Tso, Virtue Ethics in 4Q298 and Galatians 5: How Virtues are Chosen for Promotion in Early Jewish...

Virtue Ethics in 4Q298 and Galatians 5: How Virtues are Chosen for Promotion in Early Jewish and Christian Communities1

Marcus K. M. TsoAmbrose University, Canada

Introduction

“Virtue ethics” is the branch of moral philosophy that is more concerned about the moral

character of a person who acts, as opposed to the moral correctness of isolated actions

themselves, as determined by conceptions of moral obligations and duties, or by appeals to

consequences.2 As such, virtue ethics is typically considered to be an alternative to, or at least

contrasted with, consequentialism or non-consequentialism in modern discussions of ethics.3

While the approach of virtue ethics seems to be the dominant way of thinking since the Greek

philosophers of classical Athens, it has fallen by the wayside after the Enlightenment, until its

revival around the middle of the 20th Century.4 Since this relatively recent revival, interests in

virtue ethics have gained momentum and traction in other academic disciplines, including

Biblical Studies and its allied fields.5 As a result, an increasing number of contemporary biblical

ethicists and theologians are no longer looking at ancient scriptures and related literature mainly

for timeless moral rules or principles, but for how these texts account for virtues or the formation

1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Eighth Meeting of the IOQS in München, August 6, 2013.2 See e.g., Julia Annas, “Virtue Ethics,” in The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory (ed. David Copp; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 515-36, esp. 533.3 See ibid., 533. Perhaps the most popular forms of consequentialism and non-consequentialism prior to the resurgence of virtue ethics have been, respectively, utilitarianism, as popularized by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, and duty ethics, as proposed by Emmanuel Kant. Both consequentialism and non-consequentialism focus on the moral correctness of individual actions, and aim to govern those actions through universal moral principles obtained through reason. 4 Cf. Annas, “Virtue Ethics,” 515, 533. The philosopher most cited for an account of virtue ethics in the Greek tradition is Aristotle, esp. in his Nicomachean Ethics, although discussions of the virtues are found even in Plato’s Republic, and likely had an origin much earlier than these luminaries of Hellenistic philosophy. Writers most responsible for the resurgence of virtue ethics in the past fifty years or so include Elisabeth Anscombe, esp. in her paper “Modern Moral Philosophy” (1958), and Alasdair MacIntyre, esp. in his After Virtue (1981).5 See for example the twin collections M. Daniel Carroll R. and Jacqueline E. Lapsley eds. Character Ethics and the Old Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox), 2007, and Robert L. Brawley, ed., Character Ethics and the New Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture, (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox), 2007.

Virtue Ethics in 4Q298 and Galatians 5 Marcus Tso 1

of moral character traits.6 The aim of this paper is to participate in that exploration by comparing

how virtues are treated in a Second Temple Jewish text from Qumran and an early Christian text

from the New Testament, specifically, what are the sources and meanings of virtues in these

texts.7

At first glance, ancient Jewish texts are unlikely places to find virtue ethics, whether in

the Hebrew Bible or in the sectarian literature from Qumran. The relative lack of sustained

discussion on virtues and vices in the Hebrew Bible contrasts glaringly with the Greek

philosophical literature, and Qumran literature’s well-known concern with halakhah, if that is

not an anachronistic term, seems to go against the orientation of virtue ethics.8 However, as John

Barton has argued, there is some kind of virtue ethics even in the Hebrew Bible, especially in the

Wisdom Literature and the narrative texts.9 Meanwhile, sometime in the late Second Temple

period, Jewish texts began to contain virtue and vice lists much more frequently, not only in

writings of Philo and the Wisdom of Solomon, for example,10 but also in the Qumran sectarian

6 E.g. see William P. Brown, ed., Character and Scripture: Moral Formation, Community, and Biblical Interpretation (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2002), xi–xv, for how he introduces the essays in this collection.7 For earlier works on virtue ethics in the Scrolls, see Marcus K. M. Tso, Ethics in the Qumran Community: An Interdisciplinary Investigation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010), 37–42, 48–52, 94–95, 111, 120–21, 155–56, 180–201, and more recently, extending the scope to the NT, George J. Brooke, “Some Issues behind the Ethics in the Qumran Scrolls and Their Implications for New Testament Ethics,” in Early Christian Ethics in Interaction with Jewish and Greco-Roman Contexts (eds. Henten and Verheyden; vol. 17 of Studies in Theology and Religion (STAR); Leiden: Brill, 2013), 83–106.8 Even before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, pioneer scholars of the Cairo Damascus Document had already noted the halakhic orientation of the ancient sect behind that document. See Solomon Schechter, Documents of Jewish Sectaries (LBS; New York: Ktav, 1970), and Louis Ginzberg, An Unknown Jewish Sect (trans. Ralph Marcus, et al.; MSer 1; New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1976). Years after the discovery of the Scrolls, Jewish scholars also demonstrated the centrality of halakhah in the Qumran literature. See e.g., Lawrence H. Schiffman, The Halakhah at Qumran (SJLA 16; Leiden: Brill, 1975). 9 John Barton, Understanding Old Testament Ethics: Approaches and Explorations (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster/John Knox, 2003), 65–74.10 E.g. See Philo’s virtue lists in Leg. 1 63–65, Cher.5, Sacr. 26–27, 84, Det. 73, and virtue and vice lists in Wis 8:7, 14:25–26. For a succinct discussion on pagan, Jewish, and Christian virtue and vice lists in the Hellenistic world, see J. Daryl Charles, “Vice and Virtue Lists,” in Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (eds. Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2000), 1252–57.


