The Text in the Middle
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Table of Contents
- Series Editor’s Preface
- Introduction
- Notes
- Chapter One: Citation from the Pentateuch (Genesis)
- Genesis 1–2, Psalm 8, and Hebrews 2:5–9
- Genesis 1:1–2:3, Proverbs 8:22–31, and Colossians 1:15–20
- Genesis 2:2–3; Exodus 20:11; Joshua 13:1; Judges 1:27–33; Hebrews 4:1–11
- Genesis 2:23–25; Song of Songs 2:16; 6:3; 7:11 Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7–8; 1 Corinthians 7:4; Ephesians 5:31
- Genesis 3:1, 14–15; Isaiah 27:1; 65:25; Romans 16:20; Revelation 12:9
- Genesis 3:15; 4:1; 1 Samuel 1:11; 1 Timothy 2:15
- Genesis 4:4–5; Proverbs 3:9–10; Hebrews 11:4
- Genesis 4; 1 Kings 19; Jonah 4
- Genesis 6–7; 19; Judges 19; Isaiah 1:9–10; 66:15–17; 2 Peter 3
- Genesis 12:3, 7; Jeremiah 4:2; Psalm 72:17; Galatians 3:8, 16
- Genesis 12:10–20; Exodus 12:35–38; Nehemiah 13:1–3
- Genesis 14–15; 1 Samuel 2:35; 2 Samuel 7; Zechariah 6:12–13; Psalm 110; Matthew 22:41–46; Hebrews 1:13; 5:6; 7
- Genesis 14:14; Judges 7:7; 1 Samuel 30
- Genesis 14; 23; 2 Samuel 24
- Genesis 15:1; Psalms; Ephesians 6:16
- Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Psalm 106:31; Neh 9:8;Romans 1:17; 4:3; Galatians 3:6, 11; Hebrews 10:37–38
- Habakkuk 1:5 and Acts 13:41
- Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11
- Habakkuk 2:3–4 and Hebrews 10:37–38
- Psalm 106:28–31
- Nehemiah 9:7–8
- Genesis 15:6; 22; 1 Maccabees 2:52; James 2:21–24
- Genesis 15:10; Jeremiah 34:18–20; Hebrews 9:18
- Genesis 16; 21; Galatians 4:21–5:1
- Genesis 17:5; Nehemiah 9:7; Romans 4:11
- Genesis 22:4–5; Hosea 6:2; Hebrews 11:17–19
- Genesis 25:23; Malachi 1:2–3; Romans 9:10–13
- Genesis 28:12; Targum Neofiti; John 1:51; 1 Peter 1:12
- Genesis 48:5; Jeremiah 31:9; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2
- Genesis 49:8–12
- Genesis 50:25; Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32
- Notes
- Chapter Two: Citation from the Pentateuch (Exodus–Deuteronomy)
- Exodus 3:14; Hosea 1:9; Revelation 1:4, 8; 4:8; 11:17; 16:5
- Exodus 12:8–9; Deuteronomy 16:7; 2 Chronicles 35:13
- Exodus 13:2, 13; Leviticus 18:21; Numbers 3:13, 41; 8:16–17; 18:15–16; Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10; 2 Kings 16:3; 17:17, 31; 21:6 (2 Chr 33:6); 23:10; Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5; 32:35; Ezekiel 16:21; 20:26, 31; 23:37; Nehemiah 10:37
- Exodus 13:9, 16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21; Joshua 1:8; Jeremiah 31:33; Proverbs 3:3
- Exodus 14:21–22; Joshua 3:17; 4:23; 2 Kings 2:8, 14
- Exodus 15:2a; Isaiah 12:2b; Psalm 118:14
- Exodus 16; Numbers 11; Joel 3:1–5; Nehemiah 9; John 6; Acts 2; 7; Rom 7:6
- Parallel Narratives: Exodus 16 and Numbers 11
- Nehemiah 9
- Exodus 16:33; Num 17:25; 1 Kings 8:9; Hebrews 9:4
- Exodus 25–40; 1 Kings 6–8 (2 Chronicles 5–7); Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 40–48; Ezra 3; John 1:14; Hebrews 9; Revelation 15:8
- Exodus 17; Numbers 20; Psalm 95; 1 Corinthians 10:4; Hebrews 3–4
- Exodus 19:6a; Isaiah 61:6a; 66:21; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6
- Exodus 19; Jeremiah 7:22; Galatians 3:19
- Exodus 20:1–17; Deuteronomy 5:6–21; Matt 5:21–48
- Exodus 32:20; Deuteronomy 9:21; 1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 23:4, 6, 12, 15; 2 Chronicles 15:16; 30:14; 34:4
- Leviticus 17:7; Numbers 25:1; Deuteronomy 24:1–4; Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3; Ezekiel 16; 23; Hosea 1–3; Ephesians 5:25–29; Revelation 18–19
