Published

Paul the Allegorist: Galatians 4:21–31 and its Implications for Understanding Paul as an Interpreter of Scripture

Andrew C. Burrow, Forward by Todd D. Still
CASCADE Publishers, 2024, paperback, $31

In a moment of great crisis, the apostle Paul gave new meanings to characters and events within Genesis 16-21 without completely denying or replacing their prior meanings. This interpretive practice, as found in Galatians 4:21-31, has troubled interpreters of Scripture since the fourth century. This book demonstrates that Paul's practice was allegorical and provides a more precise understanding of his practice by comparing Paul with three roughly contemporary interpreters of Scripture: interpreters who composed the sectarian texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the interpreter Philo, and the author of the Epistle of Barnabas. This book identifies Paul's interpretive work, explains how he used his allegorical practice to accomplish it, and reveals the implications of this practice for understanding him as an interpreter of Scripture. It helps resolve a debate ongoing for nearly two millennia by answering the questions, What does Paul do in Galatians 4:21-31, and why does it matter?

Forward by Todd D. Still, Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean and Holder of the William M. Hinson Chair of Christian Scriptures, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University (forward also available in Amazon preview)

When Tertullian posed the question “What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?” (Praescr. 7.9), he expected the faithful to say, “Little to nothing.” Similarly, if a (goodly) majority of Pauline specialists were asked, “What has Paul to do with allegorical interpretation?” one could well anticipate hearing crickets if not a hearty “Nothing.” Philo? To be sure. Origen? Without a doubt. Paul of Tarsus, the Jewish apostle to the gentiles? May it never be! What has the sober, circumspect Antiochene tradition to do with the interpretative flights of fancy that mark and mar the Alexandrian one? Paul foreshadows the Antiochene tradition and not the Alexandrian, does he not? Not a few of us were taught as much in our introductory New Testament courses back in the day.

In his provocatively titled volume Paul the Allegorist, Andrew C. Burrow skillfully and patiently probes the interpretative practice behind Paul’s use of ἀλληγορούμενα in Gal 4:24. In so doing, Burrow is not only able to show how Paul engages in allegorical interpretation in Gal 4:21–31, but through a comprehensive, comparative analysis of this pertinent Pauline passage with Philo, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and the Epistle of Barnabas he is also able to establish convincingly that the interpretative practice of allegory was part of Paul’s repertoire as a Jewish interpreter of Scripture in the Second Temple period. To be sure, it was not the only and certainly was not the primary interpretative tool in the leatherworker’s toolkit, but neither was it missing altogether.

Over forty years ago now in a revision of an Emory University PhD dissertation, Richard B. Hays argued that if one were to truly understand Paul in general and Galatians in particular then one would need to acknowledge the centrality of “narrative” in Pauline thought (Hays, Faith of Jesus Christ). Analogously, in Paul the Allegorist (which is a thorough revision of his doctoral thesis, which I was privileged to examine as an external reader), Andrew C. Burrow demonstrates that someone must be both knowledgeable and mindful of the ancient interpretative practice of allegory, which Paul himself employed, if they are to read well not only Galatians (4:21–31) but also the entirety of Paul’s writings.

Other Endorsements

Andrew C. Burrow provides a much-needed critique of the standard treatments of the relationship between Paul's interpretive practices and those of (other) allegorical interpreters. He also shows that the criteria typically used for identifying comparable allegorical interpreters need to be reconsidered. His work should be of great interest to all those interested in a better understanding of Paul as an interpreter of Scripture.
-Roy E. Ciampa, S. Louis and Ann W. Armstrong Professor of Religion and chair of the department of biblical and religious studies, Samford University (now retired)

A welcome addition to Galatians scholarship, both valuable and instructive, Andrew C. Burrow situates 4:21–31 within an oft-misunderstood, ancient interpretive tradition: allegory. He highlights how Paul seizes the Genesis texts' law-observant Jewish children of Sarah and sees her children—unlike the rival interpreters at Galatia—as non-law-observant gentiles. Then, Burrow demonstrates the allegory is comparable to what one finds in the Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo, and the Epistle of Barnabas and should be laid alongside other instances of allegory in Paul's letters.
-A. Andrew Das, professor of religious studies, Elmhurst University

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