literature.11 So somewhere between Athens and Jerusalem,12 discourses on virtues became a part

of Jewish, and later Christian, moral instructions, and the Qumran literature may capture a

moment of that development, not in diaspora, but right in the land of Israel.

What does Athens have to do with Qumran? Virtue Ethics in 4Q298

So, with apologies to Tertullian, what does Athens have to do with Qumran?13 Although the

sectarian material found in the Qumran caves generally display an overt rejection of Hellenistic

culture,14 ethically-related instructions resembling Hellenistic lists of virtues and vices are

present among the sectarian texts, one of the most well-known examples is 1QS III, 13–IV, 26,

where virtues and vices are listed and associated respectively with the spirits of truth and

falsehood, or the spirits of light and darkness.15 In this paper, however, I will focus on a much

more obscure example, 4Q298, or 4QCrA Words of Sage to Sons of Dawn.16

The fragmentary Qumran wisdom text 4Q298 is worth examining in terms of virtue

ethics because of its almost certain sectarian provenance, its genre as a wisdom instructional

text17, and the clear presence of what amounts to virtue lists.18

11 The most often cited example is 1QS IV, 3b–6a. See my comments on this list and how they could be formed by the sectarian’s self-identity in Tso, Ethics, 121.12 While Tertullian used these two cities to contrast Hellenistic philosophy and the Christian faith, here Jerusalem stands for early Jewish as well as Christian literature.13 For my assessment of Hellenistic cultural influences at Qumran, see Tso, Ethics in the Qumran Community, 123–28. See also Newsom, “Rhetorical Criticism and the Reading of the Qumran Scrolls,” in Lim, Timothy H. and John Joseph Collins eds. Oxford Handbook of the Dead Sea Scrolls. (Oxford Handbooks. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), ch. 28, where she raises the same question in the context of rhetorical criticism.14 See the evidence cited in Tso, ibid.15 The phrases are: רוחות האמת והעול and רוחות אור וחושכ.16 See the official edition in Stephan J. Pfann and Menahem Kister, “4QcryptA Words of the Maskil to All the Sons of Dawn,” in DJD XX, 1–30. See also the preliminary editions in Stephan J. Pfann, “4Q298: The Maskîl’s Address to All Sons of Dawn,” Jewish Quarterly Review 85/1–2(1994): 203–35, and Menahem Kister, “Commentary to 4Q298,” Jewish Quarterly Review 85/1–2(1994): 237–46. See a more recent commentary on this text in John I. Kampen, Wisdom Literature (Grand Rapids, Mich., Eerdmans, 2011), 270 – 79.17 While there is a sizeable collection of wisdom texts among the Scrolls, few are positively sectarian in authorship. Thus, this text is exceptional in this respect.18 See Dwight D. Swanson, “4QcrypA Words of the Maskil to All Sons of the Dawn: The Path of the Virtuous Life,” in Falk, García Martínez, and Schuller, Sapiential, Liturgical and Poetical Texts, 49–61.


The surviving content of this sectarian wisdom text begins with a call to listen to the wise

instructor—the Maskil. The addressees are called “sensible men”, “pursuers of righteousness”,

and “seekers of faithfulness” (4Q298 1–2 I, 1–2). Later in the preserved text, they are further

invoked as “wise ones”, “those who know”, “men of understanding”, “seekers of justice”, “those

who know the way”, and “men of truth” (4Q298 3–4 II, 4–7). Here they are enjoined to increase

in virtues, including “learning”, “modesty”, and “strength”. Further, they are to “pursue

righteousness, to love kindness, to increase humility, and to add knowledge of the appointed

days.” The purpose of this series of exhortations is so that the addressees may “give heed to the

end of the ages and that [they] may look upon former things in order to know... ”19

A closer examination of 4Q298 reveals that four factors influenced the selection of these

virtues.20 First, 4Q298 freely and creatively appropriates ethical virtues from biblical prophetic

and wisdom texts in its listing of virtues. These virtues are pervasive in other sectarian texts and

were probably understood in particularly sectarian ways.21 Thus, scriptural traditions, particularly

prophetic and sapiential ones, provide this text with part of its ethical vocabulary and conceptual

frameworks, which are developed and transformed along sectarian lines.

