384 GESILA NNEKA UZUKWU a) Direct Connection It is difficult to argue that there is a connection, literary or thematic, between Gal 3,28 and the three expressions of gratitude found in rabbinic texts, since by issue of structure, theological theme, as well as historical context, these two traditions differ substantially. Starting with the issue of chronology, we have seen that the Tosefta and the Talmuds all postdate Galatians. The later dating of these Jewish texts calls into question how Gal 3,28 could possibly reflect the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic texts, when in actual fact these Jewish texts all postdate Galatians by several centuries. The question which might be worth considering is whether Paul may have had access to the Vorlage of the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic sources. In this case there may have existed a source, written or oral, that accounts for the formula in Gal 3,28 and was later incorporated into the rabbinic writings under study. Since we have very little knowledge of Judaism in the first century and of other ancient writings that may have been available to Paul, we cannot offer an adequate answer to this question. Nevertheless, it is very much unlikely to suggest that there is a direct connection between Gal 3,28 and the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic writings given the fact that there is no direct or indirect evidence of the three blessings of gratitude in pre-rabbinic writings. In addition, the question of the extent of continuity and discontinuity between Judaism before and Judaism after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE has been a complex one. There has been debate about what exactly remained, what changed and what was replaced in Jewish tradition after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. Also debated is the question of to what extent have the interactive influence of Hellenistic and Christian traditions shaped rabbinic Judaism and what was creatively unique of rabbinic Judaism 24. These, of course, are For scholarly discussions on these issues, see B. GERHARDSSON, Memory 24 and Manuscript. Oral Tradition and Written Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity with Tradition and Transmission in Early Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI 1998). See also H. WANSBROUGH (ed.), Jesus and the Oral Gospel Tradition (JSNTSS 64; Sheffield 1991). In this collection of essays, we find scholarly contributions to questions concerning the evolution of ancient traditions : from oral traditions to written traditions of the Old Testament,