ABSTRACT
The goal of both polysemous and monosemous approaches to interpretation is that a term or phrase can be understood effortlessly in the contexts in which it is used. That goal has not been achieved by the polysemous approaches to σάρξ. Instead, the interpretation of σάρξ as flesh or cosmological powers leaves the reader with several unanswered questions. Therefore, this chapter searches Galatians 4:21–6:10 for transition markers, that is, particles and phrases that provide the text with an audible structure (see Holmstrand). For instance, opening verse 5:13 with the particle γάρ (“for”) suggests that the following clause expands on the previous one in which Paul expresses he wishes that the proponents of compulsory circumcision would exclude themselves rather than troubling the Galatians. Paul encourages the addressees to stand firm in their own inclusion, although the call for male circumcision seems to imply that they must return to a phase of initiation. Such desire for conformity and under-functioning as voiced by the collective group can be ignored as simply posing an obstacle to loving their neighbor. If the desire of the σάρξ is the desire of the collective group, this monosemous approach to σάρξ renders a more coherent—albeit somewhat different—reading of this passage.
