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Document Details :

Title: Inheriting God
Subtitle: Paul's Language of Guardianship and Adoption in Light of the Documentary Papyri (Gal 4,1-7)
Author(s): POPA, Romeo
Journal: Biblica
Volume: 104    Issue: 2   Date: 2023   
Pages: 274-293
DOI: 10.2143/BIB.104.2.3292028

Abstract :
Examining legal terms in the Pauline letters remains one of the most exciting tasks of NT exegesis today. This study focuses on two different legal matters — guardianship of minors and adoption — that Paul places in an analogical relationship in Gal 4,1-7. Using documentary papyri with legal content, I explore the question of the possible reason for this close connection, and consider the ability of a child to inherit as the central common feature in which Paul is particularly interested. Some aspects of the language used lead at the end to considerations about the accessibility of the argument for an average reader in the Mediterranean area at that time and about the sociolinguistic classification of Pauline language.

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