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The Voices of Scripture: Citations and Personifications in Paul
The Voices of Scripture: Citations and Personifications in Paul
The Voices of Scripture: Citations and Personifications in Paul
3 (2010) 419–432
joseph r. dodson
ouachita baptist university
This article investigates Paul’s use of personifications to cite Scripture and exam-
ines the differences between these citations and more-traditional formulas. After
surveying current categories used to understand Scripture citations and after
defining personification, this article explores the three most developed personifica-
tions Paul uses to quote the OT. It argues that these citations do not fit aptly into
any of the current categories proposed by Francis Watson or by Vernon Robbins
and, therefore, suggests that a new category be introduced.
Key Words: Paul, Scripture citation, personification, Rom 7:7, Rom 10:5, Gal 3:8,
the NT use of the OT
Introduction
This article investigates Paul’s use of personifications—namely, γραφη,
νομος, and δικαιοσυνη—to cite Scripture. Such a strategy to introduce OT
Scripture is unusual in the NT; “It is written,” the “prophet”1 or the “Lord
says” are more common formulas used by NT writers to cite OT Scripture.
Scripture (Graphe) is often fulfilled, but nowhere in the LXX and only oc-
casionally in the NT does she actually speak.2 However, in Gal 3:8, Paul
not only gives voice to Graphe; he says that she foresees and prophesies.
Further, outside of the writings of Paul, the only biblical record of the Law
(Nomos) speaking is in 4 Maccabees;3 however, in Romans, Paul personifies
Law as what slips in the back door, rules over people, and even speaks to
Author’s note: This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the British New Testament
Conference held at the University of Durham, September 5, 2008. I am grateful for the insights
offered by the participants. All translations in this article are mine.
1. E.g., Moses (Rom 9:15, 10:19; Mark 7:10; Acts 3:22), Isaiah (Rom 10:16, 15:12; Matt 4:14;
John 12:39), David (Rom 4:6, 11:9; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:25, 34); cf. Hosea (Rom 9:25).
2. E.g., John 7:38, 42; 19:37; 1 Tim 5:18; Jas 2:23, 4:5.
3. Cf. Matthew and John, where the Law prophesies (Matt 11:13) and judges (John 7:51).
Cf. also Contempl. 78, where Philo describes how the Law is viewed by the Therapeutae: “For
to these people the whole Law book (ἡ νομοθεσία) seems to resemble a living creature with
the literal ordinances for its body and the invisible mind, laid up in its wording, for its soul.”
In later Jewish writings, the question is asked, “What did Torah say?” This could point to a
tradition during the time of Paul. Further, Plato gives voice to Nomoi in Crito 50a–54d. For
more on this, see my ‘Powers’ of Personification (BZNW 161; Berlin: de Gruyter, 2008), 148–50.
4. Although scholars tend to conclude that Paul’s use of Righteousness here is merely in
line with Greco-Roman literature, they do not give exact parallels, if any at all [e.g., Dietrich-
Alex Koch, Die Schrift als Zuege des Evangeliums (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1986), 25–27; Rudolf
Bultmann, Der Stil der paulinischen Predigt und die kynisch-stoische Diatribe (2nd ed.; Göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1984), 87–88; C. E. B. Cranfield, The Epistle to the Romans (ICC; 2 vols.;
Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1986), 522; and D. Francois Tolmie, Persuading the Galatians (WUNT
190; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 113–14. Ep. Arist. 155 (“So we are exhorted through Scrip-
ture”) differs from the citations given by Righteousness, Nomos, and Graphe in that they are
the direct speakers of Scripture rather than the means through which Scripture is spoken (cf.
Robert Jewett, Romans [Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2007], 310–11).
5. When personified, these terms and their synonyms will be capitalized in this article.
6. Francis Watson, Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 2004), 43–
47. For more on the patterns of Paul’s introductory formulas and lack thereof, see Christopher
D. Stanley, Paul and the Language of Scripture (SNTSMS 74; Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992), 253.
Dodson: Citations and Personifications in Paul 421
anonymous citation; that is to say, the reference does not require the au-
dience to recognize the text cited or the person who originally spoke the
words. Due to the formula’s anonymity, Watson argues, “All that is neces-
sary is an understanding of the concept of a normative body of writings,
and an acceptance that the words cited are to be found in it—somewhere.”7
Therefore, the standard formula underlines the representative character of
Scripture—Scripture as a whole.