- Leviticus 18:5 (Targum Onkelos); Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21, 25; Nehemiah 9:29; Matthew 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30; Romans 7; 10:5; Galatians 3:12
- Leviticus 23:39–42; Deuteronomy 16:13–15; Nehemiah 8:14–17
- Numbers 12; Isaiah 52:13–53:12; Hebrews 3:5–6
- Numbers 20–21; Deuteronomy 2–3; Judges 11
- Numbers 21:8; 2 Kings 18:4; John 3:14–15
- Numbers 22–24; 31:8, 16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14
- Numbers 24:7; 2 Samuel 23:1; Isaiah 19:20; Zechariah 6:12; John 19:5; 1 Timothy 2:5
- Numbers 23:22; 24:8; Isaiah 43:16–21; Hosea 11:1; Psalm 107:33–35; Matthew 2:15; Jude 5
- Numbers 24:17; Matthew 2:1–12; Revelation 2:28; 22:16
- Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:17; Zechariah 10:2; Matthew 9:36
- Deuteronomy 17:14–20; 1 Samuel 8; 1 Kings 1–11
- Deuteronomy 18:15, 18; 34:10; Jeremiah 1:9; Matt 17:5b; Mark 9:7b; Luke 9:35b; Acts 3:22; 7:37
- Deuteronomy 23:4 (cf., Deut 7:3–4); 1 Kings 11:1–10; Ezra 9–10; Nehemiah 13 Deuteronomy 23:16–17; Joel 3:2; Proverbs 30:10; Philemon 16 Deuteronomy 24:1–4; Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:1; Matthew 19:7
- Deuteronomy 30:1–10; Jeremiah 29:14; 30:3, 18; 31:23; 32:44; 33:7, 11, 26 Deuteronomy 30:11–14; Psalm 139:7–12; Proverbs 30:4; Romans 10:5–8
- Deuteronomy 31:9–13; Nehemiah 8–9; Acts 2:42; Ephesians 4:11–13; 1 Timothy 4:13
- Deuteronomy 33:2–5; Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2
- Notes
- Chapter Three: Citation from the Prophets
- Introduction
- Judges 4–5; Isaiah 63:19; Psalm 68 (Num 10:35); Ephesians 4
- Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles
- 1 Samuel 2:1–10; 2 Samuel 22:1–23:7; Psalms 75; 113:7–9; Luke 1:46–55
- 1 Samuel 2:26; Proverbs 3:4; Luke 2:52
- 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:10–17; 57:19; 58; Jeremiah 7:21–23; Hosea 6:6; 14:3; Amos 5:21–24; Micah 6:6–8; Zechariah 7; Psalms 4:6; 27:6; 40:7–9; 50:14, 23; 51:18–21; 54:8; 107:22; 116:17; 141:2; Proverbs 21:3; Hebrews 10:5–10; 13:15
- 2 Samuel 7:1–17; Zechariah 6:12–13; Psalms 89 and 132; 1 Chronicles 17:1–15; Luke 1:32–33; Acts 2:30; Hebrews 1:5
- 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 18:31; Proverbs 30:5–6; Revelation 22:18–19 2 Samuel 22:34; Habakkuk 3:19; Psalm 18:34
- Isaiah 2:1–5; Joel 4:10; Micah 4:1–5
- Isaiah 4:2; 11:1–10; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Zechariah 3:8; 6:12–13; Romans 15:12
- Isaiah 5:1–7; 27:2–6; Ezekiel 15; 17; 19:10–14; Psalm 80:9–14; Matthew 21:33–46; John 15:1–17
- Isaiah 6:9–10; Matthew 13:13–15; Mark 4:10–12; Luke 8:9–10; Acts 28:26–27
- Isaiah 7:14; 9:5–6 (Eng., 9:6–7); 11:1–10; Matthew 1:23
- Isaiah 8:14–15; 28:16; Zechariah 3:9; Psalm 118:22; Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45; Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10–11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; 1 Peter 2:6–8
- Exodus 23:20; Isaiah 40:3; 62:10–12; Malachi 3:1, 23; Mark 1:2–3
- Isaiah 45:23; Psalm 22:30 (Eng., 22:29); Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10–11
- Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:34; 1 Thessalonians 4:9; 1 John 2:27; b. Yebamot 122b
- Isaiah 55:10–11; Psalm 147:12–20; 2 Thessalonians 3:1
- Isaiah 60:19–20; Zechariah 14:6–7; Revelation 21:23; 22:5
- Isaiah 63:7–14
- Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 3:1–3; Revelation 10
- Jeremiah 17:5–8; Psalm 1; Revelation 1:3
- Jeremiah 23:1–6; Ezekiel 34; Psalm 23; John 10
- Jeremiah 25:1–13; Ezekiel 38–39; Daniel 9; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3; Revelation 20:8
- Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7; Revelation 4–5; 13
- The Book of the Twelve
