Naming 1 Timothy 3.16b: a 'hymn' by another name?

Lyn M. Kidson

doi:10.1017/S002868852200025X

Naming 1 Timothy 3.16b: a 'hymn' by another name?

Lyn M. Kidson

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

38 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Most scholars assume that 1 Timothy 3.16b is a hymn, or a fragment of a hymn, belonging to another context. However, Furley (1995) points out that even the ancients had difficulty categorising their poetic materials. 1 Timothy 3.16b has no metre and neither praises God nor asks him for benefits, which are the usual indicators of a hymn. This article argues that 1 Timothy 3.16b was written by the writer for insertion into the letter, and it was intended to be used in his congregation as a bulwark (1 Tim 3.15) against his opponents. 1 Timothy 3.16b more closely resembles an epigram, normally written to accompany an epiphany of a god.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	43-56
Number of pages	14
Journal	New Testament Studies
Volume	69
Issue number	1
Early online date	6 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S002868852200025X
Publication status	Published - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2022. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

1 Timothy 3.16
Christian hymns
opponents
flesh
Greek hymns

Access to Document

10.1017/S002868852200025X

Publisher version (open access)Final published version, 336 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Naming 1 Timothy 3.16b: a 'hymn' by another name?",

abstract = "Most scholars assume that 1 Timothy 3.16b is a hymn, or a fragment of a hymn, belonging to another context. However, Furley (1995) points out that even the ancients had difficulty categorising their poetic materials. 1 Timothy 3.16b has no metre and neither praises God nor asks him for benefits, which are the usual indicators of a hymn. This article argues that 1 Timothy 3.16b was written by the writer for insertion into the letter, and it was intended to be used in his congregation as a bulwark (1 Tim 3.15) against his opponents. 1 Timothy 3.16b more closely resembles an epigram, normally written to accompany an epiphany of a god.",

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Naming 1 Timothy 3.16b: a 'hymn' by another name?

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