New Testament Letters Against Their Greco-Roman Background
New Testament Letters Against Their Greco-Roman Background
While letters were by no means unknown in the world of the ancient Near East (see, e.g., 2 Sam. 11:14-15; Ezra 4-5), it was in the Greco-Roman world that the letter became an established and popular method of communication. Scholars have therefore turned to the ancient theory and practice of letter writing to illuminate the New Testament letters.
The typical Greco-Roman letter was composed of an address and greeting, a body, and a conclusion. 60 The address and greeting were usually very short, typically taking the form, "A to B, greetings [χαίρειν (chairein, from χαίρω, G5897].” This simple formula is found in the letter sent by the apostolic council to the churches (Acts 15:23) and in James 1:1. Some New Testament letters (Hebrews, 1 John) have no epistolary opening at all, raising questions about their genre. But most New Testament letters expand— sometimes considerably (see Rom. 1:1-7)—the address and change the simple greeting into a so-called grace-wish (e.g., all the Pauline letters, 1 and 2 Peter, and 2 John). This change is undoubtedly related to the purpose of the letters and was facilitated by the similarity between χαιρειν (chairein, “greeting”, from χαιρω, G5897) and χαρις, (charis, "grace”, G5921). Ancient letters also often opened with a health-wish (see 3 John); perhaps the New Testament penchant for putting a thanksgiving (all the pauline letters except Galatians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, and Titus) or blessing (2 Corinthians, Ephesians, 1 Peter) at the beginning of letters reflects this practice.
Several scholars have suggested that we can identify standardized formulas that were used to make the transition between the opening of the letter and its body. 61 These attempts have not, however, commanded universal assent, and it is unlikely that any formula became standard enough to justify our drawing conclusions along these lines. Attempts to identify a typical sequence in the body of the Greco-Roman letter have not been successful. 62 The varying purposes for which letters were written led, naturally enough, to many different kinds of letter bodies. However, many of the New Testament letters stand out from their contemporary secular models in length. (Cicero wrote 776 letters, ranging in length from 22 to 2,530 words; Seneca 124 letters, from 149 to 4,134 words in length; Paul averages 1,300 words in length, and Romans has 7,114.) Ancient letters tended to close with greetings, and this is typical of New Testament letters also. New Testament letters usually add a doxology or benediction.
This brief survey reveals that New Testament letters resemble ancient letters but that the similarities are of a very general nature. Indeed, most of the widespread parallels involve elements that would need to be present in any letter. There are also differences between New Testament letters and other ancient letters, and these are probably the product of Jewish influence 63 and especially the special situation and purpose of their writing. These differences are perhaps most numerous in the letters of Paul. According to David Aune, "Paul in particular was both a creative and eclectic letter writer.” 64
Classifications of ancient letters have their beginning in Adolf Deissmann’s famous distinction between "epistles” (carefully composed, public pieces of literature) and "letters” (unstudied, private communications). Deissmann put all the letters of Paul into the latter category, arguing that they bore the same signs of hasty composition and lack of literary pretensions as are found in the Greek papyri letters. 65 Deissmann’s distinction was an artificial one, and it is now generally agreed that one cannot erect such rigid distinctions between a private letter and a public one. Greco-Roman letters range from careful rhetorical masterpieces designed for wide dissemination to short, simple "send money” notes. The New Testament letters as a whole fall somewhere in the middle of this range, with some tending more toward the more literary end (e.g., Romans and Hebrews) and others more toward the common end (e.g., Philemon and 3 John). Many scholars have attempted more exact classification, often working from categories established through a study of Greco-Roman letters generally. Such studies, however, have so far not led to solid conclusions. 67 We should probably content ourselves with identifying some of the particular aspects of each individual New Testament letter and draw parallels at specific points with other Greco-Roman letters.