Studies in Ephesians: Introductory Questions, Text- & Edition-Critical Issues, Interpretation of Texts and Themes
Theological Studies, March, 2002 by Marion L. Soards
STUDIES IN EPHESIANS: INTRODUCTORY QUESTIONS, TEXT- & EDITION-CRITICAL ISSUES, INTERPRETATION OF TEXTS AND THEMES. By Nils Alstrup Dahl. Edited by David Hellholm, Vemund Blomkvist, and Tord Fornberg. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, vol. 131. Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000. Pp. xii 548. DM 198.
Nils Alstrup Dahl, late professor emeritus of New Testament at Yale University, devoted significant energies to the study of Ephesians from at least 1933 through the time of his participation in the preparation of these essays. Major sections of these studies were done in anticipation of writing a commentary on Ephesians for the series Meyers Kritisch-Exegetischer Kommentar uber das Neue Testament. While that commentary never saw completion, fortunately David Hellholm, Vemund Blomkvist, Tord Fornberg, and their assistants brought the fruit of D.’s labors to market. This volume is an uncommonly rich collection of a few previously published pieces in both English and German along with much of D.’s otherwise unknown scholarship. The collection is not a commentary, but it presents provocative studies of crucial background materials and issues related to the interpretation of Ephesians as well as incisive treatments of significant passages. The amount and quality of work done by both D. and his editors are remarkable. All those interested in the scholarly study of early Christianity and especially Ephesians will profit greatly from the scholarship preserved and presented here.
A review cannot do justice to the richness and scholarship of this collection, but it can acquaint readers with its content and character. Introductory statements from the editors and the author explain the origin of the materials and how the work came into its published form. Then, three major sections comprise the bulk of the volume. Part I focuses on introductory questions of interpretation and includes two sizeable general essays. The initial essay of over 100 pages takes up classic topics of introduction related to Ephesians. Subheadings identify a series of reflections on (a) compositional substance, style, structure, and peculiarity of Ephesians; (b) history of interpretation of the letter; (c) relation of the letter to other early Christian writings; (d) authorship; (e) situation of the recipients and difficulties addressed; and (f) time and circumstances of the letter. D.’s work is detailed, insightful, and persuasive, but there are no surprises. This essay would have made a superb introduction to a major critical commentary. The lengthy bibliography that follows (82-105) might also have served there well. A subsequent essay at the level of general introduction treats the topic “Ephesians and Qumran.” The work was originally done in the 1960s and generally is limited to the materials available at that time. D.’s comparisons between Ephesians and the Qumran writings occur at eight levels: style and sentence construction, dualism, election and predestination, the nature of the community, the knowledge of the community, the understanding of “spirit,” the ethics of the community, and eschatology and hope. Though obviously dated (except for updates in footnotes), the work is a model of comparative study and is a notable contribution to the field in terms of D.’s findings and method.
Part 2, “Ephesians in Texts and Editions of the Corpus Paulinum,” is the most arcane segment. Five separate essays consider the letter in relation to: the Muratorian Canon, the place of Paul’s letters in the context of the ancient Church, whether the origins of ancient prologues to Paul’s preserved letters were Marcionite, the character of ancient Pauline bilingual (Greek-Latin) texts, and the Euthalian Apparatus and affiliated “argumenta.” These efforts at considering ways that Paul’s letters were preserved, presented, and elucidated in the life of the ancient Church provide valuable insights concerning the Wirkungsgeschichte of Ephesians.
Part 3 offers ten essays on the interpretation of particular texts and themes in Ephesians. The essays range from an exegetical analysis of the proem, to a comparative study of clothing metaphors in similar ancient texts, to a theological reflection on the concept of baptism, to an incisive summary concerning the interpretation of Ephesians “then and now.” This third part demonstrates the span and gravity of D.’s interpretive acumen and hints at what might have been, had D. produced a full critical commentary.
The essays are followed by addenda: acknowledgment of the original publication of each piece; a supplementary bibliography completes another previously published bibliography of D.’s works; a series of indexes gives information on passages cited from ancient writings and lists modern authors, names, and subjects in both English and German.
Assessing the book is difficult. The value of the lengthy bibliographies throughout the work is questionable; complete bibliographic information in the footnotes would have served as well and conserved space. Despite the editors’ painstaking efforts to update certain pieces, some essays are relics, primarily because they were produced in relationship to particular junctures in the evolution of scholarship. Yet, the careful, creative methods and judicious judgments preserved here are evidence of D.’s abilities
david soard