Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians

365 Pages·2009·2.61 MB·English

by  Christopher A. Beetham

Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul
to the Colossians
Biblical Interpretation Series
Editors
R. Alan Culpepper
Ellen van Wolde
Associate Editors
David E. Orton
Rolf Rendtorff
Editorial Advisory Board
Janice Capel Anderson – Phyllis A. Bird
Erhard Blum – Werner H. Kelber
Ekkehard W. Stegemann – Vincent L. Wimbush/
Jean Zumstein
VOLUME 96
Echoes of Scripture in the
Letter of Paul to the Colossians
By
Christopher A. Beetham
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2008
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Beetham, Christopher A.
Echoes of Scripture in the Letter of Paul to the Colossians / by Christopher A.
Beetham.
p. cm. — (Biblical interpretation series ; v. 96)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17081-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T.
Colossians—Relation to the Old Testament. 2. Bible. O.T.—Relation to
Colossians. I. Title. II. Series.
BS2715.52.B44 2008
227’.707—dc22
2008039459
ISSN 0928-0731
ISBN 978 90 04 17081 0
Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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printed in the netherlands
To Mindy
ἠγαπημένη τοῦ θεοῦ (Col 3:12)

In previous studies of the NT use of Scripture, far
too much emphasis has been placed on actual quo-
tations. . . . Much of the NT abounds with allusions
to the OT that have little resemblance to the exact
wording. These allusions make up the larger portion
of the NT use of Scripture and form the heart of its
view of Scripture.
— Leonhard Goppelt, Typos

CONTENTS
Illustration .................................................................................... xv
Acknowledgments ........................................................................ xvii
List of Abbreviations ................................................................... xix
Chapter One Introduction and History of Research .............. 1
Chapter Two On Determining Allusions and Echoes:
Definitions and Methodology .................................................. 11
An Author-Oriented or Reader-Oriented Approach? ............ 12
Literary Modes of Reference: Quotation, Allusion, and
Echo ..................................................................................... 15
Quotation ............................................................................. 15
Allusion ................................................................................ 17
Echo ..................................................................................... 20
Parallel ...................................................................................... 24
Strong Genealogical Parallel ............................................... 25
Weak Genealogical Parallel ................................................. 26
Analogical Parallel ............................................................... 26
Criteria for Determining the Existence of an Allusion .......... 27
First Tier of Evidence: Essential Criteria ........................... 28
Availability ........................................................................ 28
Word Agreement or Rare Concept Similarity ................ 29
Essential Interpretive Link ............................................... 30
Second Tier of Evidence: Confirmatory Observations ..... 32
Scholarly Assessment ........................................................ 32
Old Testament and Jewish Interpretive Tradition .......... 32
Other Verified References from the same OT Context
in Colossians ................................................................. 33
Occurrence Elsewhere in the Pauline Corpus ................ 33
Thematic Coherence ....................................................... 34
Criteria for Determining the Existence of an Echo .............. 34
Classification ............................................................................ 35
Methodological Approach for Interpreting the Old
Testament in the Letter to the Colossians .......................... 36