Second, the use of ethical descriptors to build self-identity directly leads to the

exhortation to live up to those descriptors, expressed in terms of the pursuit of virtues. This

listing of virtues, in the context of an esoteric text for instructing sectarian members, probably

functioned as a list of identity markers and an identity-formation tool.22 In the sectarian

19 Pfann’s translation. Cf. Isa 43:18; CD I, 1ff; II, 14ff, which mention the historical and the eschatological together. It is possible to read this final purpose clause as applicable to the last item only, rather than to the whole series.20 For more details on ethics in this text, see Tso, Ethics in the Qumran Community, 180–87, parts of which have been adapted for use in this article.21 E.g., virtues related to knowing likely refer to esoteric interpretations of the Torah and laws implicit in nature, among other things. Similarly, virtues such as “righteousness” and “justice” probably refer to behaviour in accordance with those interpretations. Finally, “loving kindness” seems to be applied exclusively to members of the sect in texts such as 1QS II, 24; IV, 5; V, 4, 25; VIII, 2; cf. 1QS I, 10.22 E.g., see the observation that the use of Mic 6:8 in this text as a poetic rendering of a common formula for sectarian self-description in such texts as 1QS V, 4–5, in Pfann and Kister, “4QcryptA,” 27.


worldview, the possession of these virtues was the corollary of being in the community.

Outsiders were considered devoid of such ethical qualities. A probable instance of where self-

identity, defined in ethical terms, determines ethical requirements is seen by comparing the

identity label “pursuers of righteousness” with the later ethical exhortation to “pursue

righteousness.” The recipients are not told to become pursuers of righteousness by pursuing

righteousness. Rather, their identity as such is granted first on the basis of their voluntary

membership in the community, understood theologically as the result of predestination, and the

exhortation to live up to that identity follows.

Third, the use of virtue lists in 4Q298 exhibits at least the awareness, if not the use, of

some aspects of Hellenistic philosophy. Dwight Swanson has ably shown, by his comparison of

4Q298 and 2 Peter 1 with texts from the Second Temple Hellenistic milieu, that even at Qumran

some Hellenistic, particularly Stoic, influence is detectable.23 This is evident through the use of

the rhetorical device of sorites – the listing of virtues in an ascending chain towards a climax.

Although 4Q298 stays closer to the wisdom tradition of Hebrew scriptures than 2 Peter does in

terms of the specific virtues it lists, it exhibits possible Stoic influence in a way that is not

obvious in 2 Peter. The fragmentary discourse apparently on the order of creation exhibits an

ethical naturalism that is comparable with that in Stoicism, though expressed in its own distinct

terms.24 Although direct and conscious borrowing is unlikely given the sect’s generally

xenophobic ideology, unconscious assimilation of a widespread form of Stoic naturalism is

probably the best explanation, since ethical naturalism at Qumran is otherwise difficult to explain

23 Swanson, “4QcrypA,” 57–61.24 For the naturalism found in 4Q298, see Kister’s comment in Pfann and Kister, “4QcryptA,” 18, “Creation’s design … is a key to understanding. It is ‘a treasure trove of insights’ from which the Maskil draws his wisdom and teaching. It is within this naturalistic view that the position and rules governing each member are defined and justified… The use of [terms referring to movement within certain limits] seems to imply that, just as the Divine has imposed certain measures and limits on each entity within His creation, He has also assigned varying statues and rules among men and they must walk and live accordingly.”


purely in terms of internal development from scriptural ideas. The rhetorical form and naturalism

of Stoic ethical discourse are exhibited in this text in the way it lists virtues and in its

fragmentary appeals to the created order as a basis for ethics, thus indicating at least indirect

Hellenistic cultural influences.

Finally, the importance of eschatology for ethics is also perceptible in our text. The series

of exhortations to increase in virtues culminates in the call to add knowledge of the appointed

times, specifically for the purpose of appreciating the significance of the end of the ages as well

as history. As Swanson points out, in both 2 Peter and 4Q298, “virtuous life will assure the

necessary knowledge needed for the last days.”25 In another words, the eschaton is one of the

ultimate motivations or justifications for the ethical life in our text. Concerns for eschatology,

typical in the sapiential literature from Qumran, are seen in this text to be some of the most

important justifications for how the sectarians were to live in their present.

Having considered the sources of these sectarian “virtues,” let me discuss their meaning.

