389 GAL 3,28 AND ITS ALLEGED RELATIONSHIP TO RABBINIC WRITINGS for the pair Jew and Greek; Gal 3,28 for the pair male and female; 1 Cor 7,22. Cf. Col 3,11 for the pair slave and free) 34. Note also that in Paul’s letters the terms Jew, Greek, slave, free, male and female, are not always associated as pairs. In several places, they occur as single words and their usages in context vary depending on the nature of the situation they address. Apart from his use of certain words as antithetical pairs, Paul’s uses of the pairs Jew and Greek, slave and free, and male and female differ yet in another respect from their usages in Judaism and in the Greco-Roman society of his time. Motivated by Paul’s gospel of the unity and oneness of all believers in Christ, Paul shows himself as an example of one who could accommodate everyone, see 1 Cor 9,19-23. In 1 Cor 9,19 he characterizes himself as a slave and a free person, and in 2 Cor 4,5, he designates himself as a slave of Christ. In Gal 4,19 Paul compares himself to a mother having birth pangs (see also 1 Thess 2,7 where speaks of himself as a nurse), and in 1 Thess 2,11 he describes himself as a father (see also 1 Cor 4,15; Phil 2,22; Phlm 10). These different applications or uses of pairs of opposites in Paul’s letters raise serious questions, not only for Paul’s use of sources in general, but also for how we should address the relationship between Gal 3,28 and the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic texts. It is true that the uses of pairs of opposites in antiquity have their origin in Hellenistic thoughts and traditions, and were adopted by both Jews and Christians, nonetheless, the specific use of the pair Jew and Greek in Gal 3,28 and its implied usages in the three blessings of gratitude found in rabbinic texts is relative to Jewish thought and experience. Considering the historical occasion or situational background of Galatians 35, we See the collections of essays in Paul in the Greco-Roman World. A 34 Handbook (ed. J.P. SAMPLEY) (Harrisburg, PA 2003). See also L.J. MARTYN, “ Apocalyptic Antinomies in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians”, NTS 31 (1985) 410 - 424 ; T. RAJAK, “The Location of Cultures in Second Temple Palestine: The Evidence of Josephus”, The Book of Acts in Its Palestinian Setting (ed. R. BAUCKHAM) (Grand Rapids, MI 1994) IV 1-14. , Here, we cannot engage in a discussion of the theme of Galatians. A 35 good many studies have been done on this topic and several theological issues have been raised. For most recent study that gives an extensive bibliographical details about the history of the research, see J. RICHES, Galatians through the Centuries (Oxford 2008). For our present purpose, it suffices to say that