kiana
(Kiana)
#1
218 christina m. kreinecker
phrases or ideas from the “original” author are present but used or
integrated differently in the letter. although the imitating author under-
stands characteristics of his “model” and manages to adopt them, he uses
these characteristics in an untypical way that breaks with letter conven-
tions. The author thereby reveals his pseudepigraphic writing exactly at
those places where it should be closest to the “model” author.
The Imitation Hypothesis and 2 Thessalonians
Testing what I call the Imitation hypothesis in an example, I would like to
go back to the request formulas in 2 Thessalonians. as we have seen, the
use of ἐρωτῶμεν in 2 Thess 2:1 is atypical both in documentary papyri and
in undisputed pauline epistles. documentary papyri introduce ἐρωτῶ as a
formula for requests of highly personal and emotional character. But ἐρωτῶ
in the context of a formal request for a specific matter of doctrinal theol-
ogy seems rather odd. Taking an author who wanted to imitate paul we
could imagine the author as somebody who wanted to bring this request
forward in a way that portrays the relationship between the apostle and
his community. Therefore he also expresses the apostle’s concern for all
matters practical (2 Thessalonians 3) and religious (2 Thessalonians 2).
But the author overlooks the fact that his version is not within the range
of how paul uses the word: nowhere in the undisputed pauline epistles
does ἐρωτῶ stand in such a prominent position as in 2 Thess 2:1–2. This
is also true for 1 Thess 5:12, which is most likely to be the direct template
for 2 Thess 2:1–2. There, ἐρωτῶ is arranged within other requests (4:1, 10;
5:14). for an equivalent content, one could take rom 16:17, where division
and dissension from paul’s teaching are mentioned. The request to avoid
people who lead to the “wrong” teaching takes the word παρακαλῶ and
not—as in 2 Thessalonians 2—ἐρωτῶ.
an exactly opposite example is the request in 2 Thess 3:12 concerning
the community. as we have already seen, nothing—either from a papy-
rological or from a pauline point of view—seems atypical or conspicuous
about the use of παρακαλῶ. The striking element is the combination with
παραγγέλλω, which is unknown in the everyday language of the first cen-
tury ce as witnessed by documentary papyri. It is also unknown in the
undisputed pauline epistles. But again, the Imitation hypothesis allows
us to explain this occurrence. The author tried to imitate paul using
1 Thess 4:10–11 as his template. There we find exactly the same general
background: a request (παρακαλοῦμεν) to live a quiet life and to work
with one’s own hands as paul has “directed” the community (καθὼς ὑμῖν
