Stoicheia as Evil Spirits in Galatians 4

8/13/2019 Stoicheia as Evil Spirits in Galatians 4

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R E T U R N I N G T O TH E DO MA IN OF T H E POWE RS:STOICHEIA AS EV IL SP IR IT S IN GAL AT IA NS 4:3,9

by

CLINTON E. ARNOLDLa Mirada, CA

The Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Galatians with anuncharacteristically long greeting in which he emphasizes the workof Christ in delivering his people from the present evil age (Gal.1:4). Not surpris ingly then , the dan gers and inad equacie s of the oldaeon are highlighted throughout Galatians. Paul speaks about theslavery that characterizes life under Torah, flesh, and sin. In Paul's

view, the new age, however, has dawned in the revelation of JesusChr ist and now the re is the possibility of freedom if one is in Chr is tliving according to faith and the Spiritkey features of life underthe new covenant.

In Galatians 4:3 and 9, Paul employs the term stoicheia to provideadditional perspective on life in the old aeon. What these stoicheiaare has been a major issue in the interp reta tion of this passage.

Interpreters have suggested an array of possibilities which include:the fundamental principles of all religions, 1 the regulations of theTorah, 2 a nd the do ma in of flesh, sin, and de at h. 3 Some have sug

1 F J Mat era , Galatians (Collegeville, M N Th e Liturgic al Press, 1992) 149 50,D R Bundrick, "TA STOICHEIA TOUKOSMOU (Gal 4 3 ) , " JETS 34 (1991)353 64, D R Mo or e Cn sp m, "G al at ia ns 4 19 Th e Use and Abuse ofParal lels ," EQ 60 (1989) 203 23, Lin da Belleville, " 'U n d er La w' Stru ctur al

An aly si s and the Paul ine Concept of Law in Gala tians 3 21 4 1 1 , " JSNT 26(1986) 64 69, W Win k, Naming the Powers (Phil adel phia Fortr ess, 1984) 72, W

Car r, Angels and Principalities, S NT SM S 42 (Ca mbri dge Universit y Press, 1981)75 76, G Delling , " ," in TDNT 7 685 (' ' tha t whereon ma n' s existencerested before Christ even and precisely in pre Christian religion")

2 R Longenecker , Galatians, W BC 41 (Dal las Wo rd , 1990) 165 66, R YFung , The Epistle to the Galatians, N I C N T (Gra nd Rap ids Eer dma ns, 1988) 181,190

3 Vielhauer, "Ge setz esdie nst und Stoicheiadienst im Gal ate rbn ef, " Rechtfer-tigung Festschrift fur Ernst Kasemann zum 70 Geburtstag, Eds J Fried rich, WPohlmann , and Stuh lma cher (Tu bing en Mo hr , 1976) 553 Vielhaue remph asiz es t hat Paul chose the term because of the cosmic significance it normal ly

bo re m re fe rence to the four phys ical el em en ts Paul then ap pl ie d it to the gr ea tpowe rs of the world flesh, sin, and de at h whic h he cha rac ter ize d as in closeassociation with the law as charact eristi c of the old coven ant See also A J Band


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STOICHEIA IN G A L . 4 : 3 , 9 57

I will contend that the passage is best explained if one interpretsthe stoicheia as demo nic powers, equivalent to the expression "p ri n

cipalities and powers" in Paul's thought. This interpretation thusfinds Paul using an important apocalyptic categoryprecisely whatwe might expect given the two-age emphasis in his letteropeningto characterize life in the present evil age, especially lifeunder the Torah. 6

The Issue of Date

Many do not give serious consideration to the spirit interpretation because of the alleged late date of the evidence attesting the useof stoicheia as angels or demons 7 True, we do not have any manuscripts or inscriptions that can be positively dated to the first century or earlier that illustrate this usage. But this does not force usto abandon the possibility that the word was used in this sense atthat time.

We need to frame the question more in terms of whether we candate any of the traditions that make use of the ter m stoicheia as super

natural powers to the first century or before. To this question wecan give an overwhelming positive response. I will merely summarize here a few examples stemming from a more extensive studyof the interpretation o stoicheia. 8

First, in the Greek Magical Papyri, the term stoicheia is used mostcommonly in connection with the stars and/or the spirit entities, orgods, they represent In a related sense, stoicheia was also used torefer to the 36 astral decans that rule over every 10 degrees of the

6 In my opinion, the person who originally argued this case the best was Scheuin " Weltelemente " Unf ortu nat ely, Sch eu' s work has seldom factored into thediscussion Scheu concludes (p 96) "d e r hl Pa ulus hab e in den 'We lte lem ent en'Tr age r dmoni scher Macht e, gottfeindhche, bse Engelma chte, D mon engese hen, die hint er der Sun de un d de m Geset ze stehen un d diesen gegen warti genAon (Gal 1, 4) behe rrs chen " Hon g, Law, 165, also conclude s that the stoicheia"represent demonic forces which domi nat e 'this present evil ag e, ' " but does notargue the case well

7 Delhng's article in TDNT ("," TDNT 7 [1971] 670 83) has beenhighly influential m pro mpt ing ma ny scholars to quickly dismiss the "s pi r it "interpretation becau se of the allegedly lat e dat e of the sources See also Vie lha uer ,"G es et ze sd ie nst un d St oic he ia die nst ," 547, who stresses the post first centurydate of the sources

