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

120 The Decree 15: 19-29 Verse nineteen begins with the word 8to (therefore) indicating that James ' decree is based upon his quotation. Any interpretation of the decree must therefore flow from theological conclusions just reached in the text. The precipitating question, once again, was " should Gentiles be required to be circumcised and follow whole Law of Moses? " James ' response in 15:19 is in the negative, they should not be troubled by being circumcised. The next verse (15 :20) involves a concession to the Gentiles , beginning with the adversative aAAa. Gentiles should not be circumcised but only be required to do four things . Exactly what those four requirements involve is a matter of some debate. 177 Although some textual problems do exist in the wording of the decree (15 :20) they are not difficult to explain. The Alexandrian text has four phrases , " things contaminated by idols ," " fornication , " "what is strangled" and "blood ," while the Western text omits _, "what is strangled" (nvtKTov ) , substituting instead the negative form of the golden rule. The omiss ion of nopvdac; from the Chester Beatty Papyrus p 45 , " is an accidental error rather than a deliberate variant. " 178 The reading of the Western text would favor the "ethical " 179 rather than the 177 We find ourselves in agreement with the sentiments of Wil on when he peak of the interpretation of the decree as "a task which we can approach only with a certain diffidence . It rai es notoriously complex problems of both text and interpretation and it i a unlikely that any solution will gain universal approval a it i that any indi idual ill b full convinced that hi own view are correct," . G. Wilson, Luke and the Law, 76 . 178 Wil on, The Gentiles and the Gentile Mission, 188 . Wi l on i probabl c rr t in hi hypothe i becau e p 45 i the only manu cript which omit th ord . h onl th r que tion in olving nopv (ac; concern it rder among the oth r thre r gulation , n t it x1 tence . 179 While { wA60uTa , nop (a nd a'lµa uld b ulti n e , n t Toe; 1, th t rm hi h for th tend ncie th W st rn te t t p , ' ld n J r f erence to que ti n · igin and o i in lit mor " ulti " r ding . pp . . . tudi d th D t nd n lud th t in