I'm part of a home Bible study group that's going over First Thessalonians. During last week's meeting, our first, I was thinking about the epistolary salutation:
Παῦλος καὶ Σιλουανὸς καὶ Τιμόθεος
τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Θεσσαλονικέων ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ καὶ κυρίῳ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ,
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη.
I was thinking about the word χάρις. The form Paul uses is similar to standard epistolary form (A to B, χαίρειν) but not the same. I know folks have likely written about this, but during the study I was wondering about the phonetic similarity of χάρις and χαίρειν. Is this an example of Paul subverting the standard form with a little phonetic wordplay and making it his own?
So today during lunch I poked through Francis Xavier J. Exler's excellent little book, A Study in Greek Epistlography: The Form of the Ancient Greek Letter. Exler looks at a huge number of letters (papyri) that date from 300 BC through 300 AD. He catalogues salutations according to form and then evaluates closings used with each salutation. Nothing in Exler's study documents the use of χάρις in the salutations, at least in the letters he examines.
Tonight, I poked into a few commentaries on Thessalonians to see if any had more to say on this mattter.
Here's George Milligan:
χάρις ὑμῖν κ. εἰρήνη] a greeting doubtless suggested by the union of the ordinary Gk. and Heb. forms of salutation (cf. 2 Macc. 1:1), though both are deepened and spiritualized. Thus χαίρειν (cf. Ac. 15:23, 23:26, Jas. 1:1) now gives place to χάρις, a word which, without losing sight of the Hellenic charm and joy associated with the older formula, is the regular Pauline expression for the Divine favour as shown in all its freeness and universality; while εἰρήνη, so far from being a mere phrase of social intercourse (cf. Judg. 19:20, 19:2 Esdr. 4:17), is not even confined to its general O.T. sense of harmony restored between God and man (e.g. Num. 6:26), but has definitely in view that harmony as secured through the person and the work of Christ (cf. Jo. 14:27).
St. Paul's Epistles to the Thessalonians. 1908 (G. Milligan, Ed.) (4). London: Macmillan and co., limited. Emphasis (bold) added.
So Milligan (in 1908) note the similarity between Pauline and standard form. And here's C.A. Wanamaker (NIGTC):
χάρις ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη (“grace to you and peace”) concludes the prescript of the letter by offering a somewhat abbreviated form of the standard Pauline greeting. It differs markedly from the greeting in the normal Greek letter, where some form of χαίρειν (“greetings” or “rejoice”) is used, but it has some correspondence to the normal Jewish greeting, “peace.”
Wanamaker, C. A. (1990). The Epistles to the Thessalonians : A commentary on the Greek text. Spine title: Commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians.; Includes indexes. (71). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans. Emphasis (bold) added.
Wanamaker skims over χάρις and any similarity to χαίρειν. He then takes it a step further noting how bestowing “peace” as part of a greeting is reminiscent of the standard Hebrew greeting, shalom. I can see that, but I also think Milligan is spot on in regard to χάρις and χαίρειν.
Interestingly, the epistle from James doesn't use χάρις but 1&2 Peter do. I say "interestingly" because, if I have my chronology right, many think James pre-dates Pauline material. 1&2 Peter post-date Pauline material (at least 2 Peter does as Pauline material is explicitly referenced). The Johannines are split on the issue (2 John does, 1 & 3 John do not) and Jude uses a completely different formula ("mercy, peace and love be multiplied to you").
Anyway, just a little thought I wanted to pass along. So next time you read a Pauline saluation, think about greetings of "grace" and what that means; and how Paul keeps to the form (somewhat) but also makes it his own.