Cultural Setting of 2 Th 3.6-16

8122019 Cultural Setting of 2 Th 36-16

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullcultural-setting-of-2-th-36-16 114

IF A MAN DOES NOT WISH TO WORK

A CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL SETTING FOR2 THESSALONIANS 36-16

Bruce W Winter

In writing to the Thessalonians Paul reminds the church of theteaching he gave them concerning work when he was with

themwith toil and labour we worked day and night that we might notburden any of you It is not because we have not that right but to giveyou in our conduct an example to imitate For even when we were withyou we gave you the command If any one does not wish to work lethim not eat (el TICcedil ού θέλει έργάpoundεσθαι microηδέ έσθιέτω) For wehear that some of you are living in idleness mere busybodies notdoing any work Now we command and exhort such persons in the

Lord Jesus Christ to do their work with quietness and earn their ownliving Brothers in the doing of good you must not grow weary (2Thess 3898308511)

Paul repeats to the church his original exhortationelsewhere to do their work to earn their own living as wecharged you so that you may command the respect of outsidersand be dependent on nobody 1 Thessalonians 41098308512

In a recent discussion of the refusal of certain Christiansin Thessalonica to work R Russell has made the observationthat whatever encouraged their behaviour preceded theseeschatological problems because disorderly behaviour existedfrom the beginning

1 He argues that the problem was a social

rather than an eschatological one To what may this problem be attributed A number of suggestions have been made

Russell himself argues that the opportunities foremployment were limited and with scarcity of work idlenesswas more widespread and wages even lower Thus as a result



304 TYNDALE BULLETIN 40 (1989

impractical one for if any were unemployed through lack of jo

opportunities then ipso facto they could not eat Thessalonians 310b

A Malherbe speculates that the fact that the convertabandoned their trades and took to the streets (as Cynipreachers did) helps to explain Pauls preoccupation with hiown and his converts employment3 Dio Chrysostom in hiAlexandrian oration provides first century evidence of th

Cynic teachers offering their instruction free of charge icontrast to others who accepted fees They begged for support ostreet corners from all and sundry4 However the esteeming oChristian teachers on the one hand in 1 Thessalonians 512-1and the exhortation to admonish the idlers on the other hanwhich follows immediately seems out of place if it is true thathe unemployed have left their work to preach as the Cyniteachers did

Was the reluctance to work related to attitudes tmanual labour working with their hands The view has beecanvassed that the first centurys disdain for manual work waat the heart of the Thessalonian problem5 Artisans certainlwere not esteemed even if their work was admired Plutarcstates for example that while we delight in the work [ocraftsmen and artisans] we despise the workmanit does no

necessarily follow that if the work delights you with itgraces the one who wrought it is worthy of your esteem6 Thiis but one comment reflecting the upper classs attitude tmanual workers This however does not explain why some iThessalonica assumed responsibility to provide for their fellowcitizens whom it is assumed they despised

2 Thessalonians 36-8 would seem to imply that therwas a convention of Providentia which existed prior to Paul



WINTER Tf a Man Does Not Wish to Work 305

initial coming to Thessalonica and one which he set about

resolving while still there He refers to the tradition youreceived from us7 For you yourselves know how you ought toimitate us we worked day and night to give you in yourconduct an example to imitate

The purpose of this paper is to suggest the Providentiaconvention of a patronclient relationship as the cause of theunwillingness of some in Thessalonica to work It is proposed todiscuss (I) The patronclient relationship (II) Pauls call not tobe dependent on a patron (HI) providentia in the face offamines in Macedonia as the possible cause for the setting asideof Pauls teaching and (IV) Pauls teaching on the role ofChristians as benefactors not clients

I The PatronClient Relationship

Russell suggests without further analysis that because the poordeveloped a relationship (friendship) with a benefactor orpatron whereby they would receive support money or food inexchange for the obligation to reciprocate with an expression ofgratitude so too some of the Christian urban poor may haveformed a client relationship and obligation to the benefactor78

