Why Galatians 4:10 is Important

[robert j]

A Celtic solution to Galatians 4:10 --- instead of a Jewish solution --- provides support for an historic Paul as the author, and significantly weakens the case for Marcionite authorship.

Some investigators reject an historical Paul as the author of Galatians 4:10 and propose authorship by Marcion or Marcionites who were writing in opposition to catholicizing or Judaizing Christians.

A reasonably literal translation from the extant Greek commonly found in nearly all bible translations is something very similar to this ---

"You observe days and months and seasons and years." (Gal. 4:10)

Among the earliest witnesses to this passage is manuscript p46, generally dated from 150 CE to 250 CE.

Tertullian --- in his wider defense against the Marcionite claim that the creator god of the Jews was inferior to a higher and previously unknown god --- commented on this verse in his discussion of Paul's letter to the Galatians --- here is the English and the Latin (Tertullian, Adv Marc, 5.4) ---

"Ye observe days and months and times and years—and sabbaths, I suppose, and meagre suppers, and fasts, and great days."

“Dies observatis et menses et tempora et annos, et sabbata ut opinor et coenas puras et ieiunia et dies magnos.”

Tertullian quoted the extant verse of Galatians 4:10 --- then followed with his opinion on the intent of the passage. Dr. Hermann Detering acknowledges the apparent nature of Tertullian's words as opinion ---

"The phrase introduced by Tertullian with et sabbata, is - by a majority of scholars - seen as an addition of Tertullian’s. The inserted ut opinor might indeed suggest this..." (Detering 2003, p.72). (1/)

Elsewhere, Detering described his opinion on the authorship of the letter to the Galatians ---

“My opinion is that the Epistle to the Galatians (in its original form) must be understood against just this background as a Marcionite polemic pamphlet. The (Marcionite) author of Galatians defends himself against the annexation of the apostle and the falsification of his image by the Catholics”. (Detering, 1996) (2/)

In his reconstruction of Galatians 4:10 in his proposed Marcionite Recension, Detering offers the following --- in which he included what he believes to be original Marcionite text that he claims was later erased by a Catholic Editor ---

"You observe days and months and seasons and years and Sabbaths I think, and kosher meals and fasting and holy days!" (Detering, 3/)

Detering’s extra words----- "and Sabbaths I think, and kosher meals and fasting and holy days!" --- came from Tertullian’s opinion. But Detering proposes that the words were original to a Marcionite letter. Discussing Galatians 4:10, Detering, in the end, justifies his claim that this expanded version was original based on an assumption that he could read the mind of an ancient editor ---

“The argument is plausible and — if correct — would be another piece of circumstantial evidence for the Marcionite text to be older than the Catholic version. It will hardly be assumed that it was Marcion who enlarged the text, since there are no reasons for his doing so. One may assume, though, that a Catholic editor shortened the text, because he was disgusted by the polemics it contained against the Sabbath and other Jewish dates.” (Detering, 2003, p, 72) (1/) [emphasis mine]

There is no need to accuse the ancients of either enlarging or shortening this text if one sees the extra words as only Tertullian’s opinion on the passage. Detering claims the words were original, but were removed by a catholic editor disgusted by the polemics against the Jewish observances. However, Church Father Tertullian had no such problem with the verse, and he even claimed that cessation of such Jewish observances was “appointed by the Creator's decrees”. Here’s Tertullian’s wider view ---

“You observe days, and months, and times, and years’ [my note: extant Gal 4:10 so far] — the sabbaths, I suppose, and the preparations, and the fasts and the high days. For the cessation of even these, no less than of circumcision, was appointed by the Creator's decrees, who had said by Isaiah, ‘Your new moons, and your sabbaths, and your high days I cannot bear; your fasting, and feasts, and ceremonies my soul hates’. [my note: Isaiah1:13-14] Also by Amos, ‘I hate, I despise your feast-days …” (Tertullian, Adv Marc, 5.4)

Another investigator, Dr. Robert M. Price, provided his opinion about the authorship of the letter to the Galatians ---

“Marcion wrote the core of Galatians (chapters 3-6), and posed as Paul to an audience of early followers who were beginning to yield to the propaganda of Catholicizing Christianity.” (Robert M. Price, The Amazing Colossal Apostle – The Search for the Historical Paul, 2012, p. 411).

