Galatians 3:19-20: a Crux Interpretum for Paul's View of the Law*

H. J. Schoeps begins his chapter on "Paul's Teaching about the Law" in his highly acclaimed work, Paul: The Theology of the Apostle in the Light of Jewish Religious History, with the remark that "the Pauline understanding of the law [is] the most intricate doctrinal issue in his theology." It deserves this accolade, according to Peter Stuhlmacher, "not only because Paul's terminology is highly nuanced but also because the development of his teaching about the law is diversely accented." This is putting it mildly! Paul's treatment of the law has sorely exercised the most competent of NT scholars, and has flaunted itself as something beyond the grasp of the rest of us who have been graced with less generous mental capacities. The problems and apparent contradictions in Paul's view of the law are legion. Such Pauline tensions have created over the years a plethora of diverse interpretations, so much so that "Paul has been evaluated as almost everything from antinomian through schizophrenic to Pharisee on this issue."