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The Ancient World Behind the Text: Ideas
The customs, offices and ideas a first reader knew without being told, what each meant then, and the nearest thing you already know.
Letters of recommendation
A traveler often carried a letter from someone his hosts trusted, vouching for him and asking them to receive him. Such letters opened homes, synagogues and churches.
She arrived in the new city with a note from her old pastor, and by evening she had a bed and a church. In the ancient world a stranger was trusted when someone his hosts trusted vouched for him. People of standing wrote letters for those below them, praising them and asking that they be welcomed and helped. Usually the person recommended carried the letter himself. Jewish travelers used such letters to find lodging with Jewish families along the way.
Throughout the empire, social superiors wrote letters of introduction to their peers or inferiors for people they recommended. Such letters were standard in Greco-Roman society. Jewish travelers often carried them so that Jewish householders elsewhere would trust them with lodging. A recommendation carried more weight than a person's own claims. Anyone trusted could write one, and by such a letter a sender could also authorize a messenger. The person recommended usually carried the letter himself and might be called on to explain it, so the bearer's own qualifications mattered. Commending oneself was thought proper only for good reason, such as self-defense. Keener suggests that a letter from the proconsul Sergius Paulus could explain a quick welcome at Pisidian Antioch. Wright notes that in Corinth some later wanted Paul himself to bring letters of recommendation from someone they trusted. The strongest letters said, in effect, receive this person as you would me. Messengers were received with the honor due their sender (2 Samuel 19:37-38). Superlative praise for more than one person was rare and noteworthy. Bailey notes that the word Paul uses for welcoming such a person means welcoming him into fellowship, accepting him as a friend. Keener reads 1 Timothy itself as an open letter of recommendation, read in the house churches to back Timothy's authority.
An analogy: a reference letter from a former employer that a job seeker hands over in person. The new boss trusts the old one, so the stranger at the door is no longer a stranger.
A letter vouching for a traveler opened doors, so Saul's letters to the synagogues of Damascus in Acts 9:2 gave him standing there, and the believers at Ephesus write ahead for Apollos in Acts 18:27. In 2 Corinthians 3:1 Paul asks whether he needs such letters for a church he founded.
Not a reference for a job. The letter asked its readers to take the bearer into their homes and their fellowship, often to receive him as they would the writer himself. A traveler's lodging, and his welcome in a synagogue or a church, could hang on it.
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- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/acts-18-18-28\/","n":"Acts 18:18-28, A vow at Cenchreae and Apollos of Alexandria","s":"Paul has his hair cut at Cenchreae because of a vow and sails for Syria by way of Ephesus. In Ephesus Priscilla and Aquila teach the eloquent Alexandrian Apollos more accurately, and the believers write ahead to Achaia to welcome him.","r":"Acts 18:18-28"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/romans-16-1-2\/","n":"Romans 16:1-2, Phoebe of Cenchreae","s":"Paul commends Phoebe, a servant or deacon of the church at Cenchreae and a patron of many, Paul included, and asks the Romans to welcome her and help her in whatever she needs.","r":"Romans 16:1-2"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1corinthians-16-1-24\/","n":"1 Corinthians 16:1-24, The collection and final greetings","s":"Paul arranges a weekly setting aside of money for the believers in Jerusalem, plans his travels, commends Timothy, Apollos and the household of Stephanas, and closes with greetings, a line in his own hand and the Aramaic prayer Marana tha.","r":"1 Corinthians 16:1-24"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2corinthians-3-1-18\/","n":"2 Corinthians 3:1-18, Letters of recommendation and Moses' veil","s":"Paul needs no letters of recommendation, since the Corinthians are his letter, written by the Spirit on hearts; he sets the fading glory on Moses' veiled face against the greater glory of the new covenant.","r":"2 Corinthians 3:1-18"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2corinthians-8-16-9-15\/","n":"2 Corinthians 8:16-9:15, Envoys for the collection and the cheerful giver","s":"Paul commends Titus and two brothers appointed by the churches to carry the gift, takes care that no one can fault him in handling it, and urges the Corinthians to have their promised gift ready, since God loves a cheerful giver.","r":"2 Corinthians 8:16-9:15"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/2corinthians-10-1-18\/","n":"2 Corinthians 10:1-18, Weighty letters, a weak presence and the siege of the mind","s":"Answering the charge that he is bold in letters but weak in person, Paul describes a war that takes every thought captive and refuses to compare himself with rivals who measure themselves by themselves.","r":"2 Corinthians 10:1-18"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philippians-2-19-30\/","n":"Philippians 2:19-30, Timothy and Epaphroditus, commended and sent","s":"Paul commends Timothy as a son who serves with him and plans to send him soon, and sends home Epaphroditus, the church's messenger, who nearly died on their errand.","r":"Philippians 2:19-30"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/colossians-4-7-18\/","n":"Colossians 4:7-18, Tychicus, Onesimus, Nympha's house and the letter from Laodicea","s":"Paul sends the letter with Tychicus and Onesimus, passes on greetings from Jewish and Gentile co-workers, greets Nympha and the church in her house, asks for this letter to be read at Laodicea and the Laodicean letter at Colossae, and signs off in his own hand.","r":"Colossians 4:7-18"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/1timothy-1-1-11\/","n":"1 Timothy 1:1-11, Myths, endless genealogies and would-be teachers of the law","s":"Paul greets Timothy, whom he left in Ephesus, and tells him to stop certain people teaching strange doctrines and spending themselves on myths and endless genealogies; they want to be teachers of the law without understanding it, while the law is meant for the lawless.","r":"1 Timothy 1:1-11"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/titus-3-9-15\/","n":"Titus 3:9-15, A divisive person, winter at Nicopolis, and Zenas and Apollos","s":"Titus is to avoid foolish controversies, genealogies and quarrels about the law, and to warn a divisive person twice before having nothing more to do with him; Paul plans to winter at Nicopolis and asks Titus to send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way with everything they need.","r":"Titus 3:9-15"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/philemon-8-25\/","n":"Philemon 8-25, Onesimus sent home with a letter","s":"Paul appeals to Philemon, on the basis of love, for Onesimus, the slave who became Paul's son in prison: he sends him back to be received as a beloved brother rather than as a slave, asks Philemon to welcome him as he would Paul, offers to repay anything he owes, and asks for a guest room.","r":"Philemon 8-25"}
- {"u":"https:\/\/jayms.com\/bible-study-tools-2\/ancient-world-passages\/3john-9-15\/","n":"3 John 9-15, Diotrephes and Demetrius","s":"The elder wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, eager to be first, refuses to receive him; he spreads malicious talk, refuses to welcome the brothers and puts out of the church those who do. Gaius is not to imitate evil. Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone, and the elder adds his own testimony; he hopes to come soon and talk face to face.","r":"3 John 9-15"}
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Acts 9:2 and 18:27, on 2 Corinthians 3:1 and on Romans 16:1-2
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Acts 13:14 and 18:27-28, and on 2 Corinthians 3:1
- ESV Study Bible, study note on Acts 18:27
- N. T. Wright, Paul: A Biography, ch. 10, Ephesus I
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on Philippians 2:19-21 and 2:22
- NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, notes on Philippians 2:20, 2:22 and 2:29
- Kenneth E. Bailey, The Cross and the Prodigal, ch. 1, Rejoice with Me
- Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, on 1 Timothy 1:2
