56 Chris Keith According to Quintilian, writing is disparaged by some, but the ability to write epistles is prized and an important intellectual exercise. This reflects the point made earlier, that it is important that a person of status be able to write, but have a copyist at hand when it becomes irksome (77). That grapho-literacy is simultaneously indicative of and antithetical to status in the thoughts of the author of the Rhetorica and Quintilian sheds further light on the passages where Paul highlights his own handwriting. Implicitly, these verses witness not just to Paul’s grapho-literate competency, but also to the fact that he is important enough to be able to avoid its use if he desires. These verses thus say — again, implicitly — to Paul’s audience (most of whom would not be able to write) (78): “Look, I can write, but I can avoid doing so. Most of you can do neither, so listen to me”. * ** Paul clearly found it beneficial to use an amanuensis when composing epistles in Greek (79). This in itself does not set Paul apart from other Jewish leaders, as even Josephus found that he needed help when composing in Greek (80). Hezser’s comments on Josephus are (77) HAINES-EITZEN, Guardians of Letters, 39, says, “It goes without saying that writers such as Jerome, Rufinus, and Augustine had plenty of uses for copyists”. See also R. BAUCKHAM, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses. The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (Grand Rapids, MI 2006) 359-361; HEZSER, Jewish Literacy, 474-476; R.S. KRAEMER, “Women’s Authorship of Jewish and Christian Literature in the Greco-Roman Period”, “Women Like This”. New Perspectives on Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman World (ed. A.-J. LEVINE) (Atlanta, GA 1991) 227; MACDONALD, “Literacy”, 65 (referring to medieval England). Note that 4 Ezra (=2 Esd) 14.50 refers to Ezra as “scribe of the knowledge of the Most High” (NRSV) even though 14.42 makes clear that Ezra himself did not actually write, but rather copyists took dictation. (78) This is not to claim that Paul’s audience was completely illiterate. For one thing, Paul clearly presumed that at least one person (or his carrier) would be able to read. For another, as emphasized at the beginning of this article, literacy existed in gradations. It is safe to assume, however, that if Paul’s churches were similar to the rest of the culture, the vast majority of his audience would have been incapable of writing and found Paul’s ability to write to be significant. (79) For a thorough study of the amanuensis in Paul, see RICHARDS, Secretary; and his Paul and First-Century Letter Writing. Secretaries, Composition and Collection (Downers Grove 2004). (80) Josephus, Ag. Ap. 1.9, 51. See also Josephus, Ant. 20.12.1, where Josephus refers to his Greek education.