The Relationship of Jewish and Gentile Believers to the Law Between A.D. 30 and 70 in the Scripture

107 statement but relates closely to its context. Verse 10 begins with the words, "Now therefore" (vOv ouv ) indicating a deduction based upon the previous verses. Verse 11 begins with the strong adversative aAAa, indicating once again that 15: 10 is not an aside but is in the mainstream of the argument. The essence of 15: 11 clearly involves the salvation of Jewish believers by grace rather than the Law. It would seem, therefore, that if a precipitating question of the whole conference concerned the salvific importance of the law (15: 1), and the contribution of the Cornelius' episode (15:7-9) is that Gentiles are saved by faith, and Peter's final statement (15: 11) also involves how one may be saved, then it would be likely that verse 10 would also speak to the place of the Law in salvation. If Peter's reference is to the Law being an unbearable yoke as an instrument of salvation this would explain a number of things. First, the normal Jewish usage of the term "yoke" is not a negative one. 144 .; When a Jewish writer spoke of the law as "the yoke of the kingdom of heaven", he spoke·of an obligation to which one gladly committed oneself. No sense of oppres– siveness adhered to the term l;uyoc; ( ?1l7). Yet the Rabbinic sense of the national failure to come up to the standards of the law is reflected clearly in the views of some Rabbi that Israel's failure to repent even for one day, or to keep even one sabbath exactly a it was meant to be, was delaying the beginning of the messianic age. We can then peak of "failure to carry the yoke", without speaking of "oppressive burdens". Indeed the function which we have argued for v. 10 in the development of thought i far better served by a reference here to failure than by a reference to oppres ion. 145 Thus, Peter is not complaining that the Law wa nece sarily oppre ive but that a a mean of alvation it was impo ible to fulfill. Thi would make Peter' evaluation equi alent to Paul ' tatement in Act 13 :38-39 146 that the Law could not ave. Thi would agre with t ph n' 144 'Th c n ept f the Law a an unb arabl burd n i n ith r th mm n J 1ew (the J wi h xpre ion, ' the yoke ,' do not impl m thin unb ar bl nd imp t ulfill)nori itPulin ," onzelmnn, At , 117 . tr-Bl . -1 . t t 1 . 10," 111- 1 . I 6• h u , r thr n, th t thr u h Him f r f m 1