In the same book, Price provides his own translation of Galatians 4:10 --- a translation that includes several extraneous words that are not attested to by the extant Greek nor finding support among other bible translators. Rather, Price’s translation seems most similar to Detering’s Proposed Marcionite recension. Here’s Price’s translation ---

"You keep holy days and months of fasting and penitential seasons and canonical calendars!" (p, 425)

And here is Price’s commentary on Galatians 4:10 ---

"Verse 10 tells us they were Judaizing Christians who kept certain holy days and food regulations, reminding us that in so doing, they worshipped not the true God, but the much inferior angels of the demiurge." (p. 426)

But is the admonition in Galatians 4:10 aimed at Jewish practices or Celtic? A Celtic solution would significantly weaken the case for a Marcionite origin.
Paul's admonitions in the wider passage (Galatians 4:8-11) fit within the context of pagan Celtic beliefs and practices. Taking a break from his wider and much more important problem for a brief admonition --- it is entirely conceivable that Paul may have objected to some in his congregation of former animistic-pagans perhaps doing such things as going out at mid-night and performing Celtic rituals beneath the “all-healing” moon.

But why would Marcionites --- surrounded and vastly out-numbered throughout the Empire by pagan worshipers of many stripes --- even bother to take a shot at a group of Celts in the backwaters of Asia Minor? Marcionites had much bigger fish to fry --- their “inferior” god of the Jews.

A Celtic solution to Galatians 4:8-11 supports Paul as the author --- and also reveals a real-life human situation entirely consistent with a Galatian setting for the letter.

robert j.

1/ Hermann Detering, The Original Version of the Epistle to the Galatians --- Explanations, 2003 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B75F1hK ... Zsa1E/edit (later edit --- new link works as of this edit)
2/ Hermann Detering, The Dutch Radical Approach to the Pauline Epistles, 1996. http://www.depts.drew.edu/jhc/detering.html
3/ Hermann Detering, The Epistle to the Galatians, English version of the translation provided by Frans-Joris Fabri. [my note: this is Detering's proposed Marcionite recension] http://www.radikalkritik.de/Marcgal_eng.htm (later edit --- sorry, link no longer goes there)

For a discussion of the Celtic nature of Galatians 4:8-11, see “Paul’s Celts of Galatia” --- here --- viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1362

[Peter Kirby]

Thanks for this post. Critical engagement with Detering and Price is much-needed as the natural next step in advancing the discussion of their ideas. I hope you will not stop here, as I am interested to know of any other interesting things you have found.

[Peter Kirby]

But why would Marcionites --- surrounded and vastly out-numbered throughout the Empire by pagan worshippers of many stripes --- even bother to take a shot at a group of Celts in the relatively isolated highlands of north-central Anatolia? Marcionites had much bigger fish to fry --- their “inferior” god of the Jews.

That the Marcionites would create a letter addressed to "Galatia" (and "Galatians" - 1:2, 3:1) does not seem to be to be absurd at all.

This is a map of the region of Pontus:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontus#med ... _50-en.svg

This is another map:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... re_125.png

This is another map:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... a_SPQR.png

If Marcion were a man of Pontus, then the idea that some of his converts were in Galatia is not far-fetched.

But the question of north or south Galatia, cannot really be said to be decided. If it's a fictional letter, it might not conform to either hypothesis, naturally. If it is not an entirely fictional letter, it cannot be said that south Galatia is ruled out.

Out of convenience:

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06336a.htm

The country of South Galatia answers the conditions of the Epistle admirably; but this cannot be said of North Galatia. From the Epistle we gather that the majority were Gentile converts, that many were probably Jewish proselytes from their acquaintance with the Old Testament, that Jews who persecuted them from the first were living amongst them; that St. Paul had visited them twice, and that the few Judaziers appeared amongst them only after his last visit. We know from Acts 3 and 14 (and early history), that Jews were settled in South Galatia. During the first missionary journey unbelieving Jews made their presence felt everywhere. As soon as Paul and Barnabas returned to Syrian Antioch, some Jewish converts came from Judea and taught that the circumcision was necessary for them, and went up to the council, where it was decreed that circumcision and the Law of Moses were not necessary for the Gentiles; but nothing was determined as to the attitude of Jewish converts regarding them, following the example of St. James, though it was implied in the decree that they were matters of indifference. This was shown, soon after, by St. Peter's eating with the Gentiles. On his withdrawing from them, and when many others followed his example, St. Paul publicly vindicated the equality of the Gentile Christians. The majority agreed; but there must have been "false brethren" amongst them (Galatians 2:4) who were Christians only in name, and who hated St. Paul.

