Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 June 2011
I thank Margaret M. Mitchell for her thoughtful criticisms of my article on the interpretation of Paul's Epistle to Philemon. She has pointed out certain limitations of my arguments, both on the culpability of John Chrysostom as the earliest disseminator of the familiar interpretation that Onesimus is a slave and runaway, against which I have inveighed, and also in other areas where, in her parlance, my constructive arguments seem vulnerable. I am gratified that my admittedly unconventional reading has been engaged seriously and thoughtfully by a colleague well versed in both the Pauline corpus and patristic exegesis.
1 Mitchell, Margaret A., “John Chrysostom on Philemon: A Second Look,” HTR 88 (1995) 135CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
2 Ibid., 147.
3 Ibid., 147. n. 47.
4 Ibid., 136.
5 Ibid., 147.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 145–46.
8 I stand corrected (ibid., 145 n. 37) that Athanasius's text has δοῦλος here, not οἰκέτης as I indicated in my article.
9 Ibid., 145 n. 38.
10 Ibid., 146 n. 41.
11 John Chrysostom Sermo in Gen. 6.2 (PG 54. 606); translation mine; τινὲς δὲ, ὅτι οὐχὶτοῦτο μόνον αἰνίττεται, φασίν.
12 Mitchell, “Chrysostom,” 147.
13 Ibid.
14 On the widespread reception of Chrysostom's work, see Baur, Chrysostomus, John Chrysostom and His Time (2 vols.; Westminster, MD: Newman, 1959) 2. 470–71Google Scholar.
15 Mitchell, “Chrysostom,” 147 n. 44.
16 Ibid., 139–40.
17 Ibid., 139.
18 PG 62. 701.
19 6.7–8 (PG 48. 1038–39).
20 Chrysostome, Jean, Panégyriques de S. Paul (ed. and trans. Piédagnel, Auguste; SC 300; Paris: Cerf, 1982) 176Google Scholar.
21 PG 51. 149.
22 PG 51. 314–15.
23 Chrysostome, Jean, A Théodore (ed. and trans. Dumortier, Jean; SC 117; Paris: Cerf, 1966) 202–4Google Scholar.
24 Mitchell, “Chrysostom,” 136.
25 Ibid., 140 n. 18.
26 Mitchell, “Chrysostom,” 140 n. 18.
27 See, for example, John Chrysostom Hom. in Eph. 2.2 (PG 62. 157).
28 Mitchell, “Chrysostom,” 136 n. 5.
29 Ibid., 147.