- Hosea 12
- Ezekiel 7:1–9; Amos 8:1–3; Lamentations 4:18
- Jonah; Psalm 107:21–26; Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25
- Notes
- Chapter Four: Citation from the Writings
- Job; Testament of Job; James 5:11
- Psalm 94:12; Job 5:17–18; Proverbs 3:11–12; Hebrews 12:5–11
- Esther
- Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45; 7:9–14; Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27; 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 1:7, 14
- Ezra 1:1–4; 6:3–5; 2 Chronicles 36:23
- Excursus: Rewritten Bible
- Genesis Apocryphon Genre Studies
- Genesis Apocryphon
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Scripture Index
- Series Index
More than ever the horizons in biblical literature are being expanded beyond that which is immediately imagined; important new methodological, theological, and hermeneutical directions are being explored, often resulting in significant contributions to the world of biblical scholarship. It is an exciting time for the academy as engagement in biblical studies continues to be heightened.
This series seeks to make available to scholars and institutions, scholarship of a high order, and which will make a significant contribution to the ongoing biblical discourse. This series includes established and innovative directions, covering general and particular areas in biblical study. For every volume considered for this series, we explore the question as to whether the study will push the horizons of biblical scholarship. The answer must be yes for inclusion.
In this volume, Michael Shepherd examines the manner in which the biblical text interprets itself. While this idea in itself is neither new nor novel, the method that Shepherd employs does in fact invite a wider angle from which to explore this idea. He notes that in this regard the early post biblical interpreters understood this need and necessity as they used it to establish the ← IX | X → manner in which the New Testament is shaped and understood. In this study, Shepherd employs what he terms the “bridge” texts. He explains that “bridge” texts are those texts that have previous been cited, but the manner in which they are “cited has already been anticipated in a previous citation of the original text, thus involving at least three texts (primary, secondary, tertiary)” p. 2. This study, in the copious examination of the particular texts and with the skill of the requisite languages, is certain to generate ongoing discourse, and will not only further expand the biblical horizon, but will do so in a direction that invites further conversation.
The horizon has been expanded.
Hemchand Gossai
The Hebrew Bible is a text composed of other texts, and those “other texts” are within the Bible itself.1 The elite class of ancient scribes who produced the biblical texts did so on the basis of an intricate web of learned citations (Ezra 7:6, 10; 9:10–11; Neh 8–9).2 They in effect created a text for scholars (i.e., those who could read and study the text and thereby come to appreciate the intertextual fabric that holds the Bible together and enables it to function in a meaningful way). While it is true that many parts of the Bible were composed independently in different times and places, it is also true that those many parts were brought together in the late post-exilic period and reshaped in light of one another. The Hebrew Bible was thus built to interpret itself, and early post-biblical interpreters—such as the authors of the New Testament and the rabbinic Midrash—understood this phenomenon and were greatly influenced by it.
