Divine Conflict and the Divine Warrior: Listening to Romans and Other Jewish Voices

In this study, Scott C. Ryan situates Paul’s letter to the Romans as one voice among a number of Jewish voices that frame God as a divine warrior. He first investigates motifs related to divine conflict in Exodus 14-15, Amos, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel 7-12, along with 1 Enoch, Psalms of Solomon, Wisdom of Solomon, the War Scroll, and 4 Ezra. The author then places Romans in dialogue with the works of Paul’s predecessors and near contemporaries. When Romans and these Jewish texts are placed alongside one another, Paul emerges as a writer who participates in Jewish divine conflict traditions. The apostle maintains Israel’s eschatological hope in a warring deity even as he modifies that image in light of God’s action in the Christ-event.