312 Joel White a) 1 Thess 4,13-17 We begin with Paul’s description of Christ’s coming in 1Thess 4,13-17. Already in 1923 A. Deissmann argued that Paul’s use of parousiva in v. 15 has the same connotation as its Latin equivalent adventus in coins where it describes the visits of kings and emperors (29). A few years later E. Peterson’s argued that, in using ajpavnthsi" in v. 17, Paul had in mind the Hellenistic connotations of the term, specifically in those contexts where it was used to describe the civic welcome accorded imperial visitors (30). Peterson’s analysis was so influential that the word has come to be viewed as a terminus technicus for such occasions. Harrison maintains, for instance, that “[t]he word was reserved for the civic welcome accorded a visiting dignitary or the triumphant entry of a new ruler into the capital of a kingdom” (31). This interpretation of the background behind 1 Thess 4,13-17 has often been assumed without argument (32), and post-colonial readings take it for granted that, by alluding to it, “Paul is critiquing the imperial propaganda of his day” (33). As attractive as this interpretation seems at first glance, it falls prey to a basic exegetical fallacy by assuming that, since the terms ajpavnthsi" and parousiva carry imperial connotations in certain contexts, those connotations are operative in all other contexts in which they occur. Perhaps sensing this, some scholars have begun to question the longstanding and often uncritical allegiance to the views of Deissmann and Peterson (34). After all, neither of the terms are prominent in Roman imperial literature (35), whereas both terms often occur in decidedly non-Imperial, even banal contexts, in the NT (for ajpavnthsi" see Acts 28,15; for parousiva see 1 Cor 16,17; 2 Cor 7,6, Phil 1,26). (29) Cf. A. DEISSMANN, Licht vom Osten. Das Neue Testament und die neuentdeckten Texte der hellenistisch-römischen Welt (Tübingen 1923) 314-320. (30) Cf. E. PETERSON, “Die Einholung des Kurios (1 Thess. IV.17)”, ZST 7 (1929-1930) 682-702. (31) HARRISON, “Thessaloniki”, 85 (emphasis mine). (32) Cf. F.F. BRUCE, 1 & 2 Thessalonians (WBC 45; Waco, TX 1982) 102- 103; C.A. WANAMAKER, The Epistles to the Thessalonians. A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids, MI 1990) 175. (33) HARRISON, “Thessaloniki”, 88. (34) Cf. J. PLEVNIK, Paul and the Parousia (Peabody 1997) 4-10, 89-90, who draws heavily on J. DUPONT, ZÁN CRISTWI. L’union avec le Christ suivant saint Paul (Louvain 1952). (35) Cf. P. OAKES, “Remapping the Universe: Paul and the Emperor in 1 Thessalonians and Philippians”, JSNT 27 (2005) 317.