Table Of ContentThe Messiah in the
Old and New Testaments
Edited by
Stanley E. Porter
•
WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K.
MCMASTER NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES
The McMaster Mew Testament Studies series, edited by Stanley E. Porter, is
designed to address particular themes in the New Testament that are of
concern to Christians today. Written in a sfyie easily accessible to minis
ters, students, and laypeople by contributors who are proven experts in
their fields of study, the volumes in this series reflect the best of current
biblical scholarship while also speaking directly to the pastoral needs of
people in the church today.
© 2007 Wm B. Ecrdmans Publishing Co.
All rights reserved
Wm. B. Ecrdmans Publishing Co.
1140 Oak Indusihal Drive N.E.. Grand Rapids, Michigan ««05 /
P.O. Box 163. Cambridge CBj 9PU U.K.
Printed in the United States of America
121110090807 7 t S 4 ] 1 1
library of Congress Catalogicg-in-Pubbcalion Data
The • 1 •. in the Old and New Testaments /
edited by Stanley E. Porter,
p. cm. — (McMaster New Testament studies)
Includes indexes.
ISBN: 978-0-80*8-0766-3 (pblc:alk. paper)
1. Messiah — Biblical teaching — Congresses. 1. Bible —
Criticism, interpretation, etc — Congresses. 3. |esus Christ —
Mciilahship — Congresses. 4- Christianity — Origin — Congresses.
L Porter. Stanley 1956-
BS6&0.M4M4B 1007
a*V.i — dcia
»006034679
v.-wv.'.eerdm3ns.com
Contents
Preface VII
Abbreviations
Contributors Kill
Introduction: The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments
Stanley E. Porter
PART I: OLD TESTAMENT AND RELATED PERSPECTIVE
The Messiah; Explorations in the Law and Writings 13
Tremper Longman III
Figuring the Future: The Prophets and Messiah 35
Mark /. Boda
The Messiah in the Qumran Documents 75
At Wolters
v
CONTENTS
Messianic Ideas in the Apocalyptic and Related Literature
of Early Judaism
Loren T Stuckenbruck
PART II: NEW TESTAMENT PERSPECTIVE
Jesus as Messiah in Mark and Matthew
I. Howard Marshall
The Messiah in Luke and Acts: Forgiveness for the Captives
Stanley E. Porter
Remembering Jesus: John's Negative Christology
Tom Thatcher
Divine Life and Corporate Christology: God, Messiah Jesus,
and the Covenant Community in Paul
S. A. Cummins
Messianic Themes of Temple, Enthronement, and Victory
in Hebrews and the General Epistles
Cynthia Long Westfall
The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments: A Response
Craig A. Evans
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Ancient Sources
vi
Preface
This collection of papers brings together the thoughts, responses, and re
vised thoughts of the participants in the 2004 H. H. Bingham Colloquium
in New Testament at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada, '['he Colloquium, the tenth in a continuing series, was entitled
"The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments." This was the most success
ful colloquium to date, in that we had an excellent set of contributors and a
full to overflowing crowd of people who came to hear and interact with the
participants. To encourage such interaction, we continued the procedure
begun the year before in having a planned respondent built into the pro
gram. I believe I speak for both participants and attendees in saying that
the responses (there were two sets of responses during the actual confer
ence) added greatly to the quality of the conference itself.
The Bingham Colloquium at McMaster Divinity College provides an
opportunity for selected scholars to present their perspectives on a con
temporary New Testament theme of relevance to the larger community of
both students and laity alike. The 2004 Colloquium expanded that brief in
that it included four papers that addressed the Old Testament and writings
outside of the New Testament, besides five papers directly on the New Tes
tament itself. In planning the Colloquium, it became obvious that we
could not discuss the Messiah in the New Testament without knowing
something about what was thought about the Messiah in theological writ
ings that preceded the New Testament. The concern of this volume, like
that of its predecessors, is to provide understanding of a topic of relevance
for those interested in interpreting the New Testament in today's context.
VII
PREFACE
It was clear thai before attempting to understand the notion of Messiah in
the New Testament — to say nothing of understanding it as relevant for
today's Christian — we had to set the proper foundation. I believe that the
contributors who have addressed the Old Testament and other writings
have done an excellent job of bringing the major issues to our attention. As
a result, I hope that this volume opens up insights into the notion of Mes
siah that would not otherwise have been possible if the scope of the vol
ume had been more constricted.
The Bingham Colloquium is named after Dr. Herbert Henry
Bingham, who was a noted Baptist leader in Ontario. However, his leader
ship abilities were recognized by Baptists across Canada and around the
world. His qualities included his genuine friendship, dedicated leadership,
unswerving Christian faith, tireless devotion to duly, insightful service as a
preacher and pastor, and visionary direction for congregation and denom
ination alike. These qualities endeared him both to his own church mem
bers and to believers in other denominations. The Colloquium was en
dowed by his daughter as an act of appreciation for her father. It is with
regret, however, that 1 note that Mrs. Kennedy has now passed on to be
with her Lord. I know that she took a great interest in the Bingham Collo-
quia that she had established in honor of her father, and we wish to con
tinue to remember his work through the conducting of future Colloquia.
Future conferences have already been planned and are under way.
1 am also very pleased again to be able to thank William B. Eerdmans
Publishing of Grand Rapids, Michigan, for undertaking the publication of
the McMaster New Testament Studies series, of which this volume is the
ninth to appear. Previous colloquia published in this series include Patterns
of Discipleship in the New Testament (1996), The Road from Damascus: The
Impact of Paul's Conversion on His Life, Thought, and Ministry {1997), Life in
the Face of Death: The Resurrection Message of the New Testament (1998),
The Challenge of Jesus' Parables (2000), Into God's Presence: Prayer in the
New Testament (2001), Reading the Gospels Today (2004)) Contours of Chris-
tology in the New Testament (2005), and Hearing the Old Testament in the
New Testament (2006). I especially wish to thank Bill Eerdmans* Sam Eerd
mans, Michael Thomson, and John Simpson, all of whom have been en
couraging of the work that we are doing.
Lastly, I would like to thank the individual contributors for their ef
forts to deal with their particular area within the larger context of the con
cept of Messiah. What started as oral presentations have now, with the
viii
Preface
comments of our respondent firmly in mind, been transformed into these
written presentations designed to appeal to a wide variety of readers. The
Colloquium, as noted above, was a numerical success certainly, but also, I
believe, a successful venue for discussion of a topic of present and continu
ing importance for scholars, students, and laity alike. The Colloquium
would not have been the success that it was were it not foT the contribution
of the Bingham Trust and the contributors, but also those at McMaster Di
vinity College who helped to coordinate the day, including Patricia Webb
and her conference team, headed by |enn Bowler. We all hope that this vol
ume will serve as a useful guide to this important topic.
STANLEY E. PORTER
McMaster Divinity College
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
IX
Abbreviations
AB Anchor Bible
ABRL Anchor Bible Reference Library
AfO Archiv für Orientforschung
AG|U Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des
Urchristentums
AKTC Abingdon New Testament Commentaries
ATD Das Alte Testament Deutsch
BDB F. Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English
Lexicon of the Old Testament
BEATAJ Beiträge zur Erforschung des Alten Testaments und des antiken
Judentums
BECNT Baker Excgctical Commentary on the New Testament
Bib Biblica
BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die aUlestamentliche Wissenschaß
BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift ßr die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft
CBC Cambridge Bible Commentary
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CBR Currents in Biblical Research
ConBOT Coniectanea biblica, Old Testament
CR;BS Currents in Research: Biblical Studies
DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert
ExpTtm Expository Times
FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament
HAR Hebrew Annual Review
HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology
x
