The Old Testament in the New The Continuum Biblical Studies Series SERIES EDITOR: STEVE MOYISE The Continuum Biblical Studies Series is aimed at those taking a course of biblical studies. Developed for the use of those embarking on theological and ministerial education, it is equally helpful in local church situations, and for lay people confused by apparently conflicting approaches to the Scriptures. Students of biblical studies today will encounter a diversity of interpretive positions. Their teachers will - inevitably - lean towards some positions in preference to others. This series offers an integrated approach to the Bible which recognizes this diversity, but helps readers to understand it, and to work towards some kind of unity within it. This is an ecumenical series, written by Roman Catholics and Protestants. The writers are all professionally engaged in the teaching of biblical studies in theological and ministerial education. The books are the product of that experience, and it is the intention of the editor, Dr Steve Moyise, that their contents should be tested on this exacting audience. TITLES ALREADY PUBLISHED: An Introduction to Biblical Studies Steve Moyise Historical Israel: Biblical Israel Mary E. Mills Jesus and the Gospels Clive Marsh and Steve Moyise An Introduction to Revelation: A Pathway to Interpretation Gilbert Desrosiers An Introduction to the Study of Paul David G. Horrell The Pentateuch: A Story of Beginnings Paula Gooder The Old Testament in the New An Introduction STEVE MOYISE CONTINUUM London and New York Continuum The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX 370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017-6503 © 2001 Steve Moyise All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, and are used by permission. All rights reserved. First published 2001 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0-8264-5413-5 (hardback) 0-8264-5414-3 (paperback) Typeset by CentraServe Ltd, Saffron Walden, Essex Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn Contents Introduction 1 1 Texts and Interpretation in the First Century 9 2 The Old Testament in Mark 21 3 The Old Testament in Matthew 34 4 The Old Testament in Luke-Acts 45 5 The Old Testament in John 63 6 The Old Testament in Paul 75 7 The Old Testament in Hebrews 98 8 The Old Testament in 1 and 2 Peter, Jude 109 9 The Old Testament in Revelation 117 10 Concluding Hermeneutical Observations 128 Bibliography 139 Index of References 145 Index of Authors and Subjects 151 This page intentionally left blank Introduction For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. (1 Cor 15.3-4) In this summary of the gospel, Paul is keen to demonstrate that the gospel he preaches is the same as that preached by the early disciples. He has not introduced novelty, as some are suggesting, nor does he claim any great originality. He passed on what he himself received. Having established this, he then moves on to the substance of the gospel. It concerns a person, namely Jesus Christ, though it is not clear whether christos is being used here as a name ('Jesus Christ died for our sins') or as a title ('the Messiah died for our sins'). Either way, the central thrust (judging by its repetition) is that his death and resurrection are both 'in accordance with the scriptures'. In other words, Christianity did not spring out of a vacuum but is in direct continuity with the religion enshrined in what Christians now call the Old Testament. Not only did Paul pass on what he himself received; the gospel itself is in accord with those writings which for centuries had been received and passed on by the Jews. The emphasis here is on the death and resurrection of Jesus but Matthew also sees the details of Jesus' birth as a fulfilment of scripture. For example, in the infancy stories (Matt 1-2) we are told that scrip- ture predicted the nature of his birth (1.23), its location in Bethlehem (2.6), the flight to Egypt and his departure when safe to do so (2.15), Herod's slaughter of the innocents (2.18) and his final settling at Naz- areth (2.23). The stories are rehearsed each Christmas and taken by many to prove the supernatural origins of Christianity. Both the 2 THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEW beginning and end of Jesus' life is said to be 'in accordance with the scriptures'. This is taken one stage further when Paul and other New Testament writers see the emergence of the Church (Gal 4.21-31), its persecution by the Jews (Rev 3.9), the inclusion of Gentiles (Rom 9.25) and even specific issues like choosing a replacement for Judas (Acts 1.20) and the payment of Church workers (1 Cor 9.9), as prophesied in scripture. The Old Testament (some scholars prefer 'First Testament') apparently con- tains a blueprint of events which would come to pass in the first century. And this is supported (then and now) by such verses as: Then he [Jesus] said to them, 'These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you - that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.' Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, 'Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.' (Luke 24.44-47) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruc- tion, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. (Rom 15.4) First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Pet 1.20-21) However, Jewish scholars have always protested that many of the cited texts have been taken out of context. For example, the famous prophecy of the birth of a child in Isa 7.14, when read in its own context, is clearly talking about a contemporary of the prophet. The promise in w. 7-9, that the nations who are presently threatening Jerusalem will be destroyed, is ratified by a sign: 'Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel (Isa 7.14). The Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures (known as the Septuagint or LXX, from the tradition that it was produced by 70 scholars) rendered the Hebrew almah ('young woman') with parthenos ('virgin'). This allows Matthew to quote it as a proof-text for the virginal conception of Jesus. But the words that follow Isa 7.14 say: 'For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and INTRODUCTION 3 choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted' (Isa 7.16). If this is a prediction of the birth of Jesus 700 years hence, then it makes utter nonsense of the story being narrated in Isaiah. Some early Christians even claimed that the original reading of Isa 7.14 was Virgin' and that the Jews changed it to 'young woman' so as to deny the virgin birth. Furthermore, Matthew's claim (2.23) that the holy family settled in a town called Nazareth in order to fulfil the prophecy, 'He will be called a Nazorean,' stumbles on the fact that no such text exists. Indeed, the town Nazareth is never mentioned in the Old Testament. Modern scholars have suggested that Matthew might be thinking of the Nazarite vow in Num 6 or perhaps the Hebrew word for 'branch' (neser) in Isa 11.1. But the fact remains that nowhere in the Hebrew or Greek Old Testament is there a text that says, 'He will be called a Nazarene.' Discussion of the Old Testament in the New is thus sometimes conducted along the lines of those who are prepared to believe the Bible and those who are not. If Matthew says that Isaiah predicted the virgin birth of Jesus, then that must be what Isaiah meant, however puzzling it seems to us. If Matthew says there is a text that predicts the holy family will settle at Nazareth, he must have known one, even if it is now lost to us. Sometimes this is simply asserted as a requirement of faith. To doubt either of these things is to doubt the truthfulness of the Bible and the truthfulness of the God that gave the Bible. Other times it is supported by such reasoning as, 'Matthew would not have tried to convince his readers with proof-texts that he knew did not exist or obviously meant something else. His opponents would merely have to look up the texts in order to refute him.' On the other hand, the movement known as the Enlightenment has made people suspicious of accepting 'truth' simply because a powerful body demands it. If words mean anything, then Isaiah is expecting the birth of a child in his generation and not 700 years hence, as Matthew suggests. Some are prepared to give this a sympathetic interpretation. For example, it has been argued that while the original text referred to Isaiah's time, Matthew sees an amazing parallel whereby the birth of a child is once again to be the sign of a great act of God. Such correspondences are known as 'typology' and have been important for understanding the use of the Old Testament in the New. Others, however, are less sympathetic and accuse Matthew of simply taking the text out of context and giving it a Christian meaning that it did not have in its original setting. Even France, who suggests that reading Matthew