Searching the Scriptures: Studies in Context and Intertextuality

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This work critically engages the hermeneutical methods used to analyse the New Testament writings, so that the lenses through which studies of the texts have been traditionally viewed can be revised. Jeremy Hultin contributes an article on the rhetorical use of the chosen citations by Jewish rabbis in their commentary on scripture, while Mark Gignilliat writes on the potential implications for viewing Old Testament Scripture in the manner of the early Church exegetes and theologians. With these two contributions providing a frame for the other chapters, the essays explore a range of topics including the significance of the number 42 in Matthew; the study of Wisdom in Matthew, the extent to which the four gospels are underlined by Hebrew material, if any; the use of Hebrew material in shaping New Testament writings; and the uses of Scripture in the letters of Paul and the letters to the Hebrews. Read separately, these articles provide fascinating insights and revisions to established ideas on intertextuality between the Old/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament writings. Taken together, the collection presents a solid argument for the fundamental revision of our current hermeneutical practice in Biblical Studies.

Reviews

The book has a greater coherence than some other edited collections, since all the chapters are linked by a particular emphasis on the question of hermeneutical method, a very important and timely subject ... a great strength of [many of the studies in this collection] is that they offer a close reading of New Testament texts employing Old Testament quotations or allusions but seek to draw out the wider hermeneutical implications of their conclusions. This approach produces some interesting new insights ... This volume contains ... individual chapters which will be of value to those interested in a particular text, but also works effectively as a whole collection to engage the reader with the significant and topical question of the methodologies which can be applied to illuminate the New Testament use of scripture. * The Expository Times *
The essays demonstrate the continuing vibrancy of the topic, with the use of new methods ... , new proposals ... , older methods used on new topics ... , and re-evaluation of older hypotheses ... In my judgement, [readers] will not be disappointed. * Journal for the Study of the New Testament *

Author Bio

Craig A. Evans is the Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College of Acadia University, Canada. Jeremiah J. Johnston is Associate Professor of Early Christianity at Houston Baptist University, USA.