Eli Lizorkin-Eyzenberg, Ph.D.

ISBN: 9781656187413

The Jewish Apostle Paul, Copyright © 2020 by Eliyahu Lizorkin-Eyzenberg. Cover design by Pinchas Shir. This book
contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or
use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
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written permission from the author (dr.eli.israel@gmail.com).

INTRODUCTION

Was Paul Right about Women?

Because I want to whet your appetite for the kinds of things you can expect to read in this brief study on Paul, I’ve
chosen to introduce this book with a challenge. It’s a challenge to rethink one of the basic (and most controversial)
beliefs we have about Apostle Paul – his attitude toward women in public ministry.

In 1 Cor. 14:34, the Apostle Paul’s letter states: “…the women should keep silent in the assemblies. For they are not
permitted to speakbutshould be in submission, asthe Law also says.” There are several major problems with this
statement.

First, nowhere does Jewish Law forbid women to speak in public gatherings. Paul, being a well-educated Jew, certainly
would have known this. However, there was a Roman law on the books that forbade women to speak, vote and exercise
authority over men by holding public office. (Smith, Bonnie G (2008). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World
History: 4 Volume. London: Oxford University Press, pp. 442-425.) The words of 1 Cor. 14:34 would sound far more
credible if someone else, other than the Jewish Apostle Paul, had written them. (The laws of ancient Rome law, like the
laws of ancient Athens law, profoundly disfavored women. Roman citizenship was tiered, and women could hold a form
of second-class citizenship with certain limited legal privileges and protections unavailable to non-citizens, freedmen, or
slaves, but not on par with men. Roman society was sexist and extremely patriarchal, and the law prohibited women
from voting, standing for public office, serving in most civic priesthoods or serving in any capacity in the Roman military.)

Second, on numerous occasions throughout his travels and letters, the Apostle Paul affirmed the ministry of women
(Rom 16:3-4; 1 Cor. 16:19; cf. Acts 16:11-40; 18:26). The centrality of the Shemah– the Oneness of Israel’s God (much
more about this later in this study), informed Paul’s theology when he wrote that in Christ-following assemblies there
was no place for segregation or discrimination:“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there
is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”(Gal. 3:28)

Additionally, in 1 Corinthians 11:5, Paul wrote that a woman’s head must be covered while she is engaged in speaking in
tongues or prophesying in a public assembly. The question was not, therefore,ifa woman could speak and teach,
buthowit should be done in a way that would be right before God, angels and the people of Corinth.

When we read Paul’s letters, we need to keep in mind that 1 Corinthians was not the beginning of this correspondence.
Paul wrote at least one letter to the Corinthians prior to this (1 Cor. 5:9) and the Corinthian leadership had also written
to him (1 Cor. 7:1). It is therefore highly probable that the statement in 1 Cor. 14:34-35 is a quotation from a letter that
the Corinthian male leadership had addressed to Paul. It was their proposal on how to bring order into the disruptive
practice of some women in the congregation as they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Paul, however, disagreed.

If this text is viewed as a quotation, then the challenge in 1 Cor. 14:36 that Paul brings to the male leadership makes
perfect sense:
“Was it from you (masculine) that the word of Godfirstwent forth?! Or has it come to you (masculine) only?!”

In my reading, according to Paul, the all-male leadership of the Corinthian congregation was not to forbid (women) to
speak in tongues and themselves were to be encouraged to prophesy just as the women among them already were
doing:

“Therefore, my brethren,desire earnestly toprophesy and do not forbid to speak in tongues.Butall things must be done
properly and in an orderly manner.” (1 Cor. 14:39-40)

Paul’s solution, therefore, was not to exclude half of the congregation from exercising the gifts of the Spirit, but rather to
make sure that it was done in a respectful, proper and orderly fashion. So, do I think that Paul right about women?
Absolutely!I think he was. His Corinthian opponents were not.

My Journey

I came to the study of the Apostle Paul unexpectedly. I say “unexpectedly” because while avoiding it for many years, I
finally could not put it off any longer as I was commissioned by the Israel Institute of Biblical Studies to author an online
course on the Jewish background of the New Testament. In dealing with the New Testament, one simply cannot avoid
such a towering figure as the Apostle Paul. Although I first approached the topic with fear and trepidation, due to the
well-known and widely believed intense complexity of his thought; I was totally dumbfounded when I was finally able to
understand how simple his ideas really were. In fact, it could even be argued that Apostle Paul had only one major idea
which influenced and produced all his secondary ones.

This realization comes at the moment one begins to understand Paul as a first-century apocalyptic Jewish thinker; as one
who was not unlike other thinkers both in his own period of time in history, and those still ages away from it. Even
though this may sound very strange, given the uniqueness of Paul’s encounter with Jesus, once we begin to compare his
interpretive trajectories with other Jewish interpreters, the connection between them will become abundantly clear

Don’t get me wrong, I had read his letters before (most of them many times), but like you I found large portions
confusing and at times contradictory. What is more, like most Jews who follow Jesus, at important points I found some of
what the Apostle Paul allegedly had to say disturbing and wildly counter-intuitive to my Jewish mind. This wrongly
perceived sharp difference between Apostle Paul and “Judaism” has been explained by many people in many different
ways. Eventually, all claimed (including the “New Perspective on Paul” crowd) that Paul ended up practicing a form of
religion that was distinct in some significant way from Judaism. In this brief work, I argue that absolutely everything that
the Apostle Paul wrote to the Gentile Christ-followers in his letters, (whether traditional or innovative) came not from
the outside, but from the very heart of first century Judaism. Of course, you will probably say, “The issue is a lot more
complicated than this.” I would answer: “Yes, great minds think alike. I readily agree”.

