(See Part I here, and an Overview here)

I've been examining Hans-Josef Klauck's Ancient Letters and the New Testament some more. It's fun stuff. I've made it through chapters 3 and 4:

• 3: Nonliterary and Diplomatic Correspondance
• 4: Poetry and Philosophy—Literary Letters

As you can see, the book isn't strictly about New Testament epistles. It is about the ancient letter form in all its major varieties. I'm most looking forward to chapters 6-8 as they are about Letters in Early Judaism (chapter 6) and then two chapters on New Testament Letters.

Chapter 3 offers some stimulating discussion of the importance of diplomatic correspondance in approaching Pauline epistles. Klauck has sections on the letter of recommendation and Hellenistic royal letters. The final section in the chapter is a serious examination of Claudius' imperial letter to the Alexandrians. He provides a translation of the letter, a full outline, and detailed analysis. The prescript of Claudius' letter sounds positively Pauline:

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus the Emperor, Pontifex Maximus,
holder of the tribunican power, consul designate,
to the city of the Alexandrians, greeting.

Chapter 4 offers a catalogue of authors that is really quite handy. Names I'd only seen as abbreviations in BDAG suddenly have new meaning to me as a result of skimming across the text. I say "skim" because it really serves as a brief handbook to authors of Greek and Latin letters.

I've begun chapter 5, which is titled Epistolary and Rhetorical Theory. Good stuff. Gets into topoi, examines some classical letter templates and "style" handbooks, among other things.

I'll blog more after I'm a bit further along in the book.