8 See Chapter 6 ("H osti le Powers Th e Problem of the Stoicheia") in my forth


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58 C L I N TO N E. ARNOLD

heavens {PGM IV.440 41). 9 Each of these astral decans could also be repr ese nt ed by a magical letter. 1 0 Given one of the common

usages of stoicheia as letters of the alphabet, it is easy to see how thisusage could have arisen. The concept of "decans" is in the oldestastrological handbooks. It is known in Greek inscriptions of thethird century B.C. and it was also used of astral gods in Romeduring the first century B.C. (see Manilius 4.298, 372). n Thesedecans could also be referred to as "a ng el s" or " d e m o n s . " Giventhe scholarly consensus that most of the traditions in the magicalpapyri are ancient 1 2 and the concept of astral decans as predatingthe first century, it is quite probable that the term stoicheia was used

of astral decans in the first century A.D. or prior.Second, the term stoicheia app ear s twice in the Jewish magical

document called Testament of Solomon. 13 Although the Tes tam entitself postdates the first century, it contains a patchwork of Jewishmagical traditions from much earlier. In particular, chapter 18 ofthe Testament is an astrological document widely regarded to havehad an earlier independent circulation. Hans Gundel and othershave arg ued t hat the original form of this docum ent probab ly datesto the first or second century B.C. 1 4 The term stoicheia appearstwice in this document to refer to the 36 astral decans which it alsocalls "demons."

9 For this text and other magical documents recorded on papyrus, see H DBetz, ed , The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Vol 1 Text (Chicago UniversityPress , 1986) for the English transla tions , an d Prei sen dan z, Papyri GraecaeMagicae Die Griechischen Zauberpapyri, 2 vols , 2nd rev edn by A Hein rich s (Stutt-gart Te ub ne r, 1973 74), for the Gree k edition

1 0

For a discussion of the 36 character pal ind rom e referring to the astral deca nsthat rule over every 10 degr ees of the hea vens, see Wilhel m Gu nd el , Dekane undDekansternbilder Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Sternbilder der Kultervolker, 2nd Edition(Darmstadt Wissenschaft liche Buchgesellschaft, 1969) 27, see also pp 68 70

1 1 Gundel , Dekane, 281 2 See, for inst ance , G Luck, Arcana Mundi (Baltimore and Lond on J oh ns

Hopkins University Press, 1985) 16, 201 3 Th e sta nda rd critical edition is by G C Mc Co wn , The Testament of Solomon,

Untersuchungen zum Neu en Tes ta me nt 9 (Leipzig Hein rich s, 1922), anEnglish transl ation with an int rodu ctio n an d notes has been done by D C Du hn gin volume two of The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, ed J H Char lesw orth (New

Yor k Doubleday, 1983) 934 871 4

Gundel , Dekane, 45, 56 57 Gun de l thinks that a Greek s peakin g Jew ishauthor took over an originally Hebrew text and transformed ('degenerated') manyof the Egyptian names for the decans into evil dem ons See also D C Du hn g


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STOICHEIA IN GAL. 4 : 3 , 9 59

Third, the longer recension of 2 Enoch 16:7 uses the term in succession with pneumata and angeloi: " T h u s she [the sun] goes, day

and night, in accordance with the heavenly cycles, lower than allthe cycles, swifter than the heavenly winds, and spirits andelements and flying angels, with 6 wings to each angel." 1 5

Although the text was written in Slavonic, it is most likely that theGreek text standing behind this portion would have read: pneumata,stoicheia, angeloi. 16 The dating of 2 Enoch is notoriously proble matic .Recent scholarship, however, is leaning toward an early date (asearly as the first century A.D.) for the original document 17 thuspartly confirming R.H. Charles's conclusion 18 because of theapparent antiquity of the traditions contained in the recensions wecurrently have at hand. 19 C. Bttrich suggests that the primitiveform of the text stood in the shadow of the more popular 1 Enochprior to A.D. 70 and afterward became widely used in the esotericcircles of Jewish mysticism. 20

Many additional texts could be discussed at this point, 21 but thisis adequate to demonstrate my contention that there is at least aprobability that some of the traditions encapsulated in later manu

scripts date to the first century A.D. and prior. The evidence is atleast sufficiently strong to warn interpreters against an a prioridismissal of the spirit interpretation only on the basis of the date ofthe evidence.

15 Tran slat ion by F I And ers on, " 2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) En oc h, " in OTP,1 130

16 See Bousset-Gressmann, Religion des Judentums, 32317 C Bttrich, Weitweisheit, Menschheitsethik, Urkult Studien zum slavischen

Henochbuch, W U N T 2/50 (Tu bin gen Mo hr , 1992) 54, summa rizes the consensus

of scholarship "G ru nd le ge nd e Bed eut ung hat der Kons ens der meisten Forsch er,da ganz allgemein von einem judi schen Gr unds tock , Arch etyp , Kern (oder auchimm er) des slHen gesprochen werden kan n, der zeitlich dem 1 J h zuzu ord nenist "

18 R H Cha rle s and W R Morfill, The Books of the Secrets of Henoch (OxfordClarendon, 1896) xxvi

19 See F I Ande rsen , "2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) En oc h, " OTP, 1 92-97Anderson sees the divergence in the two recensions as the result of transmissionin Slavonic

20 Bttrich, Weitweisheit, 143 H e arg ues that the text orig inat ed in Alexa ndr iain the first cent ury A D and s ubse quen tly m ad e its way to Palest ine and Asi aMi no r (see also pp 213-15)

21 E g I Enoch (60 11-25, 75 1-3, 80 1, 6, 7) and Jubilees (2 2, 8) clearly containthe concept of angels set over the stars and heav enly bod ies (with a Gre ek fragme nt

fJ bil 2 2 ll i h i h i ) A l di i f h


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The Stoicheia as Angehe Beings

In my analysis, the contextual evidence points strongly in favorof the view that the stoicheia are angelic beings. In Gal. 4:8, Paulcompares the stoicheia with beings that the pagans regard as gods.In denying that these beings are gods, Paul is not denying that theyhave a real existence, only their claim to be gods. 2 2 Paul expresseda similar idea to the Corin thi ans when he noted that there are m an yentit ies "cal led gods" ( ) to whom sacrifices are made(1 Cor. 8:5) whom he subsequently identifies as evil demons (1Cor. 10:19 20). We may therefore suggest the following equation

that seems to reflect Paul's thinking on this matter: the ="those called gods 'V' those who by natu re are not go ds " =.