In contrast, Watson proposes that the alternative formulas, the attribu-
tions of a citation to a specific author, highlight the individuality and dis-
tinctiveness of a text. Therefore, in this category, knowledge of the original
context or the author or both are indeed important—if not essential—for
understanding the author’s line of reasoning. Furthermore, rather than the
completed “written character of the text,” which the traditional formula
underscores, the alternative formula stresses its spoken character, which
makes the statement contemporary and immediate. For example, rather
than the static nature of “it is written,” the alternative formulas infer that
“in what they wrote, Moses, David, and Isaiah still speak here and now.”8
As spoken word, these authors address the audience in the present; whereas
the written word confronts them in a definite form handed down to the
audience from the past.9 Watson briefly mentions that Scripture itself can
speak to introduce a citation, and he simply places cases such as these in
the category of the alternative formulas without any further explanation.10
In another relevant monograph, Exploring the Texture of Texts, Robbins
provides three more categories by which to understand the quoting of OT
Scriptures—recitation, recontextualization and reconfiguration.11 In recita-
tion, the author quotes Scriptures with only minor variations, if any at all.
Within the recitation category, there is the employment of a chreia, a brief
statement attributing the saying to that person or text in order to evoke an
“explicit image” of a person or text outside of its own (e.g., Mark 7:10: For
Moses said, “Honor your father and mother”). When variations do occur
in the text, most often it is either to polish the text or to make the citation
fit better grammatically.12
In recontextualization, the author presents the OT passage without a
chreia or any other implication that the words are a citation. In contrast to
Scriptures that “stand written,” the author merely works the OT verses
into the current context. For instance, in 1 Pet 2:3, the author quotes Ps 34:8
without a chreia: “Like newborn babes, crave pure spiritual milk . . . for you
have tasted that the Lord is good.”13 Finally, in reconfiguration, the author
makes “a latter event ‘new’ in relation to a previous event.” The former
event becomes a foreshadowing as the new event now “outshines” it.14 An
example of reconfiguration can be seen in the reworking of Isa 53:4–5 in
1 Pet 2:22–24: “Christ suffered for you . . . he committed no sin . . . no guile
was found on his lips . . . by his wounds you have been healed.”15
Before looking to see whether or not Paul’s use of personifications to
cite OT passages fits well into any of these categories, personification and
personification citations should be defined.
Definition of Personification
and Personification Citation
Personification is the attribution of human characteristics to any inanimate ob-
ject, abstract concept, or impersonal being.16 Therefore, a personification cita-
tion is simply the attribution of speech, namely the citing of OT Scripture,
to any inanimate object, abstract concept or impersonal being. A personi-
fication can be so simple that it scarcely has any personality (for example,
weeping willow), or it can be as complex as an idea that has been deified
(for example, Lady Providence).17 Moreover, personifications can serve as
rhetorical devices on the spectrum between these two extremes.18 It is pos-
sible, then, that in some cases, a personification citation will fall on the
side of the scale where the personification has little personality, so com-
monly used that a comparison is no longer realized.19 If this is the case,
the formula resembles a dead metaphor; for example, today, people rarely
intend to personify Scripture when they use the phrase, “the Bible says.”
(Of course, what one now considers commonplace may have stirred the
imagination of the original audience.)
Nevertheless, this article shall focus on the three personification cita-
tions that are the most developed in Paul’s letters, namely, Law in Rom 7:7,
Righteousness in Rom 10:5, and Writing in Gal 3:8. Since this article only
covers these three personifications, the conclusions will be preliminary.20
This article will now look at each of these three personification citations
in turn.
Bertrand H. Bronson, “Personification Reconsidered,” in New Light on Dr. Johnson (ed. Frederick
W. Hilles; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959), 199–201.
19. Emma Stafford, Worshipping Virtues (London: Duckworth, 2000), 2. Cf. Harold L. Ax-
tell, The Deification of Abstract Ideas in Roman Literature and Inscriptions (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1907), 86; Bronson, “Personification Reconsidered,” 196; Bloomfield, “Gram-
matical Approach,” 164.
20. Therefore, this paper invites further inquiry into less-developed personification cita-
tions that are beyond its scope: e.g. (in Pauline literature), Rom 4:3; 9:17; 10:11; 11:2; 1 Cor 9:8;
14:34; Gal 4:30; and (elsewhere) John 19:24, 37, and Jas 2:23; 4:5.
