A Most Troublesome Text: Galatians 4:21-5:1 in the History of Interpretation

This is an investigation into the troublesome history of interpretation of Gal 4:21–5:1. In this passage, Paul makes use of the Hagar/Sarah motif found in Genesis to try to persuade his Gentile followers in Galatia that they should not allow themselves to be circumcised. There are, however, significant differences between the story as it is told in Genesis and how Paul handles it in Galatians. (To give just one example, Paul presents Isaac as the “child of promise” but Ishmael also has promises made about him.) Yet these troublesome discrepancies are given little attention within the history of interpretation of this passage. To track these discrepancies, in chapter two I provide a description of the story as it is narrated in Genesis (what I refer to as the Genesis account). In chapter three, I provide a description of how Paul treats the Genesis account in his letter to the Galatians. In chapter four, I examine how interpreters within the tradition pick up on Paul’s treatment of the Genesis account, but rarely notice the discrepancies, a pattern I describe as a blind spot in the history of interpretation. In chapter five, I examine how isolated discordant voices within the tradition sometimes do in fact occasionally notice the discrepancies, though not so as to disrupt the prevailing pattern. Finally I pull all this together in the sixth chapter and epilogue into what I describe as a “faithful” reading of Gal 4:21–5:1, one that not only attempts to bring the blind spot in the history of interpretation into focus, but also takes into account all that the history of interpretation can teach us.Doctor of Philosophy (PhD