What did such a relationship involve Sailer writes

The aristocratic social milieu of the Republic continued into thePrincipate and with it the basic notion that a mans social status wasreflected in the size of his following-a large clientegravele symbolizing hispower to give inferiors what they needed If a mans clientela wasindicative of his current status his potential for mobility depended onthe effectiveness of his patrons whose wealth and political connectionscould be indispensable Perhaps partly because of the unchangingsocial structure and values financial institutions developed little andso Romans appear to have continued to rely largely on patrons clients




and friends for loans or gifts in time of need and assistance i

financial activities

9

At the heart of patronage was the social conventiowhich was called giving and receiving10 This meant morthan simply an expression of gratitude at the time of receivina gift Once financial support had been given and receivedthen this created a relationship which could be furtheexploited by the receiver The very return of profuse thanks fo

a gift was the means of asking for more supportThe act of benefiting set up a chain of obligations The beneficiar

had an obligation to respond to the gift with gratitude his expressio

of gratitude then placed the original benefactor under obligation to d

something further11

One of the requirements of a client was that he shoulattend the morning greeting salutatio in the reception room

his patron and receive a gift of food or money

12

Indeedwithout the existence of the institution of patronage the frepoor would not have received their daily bread13

There certainly were some in the church who werwealthy and therefore potential benefactors The name oAristarchus from Thessalonica in Acts 1929 and 204 is possiblone such person-if he is the same person as Aristarchus son oAristarchus who heads a list of politarchs in that city then h

9RP Sailer Personal Patronage under the Early Empire (Cambridge C1982) 205 See also P Marshall Enmity in Corinth Social Conventions in P

Relations with the Corinthians (WUNT Tuumlbingen JCB Mohr 1987) 14310P Marshall Enmity in Corinth 157-16411SC Mott The Power of Giving and Receiving Reciprocity in HellenistBenevolence in GF Hawthorne (ed) Current Issues in Biblical and Pat

Interpretation Studies in Honor of Merril C Tenney (Grand Rapids Eerd1975) 60-72 esp 63 the expression of gratitude placed a valid claim for furthe



WINTER Ίί a Man Does Not Wish to Work 307

certainly would have been a person of means14

Jason who

appears to have been Pauls host in Thessalonica and sent hisgreeting to the church in Rome may well have been a man ofmeans

15 There were not a few of the leading women who

became converts according to Acts 17416 As such they were not

precluded from giving public and private benefactions asillustrated from the inscription to Junia Theodora c AD 43

17

If some patrons were now Christians what would havehappened to their clients A Christian patron would stillhave been under an obligation to support non983085Christian clientsfor changing his religion would not have abrogated hisresponsibility There is good reason to suppose that convertedpatrons would have made every attempt to share their newfound faith with the former for they would have constitutedan immediate sphere of influence Becoming a Christian wouldnot have automatically relieved a patron of his obligation to

continue to give help to Christian clients if they asked forsupport In fact refusal to do so would have created arelationship of enmity which could affect relationships in the

1 4See CJ Hemer (ed CH Gempf) The Book of Acts in the Setting of

Hellenistic History (Tuumlbingen JCB Mohr 1989) 23615

Acts 175-7 Romans 1621 and R Jewett The Thessalonian Correspondence Pauline Rhetoric and Millenarian Piety (Philadelphia Fortress Press 1986)120 contra G Theissent Social Stratification in the Corinthian Community AContribution to the SDciology of Early Hellenistic Christianity The SocialSetting of Pauline Christianity (Philadelphia Fortress Press 1982) 95believes that the social status of Jason remains an open questionl^Some have doubted the integrity of the account of the social composition ofthe new church in Acts 174 because of the exhortations to the idle to work inthe Thessalonian corpus Even if the Acts account contained no references topeople of status in the church in Thessalonica the existence of a few wealthy

members would need to be presupposed As Jewett ThessalonianCorrespondence 120 comments after reviewing J Murphy-OConnorArchaeology St Pauls Corinth Texts and Archaeology (Wilmington




church especially if they met in a Christian household o

households for worship18

Π Dependent on nobody

Juvenal in his satire on How Clients are Entertained belittlethe plan of life some have who still deem it to be the highes

bliss to live at another mans board ut bona summa putealiena vivere quadra He describes the inferior food a clien

may be served at a dinner at which his patron is given the ver best

19 At the dinner the client speaks to his patron in the hop

of soliciting a gift from him

No one asks of you such lordly gifts as Seneca or the good Piso oCotta used to send to their humble friends for in the days of old thglory of giving was deemed grander than titles or fasces All we ask oyou is that you should dine with us as a fellow983085citizen do this an

remain like so many others nowadays rich for yourself and poor tyour friends20

A client may live in the unrealistic hope that hipatron will bestow a gift of 400000 sesterces the sum requirefor the client to become a knight census equestris making hiex nihilo into his dear friend but placing him under a deeobligation However his patron may be mean for if the client wife produced three boys at the birth of each he would ordelittle green jackets to be given to them and little nuts anpennies too if they be asked for when the little parasitepresent themselves at his table