21. See E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law and the Jewish People (London: SCM, 1983), 151 and
Heikki Räisänen, Paul and the Law (2nd ed.; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1987), xi–xxxi; see also
E. P. Sanders, “Paul,” in Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context (ed. John M. G. Barclay and
John Sweet; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 117.
22. Of these personifications, there are times when Nomos represents Scripture in gen-
eral; at other times, it stands for the Law of Sinai. For example, in 3:19–20, Nomos encompasses,
but is not limited to, the catena of references Paul just listed. See James D. G. Dunn, Romans
1–8 (WBC 38A; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1988), 152; Jewett, Romans, 264; C. K. Barrett, The
Epistle to the Romans (New York: Harper & Row, 1957), 70; and Leander E. Keck, Romans (Nash-
ville: Abingdon, 2005), 99. However, in 5:20 and 7:1–6, Nomos stands for the Law of Sinai; see
Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996), 346 n. 149,
411; Keck, Romans, 154.
23. All translations in this article are mine.
424 Bulletin for Biblical Research 20.3
Furthermore, in this verse, the apostle employs a verb that emphasizes the
act of speech; rather than the more generic λέγω (“I say”), Paul uses λαλέω
(“I speak”). Whereas λέγω places emphasis on what is spoken, λαλέω focuses
on the act of speaking.24 That is to say, having given an extensive list of
verses to prove his point, Paul changes his focus from what is written to
what is being spoken and, consequently, by whom it is spoken. Thereby,
Paul expresses “the notion that the Law ‘speaks’ directly to its adherents.”25
Moreover, with the verb λαλέω combined with the present-tense verb, the
stress is on the perpetual act of speaking, so that Nomos continues to con-
vict people every time he opens his mouth (cf. 2 Cor 3:15, Rom 3:23).26 In
contrast to 7:7, where the personification introduces a citation, Paul here
uses the personification of the Law in 3:19–20 to refer back to a catena of
OT citations just quoted and to apply these for his current audience.
The second reason one should take special notice of Nomos speaking in
7:7 is because Nomos has been personified throughout Romans and is even
personified in the immediate context, 7:1–6. In chaps. 5–6, Paul has referred
to Sin and Death as they who lord (κυριεύω) and rule (βασιλεύω) over all
unredeemed humanity (5:14, 17, 21; 6:9, 12, 14). Already, the apostle has
equated the lordship of Sin with being under Law (6:14) and has personi-
fied the Law as slipping into the world to increase trespass (5:20). In 7:1–6,
Paul goes so far as to personify Law as a lord itself, seemingly allied with
Sin and Death in order to enslave humanity.27
The third reason the personification should be seen as more developed
here is that Paul uses an imperfect verb, which signifies “protracted action
in past time.”28 Rather than a simple aorist- or present-tense verb—which
one might expect with a chreia—Paul uses ἔλεγεν, the imperfect, to stress
that the Law was speaking (or, taken as an ingressive imperfect, “as soon
as the Law began speaking”).
In 7:7, the voice of Nomos restates the principle from 3:20—Nomos
gives people knowledge of Sin. In chap. 3, Paul demonstrated this fact with
his litany of quotations from the OT followed by the personification of
Nomos. Here, however, the apostle places the tenth commandment directly
into the mouth of Nomos.29 Rather than saying, “I would not have known
the Law had Moses not written” or “had it not been written,” Paul gives
voice to the Law: “Nomos started saying, ‘Do not covet.’ ”
In chap. 3, Paul says Nomos speaks to condemn humanity as sinners;
now Paul has Nomos speak so that Nomos will not be condemned as sin.
Here it is not humanity on trial as before; now it is the Law—who works
wrath in 4:15, who slips in the back door in 5:21 and who lords over those
who have not died with Christ in 7:1–6. Before, Nomos spoke to say that he
was not the way to salvation; now Nomos speaks to argue that he is not Sin.
It is as if the apostle says, “Nomos is not Sin, for Nomos tells you not to sin.”