Michael Fishbane’s seminal work, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Clarendon, 1985) is an appropriate starting point for any discussion of innerbiblical exegesis. Fishbane’s book not only establishes the reality of extensive textual exegesis in the Hebrew Bible (as opposed to oral tradition), but also it categorizes different types of exegesis—legal, aggadic, mantological— ← 1 | 2 →in a variety of genres. Central to Fishbane’s thesis is his distinction between traditum (tradition) and traditio (transmission). For Fishbane, it is self-evident that the transmission of a tradition always involves change of some kind. This presupposition is so pervasive in Fishbane’s work that he does not feel the need to argue against the possibility that there might be continuity in some cases. Such an assumption is also prevalent in recent studies of the use of the Old Testament in the New.3
It is possible to talk about innerbiblical exegesis on a number of different levels. One way to discuss the topic would be to look at glosses and interpolations, examples of explanation or interpretation in context.4 For instance, an English translation of hcxmw w#)r hqxm in Judg 5:26b might appear to be redundant: “she struck his head and she struck.” But in the Hebrew text an uncommon root (qxm) is explained by a common one (Cxm) (cf., Judg 10:8). Inserted comments or expansions are frequent in prose (e.g., 1 Sam 2:23b; Jer 25:1b), prophecy (e.g., Hag 2:5; Zech 12:10a), poetry (e.g., 1 Sam 2:2a; Nah 1:2b–3a; Ps 2:2b), law (Lev 23:39–43), and genealogical material (e.g., Gen 5:22, 24, 29).5 Another way to approach the subject would be to examine the way in which a composer employs the various components of a biblical book to provide interpretation of his material, such as the manner in which the large poems of the Pentateuch interpret the narrative blocks that precede them (Gen 3:14–19; Gen 49:1–27; Exod 15:1–18; Num 23–24; Deut 32–33).6 Still another way would be to treat explicit citation from another part of a biblical book (e.g., First and Second Isaiah) or from a completely different biblical book (e.g., Num 24:24; Dan 11:30).7
But for the purposes of the present study the often overlooked “bridge” texts (texts in the middle) will be of primary interest. This is where a citation of a text occurs, but the way in which the text is cited has already been anticipated in a previous citation of the original text, thus involving at least three texts (primary, secondary, and tertiary).8 This can occur within the Hebrew Bible itself (e.g., Lev 18:5; Ezek 20:11b, 13, 21; Neh 9:29), or it can involve New Testament texts (or other sources) where the manner of New Testament citation has a precedent in the Tanakh (e.g., Rom 10:5; Gal 3:12). Texts in the middle constitute a largely uncharted territory, especially in studies of the New Testament use of the Old—a field dominated by New Testament scholars whose knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures and text production in the original languages is not always up to the task.
Any treatment of innerbiblical exegesis requires criteria for textual dependence and for direction of dependence.9 Specific and rare verbal links, ← 2 | 3 → morphological correspondence, syntactical similarity, and shared sequences, patterns, and structures are all good indications of textual dependence in addition to general content, context, and genre. The likelihood of dependence is greater when more of the criteria are met. Of course, it is possible to meet all the criteria and still not have textual dependence. Likewise, it is possible to meet only one or two of the criteria and have textual dependence. This is as much an art as it is a science. Regardless of how much evidence is presented in favor of textual dependence, there will always be someone to come along and posit a no longer extant common source or unverifiable oral tradition.
As for direction of dependence, mere dating of the language could prove to be misleading given the updating of earlier texts and archaizing of later texts.10 Since there is ample evidence for the collection and mutual influence of these texts in the late post-exilic period, it will be imperative to look for clues as to how those who gave these texts their final shape wanted readers to understand intertextual links. It is possible for what was originally an earlier text to be repackaged as a text dependent upon what was originally a later text. For example, many would like to date material in the Prophets earlier than material in Deuteronomy, but someone clearly wanted readers to understand Deuteronomy as the voice of Moses, the prophetic writings being the voices of later Moses-like prophets (e.g., Deut 18:15, 18; Jer 1:9). It is also possible for two connected texts to be placed in their respective contexts simultaneously. Nevertheless, in many cases manipulation or expansion of one text by another will be evident.
