<\/p>
When Peter speaks to the men from Cornelius, he reminds them that for Jews it is unlawful to \u201cjoin\u201d or \u201ccome to\u201d men from any other nation. Both verbs are significant. <\/p>\n
\u201cJoin\u201d can have a political sense; to join a community is to become a polites <\/em> , citizen, of that community. This is what the prodigal does when he is in the far country (Luke 10:11). In 1 Corinthians 6:16-17, however, the word is used in a sexual context: Any man who \u201cjoins\u201d with a harlot is one body with her, Paul says. We should instead by \u201cjoined\u201d to Christ in spirit. (A form of the same word is used in the LXX of Genesis 2:24 to describe the \u201cjoining\u201d of a man and wife.) For Jews and Gentiles to \u201cjoin\u201d together, then, is for them to form a single polity, or, more intimately still, a single body. Peter is saying that Jews were once prohibited from becoming one flesh with Gentiles by sharing unclean flesh; now that flesh has been cleansed, Jew and Gentile are united in one table, one flesh. <\/p>\n \u201cCome to\u201d is not a technical term. It can also have a sexual connotation (cf. LXX of Exodus 19:15), but can also be used in liturgical connections (cf. LXX of Leviticus 9:7). It can also be used of aliens who \u201ccome to\u201d join together with Israel (Leviticus 19:33). Hebrews uses the verb several times in a liturgical sense (4:16; 10:22; 12:18, 22). Though not as sharply defined as \u201cjoin,\u201d this wor might imply that Jews and Gentiles, once forbidden to make the same liturgical \u201capproach\u201d are not joined in a single liturgical community. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Peter speaks to the men from Cornelius, he reminds them that for Jews it is unlawful to \u201cjoin\u201d or \u201ccome to\u201d men from any other nation. Both verbs are significant. \u201cJoin\u201d can have a political sense; to join a community is to become a polites , citizen, of that community. This is what the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-acts"],"yoast_head":"\n