377 GAL 3,28 AND ITS ALLEGED RELATIONSHIP TO RABBINIC WRITINGS between the two sources in question. Second, the historical and so- cial circumstances surrounding the origin of the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek texts and the three blessings of grat- itude found in rabbinic literature are strikingly different. In our ex- amination of the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek writings and their alleged relationship with Gal 3,28, we noted that there are two variant forms of the sayings (one of the sayings was attributed to Socrates and the other to Plato respectively) and our detailed comparison of these two sayings helped us in explaining the different emphasis of the sources, their function, meaning as well as their implications for understanding the view of women in antiquity. Compared with the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek texts, the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic writings have their independent historical, social and religious sit- uations. c) Relation between the Greek expressions of gratitude and the rabbinic blessings Given the above observations, the question arises as to what kind of relationship the three expressions found in Greek writings share with the three blessings found in rabbinic literature? Or rather, how can the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek texts provide the original setting or the background of the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic literature? In our view, there are two answers to these questions: the first is a possible influence of a cultural context. It may be considered that the structure and content of the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic writings were influenced by the widespread culture of the time, i.e., the tradition of using pairs of opposites to divide and identify realities. Or it could be the tradition of using three major pairs of opposites to view the human person from the perspective of what is perceived as good or bad. In our study of the three expressions of gratitude found in Greek writings, we noted that the idea of what is good or bad shaped the meaning of the three sayings attributed to Socrates and to Plato respectively. We also noted that in Gal 3,28 there were three pairs of opposites. But our view was that the way in which Paul employs the pairs of opposites found in Gal 3,28 is uniquely Pauline. Different structures of these alleged three pairs of opposites were found in 1