428 T.B. WIllIAMs wisdom and age and favor before God and people”). In this instance, the combination of ca,rij + para. qew/| creates the sense “favor before God”, apart from a connection with eu`ri,skein. But even here, the con- struction is not as similar as it might first appear. The abstract sense of ca,rij (i.e., “favor”) is created through a locative connection with a verb which denotes movement or progress. The same semantic situation is lacking in 1 Pet 2,19-20, where the term’s connection with an elided copula (evstin) is merely an explication of its nature or character. so not only are interpreters forced — without any precedent — to assume the elision of elements such as eu`rh,sei, they are also required to stretch the phrase beyond the limits of its established usage. What should be clear at this point is that significant problems sur- round both of the commonly assigned meanings of ca,rij in 1 Pet 2,19- 20. Nevertheless, the latter proposal remains much closer to the mark than the former. In drawing out its limitations, therefore, I do not wish to completely reject its relevance. As will be argued below, the use of ca,rij does in some sense indicate God’s positive evaluation of human actions. The aforesaid criticisms are intended merely to underscore the fact that a comprehensive understanding of the author’s usage cannot rest on this view alone; additional insights are required to fully capture the intended meaning. Building on the prior discussion, we will con- sider an important factor which, to this point, has not been given suf- ficient attention, viz., that the system of reciprocity was the most common social domain in which the term was employed in the Hel- lenistic world. When read in this light, ca,rij takes on a new dimension which brings concord to the author’s established pattern of usage. In what follows, we will explore the nature of gift-exchange in Greco- Roman culture and consider how ca,rij functions within this social do- main. Once this background has been sketched, we will then turn our attention to the term’s usage in 1 Pet 2,19-20. II. Contextualizing the social Domain of ca,rij In recent years, a number of important works have addressed the meaning(s) and function(s) of ca,rij in New Testament literature 16. As a result of these efforts, our understanding of the practices and beliefs of 16 Most notable is the thorough treatment of ca,rij in the Greco-Roman world and within the Pauline epistles by J.R. HARRIsON, Paul’s Language of Grace in Its Graeco-Roman Context (WUNT II/172; Tübingen 2003). Cf. also C. sPICq, Theological Lexicon of the New Testament (Peabody, MA 1994) III, 500-506.