Benjamin Sargent, «Chosen through Sanctification (1 Pet 1,2 and 2 Thess 2,13). The Theology or Diction of Silvanus?», Vol. 94 (2013) 117-120
This short study re-examines the theory, dominant for much of the 20th Century, that Silvanus acted as an amanuensis in the composition of 1 Peter. The phrase e(n a(giasmw=| pneu/matoj appears only in 1 Pet 1,2 and 2 Thess 2,13 in the New Testament, both of which have a stated association with Silvanus. In addition to this, the phrase is theologically incongruous, bearing no clear relation to the broader theology of either epistle.
Chosen through Sanctification (1 Pet 1,2 and 2 Thess 2,13)
The Theology or Diction of Silvanus?
The literary relationship between the First Epistle of Peter and the
Thessalonian letters has long been noted and has had varying degrees of
significance attributed to it 1. The thesis that these texts share a common
relationship to Silvanus/Silas as an amanuensis was made popular in En-
glish language scholarship by Selwyn’s commentary on 1 Peter in the
1950s 2. Whilst most recent commentators do not find sufficient evidence
to support the notion of Silvanus as the basis for a literary relationship
between these texts 3, there is some limited theological and verbal simi-
larity which still calls for an explanation. Perhaps the most striking ex-
ample of this theological similarity is the unusual association of “electionâ€
and “the sanctification of the Spirit†in 1 Pet 1,1-2 and 2 Thess 2,13.
Both texts feature the identical phrase á¼Î½ á¼Î³Î¹Î±ÏƒÂµá¿· πνεϵατος and em-
ploy this as a dative of agency expressing the means of “electionâ€, or
rather, the process by which the addressees came to have the status of cho-
sen people 4. This distinction is necessary since 1 Pet 1,1-2 relates this
“sanctification†to the title á¼ÎºÎ»ÎµÎºÏ„οῖς παÏεπιδήµοις, whilst 2 Thess 2,13
Following W. BORNEMANN, “Der erste Petrusbrief – eine Taufrede des
1
Silvanusâ€, ZNW 19 (1920) 143-165.
E.G. SELWYN, The First Epistle of St Peter. The Greek Text with Intro-
2
duction, Notes and Essays (London 1958) 9-17 and 372-373. Cf. L. GOPPELT,
Der erste Petrusbrief (MeyerK 12:1; Göttingen 1978) 347-348.; J.N.D.
KELLY, The Epistles of Peter and of Jude (BNTC; London 1969) 215.
Principally because 1 Pet 5,12 could also refer to Silvanus as the bearer of
3
the Epistle in a manner similar to Ign. Phil. 11,2. J. R. MICHAELS, 1 Peter (WBC
49; Nashville, TN 1988) lxii and 306-307; P.J. ACHTEMEIER, 1 Peter. A Commen-
tary on First Peter (Hermeneia; Philadelphia, PA 1996) 349-351; N. BROX, Der
erste Petrusbrief (EKKNT 21; Zurich 1986) 240-243; R. FELDMEIER, The First
Letter of Peter. A Commentary on the Greek Text (Waco, TX 2008) 38 and E.R.
RICHARDS, “Silvanus was not Peter’s Secretary: Theological Bias in Interpret-
ing διὰ Σιλουανοῦ … ἔγÏαψα in 1 Peter 5:12â€, JETS 43:2 (2000) 417-432.
Cf. J.G. GOURBILLON, “La Première Epître de Pierreâ€, Evangile 50 (1963) 17,
and T. SELAND, Strangers in the Light. Philonic Perspectives on Christian Iden-
tity in 1 Peter (BIS 76; Leiden 2005) 24-25.
K.H. JOBES, 1 Peter (BECNT; Grand Rapids, MI 2005) 69 with the ma-
4
jority of commentators takes this in 1 Pet 1,2 to be an instrumental dative.
J.B. GREEN, 1 Peter (THNTC; Grand Rapids, MI 2007) 19 takes á¼Î½ á¼Î³Î¹Î±ÏƒÂµá¿·
as a locative dative.
BIBLICA 94.1 (2013) 117-120
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