Hebrew of Hebrews

Today in church, the sermon was on Philippians 3.  The preacher suggested that when Paul lists “Hebrew of Hebrews” as characterising his former way of life, he was not simply restating his Jewish pedigree (of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin), but saying something about his culture: He was not someone whose primary language and culture were, in his own mind, Hellenistic – but rather, following his parents, his first language and cultural orientation were intentionally Hebrew (/Aramaic).

Of course you can’t divide “Judaism” completely from “Hellenism” in Paul’s time – but I think they were distinguishable – and it seems reasonable that someone who, as a Pharisee, followed a Zealot-like pursuit of Judaism-cleansing would have intentionally maintained those cultural elements that he saw as being Jewish.  I recall reading in a biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones that at a young age he decided “I’m a Welshman now!” and began using Welsh at home rather than English.  It doesn’t seem like a stretch to view Paul in a similar way: Intentionally Hebrew.

All of this makes me wonder if the current focus in New Testament studies on Greco-Roman rhetorical criticism may be going too far…  I don’t doubt that it bears some fruit: Obviously Paul knew and used the Greek language, and certainly seems to have made use of contemporary rhetorical devices… but as for the macro-structure of his epistles, I wonder if we might find even greater fruit by paying rigorous and creative attention to Paul’s Hebrew background – including rhetorical movements suggested by the Hebrew Scriptures and early Judaism.  I suggested this to a Jewish student of the Hebrew Scriptures at the University of Be’er-Sheva, and their response was very interesting: “The reason New Testament scholarship neglects a nuanced study of Paul’s Hebrew background may be because New Testament students can’t be bothered learning Hebrew!”…. Ouch!!

But of course the study of the Hebrew Scriptures and Judaism isn’t enough to bring us to the heart of Paul’s thought – for that, we need to pay attention to what he claims was his most significant moment: His encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.  Perhaps when we pay careful attention to Paul’s use of Greco-Roman language and devices, to his determined background in Pharisaic “Hebraism”, and his understanding of his encounter with the risen Christ, we will be more attuned to the rhetorical movement of his letters.