ABSTRACT The focus here is on texts, Pauline and texts invoked by Paul, and ever-present imperial “super”-texts. The latter also establishes the context, as the social setting of Paul’s letters with their rhetorical use of Othering was the Roman Empire with its identity politics. The rhetorical power of Paul and his scriptural texts contributed to discursive formations, since a strong sense of being and identity was negotiated through these texts, even when admitting that such formations are always in process, mutating and reformatting. Construing notions of Others was a particularly important feature in defining boundaries, for generating insiders and outsiders in Pauline texts. 1. INTRODUCTION: IMPORTANCE OF IDENTITY, THEN AND NOW The study of the New Testament is primarily a hermeneutical venture, a quest in interpreting and making sense of texts and contexts from antiquity. Teaching and researching the New Testament often involves a broader hermeneutical role and additional contexts, such as exploring the sense of ancient texts for modern contexts like faith communities. New 1 Edited version of an inaugural lecture, Stellenbosch University, 17 April 2012, printed here with permission of the University. It is presented in collegial dedication upon his retirement to the valuable contributions of scholar and friend Prof dr Hermie C van Zyl to New Testament studies in South Africa over many years. Acta Theologica 2013 33(2): 113-132 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/actat.v33i2.7 ISSN 1015-8758 © UV/UFS <http://www.ufs.ac.za/ActaTheologica> J. Punt THE INTERPRETATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AS THE STUDY OF TExTS AND CONTExTS: HERMENEUTICS, IDENTITIES, COMMUNITIES 1 Prof. Jeremy Punt, Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University. E-mail address: jpunt@sun.ac.za. Produced by SUN MeDIA Bloemfontein