A good deal has been said regarding the stigmata and regarding what
Paul means by referring to them. That they were the scars remaining from the
scourgings, from the one stoning (2 Cor. 11:25; Acts 14:19), and from other
blows, is generally admitted. What is debated is whether Paul borrows the
expression from paganism. Runaway and misbehaved slaves and criminals were
branded on the brow or the hand; but this does not fit Paul although some think
that by the mention of these stigmata Paul intends to designate himself a
slave. M.-M. 590 adds: “Nor is there any evidence that the practice of soldiers
tattooing themselves with their commanders’ names, which others (i. e.,
commentators) prefer, was at all general.” Devotees of a goddess or of a temple
sometimes bore a brand; but this, too, seems out of place when speaking of
Paul. The whole matter of branding and of tattooing as found in the pagan world
is inapplicable to Paul.
The latest evidence is a papyrus found by Deissmann. It is thought to
have a bearing on our passage because the find contains the words βαστάζειν and κόπους παρέχειν: carrying an amulet of the god Osiris in
a godly act is to ward off getting trouble from any adversary. Paul’s scars are
made equivalent to the amulet. Deissmann lets Paul speak to the Galatians as to
his “naughty little children,” “smiling, with uplifted finger telling them: ‘do
be sensible; you cannot make me any trouble, for I am protected by a
charm’ ” (bin ja gefeit), C.-K. 1021. Then Paul would end his
great epistle in a jocular way! Zahn accepts this and excuses the pagan
language!
Paul writes, “the stigmata of Jesus,” the Jesus who suffered on the
cross. There are no pagan implications of any kind; this is only a plain
historical reference. Luke 24:39; John 20:25, 27. The scars on Paul’s body
belonged to Jesus, were like the wounds he himself suffered, for Paul’s scars
were truly suffered because of Christ. Compare 2 Cor. 1:5; 4:10; Col. 1:24. A
far later age invented “stigmata of Jesus,” a reproduction of the marks of the
five wounds in the hands, the feet, and the side of Jesus. These “stigmata” are
either violent pains in these parts of the body or marks that turn red and, in
some cases, bleed. All of these peculiar phenomena are pathological and have
nothing to do with Paul’s scars. (R. C. H. Lenski, The
Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians and to the Ephesians and
to the Philippians [Columbus, Ohio: Lutheran Book Concern, 1937], 322-34)
