HEARING THE ECHO OF FREEDOM: A METALEPTIC READING OF PAUL'S USE OF ISAIAH 52:5 IN 1 TIMOTHY 6:1.

While many scholars recognize the echo of Isaiah 52:5 in 1 Timothy 6:1, they limit the meaning of the echo to a warning against unfaithfulness. However, the intertextual significance is deeper than this warning alone. I argue that Paul employs metalepsis to recontextualize the theme of deliverance from Isaiah 52 to give Christian slaves the hope of a future deliverance. Hays and Wagner argue convincingly that Paul recontextualizes Isaiah 52:5 in Romans 2:24 to depict non-Christian Jews as spiritual exiles under the dominion of sin. Through metalepsis, Paul imports the theme of deliverance from Isaiah 52 so that his reproach implied God's promise of Israel's ultimate salvation. I argue that Paul uses metalepsis in a similar way when employing the same verse in 1 Timothy. In 1 Timothy 6:1, Paul uses Isaiah 52:5 to depict enslaved Christians as exiles under the dominion of earthly oppressors. By recontextualizing Isaiah's hope of deliverance from Babylonian exile, Paul's metalepsis serves as a divine promise of Christians' eschatological deliverance at Christ's return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]