The instructions to slaves and masters in the Colossian Haustafel have long raised questions about their concrete meaning for their intended audience. Drawing principally on recent research on the Roman family, but also on other texts, inscriptions and imagery, this article seeks to show that the implications of the household code for the sexual treatment of slaves must have varied widely. Important factors included the believing or non-believing nature of each household and the complexity of familial arrangements generally. Ultimately, Colossians appears implicitly to recognise a degree of honour in the case of slaves, a view that may sometimes have led to greater respect for familial/sexual boundaries than was otherwise usual.

A consistent feature of the argument of Hebrews is the claim that Christ offered himself ‘once for all’, which the author develops with the qualitative distinction between the one and the many priests (7.23–28) and sacrifices (9.23–10.18). In placing this distinction of the one and the many within the metaphysical dualism of the two spheres of reality, the author reflects assumptions that are also present in the claim of both Philo and Plutarch that the deity is above the principle of multiplicity (Philo Spec. III.180; Abr. 122; Leg. II.2; Deus 82; Plutarch E. Delph. 393e).

If we take the address of James ‘to the twelve tribes in the diaspora’ seriously and conclude that James represents itself as a letter to Diaspora Judaeans, it becomes easier to account for the fact that James lacks references to most of the beliefs and practices distinctive of the Jesus movement. In that case, James is framed as a letter written to an outsider, much like 4QMMT, in which the (fictive) writer must construct ethos not by reference to special revelations or qualifications of the writer, which would hold no sway with the fictive recipient, but by appeal to exemplary figures of Israel's epic history, in particular Solomon.

Dem Programm in Apg 1.8 entsprechend gliedert Lukas die Apostelgeschichte unter geographischer Hinsicht in drei Abschnitte, in denen er die Verbreitung des Evangeliums bis zu den Enden der Erde als neue Form der Zerstreuung beschreibt. Diese Zerstreuung wird nicht mehr wie in der alttestamentlichen Prophetie als Realisierung des Gerichts, sondern als Weg des Heils verstanden. An die Stelle einer endzeitlichen Sammlung auf dem Zion rückt der Evangelist die Sammlung Israels und der Völker in der positiv verstandenen Diaspora. Vor diesem Hintergrund endet die Apostelgeschichte sinnvoll im neuen Babylon mit Paulus' Verkündigung in Gefangenschaft.

Hebrews is addressed to a community whose waning commitment may lead to a complete abandonment of their Christian identity. In response, the author crafts an imaginative and powerful exhortation that centers on Jesus' identity as the Son of God. The author first dramatizes the Son's exaltation, emphasizing the Father's declaration of Jesus' sonship, the Son's reciprocal confession of the Fatherhood of God, and the Son's conferral of family membership upon the recipients. The recipients are then called upon to participate in this pattern of mutual familial confession in two strategic hortatory passages: 4.14–16 and 10.19–25. These two exhortations to confess Jesus as the Son of God are intended to bring a halt to their wavering commitment and solidify their identity as siblings of the Son.

Several scholars have argued that Paul's statements about ‘justification’ in Gal 2.16 are intended to serve as common ground with his Galatian opponents. Yet Paul seems to argue polemically for the same idea in 2.21. Moreover, the structure of Paul's diatribal rhetoric in 2.16–21 suggests that Paul thought his statements in 2.16 would be controversial. When we observe that Paul continues to argue through chs. 3 and 4 for this same understanding of ‘justification’, it becomes clear that the Apostle expected his views in 2.16 to meet stiff resistance in Galatia.

Because of the uniformity of the text, NT papyri are well suited to codicological reconstruction. If there are two or more pieces of papyrus from the same codex, sound reconstructions are often possible. But good methodology will account for the fibre orientation of the fragments. Flawed conclusions are the inevitable result of neglecting such analysis. Skeat erred in this direction as regards [prod ]64+67 and [prod ]4. Nevertheless, his contribution in the area was substantial and enduring. It only remains for scholars to appreciate the insights that codicology can bring to the study of the NT text.

Various interpretations have been offered to identify the woman of Rev 12, attributed with the sun, the moon, and twelve stars: Mary, Israel, or the church, or a combination of the items church and eschatological Israel. My article tries first to detect tradition historically the semantics of the sign of the woman in labour and her newborn son and arrives at the conclusion that it represents a new eschatological beginning in Israel. Then a reader-oriented approach shows the possibility of a recipient familiar with the hellenistic constructions of society to view Rev 12 as a Christian myth, narrated with elements of well-known hellenistic myths, for example, that of Telephos or of Isis/Osiris. The comparison leads to the conclusion that Rev 12 functions to induce its readers to be aware of their own eschatological identity in contrast to the identity of their social environment and to engage consciously in a cultural conflict.

The Acts of Thecla develop a narrative Christian counter-world to their pagan society. In this context erotic motifs are adapted and re-interpreted. It is into this framework that the description of the Apostle Paul is to be placed. In his human appearance he proves to be the antitype of the erotic lover such as depicted in the stereotypes of Greco-Roman novels. When Thecla, however, feels irresistibly attracted to him, it is his function as the mediator of Christ that attracts. Thus, Thecla's conversion to Christian faith is presented as a special act of falling in love with the Gospel.