Use of the Old Testament in the Pauline epistles

Abstract

The use of the Of in the New has long been recognised as an important field of research. Too often, however, the emphasis placed upon rabbinic and hellenistic influences has tended to subordinate and obscure the unique place of the Of in minds and theology of the early Christian writers. The trend of recent years to seek from the Of itself the source and meaning of NT thought has been an entirely proper one, as Hoskyns words so well express: [There are] grounds for supposing no further progress in the understanding of primitive Christianity to be possible unless the ark of NT exegesis be recovered from its wanderings in the land of the Philistines and be led back not merely to Jerusalem, for that night mean to contemporary Judaism, but to its home in the midst of the classical Of Scriptures—to the Law and to the Prophets.

The present study is not primarily textual, an area already well covered, but rather seeks the rationale underlying' the Pauline usage both in its textual manifestation and in its theological application. Even where a variant text is apparently in view, Paul's textual aberrations in many eases have a hermeneutical purpose and often are closely tied to the immediate application of- the citation. While rabbinic Judaism has influenced the mechanics of Pauline citation, one must look to the apostolic Church and to Christ Himself to find the primary source of the apostle*s understanding and use of the OT. The emphases, applications, and hermeneutics of Paul's quotations mark him as one with the apostolic Church in contrast to his rabbinic background.