Scholars have investigated Paul’s ἐν Χριστῷ phrases for some time, yet no consensus has been reached as to what they mean and how the apostle came to speak of the relationship between believers and Christ in this way. This brief survey shows that the philological background of Paul’s “being in Christ” phrases lies in the largely analogous Greek phrase ἔν τινι εἶναι which expresses dependency of something or someone on something or someone else. Various passages from the archaic up to the imperial period that have received no attention so far demonstrate this. In Paul, the concept of dependency in connection with ἐν Χριστῷ phrases particularly comes to play in Rom 1–8. … Download PDF to read more.