Texts in Conversation
In Romans, Paul warns that stubbornness and refusal to repent store up divine wrath, echoing the Greek Septuagint’s translation of Proverbs. His argument draws on Jewish interpretive traditions that would later be used in Rabbinic texts.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Proverbs 1:17
Septuagint
17 for nets are not without cause spread for birds. 18 For they that are concerned in murder store up evils for themselves; and the overthrow of transgressors is evil. 19 These are the ways of all that perform lawless deeds; for by ungodliness they destroy their own life. 20 Wisdom sings aloud in passages, and in the broad places speaks boldly. 21 And she makes proclamation on the top of the walls, and sits by the gates of princes; and at the gates of the city boldly says,
Date: 100–1 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Romans 2:5
New Testament
3 And do you think, whoever you are, when you judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, that you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 6 He will reward each one according to his works: 7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality,
Date: 55–58 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... One cannot forget the point that Paul rejected neither his Jewish nor Hellenistic background. Paul still remained a part of both. As we have seen above, Paul does use Hellenistic influences in his writing. But he also uses Jewish influences as well. Paul was a Pharisee who at one point within his life had such a particular zeal for the traditions of Judaism, that he advanced beyond any other person of the same age as his (Galatians 1:14). So, therefore, it is not surprising that Paul would have occasionally used a rabbinic methodology when he examined scripture (1 Corinthians 10:1-5). Paul also uses themes that were characteristic of Jewish apocalyptic literature: God revealed the sins of the wicked (Romans 1:18); the judgement of God (1 Corinthians 4: 4-5; 5:13; 11:33; Romans 2:16; the coming of a new era (1 Corinthians 1:8: 5:5; Romans 2:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:2) ..."
Christopher Gary Fraser, “The Jewish and Hellenistic Influences on Paul: A Case Study of ‘Mysterion’” (diss., University of Windsor, 1998), 17–18.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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