But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the brother of the Lord. (Galatians 1:19)
Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? (1 Corinthians 9:5)
Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? (1 Corinthians 9:5)
I think these two verses in which the “brother(s)” are specified as “brother(s) of the Lord” can be explained as an “us and them” distinction.
Paul had a complex and contentious relationship with the Judeans that Paul claimed as predecessors. He used them, and abused them. He kept them at arm’s length. He set them apart. The letter to the Galatians provides the vast majority of the details of the relationship.
In his attempt to convince his Gentile Galatian congregation that circumcision was not necessary for them, Paul used these predecessors to demonstrate that;
the leaders in Jerusalem ---
--- did not compel Paul’s Greek companion Titus to be circumcised (2:3),
--- acknowledged that Paul was entrusted with bringing the good news to the uncircumcised (2:7).
--- gave Paul the right hand of fellowship and granted to Paul the Gentile franchise (2:9).
But in the same group of verses in Galatians, Paul undermined these same leaders and set himself apart. Paul associated his visit with some “false brothers” (2:4), Paul made it clear that he did not “yield in subjection for even an hour” (2:5), Paul threw a little shade on the Pillars’ past (2:6), Paul made it clear that the Pillars “added nothing to me” (2:6), Paul opposed Cephas “to his face” in Antioch and accused Cephas of hypocrisy over table traditions in a confrontation precipitated by a visit from representatives sent by James (2:11-13).
In 1 Corinthians 9:1-5, Paul also framed the issue in terms of “us and them”. Paul and his associate vs. the Judean group ---
Are you not my work in the Lord? … Have we no authority to take about a believer as a wife, as do the other apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or only I and Barnabas, have we no authority not to work?
Yes, Paul recognized the Judean group as members of the faith, as all initiated believers were recognized as part of the wider family ---
And we know that God works together all things for good to those loving God, to those being called according to His purpose, because those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29)
Paul’s tribe, the members of his congregations, he called just “brothers”. They were his brothers as well as brothers of the Lord.
But Paul just couldn’t bring himself to refer to the Judean group --- to the others --- as “brothers”, that is, as his brothers. So Paul set them apart, referring to them only as “brothers of the Lord”. He had to grant them that status at least.
Us and them.
It reminds me of a scene from Game of Thrones, for those familiar with the series. Theon Greyjoy comes home after 9 years and greets his father Balon with a proposal of an alliance from Robb Stark (the Starks being long-time adversaries of Balon). Theon says that Robb thinks of him as a brother. But the bitter Balon retorts, “No, not in my hearing, you will not name him brother.”
robert j