A brief example here will suffice to give the reader an idea of the type of innerbiblical relationships explored in the main chapters of the book. The text of Isa 59:21 stands apart from what precedes and follows it and serves to connect the section dealing with the lack of righteousness in the post-exilic community (Isa 56–59) with the section on the future inbreaking of God’s righteousness (Isa 60:1–63:14).11 It is a mosaic of texts from across the Tanakh and thus shows a kind of canonical consciousness.12
The text of Isa 59:21 sees the new covenant (Jer 31:31; Isa 61:8) in continuity with the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17:4; cf., Rom 4), and it sees the new Moses as the model of the righteous person who devotes himself to the received text of Scripture (Num 11:17; Deut 18:18; 31:21; Josh 1:8; Ps 1:2). Dependence upon what was understood to be a “messianic” text (Deut 18:18; 34:10; Isa 9:6; Mic 4:7; Acts 3:22; 7:37) and what could be understood as new covenant terminology (Num 11:17, 29; Ezek 11:19–20; 36:26–27; Joel 3:1–5; Acts 2) in Isa 59:21 apparently influenced Paul’s quotation (Rom 11:27). It is worth noting that Isaiah 61 (see Luke 4:16–30) sees the coming righteousness and new covenant closely tied to the ministry of the servant of YHWH (cf., Isa 9:5–6; 11:1–10; 42:1–7; 49:1–9; 50:4–11; 52:13–53:12). Perhaps this is part of what Paul means when he says that the Hebrew Scriptures are “for us” (Rom 4:23–24; 15:4; 1 Cor 9:10; 10:11)—that is, the Christian church. The Tanakh already reads itself the way Paul reads it (Luke 24:25–27; 44–47; Rom 1:1–2; 3:21–22; 16:25–26; 2 Tim 3:15–17). Contrary to the modern conception, Paul does not consider the Hebrew Scriptures to be on loan from the religion of Judaism. Rather, he understands his Bible to be genuine Christian Scripture (cf., Hebrews). It is the product of the prophets—those who went against the grain of the mainstream religious practices of ancient Israel (e.g., Jer 7) and later post-exilic Judaism (e.g., Zech–Mal) and who looked forward to the kind of messianic figure that Jesus would be (1 Pet 1:10–12).13 ← 4 | 5 →
1. “…the Bible, despite its textual heterogeneity, can be read as a self-glossing book. One learns to study it by following the ways in which one portion of the text illumines another. The generation of scribes who shaped and reshaped the Scriptures appear to have designed them to be studied in just this way. Thus Brevard S. Childs speaks of ‘the interpretive structure which the biblical text has received from those who formed and used it as sacred scripture.’ This does not mean that redaction produced a unified text (or what we would think of as unified: a holistic text, free of self-contradiction, a systematic or organic whole: the Bible is everything but that); rather it means that the parts are made to relate to one another reflexively, with later texts, for example, throwing light on the earlier, even as they themselves always stand in the light of what precedes and follows them” (Gerald Bruns, “Midrash and Allegory,” in The Literary Guide to the Bible, ed. Frank Kermode and Robert Alter [Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap, 1987], 626–27; quoted in Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash [Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990], 15–16).
2. See David M. Carr, The Formation of the Hebrew Bible: A New Reconstruction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011); Christopher A. Rollston, Writing and Literacy in the World of Ancient Israel: Epigraphic Evidence from the Iron Age (Atlanta: SBL, 2010); Karel van der Toorn, Scribal Culture and the Making of the Hebrew Bible (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2007); William M. Schniedewind, How the Bible Became a Book (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 2004).
3. E.g., Richard N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period, 2d ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999); G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, ed., Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).
4. See Emanuel Tov, Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible, 3d ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012), 259–61; Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation, 44–65.
5. Included also here would be the practice of providing interpretation of narratives and speeches through a character’s retelling or reporting (e.g., Gen 24; 41; Matt 13:3–23). Supplied interpretations of visions are also examples (e.g., Dan 7–8).
Details
- Pages
- X, 193
- Year
- 2015
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781453914236
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781454192879
- ISBN (MOBI)
- 9781454192862
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433128325
- DOI
- 10.3726/978-1-4539-1423-6
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2015 (March)
- Keywords
- exegesis intertextual relationship biblical corpus
- Published
- New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, Oxford, Wien, 2014. 193 pp.
