Giuseppe wrote:The Roman Pilate can't be the 'archon of this age' because 'this age' refers to a so great temporal space that it can't be ruled by a so insignificant historical person as Pilate.
There is a source that Paul may have used: the Hebrew Scriptures. No-one doubts that Paul and the early Christians looked to the Old Testament to 'find' information about the Messiah. Does it say anything that might help us understand Paul?
First, let's recap what Paul is saying in 1 Cor. 2:
1. The rulers of this age did not know that Christ was being sent to be crucified
2. If they had known it, e.g. if they had been wise enough, they wouldn't have crucified Christ
3. Now that they have crucified Christ, they are perishing
Is there anything in the Old Testament where Paul might have seen such an event 'predicted'? Yes there is:
Psalm 2. Psalm 2 refers to the Messiah and what will happen when he comes. I've reproduced this short Psalm below (KJV). I've bolded key words, though it is worth reading the whole Psalm to recognise the echoes in the unhighlighted passages that are undoubtedly reflected in the later New Testament:
- Psalm 2:
2.1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2.2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed [Messiah], saying,
2.3 "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
2.4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision."
2.5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
2.6 "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
2.7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
2.8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
2.9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
2.10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
2.11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
2.12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Here we see the 'prediction' laid out: the kings of the earth and the rulers will work together against God and His Messiah. But they should 'be wise' and 'kiss the Son'. If they don't, the kings and rulers will 'perish from the way'.
Obviously, from Paul's perspective, the kings and rulers did not 'kiss the Son'. They crucified Christ, and so Paul expects them to perish.
If Paul understood Psalm 2 as a prophecy about the Messiah, then he would have assumed that Christ was crucified as a conspiracy at the end of this age by the kings and rulers of the earth. I doubt that Paul would have put much thought into this, like wondering 'Is it fair to include Jewish rulers or Roman rulers like Pilate into this?' Simply: the Hebrew Scriptures said it was rulers as a collective group, and that was good enough for him.
Again, compare the passage in 1 Cor 2 to the 'prediction' in Psalm 2 above:
- 1 Cor 2:
6. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this age, that come to nought:
7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the age unto our glory:
8. Which none of the rulers of this age knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The sense of it does match pretty well. And the Old Testament is an obvious suspect as a source about the Messiah.