21 Such an existence wa

inappropiate for Christians who were to be dependent onobody (microηδενός χρείαν χητε) for they were to work wittheir own hands as we charged you This teaching was givein situ 1 Thessalonians 41198308512 and 514 Paul himself woul

not be dependent upon the Thessalonian church while he wathere although he was within his rights to do so Workin



WINTER If a Man Does Not Wish to Work 309

them to imitate 2 Thessalonians 389830859 Ρ Pauls purpose was to

wean such persons away from the welfare syndrome be thesource a wealthy Christian or non983085Christian patron

Furthermore Paul is concerned that Christians shouldcommand the respect of outsiders 1 Thessalonians 412 Asthose who laboured with their hands certainly did notcommand the respect of the well983085to983085do outsiders

23 it is

therefore possible that the outsiders to whom Paul refers had

been patrons of some of the Christians A client had a financialsource to call upon for his daily food If on the other hand hemakes no further claims on his patron would he not earn therespect of his patron

III Providentia in Times of Famine

Tacitus declared that AD 51 was an ominous year There

were earthquakes and subsequent panic in which the weak weretrampled under foot He also notes that there was a shortageof corn again as a consequence famine These were construed bysome as a supernatural warning

24 Famine and earthquakes

were seen as divine portents not only by pagans but also byChristians who atl ached significance to these disasters as butthe beginning of the tribulation

25 This may well account for

the heightened eschatological concerns of the Thessalonians26

It does not necessarily follow that the expectation of theparousia resulted in the Thessalonian Christians refusing towork

27

iquestiquest R Hock The Social Context of Pauls Ministry (Philadelphia Fortress Press

1980) 48 we may assuire a paradigmatic function for his paraenesis on work

^Seep 30424Tacitus Annals XII43

25




How did the Council and the People in Greek citie

handle the enormous problems associated with famine whicthreatened its peace and welfare The grain supply providethe mainsprings of hatred and popularity Hunger alone setcities free and reverence is purchased when rulers feed thlazy mob 2 8 Officially the authorities might appoint

curator annonae curator of the grain supply whose task it wto ensure that grain was available at a reduced price in th

market place either by purchasing grain and dumping it on thmarket at a substantially reduced price thus forcing down thprice or by initiating a corn fund with donations from wealthbenefactors to subsidize the price of grain likewise29

How did various groups in Greek cities cope with thactual shortages during famines The monthly corn dole iRome was sufficient For more than a century in the imperiacapital the corn dole was the right of a vast number o

inhabitants for whom this concession was not based on need bucitizenship Did Roman citizens in Thessalonica receive thcorn dole as their counterparts did in Rome or were thescitizens actually from Rome who claimed the dole when absenfrom the capital We know that in a later period Romacitizens in Oxyrhynchus were entitled to the monthly cordole30 and they came from three groupings There were thos

who had established their eligibility on the grounds thatheir parents were Alexandrian and Roman citizens Otherwho were people of means and had undertaken liturgies thuqualified and yet others who had one meacutetropolite parent3

Whether this applied in Thessalonica is not known but if idid then Rome and Oxyrhynchus are a guide as to who woul

the Apostle Paul (New Haven Yale University Press 1983) 73 that th

tvpical Christian in the Pauline churches was a free artisan or small trader 2ampPharsalia III 55983085θ




have been eligible viz mostly well-to-do citizens There may

have been a few in the Thessalonian congregation whoqualified if the dole was given to Roman citizens in that city

Certainly wealthy householders could afford to buygrain whether at an inflated or subsidized prices and indeedthey may have stored sufficient grain for all including theirslaves in expectation of food shortages There were legalobligations in the first century for a master who hadconditionally manumitted his slave and in effect had becomehis patron He was bound to him to feed him as his freedman ifthe latter were unable to do so himself32 So the freedman andthe slave were cared for

To whom had the lower groups that is the non-slavelabourers and artisans looked in order to cope in a time offamine Mutual support between ordinary citizens linked bykinship proximity of residence or friendship and exemplified

in the interest-free loan was a defence against povertyhardship and the personal patronage of the wealthy33

While the last was something which the Athenians wished toavoid for ideological reasons34 there were always those whowere happy to have a patron support them in time of want orindeed permanently There was a famine in AD 51 Anotherpossibly occurred a little later if Corinth shared the same grain

shortage with Thessalonica

35

It has been suggested that idleness did not create aninternal problem for the church in the first letter but it onlydoes so in the second letter36

