroyed.’. 1 Beside this supposition should be set a well-attested fact, that ‘the Precedence of manuscripts depends, not on their age, but on their Pedigree’. 2 These two statements kept on recurring to the writer's mind as she concentrated on a group of six minuscule codices in the area of the Catholic Epistles: MSS 69, 1243, 1319, 1424, 1739, and 1874. 3 The Leicester Codex, MS 69, has long been known to Preserve an ancient lineage even though it was actually copied in the fifteenth century. Might not others of this group, less well known, also Perpetuate a rich heritage? It is the opinion of this writer that one of them does.4

The translation of Heb 3.14 has been a matter of dispute. The problem lies in the ambiguity of the Greek μἐτοχοι τον χριστον. Some, like Spicq, render the clause ‘we are partners with Christ’ in the sense of companionship. The meaning would be like that of τοὺς μἐόχους σου (‘your companions’) in 1.9. Others, such as Westcott, prefer ‘partakers of Christ’ in the sense of ‘having part in him’ as in the ἔπepsilon;ις μἐρôς μἐ’ ὲμον of John 13.8. Finally others, such as O. Michel, see in it an inclusive sense encompassing both companionship with and participation in Christ.

Das von Paulus in Phil 1.23 angesprochene ‘mit Christus Sein’ beschreibt eine unmittelbar postmortale, jenseitige Christusgemeinschaft, die im Vergleich mit sonstigen Aussagen des Paulus zur Totenerweckung erst bei der endzeitlichen Parusie Christi auffällig wird. Daraus ergibt sich die Frage, auf welchem religionsgeschichtlichen Hintergrund Paulus bzw. seine Leserinnen und Leser diese Vorstellung erfassen konnten. Die hellenistische Literatur bietet dabei lediglich Sprachparallelen (abwägender Vergleich von Leben und Tod) sowie gewisse formale (Synkrisis) und inhaltliche (Suizid-Diskussion der Antike) Analogien; es bleiben weite Differenzen bestehen. Ertragreicher erweist sich die Suche in Texten des Frühjudentums, deren Aussagen sich in drei Theorien bündeln lassen: Das Vorbild der Märtyrer bzw. der ‘Gerechten’ als sogleich mit dem Tod zu Gott erhobenen Gruppen wird verschiedentlich in der Forschung vertreten, eine Orientierung an den Vätern Israels wird als Alternative dazu im vorliegenden Aufsatz neu entwickelt, so dass die Denkmöglichkeit der paulinischen Aussage plausibel gemacht werden kann. Dies mündet in eine pragmatische Analyse der spezifischen Aussagegestalt von Phil 1.18b–26, die den Text hinsichtlich einer potentiellen und intendierten Wirkung auf die Adressatinnen und Adressaten deutet.

In a previous study, the present writer has made an analysis of aspects of the Qumran baptismal doctrine, pointing to a distinction between the washing with water and the purification by Spirit. When a further examination of the stages and conditions of initiation at Qumran is added, a relevance may be seen to certain aspects of the history of baptism in Acts, suggesting a means of dealing with some recognized difficulties.