Redeemed from the Curse: Paul's Understanding of the Law and Gentiles in the Light of Hellenistic Judaism - Paperback

by Hyun-Gwang Kim (Author)

Are the gentiles under the law in Paul? This question has three possible answers: (1) Paul understands that gentiles are not under the law because they do not have the law; (2) conversely, and although it appears to be ironic, Paul puts gentiles under the law even though he acknowledges that they do not have the law; or (3) he reveals his confusion concerning the relationship between the law and gentiles by saying gentiles are under the law in one place and then saying gentiles are without the law in another place. This book investigates the literature of Second Temple Judaism and the Greco-Roman world to uncover the possible background of Paul's understanding of law and its relationship to the gentiles. This book then engages in exegetical studies on key texts of Paul relative to the law and gentiles by way of historical-grammatical research. The thesis of this book is that, although Paul acknowledges gentiles to be without the law (Rom 2:14) and Israel as having the law as her privilege (Rom 9:4), Paul paradoxically places gentiles along with Jews under the law which gentiles never possessed. For Paul, gentiles not having the law are under the law and its curse. Christ's sacrificial death on the cross redeemed Jews and gentiles from the curse of law.

Author Biography

Hyun-Gwang Kim is professor of New Testament and former dean of graduate school at Korean Bible University in Seoul, Korea. He is the author of 10 Questions about Romans (2022, in Korean) and translator of several books including Magnifying God in Christ: A Summary of New Testament Theology (2010) and NIV Study Bible (2011). He currently serves as the president of the Korean Evangelical Society of New Testament Studies.