Oacuteiquest AM Duff Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire (Cambridge W Heffer1958) 98 and K Hopkins Conquerors and Slaves (Sociological Studies in RomanHistory I CUP 1978) 148

^Garnsey Food and Famine 8034P Millett Patronage and its avoidance in Classical Athens in A Wallace




The problem of idleness in the church is said to sound like a new topi

in 2 Th 311 whereas it sounds old in 1 Th 411 moreover it is strangthat Paul refers back to his own example in 2 Thessalonians rathe

than to his previous letter37

Would a famine subsequent to the writing of 1 Thessalonians naccount for the fact that now the problem was a new topic

7 I

was new in the sense that it is now an internal one for thchurch because for the first time the Christian εκκλησία

distinct from the citys εκκλησία is faced with the problem ohow to react to members who needed help to purchase grain I would have been available but as has been noted it was thprice that could be crippling for artisans and non983085slavlabourers The solution was its provision at a cheap price or aa gift depending on circumstances Christian compassion woulhave demanded that they did so

The Thessalonian epistles do not state that the churc

as a whole was feeding those who refused to work38 There ino evidence that the congregation had set up a soup983085kitcheneven if that were to happen subsequently in a Jewish synagoguin the third century AD

39 Some members of the congregatio

appear this time to have sought out the patronage of a ricChristian as against secular private benefactors for thpurpose of obtaining money to buy grain or a handout of fre

grain Others with Christian patrons could have easilresumed a patronclient relationship It would not have beesevered simply because clients had to ask for money or food ithe intervening period and had worked instead

Once the need had passed did those who were assistenow assume a clientpatron relationship and by means of theiprofuse thanks continue the cycle of giving and receivingSubsequent to the writing of 1 Thessalonians Paul learnt tha

some who did not wish to work had in fact reverted to patronclient relationship




IV Christians as benefactors not clients

Pauls proscription on feeding was directed towards brethren who were to keep away from any brother who is living inidleness 2 Thessalonians 36 This serious apostolic injunction which was commanded in the name of the Lord Jesus was asmuch a binding admonition on the rich and the generous not togive as it was on others not to ask 2 Thessalonians 36 14

40

Pauls intervention with this command to keep away from a

brother who is idle may have been the only way of relievingthe patron of his obligation without the latters refusal toprovide food being seen as an act of enmity within the church

41

The reference to those not working but being the busy bodies (microηδέν εργαζοmicroένους άλλα περιεργασmicroένους) suggeststhat the idle tended to create problems 311 περί πάτου ντας

έν ύmicroίν ατάκτως in 2 Thessalonians 311 refers not simply to

the workers idleness but to their disorderly conduct This isnormally taken to refer to their activity in the church42

Itcould however be a reference to activity required of a client insupport his patrons cause in πολιτεία

43 Paul would not have

wished his converts to create strife in the city following hisown hasty withdrawal after Jason stood surety for his good

behaviour The Thessalonians had themselves encounteredproblems subsequently

44

^The term brethren as an inclusive term for Christians would not rule out thisinjunction applying to patronesses or to their οΙκονόmicroοι who would have hadthe responsibility for distributing food in a household

It has been assumed that those from whom the idle were receiving assistance

in Thessalonica were all Christians Russell The Idle 11342

Russell The Idle 107^8

^ S e e Aristotle Politics 1319B 15 ποιάν τήν πολιτείαν άτακτοτέραι ΑLintott Violence Civucirc Strife and Revolution in the Classical City (London amp




Most importantly Paul reminds the idle that the

were not only to engage in paid activity to support themselve(2 Thessalonians 312) but they were to be those who by meanof their money did goodmdashol KoKoiroiovmec verse 13 It wnot simply a matter of keeping out of trouble nor indeed simpl

become self983085supporting as important as both of those reason were There was a far more over983085arching consideration whicstood at the centre of Christian reflection and activity viz ithe doing of good which benefited the lives of others

Pauls exhortations then do not have as their focus concern about offending civic order

