»It Is Written …«

The use of epigraphic evidence for the exegesis of early Christian literature is a longstanding concern, as was already expressed by Adolf Deissmann. Even today, attempts to take inscriptional sources into greater account have remained fragmentary. Thanks to changed technical conditions and with the knowledge that the language of inscriptions is closer to everyday speech in antiquity than many literary texts, systematic approaches such as that of the »Epigraphical Commentary on the New Testament« promise to broaden our understanding. This is demonstrated by three examples taken from the Pauline epistles: the term κατάκριμα, the meaning of ἁμαρτία, and the use of ἀγάπη, ἀγαπᾶν, and ἀγαπητός.