I humbly ask for several hours of your undivided attention to allow me to present to you my thoughts. In the end, no one
but you, my dear reader, will be able to decide if what I propose makes sense. Consider it. Scrutinize it. Sleep on it. All of
these are in order.

In explaining how I envisioned this writing project, I would be remiss if I did not mention that this experience was very
similar to my studies in John’s Gospel. If you have not read my book, “The Jewish Gospel of John”, you should consider
doing so soon. Just as with John’s Gospel, I also struggled with this “problematic” Apostle Paul in my mind and heart,
hoping down deep that I would never have to face the most difficult questions commonly associated with one of the
greatest Jews who has ever walked the dusty roads of the Middle East.

Disclaimer

This brief treatment is not meant to be exhaustive. In fact, it is purposely limited. It is meant to arouse in you a greater
desire to study this fascinating first-century Jewish man from a different viewpoint than that to which you are likely
accustomed. Whether I have succeeded or not, it is of course yours to judge. But with this book I continue to invite you
to come and travel with me through this fascinating journey of discovery.

Now, while I am here in the section called “Disclaimer”, please allow me the personal privilege to explain a few more
things from the start. People routinely say to me in response to my lectures and publications: “Dr. Eli, I so love to study
the Scriptures from the Jewish perspective, which is why I adore your studies and look forward to more”. I often gently
correct them by saying “did you know that there is no such thing as the Jewish perspective?” You may reply, “What is
wrong with this statement?”

Well… you see this statement wrongly assumes that Jews think in the same way about any given topic! There are many
great jokes that we have to highlight this problem! What I present in my materials is really my personal Jewish
perspective. This is how I see things. If you find my perspective convincing, I invite to adopt it as yours. But you must be
aware that another Jew may see things in another way, perhaps dramatically different from me. Those of you who know
me personally, or have followed my research for a long time, know that I far prefer clarity to agreement. There is nothing
wrong with you disagreeing with me on some or all of my points. For me, as for most Jews, the most important thing is
not that we will come to an agreement and walk into the sunset together, but that we would argue and debate each
other with deep passion, with a high level of engagement and analysis, but with abiding respect for one another.

One more thing, sooner or later you will see the influence of Mark Nanos’ works on my own. (Mark is a wonderful
human being and a great scholar of Apostle Paul within Judaism). I make references to him where I believe I gleaned the
point from his lectures or books. But it is possible (as with other scholars that have impacted my thinking) that at times I
can no longer recall whether it was my point or his/theirs.

My Promise

In this little book, I have sought to cover material that’s usually not dealt with but is fundamental to understanding Paul
as he really was. As a matter of fact, I believe that both modern Christ-followers and contemporary traditional Jews who
are interested in Jewish-Christian relations, will find this book to be a game-changer. This book will aid our ability to
make sense of this radical Jew who is called in modern times Apostle Paul.

This is my promise to you, my dear reader: If you finish reading this short book, you will discover Paul the Apostle as
someone you probably have never met before. Despite any prior experiences of confusion and bewilderment from
careful readings of Paul, the Apostle’s letters will finally begin to make near-perfect sense. There will not be any further
need to close your eyes to the texts that make no sense or have been unclear. Once you know and understand how Paul
thought (and you will soon find that it is not as complicated as “establishment” theologians make it sound), I promise
you that the thick fog in which you now read the beloved Apostle will be lifted and clarity of vision will take its place.

My dear reader, please come with me on this breath-taking journey of learning to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2
Tim. 2:15, NKJV (All texts are from the NASB unless otherwise stated).

CHAPTER ONE: WAS PAUL CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY?

A Luxury Paul Did Not Have

A young man once came to a Rabbi and said, “Rabbi, I don’t really know what to do. There is this one woman, we love
each other, but she and I are very poor so what good would it do if we get married and have kids?! We won’t be able to
help anyone and our whole life will be aimed at survival. On the other hand, there is another woman. I don’t love her,
but she really loves me and she is rich. Maybe I should marry her? Rabbi, what do you think?”

The Rabbi: “Well… That’s it. It’s decided. Marry the rich woman. It will be well”.

The man, after thinking for a month said: “Rabbi, you know… I’ve been thinking about your advice. I am not sure about it
after all. You see, if I marry this well-to-do woman, we will be able to do many good things in the community, but I will
be miserable all my life, and in the long run she too will be very unhappy. Perhaps I should after all think about marrying
the poor woman I love. What do you think?”

The Rabbi: “Have you considered converting to Christianity? I have a wonderful priest down the road to refer you to”.