45 His concerns are far wide

because of the on983085going commitment of Christians t benefactions Given his commitment to social ethics in th broad sense of a Christian relationalism which aimed t bestow help and blessing on the every day life of other citizenshis deep worry about some Thessalonians welfare syndrome i

explicable46

Christians were not only to command the respecof outsiders by being self983085sufficient but they were to seek th welfare of their city by having the wherewithal to do good tothers Pauls perception of what that meant involved sharinfinancial resources The whole discussion in the Thessaloniacorpus however has made it clear that they were not toshower indiscriminately money or goods in kind on all in th

church or on the undeserving that is those who could but woulnot work but to give to real needsThe section ends with the call that in the midst o

doing good they were not to grow weary47

There may hav been those benefactors who were somewhat disillusioned witother Christians because they had continued to exploit them ttheir own advantage in spite of Pauls specific example andteaching both at and away from Thessalonica Furthermore

the problems for these Christians may have caused some toquestion whether in the face of a hostile city Christian




benefactors should continue to seek the welfare of other

citizens There could have been those who drew the conclusionthat Paul was not particularly in favour of generousbenefactions But he anticipates this at the end of hisdiscussion in verse 13 with the injunction You yourselvesbrethren must not tire in doing good ϋmicroέίς δέ αδελφοί microηέγκακήσητε καλοποιουντε It is clear that here Paul isproscribing neither private nor public benefactions Hisdirection to all including the heads of households was thatthey should not grow weary in the doing of good

It was not possible for some of the Thessalonians to optout of work simply because others would support them Whilein secular society it was less disgraceful to depend idly on thestate or on a patron for subsistence than to earn it by sordidlabour

48 it was not so in the Christian communitymdashthose who

did not wish to work were not permitted to be supported by

their fellow Christians acting as patrons49



^ s

Copyright and Use

As an ATLAS user you may print download or send articles for individual useaccording to fair use as defined by US and international copyright law and asotherwise authorized under your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement

No content may be copied or emailed to multiple sites or publicly posted without thecopyright holder(s) express written permission Any use decompilingreproduction or distribution of this journal in excess of fair use provisions may be aviolation of copyright law

This journal is made available to you through the ATLAS collection with permission

from the copyright holder(s) The copyright holder for an entire issue of a journal

typically is the journal owner who also may own the copyright in each article However

for certain articles the author of the article may maintain the copyright in the article

Please contact the copyright holder(s) to request permission to use an article or specific

work for any use not covered by the fair use provisions of the copyright laws or covered

by your respective ATLAS subscriber agreement For information regarding the

copyright holder(s) please refer to the copyright information in the journal if available

or contact ATLA to request contact information for the copyright holder(s)

About ATLAS

The ATLA Serials (ATLASreg) collection contains electronic versions of previously

published religion and theology journals reproduced with permission The ATLAS

collection is owned and managed by the American Theological Library Association

(ATLA) and received initial funding from Lilly Endowment Inc

The design and final form of this electronic document is the property of the American

Theological Library Association




impractical one for if any were unemployed through lack of jo

opportunities then ipso facto they could not eat Thessalonians 310b

A Malherbe speculates that the fact that the convertabandoned their trades and took to the streets (as Cynipreachers did) helps to explain Pauls preoccupation with hiown and his converts employment3 Dio Chrysostom in hiAlexandrian oration provides first century evidence of th

Cynic teachers offering their instruction free of charge icontrast to others who accepted fees They begged for support ostreet corners from all and sundry4 However the esteeming oChristian teachers on the one hand in 1 Thessalonians 512-1and the exhortation to admonish the idlers on the other hanwhich follows immediately seems out of place if it is true thathe unemployed have left their work to preach as the Cyniteachers did

Was the reluctance to work related to attitudes tmanual labour working with their hands The view has beecanvassed that the first centurys disdain for manual work waat the heart of the Thessalonian problem5 Artisans certainlwere not esteemed even if their work was admired Plutarcstates for example that while we delight in the work [ocraftsmen and artisans] we despise the workmanit does no

necessarily follow that if the work delights you with itgraces the one who wrought it is worthy of your esteem6 Thiis but one comment reflecting the upper classs attitude tmanual workers This however does not explain why some iThessalonica assumed responsibility to provide for their fellowcitizens whom it is assumed they despised

2 Thessalonians 36-8 would seem to imply that therwas a convention of Providentia which existed prior to Paul
















9





something further11



12










Jason who





17






























23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS






















9





something further11



12










Jason who





17






























23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS












9





something further11



12










Jason who





17






























23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS











Jason who





17






























23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS






























23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS













23 it is











27




25
























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS






























35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS

















35











7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS














7 I















40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS












40



41








44















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS
















explicable46

















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS


















^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS









^ s

Copyright and Use












About ATLAS







Cultural Setting of 2 Th 3.6-16

Documents