In his ana logy of the child () at the beginni ng of Gala tia ns4, Paul describes the minor as subject to ''guardians and trustees."In his application of this analogy to Jewi sh Chri stians ( " w e " ) , 2 3 heclaims that in the period of time before they came to know Christthey were all subject to the stoicheia. His compar ison of the stoicheia

wi th " g u a rd i a n s " and " t ru s t ee s " can be depicted as follows:

[the child is] [we were children]

The noted parallelism is not forced since Paul makes the applicationclear wi th the expression , the repe tit ion of and, and the plural of both expressions. The plural suggests thatPaul is not explicitly identifying either the "guardians andtrustees" or the stoicheia with the law (in contrast to what he hasdone with the in 3:24 25), but he is now introducingsomething new that presumably has some kind of association withthe law. In other words, Paul does not say that the child is underone guardian (viz. the law), bu t that he is unde r ma ny . T he personalterms and hint at a personal interpretation of

2 2 So also F Muner, Der Galaterbrief HT K N T 9 (Freiburg Herde r, 1974)291

23 Although the first person plural pronoun here may refer inclusively to allChr isti ans, t he content of Gal 4 3-5 speaks prim aril y to the situation of Jew ishChr ist ian s Th is follows nat ura lly in seeing 4 3-5 as a dev elo pme nt of 3 23-25


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stoicheia. 24 This reading is then confirmed by the second occurrenceof stoicheia in 4:9.

Paul also implies that the stoicheia are masters () since theyenslave (Gal. 4:3). Both unredeemed Jews and Gentiles stand asslaves ( ) in their service. 25 E. Krentz has rightlyobserved that Paul represents t he potential approp riat ion of theTorah by the Galatians as a relapse into a condition comparable to when they " d i d no t know G o d " (4 :8). This is therefore a muchmore serious matter than simply reverting back to elementaryteachings; it is tantamount to allowing the former lords to reassert

their control.2 6

Convinced that the stoicheia are here r eprese nted as personal bei ngs, B. Re icke (followed by E. Per cy, G. Bornkamm, et al.)reached the conclusion tha t they are the angels me nti one d in 3:19

who were the agen ts of giving the law. 2 7 He claims that hisintepretation has the advantage of explaining the stoicheia as anatural elaboration of a motif (the relationship of the law & angels)alre ady presented. H e can only mak e this connection by furthersuggesting that (1) Paul now gives the angels a negative instead of

a positive significance,28

and (2) the angels function as gua rdi ans ofthe law, supervisors over its con tin uat ion .

2 4 G Bornk amm, " T h e Heresy of Colossian s," in Conflict at Colossae, eds F OFrancis and W A Meek s, SBLSBS 4 (Misso ula, M T Scholars Press, 1973[reprint of 1946 edition] ) 124, correctly notes " P a u l could hard ly have comp are dthem (t he ) in Ga l 4 2 with the an d [g ua rd ia ns an dtrustees] to who m m in or children are subject, an d designat ed t hem as ' [beings not gods by na tu re] , whom the Galatians served, unless the latterhad reg ar de d the as perso nal , divine beings " Vie lha uer ,"Gesetzesdients und Stoicheiadienst," 548, objects to this line of thinking by con-tending that this verse does not refer to pers ona l bein gs bu t rat he r a personifica-tion of oth er entit ies Vie lhaue r is correc t in wha t he affirms bu t wr ong in wha the denies This verse is not decisive for the personal interpretation but needs to be seen m th e la rg er cont ex t of thou ght

2 5 See Schlier, Galater, 191, and Betz, Galatians, 2052 6 Krentz, Galatians, 59 602 7 Reicke, " T h e Law and This World According to Pa ul ," JBL 70 (1951

[tr ans lat ion of 1943 edit ion] ) 261 63, E Per cy, Die Probleme der Kolosser undEpheserbriefe, Skrifter Utgivn a av Kung l Human istis k Vetenskapssa mfundet

Lund 39 (L un d Gl eer up , 1964 [repri nt of 1946 edition]) 163 66 So Bor nka mm,"Heresy," 1242 8 Reick e, " T h e La w, " 262, specifically says, " P a u l gives the angels a negative


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62 CLIN TO N E . ARNOLD

I would contend that Reicke is correct in viewing the stoicheia-angels in a negative light and by suggesting that these angels arefulfilling a detrimental function in the behaviour they inspire inrelationship to the law. In my opinion, Reicke errs, however, byidentifying the referents of stoicheia with the law-giving angels of3:19. These angels should be seen in a more positive light. Thetradi tion of the presence of the angels at the giving of the law (cf.Deut . 33:2 [LXX]; J o s e p h u s ^ . 15.5.3 1 36 ;> 1:27-29) probably served to enhance the excellence, glory, and divine character ofthe law. 29 This was a point that was probably used by the Judaizersto reinforce their argument about the necessity of the law. 30 Theseangels were not evil no r were they good angels tha t subsequentlywent awry. Jewish tradition uniformly puts the fall of the angelsprior to the Sinai events. The angels represented by the expression do have an association with the law, bu t in a wayquite different from the function of the angels of the presence in3:19; they are evil angels who have taken advantage of people byexploiting the law, just as the principle of sin has used it.