While 4Q298 does not use the term “virtue” to describe the positive character qualities that the

sectarians members are to pursue, these character traits can be defined as virtues in the sense that

they are indispensable for arriving at the objective of life, or the means to the end of some kind

of teleology. In 4Q298, we can see fragmentary glimpses of teleology in terms of what God is

doing in “the end of the ages” (4Q298 3–4 II, 9–10). Whereas in the case of some Greek

philosophers, the virtues are only possible for some, but out of reach for others due to their lack

of rationality,26 the sectarian author of 4Q298 apparently viewed virtues as the proper

expressions of their identity as the eschatological ingroup. The chief of virtues, or the one that

25 Swanson, “4QcrypA,” 60.26 CITE support or delete.


seems to unify all others is knowledge (and its related terms).27 This esoteric knowledge is a

main part of the boundary that helps defined the sectarian identity.

What does Qumran have to do with Galatia? Virtue Ethics in Galatians 5

At least 50-100 years after 4Q298, Paul addressed a letter to some early Christian communities

he had founded in Galatia. Could the way Paul used virtues in his teaching to the Galatians be

comparable to what I have sketched above in the case of Qumran? Paul’s epistle to the Galatians

is plausibly dated to the 50s CE,28 making it possibly one of his earliest extant writings. The

letter appears to be in response to a crisis among Paul’s Galatian coverts, most of whom were of

pagan background. The nature of this crisis, as is well known, is the temptation for the Galatians

to be swayed by certain “agitators” to submit to some of the Jewish laws, most notably

circumcision.29 Paul’s response is adamant, calling such a message “another Gospel,” which is

incompatible with his earlier teachings to the Galatians.30 So far, there seems to be little in

common between the contexts of these two documents.

However, as many post-Sanders commentators have noted correctly, the issue at stake in

Galatians is not so much the means of salvation as a choice between faith and works, but a

matter of group identity. As Robert Brawley observes, the language of “justification” Paul uses

refers to the relationship between people and God.31 And that relationship is the basis of the

27 For the observation that there has been a long tradition of viewing all the virtues are integrated and one, see John P. Langan, “Augustine on the Unity and the Interconnection of the Virtues,” Harvard Theological Review 72: 81, “The claim that all the virtues are somehow one is advanced in different ways by Socrates and Plato, by Plotinus and Augustine, and by Aquinas. The doctrine of the unity and the interconnection of the virtues is thus common to a number of major thinkers in both ancient and medieval philosophy.”28 Martinus C. de Boer, Galatians: A Commentary. The New Testament Library (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2011), 11, and Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians: A Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia (Hermeneia 62. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 11.29 CITE support.30 CITE support for reading Paul’s phrase “the truth of the Gospel” as meaning his previous teachings to the Galatians.31 Robert L. Brawley, “Identity and Metaethics: Being Justified and Ethics in Galatians,” in Character Ethics and the New Testament: Moral Dimensions of Scripture (ed. Brawley; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox, 2007), 107.


Galatian’s new-found identity. Seen from this perspective, the use of virtues (and vices) in Gal. 5

is likely part of Paul’s strategy to help his Galatian converts ascertain their new identity as the

legitimate people of God “apart from the works of the law.” If so, virtues in Gal. 5 may very well

have similar functions as they do in 4Q298.

Whatever the real issue is behind the so-called Galatian crisis, Protestant exegetes prior to

Sanders have found the ethically-oriented passage in Gal. 5:13-6:10 puzzling.32 The recent trend

in the study of Galatians, in contrast, correctly identifies this passage as being integral to the

letter’s argument and concern.33 Nevertheless, opinions are still divided on whether the ethical

material in this passage is merely traditional moral consensus dressed up in Pauline language, or

if there is something more distinctive about its ethics.34

Focusing on virtue ethics, let me first consider what possibly have influenced Paul in his

handling of the virtues in this passage, particularly the so-called fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22–

23. What is striking about this list of virtues, along with the contrasting list of vices in 5:19–21,

is its formal similarity with Hellenistic virtue lists,35 a few examples of which can be found in

Hellenistic Jewish writings.36 Although the content and arrangement of this list is not typical

among other Hellenistic virtue lists, the form it takes and even some of the specific virtues, such

