|
| Abba in Gal. 4:6 | | Date Created: Nov 18, 2004, 09:27 AM |
Consider Gal. 4:6-7: "And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God."
Most commentators suggeset that Abba is a intimate, personal way of addressing one's father. I don't think this works. First, what son ever doubles up these titles in addressing his father? I mean: who says, "Can I have some candy, daddy father?" Nobody talks like this. "Thank you for the cake, mommy mother." I can find no evidence that this was done in the first century.
Second, it doesn't fit the context. Paul is arguing that believing Gentiles are now co-heirs with the faithful Jews, adopted into one family, with one Father. The Genitles have now entered into covenant with the Father and are sons alongside of faithful Israelites. All are adopted sons because of and united to THE Son (Gal. 3:26-29).
This best explains the doubling of "father." Augustine got it right. He notes that when Paul says that the Spirit moves God’s new adopted sons to cry out “Abba! Father!” he uses two words—one Aramaic [Hebrew] and one Greek—to highlight the fact that Jews and Gentiles are now one family in Christ with one Father, part of the same household of faith.Now we see that Paul has elegantly, and not without reason, put together words from two languages signifying the same thing because of the whole people, which has been called from Jews and Gentiles into the unity of faith. (Sorry but I can't find the reference for that Augustine quotation.) |
|
