Citation

Holloway PA. Harv. Theol. Rev. 2018; 111(2): 174-191.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Harvard Divinity School, Publisher Cambridge University Press)

DOI

10.1017/S0017816018000044

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Dubitatio is a complex figure of speech in which a speaker explicitly weighs her or his options in the course of making a difficult decision. Dubitatio was typically used to display a protagonist's character as revealed in her or his decision-making. In Philippians 1:22-26, Paul uses dubitatio to draw the readers into his deliberations whether to commit suicide in prison. In so doing, he not only reveals to them his own character but their character as well, in as much as it is their inordinate grief over his imprisonment that will ultimately determine Paul's decision. Dubitatio occurs already in Homer, but it was made famous in Greek tragedy, where it largely defined the genre. The tragic dubitatio was parodied in subsequent comedy and, by the Roman period, was beginning to appear in other genres, including political oratory, various poetic genres, history, and epistle. Paul's apt use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26 shows an obvious familiarity with the figure. By attending to Paul's use of dubitatio in Phil 1:22-26, we can arrive at a fresh and convincing interpretation of this challenging crux interpretum. Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 2018.

Language: en