This passage stands in contrast to at least a couple of other instances
where personifications are employed to cite OT Scripture; however, in
these cases the personification citations are used to argue that the Law
helps people overcome sin. Rather than the Law’s voice exciting sin in its
audience as in Rom 7, the author of 4 Maccabees and Philo give voice to
Nomos and Logos respectively to conclude that the voice of Torah keeps
the audience from sin. In 4 Macc 2:5–6, the author shows that when No-
mos recites the tenth commandment, its voice gives the hearer the ability
to obey:
Therefore, Nomos says, “Do not covet the wife of your neighbor nor
anything that is his.” And yet since Nomos had said “Do not covet,”
I wish I could persuade you that reason is all the more able to control
desires.30
So also, Philo has Logos quote the Law in Leg. 3:118:
Since Holy Logos knows the power of the impulse of the passion for
both anger and lust, he bridles each of them by setting reason as their
chariot-driver and their guide. And therefore he [Logos] speaks.31
seen in contrast to the aorist; whereas “the aorist takes a snapshot of the action,” the imperfect
“takes a motion picture, portraying the action as it unfolds” [Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar
beyond the Basics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, 541].
29. The terms ἐπιθυμία and ὀρέξις are often used in very negative contexts in Judaism.
The former recalls the tenth commandment in Exod 20:17, which became a summary of the
Decalogue (cf. Rom 7:9), as well as the cause of humanity’s fall (Vita 19:3). See also Sir 18:30;
Philo, Spec. 4:84. Cf. Plato, Tim. 70A; Phaed 82A.
30. Gr.: λέγει γοῦν ὁ νόμος οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πλησίον σου ούδὲ` ὅσα τῶι πλησίον
σού ἐστιν. καίτοι ὅτε μὴ ἐπιθυμεῖν εἴρηκεν ἡμᾶς ἡμᾶς ὁ νόμος πολὺ πλέον πείσαιμ᾽ ἂν ὑμας ὅτι τῶν
ἐπιθυμιῶν κρατεῖν δύναται ὁ λογισμός κτλ.
31. Gr.: Εἰδὼς γοῦν ὁ ἱερὸς λόγος ὅσον ἡ ἐκατέρου δὺναται ὁρμὴ πάθους, θυμοῦ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίας,
ἐκάτερον ἐπιστομίζει, ἡνίοχον καὶ κυβερνήτην ἐφιστὰς τὸν λόγον. καὶ πρότερον περὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ,
426 Bulletin for Biblical Research 20.3
34. For more on the context, see Otfried Hofius, “Das Evangelium und Israel: Erwägun-
gen zu Röm 9–11,” ZTK 83 (1986): 300–310.
35. Both citations are in the present tense: Moses writes and Dikaiosyne speaks so that
both categories are contemporary realities; that is to say, Paul suggests that one can live under
what Moses says or what Dikaiosyne proclaims (cf. 2 Cor 3:3–18).
428 Bulletin for Biblical Research 20.3
Rather than just citing Scripture, then, Paul has Righteousness quote Scrip-
ture and even modify the original text so that “its latent sense is alleged
to be identical with the manifest claims of his own proclamation.”36 Such
is the nature of Paul’s appeal to authority that to reject his gospel is to dis-
agree with Righteousness herself, who correctly interprets Scripture and
proclaims truth.37
Once again, this quotation is anonymous (as in Watson’s standard for-
mula) in that it does not cite the original author. In fact, the citation is
placed over against the original author. As with the alternative formulas,
the word is being spoken in the present. It is a judgment call as to whether
this falls into Robbin’s recitation category, because, although the recita-
tion has only minor variations in words, the omitted words are significant.
Further, the citation does have a chreia; yet, the chreia does not necessar-
ily refer the audience back to a sacred text. For a person unfamiliar with
36. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (London: Yale University Press, 1989),
82–83. “Although it appears that the quoting author is momentarily stepping aside and letting
the source speak for itself, the author’s act of selecting and embedding a quotation into a new
rhetorical context actually amounts to a substantial deconstruction and reconstruction of the
original text” (Stanley, Arguing with Scripture, 34).