32 See John M. G. Barclay, Obeying the Truth: Paul’s Ethics in Galatians (Studies of the New Testament and Its World. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1988), 1–35 for a survey of views on the relationship between this paraenetic section in Galatians with the rest of the letter.33 See, e.g., Barclay, Obeying the Truth, 143, “These verses are not an independent or dispassionate account of Christian ethics tacked on to the end of an argumentative letter, but a continuation and completion of the argument,” and 222, “Thus we cannot simply assume that traditional material has been uncritically absorbed into Paul’s ethics.” See the even more forceful case in Philip F. Esler, “Group Boundaries and Intergroup Conflict in Galatians: A New Reading of Gal. 5:13–6:10,” in Ethnicity and the Bible (ed. Brett; vol. 19 of Biblical Interpretation Series; Leiden: Brill, 1996), 215–40.34 See Barclay, Obeying the Truth, 10–12, 147–48, for summaries of those who see the paraenesis as unrelated to the rest of the letter, and 220–23 for his judgment that Paul used traditional materials for his specific purpose in the Galatian context, and that what Paul was doing was pioneering a distinctive Christian ethic.35 For the correct observation that virtue and vice lists are very uncommon in the Hebrew Bible, see René A. López. “Vice Lists in Non-Pauline Sources,” Bibliotheca Sacra 168/670 (2011): 193.36 See the examples cited in Barclay’ Obeying the Truth, 124, n. 56.


as self-control, can be described as a product of the Hellenistic cultural milieu.37 Therefore, as in

the case of 4Q298, Paul’s use of virtues here is at least partially influenced by his cultural

context, however marginally.

A stronger source of influence for Gal. 5:22-23 here are the Hebrew scriptures. While this

form of moral/religious instruction is relatively uncommon in the Hebrew Bible, some have

discovered important biblical influences in Paul’s virtue list.38 Gregory Beale, for example,

building on John Barclay and others, suggests quite plausibly that not only the metaphor of the

fruit of the Spirit is “a general allusion to Isaiah’s promise that the Spirit would bring about

abundant fertility in the coming new age,” but that some of the specific terms themselves come

from Isaiah.39 Likewise, Todd Wilson develops Barclay and Beale’s ideas and links the metaphor

of the fruit of the Spirit to other prophetic voices from the Hebrew scriptures.40 Furthermore, he

suggestively links both the prophetic visions of Israel’s eschatological fruitfulness and Paul’s

fruit metaphor to the narrative context of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt and its subsequent

wilderness wandering.41 Seen in that light, the possession of the fruit of the Spirit, for Paul, is

nothing less than a manifestation that the Galatian converts are the fulfilment of God’s promise

to restore Israel.

This scriptural link points up another important source of influence. Paul’s metaphor of

the fruit of the Spirit reflects a “realizing” eschatology that sees the various virtues he lists as

expressions of the reality of the Spirit, whose presence and activity are characteristics of the

37 Cf. David E. Aune, “Lists, Ethical,” in The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible (Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, ed., Nashville: Abingdon, 2008), 3:672.38 See, e.g., Gregory K. Beale, “The Old Testament Background of Paul’s Reference to ‘the Fruit of the Spirit’ in Galatians 5:22,” 15/ 1 (2005): 1–38. See also Barclay, Obeying the Truth.39 Beale, “Old Testament Background,” 3. See also Barclay, Obeying the Truth, 119–22.40 Todd A. Wilson, The Curse of the Law and the Crisis in Galatia: Reassessing the Purpose of Galatians (225; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007), 131.41 Ibid., 132.


eschatological age.42 In a recent article, Jonathan Draper helpfully examines the correlation

between Paul’s Christology, eschatology, and ethics in Galatians 5.43 Citing Richard Burridge,

Draper summarizes Paul’s eschatology this way:

The death and resurrection initiate the breaking in of the new age and inaugurate a new possibility for overcoming the divide between Jews and Gentiles: “Thus Paul’s Christology is set in an inevitably eschatological framework. Jesus Christ is the key pivot of the ages, the means hereby the new age has broken into the present through the death and resurrection of Jesus. We now live ‘between the times’ waiting the final consummation of all things in Christ.”44

For Paul, “the eschatological Christ event is determinative for the ethical life of the

community.”45 Therefore, Paul “sets Torah aside as the basis for salvation not only for Gentiles

but also for Jews. They are saved on the same basis with no distinction. This life is constituted by

faith and characterized in terms of ethics fundamentally by love,”46 which tops Paul’s list of

virtues in Gal. 5:22-23.

