In Slavery With God's Children: The Law as Enslaved Agent in Galatians

Abstract

This dissertation focuses on three metaphors in Galatians 3:19-4:31 that cast the Law as enslaved: the Law is an enslaved παιδαγωγός (3:19-25), an enslaved ἐπίτροπος and οἰκονόμος (4:1-11), and Hagar the enslaved παιδίσκη (4:21-31). This particular cluster of metaphors has gone largely unnoticed by interpreters of Galatians, who have instead focused on Paul’s depiction of humanity’s enslavement to the Law. This dissertation examines Paul’s depictions of the Law as an enslaved enslaver, situating these metaphors in the context of first-century Roman slavery and drawing out their implications for Paul’s theology of the Law in Galatians. The study argues that Paul flexibly uses a variety of slavery metaphors to make a series of claims about the enslaved Law’s agency in relation to other agents. Before the coming of Faith, the Law worked effectively with God in a preparatory role (3:19-25). But when the Galatians themselves attempt to come under the Law’s authority after already receiving the Spirit, they end up frustrating both their own intentions and those of the Law (4:1-11, 21-31).