2 1 History of Interpretation OTHB Hermeneutics 2006

2. 1 History of Interpretation OT/HB Hermeneutics - 2006

1. History of the History of Exegesis 1. 1 "The Reformation's understanding of the biblical text, the influence of the Enlightenment, the rise of the historicalcritical method, all combined to eliminate the history of exegesis from the biblical scholar's repertoire except in a very restricted sense. Until recently most of the histories of exegesis that have appeared in the last hundred years have concerned themselves with the history of the critical period, that is covering the period of approximately the 19 th and 20 th centuries. " [Cahill, "The History of Exegesis and Our Theological Future"]

1. History of the History of Exegesis ". . . a history of exegesis is seen in the emergence of catenae, first in the Greek-speaking East and then in the Latin-speaking West. Early medieval biblical commentary is characterized by the respectful repetition of the opinions of the Fathers, though this does not necessarily inhibit the expression of personal insight and opinion. " ● "Gradually, we see the glossed biblical text come into being, resulting in the marvelous Glossa ordinaria of the High Middle Ages. In a sense this represents the canonization of the history of exegesis. . " ●

1. History of the History of Exegesis "A similar manifestation of the status of the history of exegesis is Pope Urban IV's commissioning of Thomas Aquinas in the middle of the 13 th century to produce what would come to be known as the Catena aurea, a special sort of continuous commentary on the text of the Four Gospels drawn from the writings of the Latin and Greek Fathers. " ●

1. History of the History of Exegesis 1. 2 "While interest in the history of exegesis is not an entirely new phenomenon, today's degree of enthusiasm for the subject is something that needs to be accounted for. Some would say that the smouldering embers were fanned into flame by the winds of dissatisfaction – disillusionment with the predominance of the historical-critical method in biblical studies. " – However Cahill points out that the dissatisfaction may be based on something other than sound criticism. – Postmodernism: "I recognize it as an influence profoundly affecting all intellectual, hermeneutical, and even pastoral activity. Postmodern theology is an accurate articulation of the way the world is. Postmodernism at the very least signals a dissatisfaction. "

1. History of the History of Exegesis 1. 3 Why study the History of Exegesis / Interpretation? – Negatively: 1. "Knowing the history of exegesis will help us to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. " 2. "Use the ancient commentators in so far as they share our historical-critical methods. " 3. "Check the older exegetes to see if they have seen something that we missed. " 4. "The history of exegesis is important because of 'the superiority of pre-critical exegesis'. " 5. "Patristic exegesis is better because it is more spiritual. "

1. History of the History of Exegesis – Positively: 1. ". . . an interest in the history of exegesis does not repudiate the historical-critical method. It does not and cannot replace that method. " 2. "It is the historical-critical method that can control and challenge extreme relativities and irrationality, just as it control the relativities, often very disconcerting, exposed by the history of exegesis. Historical-critical analysis will ensure that the virtues of postmodernism, including, for example, hard-nosed challenging of facile dogmatism, will be preserved and its weaknesses, for example the tendency to irrationality, curbed. "

1. History of the History of Exegesis 3. "An essential element in the proposed program is that no period is to be rated better and none worse than any other in an a priori manner. The history of exegesis allows all to speak though without any guarantee of eventual endorsement. The particular contribution in a specific area may and must be rated on its merits. "

From Biblical to Late Jewish Antiquity Inner-Biblical & Jewish Interpretative Influences

1. Before Scripture 1. 1 "There was not always a Bible. . Thus the time of the Bible was a time when the Bible was not yet there. It is ironic that we use the term ‘biblical studies’ to designate our work on this period. Biblical faith, the faith of the men of the Bible, was not in its own nature a scriptural religion. " [Barr, Holy Scripture: Canon, Authority, Criticism, 1]

1. Before Scripture 1. 2 "Within the Bible itself religion was not a scriptural religion in the sense that it later, and especially after the Reformation, became normal to supposed. " – "The actual relations between faith, creative originality, and the formation of traditions (eventually to become scripture) were different. In the Bible faith was not controlled by scripture: rather, scripture derived from faith. Thus the attitudes of passive acceptance of scriptural control, which Protestantism often inculcated into its people, were substantially different in quality from the attitudes which the men of the Bible themselves maintained. " – "In this respect the traditional view of the Bible contained serious inner contradictions: in particular, it encouraged the reader to read into the words of scripture meanings that were not there at all. "

2. Inner-Biblical Exegesis 2. 1 Michael Fishbane has argued that the first steps toward exegesis begins in the Scriptures themselves: 1. "The Hebrew Bible (HB) is thus a thick texture of traditions received and produced over many generations. In the process, a complex dynamic between tradition (traditum) and transmission (traditio) developed – since every act of traditio selected, revised, and reconstituted the overall traditum. To be sure, the contrast between authoritative traditum and ongoing traditio is most clear at the close of ancient Israeliterature. "

2. Inner-Biblical Exegesis 2. ". . . the canonical corpus contains a vast range of annotations, adaptations, and comments on earlier traditions. We call this 'Inner-Biblical Exegesis'. " 3. Scribes: ". . . the scribal traditio transmitted each traditum to new groups and times. It was in the context of this copying that clarifications (of words and terms) and other considerations (bearing on theological tone or legal consistency) were often introduced. The class primarily responsible for such matters were the scribes – a title attested over centuries for different groups. " 4. Fishbane's genre divisions: Legal, Aggadic & Mantological

3. Collected Works - Canon 3. 1 The Era of Pluriformity: – The period 250 BCE – 100 CE was an era when the Scriptures were pluriform. – The "proto-Masoretic, " "proto-Samaritan Pentateuch, " Old Greek with its Hebrew Vorlage, the Greek translational emendations, Targumic beginnings, rewritten Bibles, possibly sectarian versions (? ) – Some OT scholars have argued that the "all/every" scripture of 2 Timothy 3. 16 referred to the pluriform state of the Scriptures.

3. Collected Works - Canon 3. 2 Was a Canon developing? ● "Use of the Greek term "canon" comes from New Testament studies. It is typical of a Christian view of the Bible and in addition belongs to a very late period in the history of the formation of the NT canon, the 4 th cent. CE. " [Julio Trebolle Barrera, The Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible: An Introduction to the History of the Bible] – Jewish scholar, Sid Z. Leiman argues that the whole Bible must have been complete by 150 BCE. – Roger Beckwith argues that it was during the Maccabean period, i. e. , 164 BCE. – Sundberg & Barton – Only the Torah closed, while Barton argues that the Prophets, etc. were open in the NT period.

3. Collected Works - Canon 3. 3 Different Approaches to the socalled Canon: – Qumran Community: – Pharisees – Sadducees & Samaritans – Septuagint with what F. F. Bruce called the Septuagint Plus – What was the role of the Rewritten Bibles?

3. Collected Works - Canon 3. 4 What does this Canon Development Mean? – The early Christians view the OT as Holy Scripture into the second century. However problems such as: a new Jewish translation to rival the Septuagint; Marcion and Gnostic rejection the OT, forced a renewed thought. – ". . . a Christian problematic of the Old and New Testament, each isolated from the other, simply does not exist. From the outset Christian faith puts the question which engages us to this moment - as to how the two Testaments belong together. "

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 4. 1 Qumran: 1. In everyday life the Qumran community showed signs of strict Torah observance and a commitment to Scriptural study. 2. Their primary means of exegesis was the Pesher: 2. 1 Timothy Lim has identified 15 text that are considered "continuous pesher, " "thematic pesherim, " and other technical works that may be considered "pesher. "

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 2. 2 "A type of biblical interpretation found in the Qumran scrolls in which selected biblical texts are applied to the contemporary sectarian setting by means of various literary devices, the word pesher (pl. pesharim) may refer either to the employment of the technique itself or to a genre comprised of a series of such interpretations. " [Berrin]

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 4. 2 Philo of Alexandria: 1. Aristobulus as a predecessor of Philo – (180 -145 BCE) • Although the literal meaning is primary, Aristobulus saw it necessary to use metaphorical interpretation at times and argued that the text could have multiple meanings. 2. Philo (10 BCE – 45 CE) • Philo cites the Torah as primary, although his Scripture includes the prophets & hagiographa. • Since he uses the Greek Bible, Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon are quoted.

4. 2. 1 Philo, On the Migration of Abraham There are some who, because they consider the literal laws to be symbols of things that pertain to the intellect, are extremely attentive to the latter but flippantly make light of the former. I for one would blame those who treat the literal meaning so lightly. For it is necessary to take care with both: both a more accurate investigation of the unseen meanings and to be beyond reproach in the way you preserve the visible aspects of the text. But instead such individuals act as if they live privately in a desert alone or like they have become disembodied souls. they do not recognize city or village or house or human company at all. They overlook what seems important to most people and search out the naked truth itself for its own sake. The sacred word teaches them to concentrate on good reputation and not to abandon anything from the customs that were set down by divinely inspired men greater than those of our time. Certainly the seventh day is a teaching about the power of the one who was not created and about the passivity of that which is created. But we should not abandon those things that have been put into force as laws for the seventh day.

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 4. 2. 2 Summary of Philo's Hermeneutics: • "In this crucial passage, Philo as it were summarizes his attitude as an exegete. The symbolical, though higher and more important, practically never invalidates the literal. (Exceptionally, Philo discards the literal meaning altogether or allows it only a limited role). Philo combines literal and symbolical methods of exegesis, stressing symbolism against literalists and the literal sense against over-spiritualization. " [Borgen]

4. Early Jewish Exegesis ". . . Philo's use of "literal" and allegorical interpretations represents an extreme exploration of what we called the 'symbolic link'. The basic rule is: things which have something in common are ipso facto a reference to each other. Thus the whole cosmos becomes a universe of crossreferences. For modern readers wanting to understand Philo it is crucial to free themselves from the monopoly of causal thinking which has become undisputed since the great successes of experimental science. But in ancient thought - and in poetry of all times-things may be interconnected by a relationship of meaning without acting on each other. " [Siegert] ●

Allegorical Exegesis • "The chief goal of allegory is to extract the profound spiritual sense hidden in the wording of a literary production inspired by the Logos, and to lay it open to man's understanding. Hellenistic Judaism, just as Judaism in the Palestinian motherland, set out from the inspiration of its Holy Scriptures, and, as the example of Philo of Alexandria indicates, made expert use of the allegorical method. From that point, the allegorization of texts makes its way to the New Testament, as shown by Galatians 4. 21 -31 and for example, Hebrews 3. 6. It is not surprising, therefore, that allegory was at once taken up in the church and to a degree actually gained the mastery. " [Stuhlmacher]

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 4. 3 Josephus 4. 3. 1 The Nature of the Bible Josephus Used: ● ● ● "The nature of his Vorlage is a huge and still unsettled problem: some thing that he used primarily Greek texts throughout; others find more evidence of a Semitic source in the early books, and so surmise that he only later opted for the Greek - perhaps through the weariness of translation. " [Mason & Kraft] É. Nodet has argued that Josephus utilized a Hebrew source that could have been similar to the Vorlage of the LXX, along with a Greek text, which we may consider as part of the pluriform witnesses, for his work on the Pentateuch and that it could have been one that came from the Jerusalem Temple. Josephus may, in some instances, have consulted a Hebrew text or Aramaic targum, but the evidence for such Semitic sources, and particularly for the use of targum, is slender at best. " [Attridge]

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 4. 3. 2 Rewritten Scriptures: 1. "Many of the non-scriptural details in Josephus's paraphrase are paralleled in various re-writings of Scripture from the Second Temple period, such as Jubilees and the Liber antiquitatum biblicarum erroneously attributed to Philo. Josephus may have used such materials or may have relied on oral traditions familiar from his youth in Jerusalem or form diaspora exegetical traditions. It is clear in any case that he was not a slave to any particular exegetical tradition, but used a variety of sources with a good deal of flexibility. " [Attridge]

4. Early Jewish Exegesis 2. "Josephus elaborates his sources in various ways. He condenses and systematizes non-narrative material, such as the legal sections of the Pentateuch (3: 224 -86, 4: 19 -301), promising a fuller treatment of such matters in a planned, but never published, work 'On Customs and Causes' (3: 223, 4: 198, cf. 1: 25, 20: 268). Similarly, prophetic books generally receive very summary treatment. Narrative material, suitable as it is for Josephus' historical aims, receives more of his attention, and he expands it in several regular ways. " [Attridge]

5. Samaritans & their Interpretation 5. 1 "The antagonism between Samaritans and Jews is reflected in Scriptural exegesis. The tenth commandment of the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), which counts the Masoretic commandments as nine and adds a composition of Deut 11: 29 -30 and 27: 2 -7 to Exod 20: 17 (and to Deut 5: 18), is an injunction to worship on Mt. Gerizim. In Deut 11: 29 -30, it is charged that when the Hebrew enter the Promised Land, they should set a blessing for keeping the law upon Mt. Gerizim and a curse for disobeying it on Mt. Ebal. Deut 27 describes the rite in more detail. According to the MT text, the blessing shall be pronounced on Mt. Gerizim (27: 12), but stones inscribed with the Law and an altar are to be erected on Mt. Ebal (27: 4 -5). In the SP, however, Mt. Gerizim is the place for th altar and the stones. " [Fossum]

5. Samaritans & their Interpretation 5. 2 "The canon of the Samaritans is the Pentateuch alone. For the Jews around the turn of our era, the Prophets and the Writings certainly did not have the same claim to authority as the Torah, so the rejection of the Prophets and the Writings on the part of the Samaritans does not have to be regarded as being bound up with the schism. Like the Samaritans, the Jewish group of the Sadducees accepted the Pentateuch only. On the other hand, the rejection of the Prophets found in the addition to Exod 20: 18 (SP, v. 21 a) is clearly anti-Jewish. Here the Samaritans add Deut 5: 28 b-31 and 18: 18 -22. The latter passage, which contains the prophecy of the advent of a Prophet like Moses and a warning against false prophets, splits the former. " [Fossum]

6. Hillel's Middoth 6. 1 "Hillel is attributed with seven rules for scriptural interpretation, so-called middoth. In the beginning of the second century CE, Rabbi Ishmael increased the number to thirteen. Later we hear about no less than thirty-two middoth. " [Fossum] 1. Rule of "light and heavy, " is simply an application of the ordinary argument "from less to greater. " 2. Rule of "equivalence, " infers a relation between two subjects from the occurrence of identical expressions.

6. Hillel's Middoth 3. Rule of "extension from the special to the general. " 4. The fourth rule was the explanation of two passages by a third. 5. The fifth rule was inference from general to special cases. 6. The sixth was explanation from the analogy of other passages. 7. The seventh was the application of inferences which were selfevident. [See Farrar]

7. 1 Pre-History: 7. Mishnah 1. No Rabbis before the destruction of the Second Temple, leaders of renown are known as Pharisees. 2. The Rabbis are not considered "scribes. " 3. The Rabbis replaced the Jewish leadership in the wake of a post-Bar Kokhba vacuum. 4. The Rabbinic movement may be considered basically non-apocalyptic over against early Christianity and the Bar Kokhba debacle. 5. Rabbinic hermeneutics seems to have been influence by Hellenism in their analytical methodologies. [See David Daube, HUCA 22]

7. Mishnah 7. 2 Quotations of Scripture: ● ● ● ". . . the simple fact is that the Mishnah quotes Scripture relatively rarely. To be precise, I count a total of approximately 265 quotations of Scripture in the Mishnah (excluding references to liturgical recitation of Scripture and (excluding tractate Aboth). There are 517 chapters in the entire Mishnah (again, excluding Aboth), meaning that Scripture is quoted only slightly more than once every two chapters. " [Kraemer] The Mishnah tends to quote Scripture to support an argument and not as the subject of exposition. "The rabbis in the Mishnah (as later) do not insist upon literal or simple readings of Scripture, and their interpretations are sometimes quite inventive. . The Hillelites are less bound by the literal meaning of the words, whereas the Shammaites seem to require a more literal application of what the words say. "

7. Mishnah "Perhaps the most overarching principle informing rabbinic readings of Scripture, already in evidence at this stage, is the assumption that, divinely inspired as they are, all of Scripture's words, and even individual scriptural features, are meaningful. " [Kraemer] ●

Midrash as Interpretative Method • "The term Midrash (plural, Midrashim) is used by modern scholars in a bewildering variety of ways. In the following pages, we use. . the term only in its traditional senses, to refer either to (1) a rabbinic interpretation, virtually always of a scriptural word, phrase, or verse, which searches, or ferrets out, a meaning which is not immediately obvious upon first encounter with the text; (2) a compilation of such interpretations; (3) the totality of all rabbinic compilations of such interpretations; and (4) the act of interpreting Scripture in the manner described above. We rely on the context to establish clearly which meaning we intend. " [Kalmin] • It is debatable whether Midrash is present in the Mishnah. • The Midrashic literature co-mingles with a proof-texting methodology.

8. The Talmud 8. 1 "The voluminous body of talmudic literature - the Oral Law - is essentially a compilation of hermeneutic, interpretative, and analytic exegesis of the Bible - the Written Law. According to rabbinic tradition, Moses not only received the Oral Law on Mount Sinai, but also the definitive explanation of the meaning buried in the Torah's compact and cryptic literary style. " [Zimel]

8. The Talmud 8. 2 "The Mishnah, Sifra, Yerushalmi, and Bavli repeat themselves endlessly, because, they say the same thing (respectively) about many things. It is that same thing - that is, the hermeneutics - that in the Mishnah sets forth one set of categories, in Sifra, an account of the right modes of taxic conceptualization, in the Yerushalmi, an altogether different set of categories, and in the Bavli, a vast re-presentation of the received categorical structure and system, now in a theological formulation. The agendum of hermeneutics encompasses the issue of the author's - in theological context, God's -original meaning in revealing the Torah and yields the secular question, what do we think the original writer or compiler of a given document meant by saying things in one way, rather than in some other, and how does a single program of thought and expression govern the document as a whole. " [Neusner]

5 Hermeneutical Rule of Bavli 1. Defining the Torah and the Context for Meaning ● "The Torah consists of freestanding statements, sentences, sometimes formed into paragraphs, more often not; and we are to read these sentences both on their own for what they say - and also in the context created by the entirety of the Torah, oral and written. "

5 Hermeneutical Rule of Bavli 2. Specifying the Rule for Making Sense of the Torah ● "The first is that the Torah is perfect and flawless. The second is that the wording of the Torah yields meaning. The third is that the Torah contains, and can contain, nothing contradictory, incoherent, or otherwise contrary to common sense. The fourth is that the Torah can contain no statement that is redundant, banal, silly or stupid. The fifth is that our sages of blessed memory when they state teachings of the Torah stand for these same traits of language and intellect: sound purpose, sound reasoning, sound result, in neat sentences. "

5 Hermeneutical Rule of Bavli 3. Identifying the Correct Medium of Discourse, which is the dialectical argument. – "Since our principal affirmation is that the Torah is perfect, and the primary challenge to that affirmation derives from the named classifications of imperfection, the proper mode of analytical speech is argument. That is because if we seek flaws, we come in a combative spirit: proof and conflict, not truth and consequence. Only by challenging the Torah sentence by sentence, at every plausible point of imperfection, are we going to show in the infinity of detailed cases the governing fact of perfection. "

5 Hermeneutical Rule of Bavli 4. The Harmony of What is Subject to Dispute, the Unity and Integrity of Truth. – "Finding what is rational and coherent: the final principle of hermeneutics is to uncover the rationality of dispute. Once our commitment is to sustained conflict of intellect, it must follow that our goal can only be the demonstration of three propositions, everywhere meant to govern: [1] disputes give evidence of rationality, meaning, each party has a valid, established principle in mind; [2] disputes are subject to resolution; [3] truth wins out. "

5 Hermeneutical Rule of Bavli 5. Knowing God through theology expressed in hermeneutics. – "Finally, in a protracted quest for the unity of the truth, detailed demonstration that beneath the laws is law, with a few wholly coherent principles inherent in the many, diverse rules and their cases - in that sustained quest, which defines the premise and the goal of all talmudic discourse the second Talmud's writers maintain, is where humanity meets God: in mind, in intellect, where that meeting takes place in accord with rules of reason that govern God and humanity alike. "

9. Targum • "Within rabbinic literature, it is the Palestinian Targum which we propose as a starting point. This text cannot be considered a version, but belongs to a very different genre; it is much closer to Midrash, properly speaking, than to a version. It even is probable that it originally was a homiletic midrash, or simply a series of homilies on Scripture, read in the synagogue after the public reading of the Torah. . During the study of the Jerusalem Targum, it became obvious to us that this Targum lies at the base of later aggadic tradition, that by serving as an immediate extension of scripture given, it acts as a sort of hinge, a bridge between the Bible and later rabbinic literature, and that it represents the starting point, not of the midrashic genre as such (which is already present in biblical literature), but of Midrash, properly so-called, all of whose structure and themes it already contains. " [R. Bloch]

9. Targum 9. 1 Definition: "The word targum signifies ‘translation’ and derives from the verb tirgem meaning ‘to translate’, ‘to explain’, or ‘to read out’ (compare Ezra 4: 7); it is a denominative of turgeman (= interpreter) to which an Akkadian origin is generally attributed. " [Le Déaut] 9. 2 Reason: "The origin of the Targum is to be explained by a double necessity: that of promoting a knowledge of the Torah among the people and, consequently, that of expounding this knowledge in a language known to all. " [Le Déaut]

9. Targum 9. 3 Exegesis: "The targum is invariably declarative rather than argumentative; it never cites sources, and it never provides exegetical logic. The wide diversity between various targums, and the fact that mutually contradictory elements may be found within the same targum testify to a dynamic conception of interpretation that resisted the dogmatic pressures to impose a single, 'official' reading and interpretation of Scripture. To force this variegated text into a dogmatic mould would be procrustean ex definitione, for in the Judaism(s) of late Antiquity there were neither dogmatic credal formulae nor authorities empowered to promulgate them. The targum reflects an eclectic use of sources, variant purposes to which its midrash was put, and flexibility of the genre itself. " [Levine]

9. Targum • "In many respects the targum continues the earlier scribal tradition of glosses: marginalia later incorporated into the biblical text itself. Their functions were: a) to resolve textual difficulties by interpreting obscure words or simplifying syntax, b) to harmonize conflicting texts, c) to reconcile the biblical text with accepted tradition, d) to incorporate specifics of Pharisaic-rabbinic Judaism into the text, e) to provide specificity to historical, juridical or religious allusions, f) to either strengthen or mitigate the force of a scriptural passage. " [Levine]

From the New Testament to the Medieval Church

1. New Testament 1. 1 "The New Testament authors did not consider themselves as writers who provided the holy Scripture of Israel with a new conclusion that supposedly included an ultimate validity because they were proclaiming an ultimately valid message. They were firmly convinced, however, that their writings had final authority. " [Hübner] 1. 2 "For the New Testament authors the Scripture of Israel was not the Old Testament. The correct formulation can only be: the New Testament authors were theologically dealing with the Scripture of Israel which for them exclusively was holy Scripture and, thus, the literal word of God announcing Christ by divine authority. " [Hübner]

2. NT & Septuagint 2. 1 " The problem of the historical and theological relation of Old Testament and New Testament is, to a large extent, understood as the relation between the Biblia Hebraica and the Novum Testamentum Graece. It is symptomatic that in academic education, the Hebrew original text of the Old Testament receives a lot of attention in contrast to the Septuagint, the Greek translation produced in the Egyptian Alexandria. But during the process of translation a certain shift occurred toward Hellenistic thinking Based on this translation, a considerable Hellenizing of the Old Testament cannot be denied, even if the extent may be debatable. In the Septuagint the spiritual attitude of Hellenistic Judaism in the diaspora is expressed; one may refer to its greater emphasis on universalism. " [Hübner]

3. Paul 3. 1 ". . . Isaiah 28 (25); Psalms 20 (20); Deuteronomy 15 (13); Genesis 15 (12); Exodus 5 (5); Hosea 4 (3); Leviticus 4 (2); Proverbs 3 (3); 3 Kings 2 (2); Job 2 (2); Habakkuk 2 (1); Malachi 1 (1; Joel 1 (1); furthermore 4 (3) quotations which cannot be identified with certainty. " 3. 2 "For him, the Old Testament is the word of God which he, indeed, by virtue of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon him by God, understands as the word of God in messianic promises. " 3. 3 ". . . Paul could adopt Old Testament passages for central issues of his theological argumentation in such a way that the christological understanding of Old Testament passages does not mean denying, but expanding its original meaning. Thus Paul places the Old Testament passage with its genuinely literal meaning in a larger, qualitatively different, theological grid. The original literal meaning is not negated, but newly understood within the new situation of salvation, and thus within a newly created reality. "

4. Mark, Matthew, Lukan & John 4. 1 Mark: "We cannot consider highly enough the fact that the Gospel of Mark starts with an Old Testament quotation which, as a fulfilment quotation, is theological heading of the oldest Gospel. " 4. 2 Matthew: ● "Regarding its basic concept, the Gospel of Mark is more determined by the Old Testament than generally assumed. The Gospel of Matthew, however, is indisputably the synoptic writing whose theological concept is specifically expressed in its Old Testament quotations. " ● "At the most we may ask whether the evangelist's approach sometimes is typological as, for instance, in Matt 2: 15 where he quotes Hos 11: 1 as the Son of God, Jesus has typologically superceeded Israel which was the first son of God. " ● "Regarding the Old Testament adoption by the New Testament, theology of Matthew is characterized by a second kind of fulfilment besides the christologically interpreted fulfilment of the prophets' promises: the fulfillment of the law which, in Matthew, plays a very important role. "

4. Mark, Matthew, Lukan & John 4. 3 Lukan: ● ● ● "That the evangelist did recognize the text as the text of the Septuagint in the hymns can be seen in Acts. His phrasing there being naturally freer than in the Gospel, he received from the Septuagint as his holy Scripture regarding "the language material to present the holy apostolic period, in particular in Palestine". " "We can state that the question whether something is in accordance with Scripture is an essential and central element of theology of the Gospel of Luke. It finds its clear expression in the quotations from Scripture and in the programmatic, redactional statements of the evangelist mentioned above. " "Scripture and Scripture interpretation necessarily belong together. Only with Christian interpretation is Scripture understandable Scripture. Also Luke points out that preaching and Scripture interpretation are specific to the adoption of the Old Testament in the New. Only comprehended Scripture is God? holy Scripture!"

4. Mark, Matthew, Lukan & John 4. 4 John: ● ● "We encounter literal correspondence to the text of the Septuagint (however only four exact quotations from the Septuagint). Yet modifications of this text are clear. Sometimes the evangelist possibly referred to the Hebrew original, but at other instances neither the Septuagint nor the Hebrew Bible can be identified as the main influence. It is not always clear which passage of the Old Testament was consulted. . " ". . . we are to conclude that he adopted the text of the Septuagint where it fit his theological concept, but that he considerably changed the text at his own discretion where, for the sake of theological statement, he considered it as appropriate, if not as inevitable. Therefore by modification of the Old Testament text, the evangelist expresses his theological or, more precisely, his christological concept. "

5. Hebrews & Revelation 5. 1 Hebrews: "The author of Hebrews, first of all, has a christological intention when he quotes God speaking. In the context of an argumentation of this kind, the function of these quotations is to provide proof from Scripture. In the other New Testament writings we encounter the proof from Scripture as the written word of God; yet in Hebrews, even though quotations are - of course! written down, we find the proof of the spoken word of God. For the author it is beyond question that what God says is theologically indisputable and, therefore, cannot be questioned. " 5. 2 Revelation: "The Revelation of John does not have a single formal quotation from the Old Testament, but yet like no other book of the New Testament it is influenced by the Old Testament in terms of language and content. The last book of the New Testament can only be fully comprehended in its spiritual, religious, and theological structure if its content is understood in the language of the Old Testament and its intentions. In the New Testament, no other book is influenced so thoroughly by the Old Testament as Revelation, not even the Epistles to the Romans or to the Galatians. "

4 Evangelical Models 1. The full human intent school (W. C. Kaiser, Jr. ) holds that all that is asserted in the OT passage must have been part of the human author’s intended meaning. 2. The divine intent - human words school (S. L. Johnson, J. I. Packer, E. E. Johnson) holds that all that is asserted in the OT passage must have been intended by God if not by the human author. 3. The historical progress of revelation and Jewish hermeneutic school (E. E. Elish, R. Longenecker, W. Dunnett) uses historical factors in assessing the relationship of OT to NT. The event is the key dynamic that leads to the realization of the prophetic meaning. 4. The canonical approach and NT priority school (B. K. Waltke) holds that the text’s intention became deeper and clearer as the parameters of the canon were expanded. thus the OT is to be reread ultimately in the light of the NT.

Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. “Doing Old Testament Theology Today” 1. "First, one must remember that, compared to the OT, the NT has a narrower focus. It is does not set aside, revise, or update the OT rather, its primary preoccupation is to interpret the significance of the Christ-event and to set up the fledgling Christian church on a solid footing. . the point is that the NT does not see itself as replacement of the OT, so that latter retains full authority for Christians. " 2. "Second, however, a well-intentioned desire to retain the value of the OT and the unity of the testaments should not blind one to the glaring differences between them. That is, besides fulfilling the OT, the NT goes beyond it. " 3. "Most important, Jesus does more that simply fulfill OT prophetic hopes - He actually exceeds their expectations by radically reforming Israel’s religion and by inaugurating a new era of God’s dealings with humanity. "

Robert L. Hubbard, Jr. “Doing Old Testament Theology Today” 4. "Fourth, the principle of analogy is the key link that unites the testaments. In other words, both share analogous concepts with each other- e. g. , a self-revealing creator-God, a people of God, gifts given to them by God, concepts of salvation, etc. " 5. Fifth and finally, one must define how Jesus Christ relates to the OT since He is the heart of the NT. Obviously, Christians regard Him as the fulfillment of some OT theological ideas. . On the other hand, Christ provides a new, final interpretive key for the Bible. Christians view everything within the Bible from the point of view of Christ. "

Patristics Early Church to Augustine

1. Introduction 1. 1 "In many respects, Christian literature of the period 30 -250 CE may be said to be one single large commentary on the Scriptures, the Hebrew Bible. Judaism was a religion of the holy Scriptures. " [Skaraune] ● "The exegesis of the primitive Christian Church was a direct and unself-conscious continuation of the type of exegesis practised by ancient Judaism in its later period. . " [Hanson] 1. 2 Three Main types: 1. Proof-text – the idea is proving that Jesus is the Messiah 2. The Paraenetic Homily. 3. Biblical antiquities.

2. Marcion 2. 1 "To the heresiologists of later centuries, Marcion was the most formidable heretic of the 2 d century CE. His teaching sprang from a radical emphasis upon the discontinuity between Christianity and Judaism. The God of Jesus, he asserted, was not the same as the God of the Hebrew Scriptures. While this ditheism was an important element of Marcionism, theological innovation was not Marcion’s hallmark. In fact, he was a radical Paulinist who rejected the OT writings and organized a church with strong ascetic tendencies. The scripture of his church comprised one gospel (a version of Luke), ten letters of Paul (not including the Pastorals and Hebrews), and his own work entitled ‘Antitheses’ - a catalog of contradictions between the teaching of Jesus and that of the OT. "

2. Marcion 2. 2 "While not all scholars agree that Marcion forced the creation of the Christian canon, we cannot deny that his was the first. His influence in this matter is manifest in the composition of the NT canon that was later to emerge. . It should be noted that the primary difference between Marcion’s canon and the Christian canon is that the former is singular and the latter plural. " [Clabeaux] – "A conscious step in the direction of diversity was taken by anti-Marcionite Christians of the 2 d and 4 th centuries. The vociferous insistence of anti. Marcionite Christianity on the validity of the OT within the canon is a point which should not be missed in our time. "

2. Marcion 2. 3 "The OT set forth, in Marcion's view, not the good God of Jesus Christ, but a second divinity, the inferior demiurge who made the world. . The OT promises by this deity refer not to the Christians' Christ, but to a warlike messiah whom Jews rightly expect. Marcion therefore solved the problem of relating the Testaments by cutting the knot. . It is noteworthy that Marcion, eschewing symbolic interpretation, assessed the OT as no more than just, but true. He and his followers characteristically noted weaknesses and inconsistencies in the OT, but their position could be presented so as to set the Christian above the Jew, but the Jew still well above the gentile, with regard to divine illumination. " [Horbury]

3. Typological Exegesis 3. 1 The Method: • "The spiritual sense (Rev. 11. 8) was discerned especially by recognition of types and allegories (Rom. 5. 14, Gal. 4. 24). Typology can be said to differ from allegorical interpretation in that it takes seriously the historical setting of an OT law or event; type and antitype identify some correspondence between different stages in a sacred history, whereas allegory elicits timeless truth form beneath the veil of the biblical ‘letter’, which may be regarded as having no reference to history. " [Horbury]

3. Typological Exegesis 3. 2 Irenaeus 1. "For every prophecy, before it comes about, is an enigma and a contradiction to men; but when the time comes, and what was prophesied takes place, it receives a most certain exegesis. And therefore when the Law is read by Jews at the present time, it is like a myth; for they do not have explanation of everything, which is the coming of the Son of God as man. But when it is ready by Christians, it is a treasure, hidden in the field but revealed by the cross of Christ. . The true exegesis was taught by the Lord himself after his resurrection. "

3. Typological Exegesis 2. "Irenaeus also formulated the principle that obscure passages should be interpreted in the light of clear ones. In taking some early Gnostic Christian heretics to task for focusing on the obscure, he says: ‘If anything is clear in Scripture, it is that there is only one God who created the world through his Word. ’ This is an article of scriptural faith which the Gnostics denied most vehemently. "

3. Typological Exegesis 3. "Irenaeus, in his battles against groups on the fringes of Christianity who had perverted its main teachings, also introduced the idea of authoritative exegesis. The true meaning of Scripture is invested in the church, where apostolic authority was preserved. Although part of what he said was true (the church is invested with the knowledge of Scripture’s meaning), this began a long tradition of finding authoritative meanings in the early church leaders rather than in careful exegesis of the biblical text itself, which culminated after the Reformation in the Council of Trent’s affirmations of ecclesiastical infallibility. " [Mc. Cartney & Clayton]

4. Allegorical Exegesis 4. 1 The Method: • "The ecclesiastical interpretation of scripture which was to draw on this canon of Old and New Testament and lift from it the biblical witness to truth in service to the church now required a method which would penetrate to this spiritual witness and at the same time effectually bind the biblical literature with the community’s faith. This method lay ready to hand in the shape of theory of the multiple or, better, multi-dimensional sense of scripture and the so-called allegorical exposition yielding this sense. Allegorical interpretation was shaped since third century BC in the centers of Hellenistic learning, Alexandria and Pergamum. . " [Stuhlmacher]

4. Allegorical Exegesis 4. 2 Clement of Alexandria: 1. "Criteria. Clement briefly mentions the criteria of interpretation. First, those common to all men should be considered. Then comes the technical criteria acquired by education. Most important, however, are the moral criteria: avoidance of selfconceit, readiness to persevere, and energy of soul to take the canon of truth from the truth itself. "

4. Allegorical Exegesis 2. "Heretics. Surprisingly, perhaps, Clement agrees with Tertullian, not that scripture should be ruled off limits for heretics, but as least that it is barren for them. Heretics ‘wrest scripture to suit their desires. ’ Failing to take the canon of the truth from the truth and falsehood. ’ While using scripture, they come to it with their own systems, ‘picking out ambiguous phrases. . . plucking out a few scattered utterances, perverting the bare letter as it stands. ’ They ‘attend to the words alone, while they change the meaning, neither understanding them as they are spoken, nor even using in the natural sense such extracts as they adduce’. "

4. Allegorical Exegesis 3. Hermeneutical Rules: 3. 1 Nothing is literally true which is unworthy of God. 3. 2 No interpretation can be accepted which contradicts the Bible as a whole. 3. 3 Literal meaning is meant to excite interest in understanding deeper meaning. [Bromiley] 4. Although Clement quoted more from the NT than the OT, he clearly recognized its Scriptural status in the Theodotian tradition of the Septuagint. 4. 1 Clement wrote, "There are four ways, " he writes, "in which we can receive the meaning of the Law: it may present a type; it may show a symbol; it may lay down a precept for right conduct; it may pronounce a prophecy" (Strom. 1. 179. 4). "

4. Allegorical Exegesis 4. 3 Origen: 1. Assumption 1: Scripture is divinely inspired. Therefore: 1. 1 Its legal precepts are superior 1. 2 It is powerful in changing lives 1. 3 Biblical prophecy comes true 1. 4 Like Jesus, the Bible is divine but in human form 1. 5 The Bible contains hidden secrets.

4. Allegorical Exegesis 2. Assumption 2: Scripture should be interpreted according to its nature. Therefore: 2. 1 Not every text has a literal meaning, but every text does have a spiritual meaning. 2. 2 The spiritual meaning is not always plain or easily understood 2. 3 Scripture has a threefold meaning, a body (literal meaning), a soul (a psychical meaning relating to the will), and a spirit (spiritual meaning which speaks of Christ). 2. 4 The problems in Scripture are there to hinder us from being too enamored of the literal meaning.

4. Allegorical Exegesis 3. Origen & the OT: 3. 1 "Origen's contribution to the Christian interpretation of the Old Testament was immense. He was the first Christian as far as we know to attempt to establish an accurate text of the LXX by reference to the external criterion of the Hebrew original. His production of the Hexapla is testimony to the importance he attached to his textual endeavours, and indirectly to the importance he attached to the OT itself. " [Paget] 3. 2 "He was the first Christian to attempt to construct a systematic theory of hermeneutics. When interpreting the OT, more than any Christian writer before him, he saw it as appropriate to consult Jewish exegetes. . " 3. 3 "He was interested in bringing order to the discipline of OT exegesis, of establishing criteria by which to distinguish a good interpretation from a bad one. "

4. Allegorical Exegesis 3. 4 "Origen saw the OT as much more than the foreshadowing of events in the NT. While it was a shadow of the good things to come, not all those good things had in fact come. " 3. 5 "Origen wrote much more on the OT than the NT, and together with the evidence of the Hexapla this implies that he probably spent more time studying it. The reason for this lay partly in the fact that the OT was a much larger body of literature. Furthermore, it was a more difficult set of texts containing in it much that appeared strange and irrelevant. But in assessing why Origen wrote so much on the OT, we should not lose sight of the context out of which much of his extant exegesis emerged. Caesarea was a city with a large Jewish population, some of whom were Rabbis skilled in the interpretation of Scripture. "

5. The Literal Sense 5. 1 Introduction: • "The importance of types and allegories in second and third-century OT exegesis did not overwhelm more literal interpretation. It appeared negatively in Apelles, but more positively when the laws were viewed as having been mandatory in their times or indeed as still in force; and literal interpretation of the promises was popular. Gen. 1 -3 were likewise commonly taken literally, perhaps in rebuttal of gnostic views of the cosmogony as well as in accord with the hope for the last things. A Refutation of the Allegorists by the Egyptian bishop Nepos (about 240) rebutted spiritualization of the millennium (Dan 7. 18 -27, Rev. 20. 3 -6), and Denys of Alexandria replied On Promises (Eusebius, History Eccl. 7: 24, 1 -3). " [Horbury]

5. The Literal Sense 5. 2 Antiochene School & Theodore of Mopsuestia: 1. "Unless the NT actually cites the text it is not messianic. Allusion is not sufficient to establish a text as messianic. Even when the NT cites an OT text, it may be only illustrative rather than an indication of a messianic meaning. . " [Mc. Cartney & Clayton, 89 -90] 2. NT does give indications of actual literal fulfilment of OT prophecy.

6. Thomas Aquinas 6. 1 4 -Fold Interpretation: 1. Literal 2. Spiritual: allegorical; moral; anagogical 6. 2 Rule or Interpretation: 1. All Interpretation rests on the Literal 2. We can argue only from the Literal 3. Nothing essential is contained in the spiritual sense a passages which is not clearly expressed in the literal sense of another.