Reicke's point would have carried more weight had he connected

the angels of 3:19, 4:3, and 9 with the Jewish concept of "gu ard ianangels" or "angels of the nat ions ." This more general conception,

well establ ished in Jewish thought (see Deut. 32:8 9; Dan. 10:1314, 20 21; Sir. 17:17; 1 Enoch 20:5; Jub 15:31; Tg. Ps. J on Gen.11:7 8), takes into account both good and evil angels. This is thedirection that E. Percy takes Reicke's view when he says: i Butaccording to Jewish interpretation the angels were not only themediators of the law but also the guardians of the world and itsorders; as such they were for Paul the and to

whom the pre Christian world was subject and in reality the agentsof this present age." 3 1

L. Gaston makes this point as well, contending that the law wasadministered to the Genti les by the angels of the nations. Heargues, " T h e stoicheia seem to have exercised a certain positivefunction in the administration of order in creation, but in a world

2 9 Martin , Christ and the Law m Paul, SupNovT 62 (Leiden Brill, 1989), 35So also Longenecker, Galatians, 140


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come of age their rule has come to be confining and oppressive." 32

He contends, however, on the basis of Sirach 17:17 that the law was

administered directly by God himself for his people Israel. J.D.G.Dunn takes this a step further and suggests that the law itself wasthe guardian angel for Israel. 33 This view contradicts the apocalyptic traditionon which the Apostle Paul was dependent 34 whichasserted that the angel Michael functioned as the guardian angelover the nation Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21). Furthermore, the Qumranand apocalyptic traditions had a strong concept of the ongoinghostility of the angelic realm toward the people of God. The objective of Beliar/Mastema/Satan and his angels was to turn the peopleaway from God through deceiving influences. The point here is thateven though God gave the law to Israel (mediated by his angels),even though Michael strongly contended for them as a heavenlyprince and warrior (see Daniel 10), there were still hostile angelsbent on leading Israel astray from her God.

If the judaizing opponents were appealing to the tradition of themediation of the law by angelic intermediaries to strengthen theappeal of their case for Torah observance, Paul counters it in a

rhetorically powerful way. He agrees with the opponents about theangelic mediation of the law, but he points out that there are otherangelic beings associated with the lawbeings of a demonic character that belong to the present evil age! The appeal of Torah observance is thus diminished when one recognizes it as God's provisionfor the old aeon that was exploited by demonic powers.

The Negative Evaluation of the Stoicheia

The stoicheia are seen only in terms of their malevolence in Galatians 4. Nothing good is said about their influence. They are evildemonic powers of the same category as the hostile "pr inc ipa lit iesand powers."

32 L. Gaston , " Ange ls and Gentiles in Early Jud aism and Paul ," in Paul and the Torah (Vanco uver: Univers ity of British Columbia Press, 1987 [originally published in SR 11 (1982) 65-75]) 42-43.

33 J. D. G. Dunn, "The Theology of Galatians," in Jesus, Paul and the Law(Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990) 250.

34 On the presence of apocalyptic themes in Galatians , see J. L. Martyn,"A l ti A ti i i P l' L tt t th G l ti " NTS 31 (1985)


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We note first that the language of slavery abounds in the passage.The stoicheia are initially presen ted as gua rdians who exerted an

enslaving influence ( ; Ga l. 4:3) over bo th Gen-tiles an d Jews . In the analogy of the heir as a mino r (), Paulmakes it clear that the mi no r is no different than a slave (4:1) untilthe time set by the father arrives. Then, at the end of the section(4:7), Paul repeats that their former status was that of slaves ("nolonger are you a slave"). Once again he uses slavery terminologyin his description of the condition of the Gentiles before they knewthe true God (4:8); their slavery was to their idolsbeings whoreally were not gods at all, bu t demons . Now Pau l is fearful tha t

by following the dictates of the cont ra ry teachers in Galatia, theseGentiles would lose their freedom and be enslaved to the stoicheia allover again (4:9).

J . Scott has recently suggested tha t the slavery terminology in thepassage is part of a "Second Exodus" motif that is central to thepassage (Gal. 4:l 7). 3 5 The slavery terminology fits well into thepattern of Second Exodus/redemption (4:5). Scott suggests that is not a technical term for a "minor" but is a manner of

referring to Israel at the time of the Exodus (cf. Hos. 11:1), that refers to the collective heir of the Abrahamic promis e,and that " lo rd of a l l" ( ; 4:1) refers to Is rael 's cor-porate eschatological expectation that they would one day rule the

world as heirs to the promise given to Abraham. Scott alsoadvances the novel thesis that the and are officialtitles tha t should be interp reted as the Egyptian taskmas ters .Ultimate ly, he explains " a d op t i o n " in terms of the Jewi sh expecta-tion of divine adoptive sonship in the messianic time based on 2

Sam. 7:14. Although I do not think that all of the terminology ofthe passage can (or needs to be) explained solely on the basis ofSecond Exodus typology, he has presen ted a convincing case thatExodus imagery is at least working alongside the legal metaphor. 3 6

3 5 Scott, Adoption, 181 86.3 6 B. Byrn e (in his review of Scott 's mo no gr aph in JTS 44 [1993] 288 94, esp .

292) objects to Scott's thesis by observing that in Galatians 3 Paul is not at allinterested in the Egyptian period of slavery, only in the per iod of slavery tha t beg an with th e com ing of th e law. Al th ou gh his ob jection has so me mer it, it is possiblethat Pa ul himself is intentionall y com par ing the post Sinai period of slavery withh E i l Thi ld k hi i i h l d i


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STOICHEIA IN GA L. 4: 3 , 9 65

His explanat ion does have the advantage of clarifying why the twoterms and appear in the plural and are linked

(this is not explained well by recourse to the '' le ga l" analogy). T he weakness of Scott 's explanation is that he has remained non-committal on the identity of the stoicheia. As we have already noted,they should be seen as evil angels and associated with the "guar-dians and trustees" (indeed, the "taskmasters"!) of v. 2 whoenslave. This is consonant with the letter to the Colossians whichalso makes use of Second Exodus typology to refer to the redemp-tion of the people of God through the cross of Je su s Chr is t from thetyranny of the authority of darkness and his powers of evil (Col.