On the other hand, there is no evidence that there were any Jews settled at this time in North Galatia (see Ramsay, "St. Paul The Traveller"). It was not the kind of country to attract them. The Gauls were a dominant class, living in castles, and leading a half pastoral, half nomadic life, and speaking their own Gallic language. The country was very sparsely populated by the subjugated agricultural inhabitants. During the long winter the ground was covered with snow; in summer the heat was intense and the ground parched; and one might travel many miles without meeting a human being. There was some fertile tracts; but the greater part was either poor pasture land, or barren undulating hilly ground. The bulk of the inhabitants in the few towns were not Gauls. Trade was small, and that mainly in wool.

The most obvious geographical indication in favor of "South Galatia" is, of course, Galatians 2:11, with its reference to Antioch (i.e., Pisidian Antioch, if it is a place in Galatia, is a place in South Galatia).

As others have already mentioned, the issues of Judaism and its observance, including the circumcision, dominate the letter. Plenty in the letter speaks of its relevance to the concerns of Marcion. That much is obvious. Marcion placed it first in the Apostolikon.

[robert j]

Peter, you've started off with a straw man and concluded by making this personal. I'm not sure I'm interested.

[Peter Kirby]

I'm sorry. I didn't think I made it personal, and I did not intend to create a straw man.

Perhaps I didn't put enough effort or thought into my post, but I thought it was a good OP and deserved some interaction.

I would appreciate knowing what the straw man is, and I don't think I am the only one.

[Peter Kirby]

So that I can be forgiven for giving offense (though I did not intend to do so), I cut off the conclusion of my post.

[Peter Kirby]

Given that this post is to be read with this one: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1362

The "straw man" might be that I have argued that a Marcionite might address a letter to the Galatians...

...while you have argued that a Marcionite might not address particular concerns of Galatian Celtic people, as in Gal. 4:8-10.

Is my guess correct?

[robert j]

That’s correct. The first section of your reply was a refutation of an argument I didn’t make anywhere in the OP, nor in my other linked essay.

I certainly expect a Marcion of Pontus would’ve had some connection to the letter to the Galatians --- by proximity alone --- likely, IMO, this proximity provided Marcion the opportunity to discover the letter.

[Peter Kirby]

Thank you for this clarification.

Regarding the comment about "importance," etc., all I meant is that the passage of Gal. 4:10 does not have a very great importance in terms of being used as support for the conclusions of Detering and Price (because they can appeal to several other sections of the letter for their interpretations). Perhaps it has importance as a refutation of them, because it appears to have importance in support of a "North Galatia" hypothesis, and it appears to have importance in support of seeing ethnic Celts as the audience of the letter. That's all that I meant by that comment.

[Peter Kirby]

(1) Would you say that a "Celtic" interpretation of Galatians 4:8-11 is possible, plausible, probable, very probable, highly probable, or .... secure?

(2) What about the possibility that it is a generic reference to pagan polytheism? Possible, plausible, probable, etc.?

(3) And could the Marcionites have been interested in the repudiation of pagan polytheism? Is that possible, plausible, probable, etc.?

I would say "possible" or "plausible" to (1), because it is very specific, relies on the genuineness of the letter and further relies on a particular interpretation of the genuineness of the letter that many have rejected, primarily (but not exclusively) due to the presence of concerns about Judaism that seem unlikely in a North Galatian context.

I would say "probable" to (2), given your arguments have persuaded me that Gal. 4:10 in the context of Gal. 4:8-11 seem likely to refer to paganism.

I would say "secure" to (3), given that Marcion taught about the revelation of the one good God in Jesus Christ, repudiating any other lesser powers.

Given that (2) is compatible with (3), I don't think it takes a straw man to dismantle the argument against a Marcionite origin of the epistle on the basis of Gal. 4:8-11.