04_Biblica_Aletti_Layout 1 08/07/13 12:56 Pagina 398 398 JEAN-NOËL ALETTI can see that Paul’s goal is to communicate not so much moral instruc- tions but rather the extraordinary power of the gospel. In short, after the long distancing perspective, which goes from Gal 1,11 to 5,1 and treats the question at a deeper and more radical level, Paul is able to return to the concrete situation and express his disapproval of whoever is thinking about being circumcised or al- ready has been. As for the unit Gal 5,2-12, in which Paul gives an explicit opinion on circumcision, it proceeds in two subunits, vv. 2-6 and 7-12. In the first, Paul takes up the situation in Galatia and the resolutions anticipated by the area’s believers along with their consequences (vv. 2-4); he then contrasts these plans with the situ- ation in Christ (vv. 5-6). In the second, he portrays the opponents and stigmatizes their influence on the Galatians: if he sees that all will end positively for them (those who will change their opinion), he nevertheless announces the rejection of the agitators. Paul’s way of proceeding can thus be diagrammed: the concrete problem 1,6-10 5,2-12 the distancing perspective 1,11 to 5,1 If I have laid out Paul’s way of proceeding in Galatians, it is in order to show that the concrete problem was that of the circumcision of the ethnic Christians and not questions concerning dietary and cul- tic regulations; furthermore, it is the distancing perspective that has allowed him to radicalize the problem and to show that if the ethnic Christians yielded to the Judaizers, the effects would be devastating. II. The Composition of the Exhortations of Gal 5,13-25 Thus, the exhortative part of the letter goes from Gal 5,13 to 6,10 and includes three units that are easily identifiable thanks to the thematic changes and to their composition: 5,13-15 7, 5,16-25 and 5,26–6,10. Some commentators connect 5,26 with 5,16-25 but others with 6,1-10. Because Gal 6,1 is not syntactically linked to A concentrically composed unit: a1 exhortation (5,13), b motivations 7 (5,14), and a2 resumption of the exhortation (5,15). © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati