Covenant Continuity and Fidelity: A Study of Inner-Biblical Allusion and Exegesis in Malachi

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Description

The core of Malachis covenantal imagination is shaped by his reflection on an authoritative collection of source texts in the Hebrew Bible. The mention of people, nations and places, Deuteronomic terminology, and rare words and unique word/root combinations exclusive to Malachi and only a few other texts encourages the book to be read in the context of received biblical traditions and texts. The diversity of methodologies used previously to analyse Malachi has resulted in confusion about the significance of the inner-biblical connections in the book of Malachi, which Gibson clarifies. His reading frees the text of Malachi from being overburdened by too many intertexts, and allows its central message of covenant to arise with greater clarity and force. Gibson reveals how Malachis connections to earlier source texts are neither random nor causal; rather, they have been strategically employed to inform and shape his central theme of covenant continuity and fidelity.

Reviews

The detailed exegetical study adds to extant scholarship a focused discussion of inner-biblical allusion. The chapters are well structured and take the reader step-by-step, following Gibsons rationale, from an in-depth text-critical analysis through to interpretation Gibsons work will serve the research community well for its comprehensive and engaging investigation. * Journal for the Study of the Old Testament *
well-grounded and multi-faceted[Gibson] has made a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion of intertextual interpretation and the hypothesis of the Twelve. * Journal of Hebrew Scriptures *

Author Bio

Jonathan Gibson (Ph.D., Cambridge University, UK) is Assistant Professor of Old Testament, Westminster Theological Seminary, USA.