Evoking scripture: seeing the Old Testament in the New

173 Pages·2008·6.23 MB·English

by  Steve Moyise

Evoking Scripture

Evoking Scripture
Seeing the Old Testament
in the New
by
Steve Moyise
t&tciark
Published by T&T Clark
A Continuum imprint
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
80 Maiden Lane, Suite 704, New York, NY 10038
www.continuumbooks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Copyright © Steve Moyise, 2008
Steve Moyise has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Typeset by Free Range Book Design & Production
EISBN 9780567033253
Contents
Abbreviations vii
1. Introduction 1
2. Evoking a scriptural framework for understanding Jesus? 6
Mk 1.2-3
3. Evoking a legal framework in order to undermine it? 21
Mk 2.25-8; 7.15-19; 10.2-9; 12.33
4. Evoking an Isaiah framework for understanding Romans? 33
Rom. 2.24
5. Evoking a hermeneutical principle for interpreting Romans? 49
Rom. 1.16-17
6. Evoking a false legal framework? 63
Gal. 3.10-14
7. Evoking a theory of prophecy? 78
1 Pet. 1.10-12
8. Evoking a powerful image in order to replace it? 96
Rev. 5.5-6
9. Evoking the wrong texts? Ill
Rev. 15.3-4
10. Literary and theological reflections 125
Bibliography 143
Index of Biblical Sources 151
Index of Modern Authors 161

Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BNTC Black's New Testament Commentary
BR Biblical Research
ConBNT Coniectanea Biblica, New Testament
ExpT Expository Times
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
ICC International Critical Commentary
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSNTSup Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series
ISOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
LNTS Library of New Testament Studies
LXX Septuagint
MT Masoretic Text
NIGTC The New International Greek Testament Commentary
OTL Old Testament Library
PIBA Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Association
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature, Dissertation Series
TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (eds G.J. Botterwick and
H. Ringgren)
TSAJ Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
ZNW Zeitschrift fur die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft

1
Introduction
The study of how the New Testament authors read and interpreted Scripture is
experiencing something of a revival at the present time. This is being fuelled by
a renewed interest in at least three areas, the first of which is the Septuagint (LXX).
It is a tribute to the quality of scholarship behind the Gottingen series that several
decades of relative inactivity followed. But this is no longer the case. Major translation
projects in English (NETS), French (La Bible d'Alexandra) and German (Septuaginta-
deutsch) have raised fundamental questions about the nature of the LXX. In
particular, would the New Testament authors have understood the text known to
them primarily as a translation or as an authoritative text in its own right? And what
of their recipients? Would they have taken the quoted text at face value or would they
have known that it sometimes differs from other LXX manuscripts and from the
Hebrew text being read in the synagogues? Indeed, what were once explained as delib-
erate changes by the various New Testament authors, are now more likely to be
taken as evidence for early revisions of the LXX.1
Secondly, there has been a growing interest in using literary theory to under-
stand the role or function of Scripture in the New Testament. This was given a
major impetus in 1989 with Richard Hays's use of intertextuality for understanding
Paul's use of Scripture. Instead of seeing quotations and allusions as subsidiary to
Paul's main arguments, Hays sees letters like Romans, Galatians and Corinthians as
an ongoing conversation with Scripture.2 The approach was soon extended to other
New Testament writings and subject to a number of refinements (and challenges).
1 See W. Kraus and R.G. Wooden (eds), Septuagint Research. Issues and Challenges in the Study of the
Greek Jewish Scriptures (Atlanta: SBL, 2006).
2 R.B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).