“... The pattern of divine and human action developed in Romans 8.1–13 bears a remarkable similarity to that of the Hodayot: both present divine action as the solution to the human dilemma, and both emphasise the indwelling and empowering presence of the divine Spirit. In the Hodayot, the hymnist develops an extremely pessimistic anthropology. He describes humans as sinful creatures bound by their very nature to disobedience. As ‘creatures of clay,’ they are ruled by their perverse spirits, and they only and always displease God. The solution to this problem is divine intervention. Among the various divine actions undertaken to alter the human’s evil disposition, the constant thread uniting them all is the divine Spirit. Temporally speaking, the first divine action is election. God decides prior to creation who will receive his grace and mercy. These God assigns to walk righteous paths, and he gives them his Spirit. God’s pre-temporal decision is manifest in history by the imparting of his Spirit, who liberates the human from one’s perverse spirits ...”