I have already alluded to the final source of influence for Paul’s virtue list a moment ago,

namely, the social identity that Paul wishes to cultivate among his Galatian converts. Among the

four sources I am presenting here, this is perhaps the strongest. The strength of this aspect can be

seen in Philip Esler’s claim that what Paul is really about here is identity formation, in which

ethics plays only a part.47 While Esler may have undervalued Paul’s ethical concerns, he is

certainly correct in seeing a close link between Paul’s ethical teaching and the identity that he

42 CITE some support.43 Jonathan A. Draper, “The Two Ways and Eschatological Hope: A Contested Terrain in Galatians 5 and the Didache,” 45, no. 2 (2011), 221–51.44 Ibid., 235, citing Richard Burridge, Imitating Jesus: An Inclusive Approach to New Testament Ethics (Grand Rapids, Mich: Eerdmans, 2007), 87.45 Ibid., 236.46 Ibid., 237.47 Philip F. Esler, Galatians (London: Routledge, 1998), 229, “It is clear that ethical norms are only one aspect of the identity Paul is seeking to fashion with respect to the features listed in 5.22–23, both from the function in the broad contrast between the Spirit and the flesh as diametrically opposed categories differentiating rival groups and because of the inclusion of joy and peace in the list. Joy and peace are not ethical norms but badges of identity.” In a more recent article, idem, “Social Identity, the Virtues, and the Good Life: A New Approach to Romans 12:1–15:13,” BTB 33/2 (2003), 51–63, Elser is much more positive about reading Paul from the perspective of virtue ethics, and finds it very compatible with his social identity approach.


wishes to instilled in the Galatians. The two are intricately interrelated, and to go beyond Esler,

neither aspect operates independently from the other.48 Particularly, the virtues Paul lists are

precisely those that are compatible with the identity that he commends to the Galatians—sons of

God in Christ and heirs of Abraham (3:26, 29). As Esler points out, Paul’s listing of the vices

and virtues in Galatians is meant to help the Galatians distinguish between the ingroup and

outgroup,49 and to behave according to their status as members of God’s family.50 Thus, the

particular virtues Paul lists in Gal. 5:22-23 could very well have been selected because somehow

they represent character traits that are “family likeness,” that is to say, the likeness of God the

Father or Jesus Christ his Son.51 Time precludes me from developing the specific connections

between the nine virtues Paul cites with what he could believe about the character of God and of

Jesus Christ. But it seems plausible, prima facie, that most if not all of these virtues can be

ascribed to either God the Father or Jesus Christ based on material available to both Paul and his

readers. If Paul’s virtue list reflects a family portrait, so to speak, then his use of these virtues is

promoting a special kind of imitatio Dei, an emulation of God, not in particular actions only, but

48 As well expressed by J. Scott Duvall, “‘Identity-Performance-Result’: Tracing Paul’s Argument in Galatians 5 and 6,” Southwestern Journal of Theology 37/1 (1994): 37, “who we are determines what we should do, and what we actually do reflects who we really are.”49 Cf. Walter B. Russell, “Does the Christian Have ‘Flesh’ in Gal 5:13–26,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 36/2 (1993): 179–87, where Russell argues that Paul uses the word “flesh” to denote the identity of people who do not belong to the Christian community, the Spirit community.50 Philip F. Esler, “Family Imagery and Christian Identity in Gal 5:13 to 6:10,” in Constructing Early Christian Families: Family as Social Reality and Metaphor (ed. Moxnes; London: Routledge, 1997), 121–49. He also helpfully points out that this family imagery depends much on both the Mediterranean and Jewish cultural contexts, in idem, “‘Keeping It in the Family’: Culture, Kinship and Identity in 1 Thessalonians and Galatians,” in Families and Family Relations: As Represented in Early Judaisms and Early Christianities: Texts and Fictions: Papers Read at a NOSTER Colloquium in Amsterdam, June 9–11, 1998 (eds. Henten and Brenner; vol. 2 of Studies in Theology and Religion (STAR); Leiden: Deo, 2000), 173–80. As many commentators rightly observe, Paul’s listed vices are all disruptive to community, whereas his virtues all promote community. See e.g. James D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1993), 308–9, and F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians: A Commentary on the Greek Text. Exeter (Exeter: Paternoster, 1982), 255.51 If James Dunn’s assertion is taken into account here, that “Paul’s point then is that the nature of God’s Spirit … is demonstrated in the quality of character exemplified in the following list,” then the family likeness would be thoroughly Trinitarian. See James D. G. Dunn, The Epistle to the Galatians (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson 308


in the enduring qualities that can sustain those actions consistently through life, so that “against

such there is no law.”52

Like 4Q298, Paul’s selection of virtues in Gal. 5 displays the overlapping influences of

Hebrew scriptures, Hellenistic culture, apocalyptic expectations, and a group identity of being

the true people of God in the latter days. Furthermore, Paul’s use of a list of virtues for

instructional purpose is also similar to 4Q298. While Paul presents his virtues in the indicative

as the defining marks of the ingroup that members already possess, he nevertheless expects his

readers to pursue and maintain these virtues also, like 4Q298, as his repeated imperative to “walk

by the Spirit” implies (Gal. 5:16, 25).53

Now that we have explored some of the possible sources for Paul’s selection of virtues,

let us examine what they mean for some of the structural elements of any virtue ethics: teleology,

anthropology, and unity.