1:13 14). The "god of this age" and his angels have blinded theminds of the unbe liev ingJew and Gen ti leto prevent them fromseeing Christ (2 Cor. 4:4).

The stoicheia are also integrally linked to " t h e wo rl d" ( ),that is, this present evil age. In 4:3, stoicheia is qualified by thegenitive . Because Paul can separate the term stoicheiafrom its genitive qualifier (see 4:9), it is likely that is hisown description of these angelic beings and that the whole phraseis not a fixed title or expression. By the addition of Paulplaces the stoicheia into his two age framework and makes them apart of what he has described earlier as "the present evil a g e " ( ; 1:4). 37 This accentuates the demonic charac-ter of these angels who will not have a share in the age to come. Italso br ings these powers in to close affiliation with the other forcesof this age: especially flesh (; see Ga l. 5:13, 16 17, 24; 6:8) andsin (3:22). 3 8 Later in the letter Paul says that the result of beingidentified with the cross of Christ and thus experiencing his

redemption and adoption is, "the world has been crucified to meand I to the wo rld" ( ; 6:14).This anticipates what Paul says later to the Colossians, " y ou died

wi th Christ to the el emental spirits {stoicheia)" (Col. 2:20). The is not solely the sphere of human activity, but is simulta-neously the sphere of demonic activity which wields a powerful an dcompel ling influence on human beha vior . Thi s is most powerfullyillustrated by the ter m, , used of evil spiritual"powers" in Eph. 6:12 (cf. also Eph. 2:2).

3 7See also Scheu "Weltelemente" 81 83


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66 CL I N TO N E . A RN O L D

These confluent concepts of slavery, demon ic overlords, flesh,and the influence of the presen t evil age are developed in different

terms in Ephesians 2:1 3. Although the term " s l avery" is not usedin tha t context, the au tho r uses the word " d e a d " () to des-cribe the conditi on of the Jewish and Gentile readers of the letterprior to their redemption by Christ. Their lives were influenceddeeply by the present evil age ( ) andthe flesh ( ). Fur-thermore, their condition of being " d e a d " also resulted from beingunder the control of evil angels ( .. . ,

). Certainly one needs to proceed with caution in allow-ing later theological developments to help interpret earliertheological constructions. It is significant, however, tha t the plightof the unred eem ed is described by the same conceptual frameworkin Galati ans and in Ephesians. The major difference is the lack ofemphasis on the problem of being under the law in Ephesians, butthis can be explained by the completely different polemical setting(i.e. there are no Jud ai zer s in view in Ephesians).

The negative portr aya l of the stoicheia is continued in Galatians4:9 with their characteriza tion as "w e a k " () and " p o o r "(). H.D. Betz contends that these expressions come from thecontext of demonology. 3 9 He points especially to Plutarch wherethere are many discussions about why the demons are inferior tothe gods (see Plut. De Is et Os 373D; 393F). It is possible tha t Paulis reflecting some of the language of contemporary discussionsabout the relative power of gods and demons, but Paul certainly hashis own reasons for highlighting the weakness and poverty of the

stoicheia. This would include an und ers tan din g from his Jewis h background tha t the gods of this age are empty and worthless (seeDeut. 4:28; Ps . 115:4 8; Isa . 44:9 20; Wis. 15:15 19; Bar . 6:3 72,see, for example , v. 17 [L XX = v. 15]: "F o r jus t as one' s dish isuseless [] when it is broken , so are the gods of the heat hen,

when they have been set up in the temples ." ) . 4 0 We know that Paulcan also speak of idols as demon s (1 Co r. 10:20). Th us , I wouldconclude with Bruce tha t the phra se "we ak and beggarly" further

3 9 Betz Galatians 216 n 32


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"suggests that the are demonic forces which hold in thrallthe minds of men and women who follow their dictates." 4 1

Part of the deception of the demonic stoicheia was in pers uad ingthe Gentiles to regard them as gods/goddesses and worship them assuch. Hence Paul says that before the Galatians came to know theone true God, they "served those who were by nature not gods"( ; 4:8) . Th is commen t clearlymakes the best sense when one interprets the stoicheia as demonic

bei ngs . These pre Christian convic tions of the Galatians were in nosense rudimentary religious concepts of a preparatory nature inanticipation of their coming to maturity by turning to Christ. The

Galatian Gentiles made a fund amental change in their allegiancesinvolving a renunciation of their former deities; in short, theyexperi enced ' 'conv ersion. ' '

Once again we may conclude that the stoicheia were not the goodangels who gave the law, nor should the te rm be rega rded asexpressing elementa ry princip les of some kind . Th e negativeevaluation points much more in the direction of evil spirits workingtheir blinding, corrupting, and deceiving influence on Jew andGentile alike to enslave them and keep them from a knowledge ofGod and the truth.

The Torah and the Old Aeon

In Gal. 3:23 25, Paul employs apocalyptic two age lang uage tocontrast life under Torah with faith in Christ (note especially, " thed o mi n g' of fai th" and " t h e faith about to be revealed [ ]"). Torah was given to regulate

Jewish life (as a ) in the old aeon. Rega rdless of how weunderstand the precise function of the law in the old aeon, we canaffirm tha t Paul clearly presents it as hav ing a tempor al functi onuntil Israel reaches maturity. The "fullness of t i me " ( ; Ga l. 4:4) has arr ived, tha t is, the eschatological age hasdawned in the act of God in sending his son. Now, faith in Christrenders life un de r To ra h obsoleteJews no longer have to rema inunder the paidagogue.