37. Similarly, Hays argues that Paul can read “the ancient Scripture text as a trope, which
speaks by indirection about his own message and ministry,” and sometimes even manipulates
the original text so that “its latent sense is alleged to be identical with the manifest claims of
his own proclamation” [Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, 82–83]. Cf. also M. Jack
Suggs, “The Word Is Near You: Rom 10:6–10 within the Purpose of the Letter,” in Christian
History and Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), 304–8; Suggs argues
that Paul’s formulation reflects Sophia in Sir 24:5 and Bar 3:29–30. So also, Hays believes that
“Paul echoes the idea that the covenant depends on grace from start to finish rather than on
Israel’s own righteousness. Echoing Job, Baruch, and Sirach, Paul hints at the notion that the
word of God spoken in the Law is identical with the Wisdom of God . . . not as Torah, as Israel’s
sages affirmed, but in the person of Jesus Messiah,” 82.
Dodson: Citations and Personifications in Paul 429
Most scholars argue that, for Paul, this prophecy by Graphe is a mere fig-
ure of speech.42 For example, Franz Mussner concludes that the phrase
“Scripture says” is just an expression.43 Hans-Joachim Eckstein admits that
divine foresight is expressed in the Scripture in question” (Longenecker, Galatians, 115). See
also Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians, 138.
44. Hans-Joachim Eckstein, Verheissung und Gesetz (WUNT; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck,
1996), 108.
45. Gottlob Schrenk, “γράφω, γραφή, κτλ,” TDNT 1:754. Michel is content to say Scripture
“is endowed with divine authority” (Otto Michel, “συγκλειω,” TDNT 7:746).
46. Strack and Billerbeck, Kommentar, 3:538.
47. Tolmie, Persuading the Galatians, 113–14. Albeit, Tolmie does not say what he means
by over-interpretation, nor does he give reasons why he see this as one. Perhaps his comment
is directed at those who go so far as Betz, who argues that Graphe in Gal 3:22 is “an entity
working almost like Fate” (Betz, Galatians, 175).
48. Should one read all the usages of Graphe as “practically equivalent” to God based
on the similarities between Gal 3:22 and Rom 9:17? For instance, Eckstein argues that since
Gal 3:8 is parallel to Gal 3:22, which is parallel to Rom 11:32, then Gal 3:8 should be defined
by Rom 11:32 (Eckstein, Verheissung und Gesetz, 108). In light of different contexts and possible
development in Paul’s thought, one should be careful in reaching this conclusion too quickly.
Even so, Romans scholars conclude that the instances in which Graphe speaks in Romans
merely imply that “Gott spricht” (Ulrich Wilckens, Der Brief an die Römer 6–11 [EKK; 3 vols.;
Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1978], 200 n. 881). See also Dunn, Romans, 2:553. Cf.
Jewett, Romans, 310 n. 46 and Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, 208–9.
49. So also, within this contrast, Paul again calls forth Graphe as his witness, as one who
“embodies and perpetuates the promise, so that the good news . . . is still preached by the
Scripture to those who read it or hear it read” (Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, 156).
50. However, since Paul presents the words of Graphe as a prophecy, he considers that
which she spoke in the past to have present implications for his audience.
Dodson: Citations and Personifications in Paul 431
audience in a definite form handed down from the past. In this chreia, be-
cause Scripture recites the verse, the original speaker (that is, God) is not
highlighted; but the mention of Abraham keeps the verse in its original
context. Reconfiguration occurs in that Scripture speaks rather than God.
Conclusion
Overall, when investigating Paul’s use of personifications to introduce OT
citations, one can see that these instances do not fit properly in either of
Watson’s categories (that is, standard formula or the alternative formu-
las) or into Robbins’s categories for OT citations (that is, recitation, recon-
figuration or recontextualization). Therefore, another category should be
introduced—one in which Scripture is cited by an inanimate object,51 ab-
stract concept, or impersonal being—namely, a “personification-citation”
category.
From what has been seen so far, in the personification-citation cat-
egory (like Watson’s alternative formulas), the stress is on the voice of
the personification—that it “speaks” rather than that it was “written.”
However, in the citation’s exclusion of the original speaker (as in Watson’s
standard-formula category), the stress is on the representative character of
Scripture—Scripture as a whole rather than an individual human speaker.
Furthermore, the personification formula can involve recitation, re-
configuration, and recontextualization. As with the recitation category, in
the personification citation there is a chreia; but again, its chreia refers to a
personification speaking rather than to something written by the original
author or specific text. Despite having a chreia, with the omission of the
original author or context, the personification citation can involve recon-
textualization (as with Nomos) as well as reconfiguration (as with Dikaio-
syne). With this article as a starting point, one can now go on to investigate
other personification citations to see what else Scripture has to say.52