First, what is Paul’s teleology, toward which end the virtues are means? One possible

answer within the context of Galatians is God’s intent to bless the nations through his promise to

Abraham, by creating a new people in Christ who are children of God and heirs of his promises,

the chief of which is the Spirit (3:13–14; 6:15). If that is the goal of human life for Paul, the goal

of being free children of God in Jesus Christ through the Spirit, then the nine virtues he lists

make great sense as character traits befitting such children, who are having Christ formed in

them (4:19). This new creation motif can also serve as the basis of a kind of ethical naturalism,

where virtues are those consistent ways of being that conform to nature as created by God.

52 Paul’s phrase here could very well be a deliberate allusion to Aristotle, even if the immediate referents of “these” are the virtues, rather than the people. See Bruce, Epistle to the Galatians, 255, “In Aristotle (Pol. 3.12, 1284a) the statement kata de ton toiouton ouk esti nomos [κατὰ δὲ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστι νόμος] is used of persons who surpass their fellows in virtue (arête [ἀρετή]) like gods among men. They do not need to have their actions regulated by laws; on the contrary, they themselves constitute a law (a standard) for others (autoi gar eisi nomos [αὐτοὶ γάρ εἰσι νόμος]).”53 As noted in Barclay, Obeying the Truth, 120, the idea of “fruit” is not opposed to having to work at it.


Second, how does Paul’s virtue list relate to his anthropology? We have only time to look

briefly at the final item on his list, self-control (ἐγκράτεια).54 Plato considers the word

“ἐγκράτεια” a synonym of “σωφροσύνη” (temperance) (Plat. Rep. 430e), which is of course one

of the four cardinal virtues in the Greek philosophical tradition. And in that tradition, the virtue

of self-control or temperance reflects an anthropology of a hierarchical soul as well as a

hierarchical society, where humans ought to regulate their lower animal passions by their higher

rational minds, especially those of the lower class. For Paul, however, even though the “desires

of the flesh” and the “desires of the Spirit” are opposed to each other, those who belong to Christ

have crucified their passions and desires (Gal. 5:16, 24). They are dead to the flesh and are alive

in the Spirit. Moreover, such Spirit-indwelt people have no more class distinction among them.

Therefore, while Paul uses the same word for one of his virtues as the philosophers, he has a very

different understanding of the human condition and its ultimate purpose.

Finally, does Paul’s virtue list exhibit any unity? Or is there a chief and controlling

virtue among those listed? Many commentators have noted the unity of Paul’s virtue list by his

use of the singular for the “fruit of the Spirit.”55 Others have also observed that love for Paul

seems to be that chief and dominant virtue.56 Indeed, whereas esoteric knowledge appears to be

the supreme virtue in 4Q298, love for God, and especially for one another, is the key virtue in

Galatians.

54 For the persuasive view that the final position is a key position along with the first, see Hans Dieter Betz, Galatians: A Commentary on Paul’s Letter to the Churches in Galatia (62; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1979), 288, “Especially important is the last term: Socrates had introduced it into Greek ethics, and by the time of Paul it was a central concept of Hellenistic ethics, whence it was taken up by Jewish and Christian writers. … Its place at the end of the list in v 23 is conspicuous, and this is certainly intended; it stands in juxtaposition to love (v 22). The concept of self-control in the present context implies the claim that Christian ethics is the fulfillment not only of the Torah (cf. 5:14), but also of the central demand of Greek ethics. The gift of the Spirit and the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ reach their climax in the fulfillment of the old Greek ideal of self-control.”55 CITE examples.56 See Boer, Galatians, 362, for his view that love is the one fruit, while the other eight virtues are merely “specifications or aspects of love.” While Boer’s observation that love is predominant is certainly correct, his account of how the other virtues relate to love is not entirely convincing. See also Dunn, Epistle to the Galatians, 309.


Conclusion

This paper has shown some of the ways early Jewish and Christian communities came up

with virtue lists in their ethical instructions, and has compared and contrasted how virtues are

handled in 4Q298 and Galatians 5. While there are aspects of similarities, the virtues in each

document reflect the distinctive worldviews and self-identities of each community.


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Appendix: Texts


4Q298 (4QcryptA Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn)

4Q298 (4QcryptA Words of the Maskil to All Sons of Dawn)ed. S.J. Pfann and M. Kister, DJD XX

[DSSR 4, II. SAPIENTIAL TEXTS, C. DIDACTIC SPEECHES]57

57 Texts and image of 4Q298 from Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Library, Version 7.0.24, (Brigham Young University: Provo, Utah, 2005).