Wi th his empha si s on Scr iptu re confin ing everything ( )

under sin in the present evil age (Gal. 3:22), Paul implies even life


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under the Tor ah. To be " u n d e r la w" is to be "u n d e r si n" in Pau l'sthinking. 4 2 This was one of the realities of the present evil age. The

law was severely limited in what it could accomplish. As Du n n sug-gests, "it was not so ultimate or important a factor in the divinepurpose as grace and Spirit, as promise and inheritance receivedthrough faith; nor so ult imate and powerful as s in . " 4 3

Paul does not go so far as to argue in Gal. 4:3 that the Torah wasdemonic or in some way equiva lent to the princip le of sin. AlthoughPaul specifically says that the Jews were " u n d e r law" ( ;Gal. 3:23; cf. also 3:13) and that the function of redemption wasto rescue those who were " u n d e r law" ( ; Ga l. 4:5), he

does not equate being under the law with being under the stoicheia.**It is doubtful Paul would have made the To ra h coextensive withdemonic powers. This is not , however, to deny a conceptual rela-tionship between " l a w " and stoicheia. It is mor e appropri ate tospeak in terms of a close association.

The nature of the association may partly be explained by appeal-ing to 2 Cor. 4:4 which represents Satan as the god of this presentevil age. 4 5 Although Torah does not explicitly figure into that con-text, the passage demonstrates that Paul's view of the present evilage was consistent with apocalyptic thought in maintaining thereality of demonic hostility. Pa ul , however, inte rpre ts the na tu re ofthe demonic hostility more in terms of promoting a spiritual blind-ness, that is, preventing Jews and Gentiles from seeing God at workin Jesu s Chris t. Paul clearly envisions demon ic hostility until the

very end of the present age (1 Cor. 15:24). One must be cautiousof seeing Paul as engaging in a process of demythologizing hisapocalyptic inheritance. Although he is not enamored with

speculating about the demonic rea lm, he does ma in ta in a firm belief in the reality of hostile powers that are integral to the presentevil age. Thus, since in Paul's view Torah was given only for thepresent age ("until faith comes"; Gal. 3:23), it belonged to an agethat was dominated by demonic powers. 4 6

4 2 Schreiner, The Law and Its Fulfillment (Grand Rap id s Baker , 1993) 77 814 3 Dunn , Galatians, 1954 4 So also Ho n g , Law, 1644 5

See Scheu, "Weltelemente," 824 6 Similarly, Scheu, "Weltelemente," 99 , comments, " I n dieser Hinsicht standdas Gesetz auf der Seite der Sarx, es gehorte diesem Aon an, in dem der Teufel


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observances (10). Th e " r e n e we d" ret urn of Gentiles to the cosmic" p o w e r s " (3,9) is compare d with a re tu rn to the dom ain of the law,

from which Christ had redeemed them (5).4 8

We cannot underestimate the va lue and importance Paul placedon being in Christ and recognizing him as Messiah and Son ofGod. For Paul, the coming of Christ marked the beginning of theeschatological age and the bestowal of the Spirit of God.

Gentile Idols, Evil Spirits, and the Present Age

In Gal. 4:8 9 Paul says that for the Galatians to accept the tenetsof the Juda ize rs is tanta mou nt to a retur n to the slavery they faced

when they did no t know th e true God. He refers to th is as re ve rs io nto life under the "weak and beggarly stoicheia" (Gal. 4:9), that is,a servitude to "be in gs which by n at ur e are not gods ( ; Gal. 4:8)." In these two verses, Paul not only makes acomment on the dangers of the false teaching, but also on theirsituation as pagans.

In 1 Co r. 10:20 Pau l speaks of the sacrifices tha t pagan s mak eas actually offered to de mo ns ( ). Earl ie r in th esame lett er (1 Co r. 8:5) he refers to these beings as "so calledgods" ( ). Similar polemic from Judaism against Gen-tile worship of idols as "not really gods" is especially prominent inIsaiah, Je re mi ah , a nd the entire ty of the Epistle of Je re mi ah ( =Baruch 6). 4 9

The attitude toward pagan religion as animated by demonicforces, which we also find here, is dependent on the Torah (Deut.32:16 17: " T h e y ma de him jealo us with their foreign gods a nd

angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, wh ich ar e not God [ ]") and secondtemple Ju da is m (see, for examp le, Jub. 11:4 5; Jud. 23:1; Naph. 3:1). 5 0 Also significant for this context is the fact tha t Jews

4 8 Cf. J.C. Beker, Paul the Apostle (Edinburgh: Clark, 1980) 49.4 9 See especially Isa. 37:19; Je r. 2:1 1; 5:7; 16:20; Bar. 14 16, 17 ,2 3, 29 ,4 9 52 ,

64 65, 68 (' ).5 0 For additional references to the many texts illustrating this widespread

Jewish belief, see J . L . St rack and P. Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament ausTalmud und Midrasch, 6th ed. (M un ic h: Beck, 1975) 3.47 60. See also Heng el,

Judaism and Hellenism 1 266; 2 177 (n 58); Bousset Gressmann Religion des Juden-


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STOICHEIA IN GA L. 4: 3, 9 71

often accused the Gentiles of worshipping the elements as gods(Wis. 7:17; 13:2; Philo, Vit. Coni. 3 4).

