The Jewish Annotated New Testament (77 page)

³⁹
In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.
⁴⁰
So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
⁴¹
But striking a reef,
^*
they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.
⁴²
The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape;
⁴³
but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,
⁴⁴
and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

Chs 27–28: Paul’s journey to Rome.

28
After we had reached safety, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
²
The natives showed us unusual kindness. Since it had begun to rain and was cold, they kindled a fire and welcomed all of us around it.
³
Paul had gathered a bundle of brushwood and was putting it on the fire, when a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
⁴
When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man must be a murderer; though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.”
⁵
He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
⁶
They were expecting him to swell up or drop dead, but after they had waited a long time and saw that nothing unusual had happened to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.

⁷
Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
⁸
It so happened that the father of Publius lay sick in bed with fever and dysentery. Paul visited him and cured him by praying and putting his hands on him.
⁹
After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
¹⁰
They bestowed many honors on us, and when we were about to sail, they put on board all the provisions we needed.

¹¹
Three months later we set sail on a ship that had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers as its figurehead.
¹²
We put in at Syracuse and stayed there for three days;
¹³
then we weighed anchor and came to Rhegium. After one day there a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.
¹⁴
There we found believers
^*
and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.
¹⁵
The believers
^*
from there, when they heard of us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶
When we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

¹⁷
Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
¹⁸
When they had examined me, the Romans
^*
wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.
¹⁹
But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor—even though I had no charge to bring against my nation.
²⁰
For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you,
^*
since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
²¹
They replied, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken anything evil about you.
²²
But we would like to hear from you what you think, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

²³
After they had set a day to meet with him, they came to him at his lodgings in great numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.
²⁴
Some were convinced by what he had said, while others refused to believe.
²⁵
So they disagreed with each other; and as they were leaving, Paul made one further statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah,

²⁶
‘Go to this people and say,
You will indeed listen, but never
         understand,
     and you will indeed look, but never
             perceive.

²⁷
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
       and their ears are hard of hearing,
           and they have shut their eyes;
           so that they might not look with
                  their eyes,
       and listen with their ears,
   and understand with their heart and turn—
       and I would heal them.’

²⁸
Let it be known to you then that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
^*

³⁰
He lived there two whole years at his own expense
^*
and welcomed all who came to him,
³¹
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS

TITLE, MEANING, AND AUTHORSHIP

Romans, the longest, and thus the first, of the epistles as they are traditionally arranged—although it is one of Paul’s latest letters—is enormously influential for the development of Christian ideals and identity. It is equally important for Christian conceptualizations of Jews and Judaism as inferior to Christians and Christianity. Romans 11, which explains God’s commitment to Jews because of the irrevocable promises made to the fathers, is a key text for those seeking to reverse the legacy of contempt for Jews and Judaism.

The traditional view of Romans, and of Paul’s thought generally, is that as a “convert” to the new religious movement himself, he acted as have many converts before and since, and denigrated his previous religious commitment. In this view, Paul is the great evangelist of Christianity (anachronistically seen as a separate religion already in his time) as the movement of liberation from the bonds of legalism and “works-righteousness” that according to this conception characterized Judaism. Historically, this view has been reinforced by some Protestant Reformation theologians, such as Martin Luther, who saw medieval Roman Catholicism as a “works-righteousness” religion, one that emphasized the deeds of the faithful as necessary to earn their way into God’s grace. He projected this view onto Judaism through his interpretation of the context for Paul’s opposition, a context he likened to his own opposition to this development in the Roman Catholicism of that time. This view thus contrasted Christianity, and especially Protestant Christianity, as a “religion of grace” with Judaism (and Roman Catholicism) as “religions of law.” Augustine, who was instrumental in the development of Roman Catholicism, had similarly attributed to Judaism the “works-righteousness” he challenged in the rival Christian groups of his own time. These caricatures of Judaism did not arise from the study of Judaism but from decisions made about how to apply their interpretations of Paul to their own contemporary cases of inter-Christian conflict.

Most scholars now reject this view as overly simplistic and mistaken, both in its treatment of Judaism at the time of Paul and in its characterization of Roman Catholicism and of other Christian rivals. The understanding of Paul’s thought that is behind this view, however, has proven more tenacious. The understanding presented here, and in the related essay “Paul and Judaism” on p.
551
, is intended in part to give an alternative and more nuanced analysis of Paul’s thought and what he was trying to do within Judaism.

LITERARY HISTORY

It is crucial to attend to the mid-first-century, Greco-Roman cultural and political contexts of Romans’ audience as well as the dynamics of that period’s minority Jewish community. The minority Christ-following subgroups (
ekklēsiai
= assemblies, usually translated “churches”) faced tensions with other Jewish communities (
synagōgai
= assemblies, usually translated “synagogues”) in Rome (these are synonymous terms in Gk, not contrastive). Paul was a Jew who saw the subgroup as an authentic expression of Judaism and understood his mission to be one of bringing about the fullness of the aspirations of the Jewish people for the benefit of all people; he was not seeking to found a new religion. He engaged in an outreach to the “members from the other nations/peoples” (i.e., the
ethnē
/
goyim
/“Gentiles”) because he believed that in Jesus the awaited age of God’s restoration and rule, beginning with the Jewish community (i.e., Israel), had dawned.

The letter’s intended audience was Christ-following Gentiles. These Gentiles needed to understand how they should live as well as how they should interact with the Jewish community, which was larger than their own subgroup, although the Jewish community itself was a minority in Rome. Paul explained how, although they did not practice proselyte conversion (he refers to this rite by terms such as “circumcision” and “works of law” [or “tradition’s actions,” “tradition’s rites”]), they must understand themselves to be full members of the Jewish communities even though they had not become Jews, and even though many Jews were not welcoming them as more than guests if they did not become proselytes. In other words, Paul encouraged them to practice Judaism (the Jewish communal way of life) without becoming Jews. Paul also explains that their turning from idols to the worship of the One God alongside Israelites but remaining representatives from the other nations, as Israelites expected to occur at the end of the ages, would trigger the restoration of “all Israel.”

INTERPRETATION

Since Paul cannot get to Rome until he has brought to Jerusalem the collection he has been gathering from among the nations in the Greek east, he writes to prevent further deterioration in the relationships between Christ-follower Gentiles, who are resentful that their claims for full inclusion are not accepted, and the Jews who refuse to accept them. These Gentiles are tempted to presume that they are replacing some Israelites, as if those Jews have lost God’s favor. Instead of helping the gospel to succeed, Paul claims their attitudes threaten to undermine God’s designs, and Paul writes to change their attitudes. Now that they have accepted the gospel, and thus have acknowledged the God of Israel—without going through the process of becoming Jews/Israelites by undertaking the rite of proselyte conversion (“circumcision” of males)—these non-Jewish followers will help persuade his fellow Jews to see that God’s plan for the salvation of all is being fulfilled in Paul’s ministry to the nations without the Jews’ participation in this privileged task, entrusted to all Israelites at the end of the ages. When they see these non-Jews turning from sin to righteousness, as expected in the awaited day to come, his fellow Jews will then want to emulate him in proclaiming the good news (“gospel”) of the arrival of that day to the nations. Thus the salvation of the Gentiles is in part contingent on the original “not persuaded” response to the mission expressed by some Jews, and the salvation of all Israel is contingent on the Gentiles’ humble and respectful attitude toward that Jewish community, thereby validating Paul’s claim to be carrying out Israel’s awaited role of turning all humankind to the One Creator God worshiped among the Jewish people.