Frgs. 1–2 Col. i משכיל אשר דבר לכול בני שחר י֯]דבר[1

כ[ול אנשי לבב לי האזי]נושי 2 י צדק הבי]נ[ במלי ומ ֯ב֯ק]ורוד[ ׄו ׄפ

מלי בכול ]מע[ ׄלאמונה ֯ו ֯ש]י3 א ש̇פ ֯ת]מ[ו ] ֯צ עים דר̇]ש[ ֯ווי[ א[ל̇ה̇ ֯ד]והו [ח̇יים ̇א]נשי[ לאורח֯בשי

]ם 4 ]אור [עול ו ׄמׄי ]רצו[ ֯ו ]לאיןׄנ ׄב[ חקר ]5[ ׄיׄה ] [° ע] [ ׄי֯בׄט]

Frgs. 1–2 Col. i1. [Word]s of a Maskil which he spoke to all Sons of Dawn. <written in the square script> Lend your ea[r to me, a]ll men of understanding;2. [and you who pur]sue righteousness, do understa[n]d my words; and you who seek truth, li[st]en to my words in all3. that [is]sues from [my] lips. [And those who k]now, have pur[s]ued [the]se things and have turn[ed to the way] of life, O m[en of]4. His [wi]ll and etern[al light beyond] comprehension [

Frg. 2 Col. ii]או1 ׄיׄצשורשיה ]חת2 ׄת בתהום מ֯התב̇נן ]3 ו

Frg. 2 Col. ii1. its roots went for[th2. in the abyss bel[ow3. Consider [

Frgs. 3–4 Col. i[זבול1[̇ל ובמה2[ -- ] עפר3[נתן אל4כול תבל5 ֯ב[ [ מדד תכונם 6ת שם 7 ֯חמת[ת[כונם להתהלך 8[ אוצר בינות9

מ[לתי ואשר] [מ10

Frgs. 3–4 Col. i1. ]habitation2. ] and by what3. ] dust4. ]God gave5. ] in all the world6. ] he meted out their portion7. bel]ow he placed8. their [p]ortion to go about9. ] a treasury of insights10. [ ]my [w]ord and which

Frgs. 3–4 Col. ii >גבלותיהי] [ומספר גבולותיה 1

DJD:> ֯ך ] [ לבלתי רום2]כונה 3 בולה ועתהולׄמ֯ת ת את ׄג [ ֯ו וידעים שמעו ואנשי חכמים[האזי̇נ̇]ו4 לק[ח̇ ודורש]י[ משפט בינה ה̇]וסיפו5

הצניע]דעי6 [ה̇וסיפו אומץ ואנשי הדרך֯ולכת י]ו7 אהבו חסד הוסיפו צדק֯פאמת רד̇ ֯ו []סיפוהענו8 ] ֯ו וה̇ י תעודה אשר ֯תד[ע̇ ֯מי[9[ ̇ר]י[ ֯ה֯םפ בור תב̇ינו בקץ ֯ת ֯ב֯עאספ[ ֯ר

]מ[̇וניות תביטו לדעת10 ֯דעול̇מות ובק

Frgs. 3–4 Col. ii1. [ ]and the number of its boundaries2. [ ] with[out raising itself up3. from [its] po[sition, and to ] its boundary. And now4. give ea[r, O wise ones]; and you who know, listen! And men of5. understanding, in[crease learning]; and you who seek justice, (add) modesty;6. you who kn[ow the way], add strength; and men of7. truth, pur[sue righteousness]; and you who love kindness, add8. humility; and a[dd kn]owledge of the appointed [t]imes, whose9. interpre[ta]tion [I will recou]nt, in order that you may give heed to the end10. of the ages and that you may look upon for[m]er things in order to know

Frgs. 3–4 Col. iii[ 1–4]5ת̇]6הט̇]7לה̇]8

[ 9מ̇ש]10

Frg. 5 Col. i Frg. 5 Col. i


יה7 ׄצ ] [ ] [ תכלית8ׄת ] [ לדרוך9

] [ ]10

8. ] uttermost9. ] to tread

Frg. 5 Col. ii֯ך ו̇א]78[ ׄק השחר ו9[ ׄו גבולותי

שם גבולות̇]10

Frg. 5 Col. ii7. and [8. the dawn and [9. its boundaries[10. he placed its boundaries[

[]1[ותיה פ]2]ת[3

Frg. 7

תי]ו/ה1 ׄו [Frg. 8

[̇מד̇̇מ]1[̇ב] 2

Gal. 5:22–23

22 ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη χαρὰ εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία χρηστότης ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις 23 πραΰτης ἐγκράτεια· κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστιν νόμος.58

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.59

58 Nestle, E., Nestle, E., Aland, B., Aland, K., Karavidopoulos, J., Martini, C. M., & Metzger, B. M. (1993). The Greek New Testament (27th ed., Ga 5:22–23). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft.

59 The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (Ga 5:22–23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.


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