One of the crucial questions that still remains to be answered is: why did Paul choose to use the term stoicheia in his polemic with theGalatians? Is it possible that he chose it because he knew that theseGentiles would be familiar with it because of the ir former involve-ment in pagan religion, magical practices, and astrology? Or, doesthe term only reflect Paul 's Jew ish her itage and his theology a ndnothing of the religious vocabulary of the readers?

Ou r suspicion that it may have something to do with the background of the reade rs is ra ised immed ia tely because the onlytime Paul uses the term is in two letters addressed to the interiorof Asia Minor, the respective readerships being separated by onlya relatively small distance. Fu rth ermore , the only concretereference to the readers pre Christian past in the passage is thepolemical expression that they formerly served beings that were inreality not gods (Gal. 4:8), i.e. the stoicheia. The implication is thatthey once were involved in pa ga n religion an d tu rn ed ()away from their idols to serve () the true God (Ga l. 4:9; cf.1 Thess. 1:9).

The term "elements" was prominent in mystery initiationritual, 5 1 magical recipes, and astrologyall of which would have

been an integral part of the Galatians' pre Christian past. It is,therefore, quite likely that the Gentile readers would have beenfamiliar with the term and would probably have associated it withdeities or divine intermediaries. It makes little difference for ourpurposes to determine whether they would have associated the

stoicheia with the physical elements, the planets, or the stars. 5 2

It is doubtfu l that the magical/mystery/astrolog ical tradit ion is wha t influenced Paul 's thought regarding the stoicheia, however,although he was probably familiar with the use of the term in thosecontexts. In other words, he was not thinking about astral deitiesor decans but evil angels and demonic spirits. Paul himself wouldhave been influenced more by the Jewish apocalypt ic tradit ionregarding the nature of the stoicheia, viz. the terminolog ical

3 1

See the use of elementa in Apuleius, Metamorphoses, 11.5 ( = 269) ; 11.23 ( =

284 85); 11.25 ( = 286 87). For the text, translation, and commentary, see J.G.Griffiths, The Isis Book (Metamorphoses, Book XI), EPRO 39 (Leiden: Brill, 1975)ad loe R.E. Witt, Isis in the Greco Roman World (London: 1971) 263.


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72 CLINTON E. ARNOLD

precedence set by 2 Enoch which links stoicheia and angels and theconceptual framework of evil angels deceiving the Gentiles through

idolatry exhibited in the apocalyptic tradition and the Qumrandocuments. 5 3 Such a dual tradition with regard to a key term inPaul's thought is not unusual; for example, he still chose to fill theGreek t er m with his Jewish content in spite of the fact thatit was a term in common use as a description of the initiation riteof cert ain pagan religions.

Therefore, as G. Howard correctly notes, the problem for theGalatian Gentiles before they turned to Christ, "was that they wereenslaved to evil spirits who darkened their minds and led them intoidola t ry." 5 4

The Danger Facing the Galatian Christians: Embracing Torah MeansReturning to the Domain of the Powers

Paul's burden in writing Galatians 4 was to prevent the Galatian believers from returning to the dominion of the stoicheia. For Pau l,takin g up the To ra h was t ant amo unt to being reenslaved by the

demonic powers of the present evil agethe same powers thatenslaved them when they worshipped idols.The precise nature of the Torah observance advocated by the

judaizing opposi tion ha s been a matter of debate. Althoug h it is far beyond the scope of the pre sent work to ent er in to a full discussionof all the issues related to this problem, the basic contours of theissue are clear. The opponents were insisting that the GalatianGentiles abide by the laws of the Torah. This included, above all,a demand that the Galatians submit themselves to the rite of cir-

cumcision. It is likely that they also enjoined the Galatians to abide by the food laws of the Torah as well as observe the festivals andsacred days.

5 3

Thus, it is more likely that Paul is reflecting a traditional Jewish use of theterm than creatively coining a fresh use of the word; Pace Longenecker, Galatians,166 ("S uc h a use of might well have been coined by Paulhimself."); Bruce, Galatians, 204 ("the phrase ... seems to be Paul's own contribu-tion to religious vocabulary"); Delling, "," 685; Vielhauer, "Gesetzes-dienst," 550 53; Fung, Galatians, 190 91; Borse, Galater, 142; . Hegermann, Die

Vorstellung vom Schpfungsmittler im hellenistischen Judentum und Urchristentum, T U 82(Berlin: Akademie, 1961) 161.

54 G Howard Paul: Crisis in Galatia SNTSMS 35 (Cambridge: University


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STOICHEIA IN GA L. 4 : 3 , 9 73

Paul does call attention to one particular practice the Galatians we re performing that for him was evidence of their embracing ofthe Torah. Paul says, "You are observing days, months, seasons,and years" ( ;Gal. 4:10). Most interpreters see the series of the four nouns hereas referr ing to festivals and observances prescr ibed in the Torah . 5 5

This would include most assuredly Sabbath observance, butperhaps also the Day of Atonement, the new moon festival (Num.10:10; 28:11), and the "appointed feasts" (1 Chron. 23:31; 2Chron. 2:4, et al.).

