From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Sun Apr 21 1996 - 16:30:05 EDT
Dear Colleagues,
Shaughn Daniel's final paragraph has hit the nail on the
head: Paul's "...because of the angels..." is some kind of encrypted
thought. After reviewing several past suggestions (not including Joe
Fitzmyer's interesting one), he correctly concludes that (1) we don't know
what it means, and (2) Paul's argument does not hinge on it.
On more than one occasion, during past discussions of Paul and
women and 1 Cor. 11 & 14 on this List, I have stated what should be obvious
to all: WE DON'T HAVE THE DATA TO INTERPRET THIS PHRASE. We can make
guesses, and nothing more. Some guesses are probably more defensible than
others, but they are all guesses, simply because we lack adequate data to
interpret the phrase. I especially enjoyed Shaughn's comment that what
Paul meant by the phrase may not even be what the Corinthians understood by it!
(Paul wouldn't be the first writer to be misundertood by his readers.)
A useful point to bear in mind in our discussions is this very one:
Sometimes we are forced into a guessing mode; the data is insufficient for
adequate and compelling solutions.
Edward Hobbs
Wellesley
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