F. Muner, however, emphasizes that one needs to lookprimarily at the practices of early Judaism, especially in Jewishapocalyptic and Qumran Essenism. 56 He contends that the varioustimes appear to be tied to the astronomical ordering of the world(see e.g. 1 Enoch 82:4, 7-10; 73:1; 74:1 ; 79 :l f f ;>o 2:9; 1 QS 9:26-10:8; 1 Q M 14:12-14). He therefore argues that a "cal enda r p ie ty "(Kalendarfrommigkeit) stands in the center of the religious convictionsof this judaiz ing faction. 57 Next to the Torah, he points out, standsthe law of the order of creation, and to forsake the latter as well as

the former is sin.58

He suggests that since such a strong affinityexisted between Tor ah piety and " cal endar pi ety" in Juda is m thatthe opponents must have emphasized fidelity to the law in terms of"calendar piety." Paul's concern, therefore, was that for the Gentile believers in Galatia it was only a short step to worship thesecalendar-regulating stars as gods (cf. 1 Enoch 80:7: " T he n theyshall err and take them [the stars] to be gods"), something theywere already accustomed to doing in their pagan past (especially inthe observances of the fertility cults). Thus, for Muner, the Galatians were not far from worshipping the stoicheia (astra l spirits) asgods. 59 In response to this conception, I would observe that

55 See Longenecker, Galatians, 182, Dunn , "The ology of Galatians," 246,idem, Galatians, 227-29, Sanders, Paul, the Law, and the Jewish People (Min-neapolis Fortress, 1983) 20, 69, 101, Bruce, Galatians, 205 207, Fung, Galatians,193, E de Witt Burton, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Gala-tians, ICC (Edinburgh Clark, 1921) 232 34

5 6

Muner, Galaterbrief, 298-303 Similarly, see Schlier, Galaterbrief, 204-207,Becker, Paul, 269, idem, Galater, N T D 8 (Gottmgen Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,

1976) 51 Vielhauer, "Gesetzesdienst und Stoicheia dienst," 548-49 , denies therelevance of this material57 Muner, Galaterbrief, 299


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Muner is correct to emphasize the significant role astralphenomena play in the apocalyptic and Qumran traditions and the

connection to the festal calendar . O n the other hand , Mun erseems to depend too heavily on an interpretation o stoicheia as astralspirits . If, as I have argued above, there is adequa te lexical andcontextual evidence to interpret stoicheia as "evil ange ls " or"demons," then it is more appropriate to interpret Gal. 4:9 as anindictment of every aspect of the Juda izer s' improper atti tudetoward and response to the law as "demonic" (especially thedemand for circumcision as essential for salvation), rather than tofocus only on the "calendar piety."

H.D. Betz contends that the observances of v. 10 need to be seenin the argumentative context of the letter as a sarcastic descriptionof the typical behavior of religiously scrupulous and supers titiouspeople. 60 As such, the "days, months, seasons, and years" do notdescribe activities in which the Galatians were presently engaged,but observances which they would practice once they took up Torahand circumcision. These observances were a part of the overallteaching of the opponents since, according to Betz, they understood

their religion as a cultic-ritualistic system of protection against theevil forces of the "elements of the world ( )" 6 1 "demonic entities of cosmic pro por tions an d astralpowers which were hostile to m a n . " 6 2 One of the major difficultiesof Betz's view is that there are few other descriptions of theopponents in Galatians (in addition to the calendar observances)that indicate that we are dealing with a more magical mystical formof Judaism. In addition, we have already seen that it is possible tounderstand the Gentiles' acceptance of a Jewish law centered formof Christianity as a reversion to the influence of demonic powers

without positing a mo re direct form of angelic/demonic veneratio n.Nevertheless, there is a slight possibility that the Juda izin g

opponents did have some form of angelic/astral speculation in theirsystem of teaching. Paul was not necessarily confronting a uniformJewish opinion on these matters. 6 3 Schlier, Mu ne r, Betz, andothers are correct in highlighting the role this kind of belief had in

60 Betz, Galatians, 217-1861

Betz, Galatians, 216-17.62


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STOICHEIA IN GAL 4 3, 9 75

ma ny streams of Ju da is m cont emporary with Paul even inPalest ine Th er e may be an allusion to this in the begin ning of theletter when Paul tells the Galatians to refuse any variant gospel"e ve n if an angel from heaven should preach [i t ]" (Gal 1 8) Thismight be a clue that the opponents were claiming that they receivedtheir unique brand of Christianity by revelation through angelicmediationsomething certainly not out of the ordinary for theJudaism of the time 64

However one interprets these observances in the context of thecompeting teaching, Paul is deeply concerned that by accepting the

teaching of the opponents, the Galatians would once again comeunder the compelling influence of demonic powers (stoicheia) Pauldescribes the powers as "weak and beggarly" (4 9) in comparisonto a knowledge of the one true God through Jesus Christ who hassubjected all these powers to himself (cf Phil 2 11 , and so also Col2 10, 15, Eph 1 21-23) Wh at Pau l wants to emphasize more thananything else is the preeminence and sufficiency of the son of God

How will the stoicheia reassert their dominion over the Galatians 9

Just as the powers once blinded the Galatians to a true knowledge

of God through exerting their deceiving influence in paganreligions, astrology, and magic, they now threaten once again todeter these Galatians from a full knowledge of God at work inChrist through inspiring them to embrace the law and a variety ofJewish sectarian observances that go along with the law in theteaching of the opponents

Conclusion

In conclusion, the stoicheia in Galatians 4 3 and 9 are best interpreted as evil spirits equivalent to the "principalities and powers"that Paul speaks about elsewhere For Paul , the stoicheia were anintegral part of the present evil age and used a variety of means tohold humanity in bondage and blind people to the revelation ofJesus Chri st as proclaimed in the gospel For Genti les, they accomplished their objective through posing as gods and goddesses andsoliciting cultic worship For Je ws , they were associated with the

law in the same way as the power of sin and were agents of slaveryunde r the old covenant Now , in spite of the fact that the Galati an


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7 6 CLINTON E. ARNOLD

Gentiles know Christ, Paul fears that by acceding to the demandsof the Jud aizing opponent s they would return to the domai n of thepowers. By embracing Torah, the Galatians were returning to thepowers of the old aeon which would bring them under a yoke ofslavery once again and cause them to forfeit their freedom inChrist.


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^ s

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Stoicheia as Evil Spirits in Galatians 4