Quotations from the OT (including Ecclesiastes) in the NT

From: chris stanley (cstanley@3b2adm.mckendree.edu)
Date: Tue Jan 13 1998 - 00:57:01 EST


I'm just now getting around to responding to the recent discussion on the presence of OT quotations in the NT, initiated by Jack Vogt on Jan. 5th.
The question of what constitutes a "quotation" has received little explicit
attention in the broad literature on the "use of the OT in the NT." In
most cases the investigator simply offers a list (usually based on the
GNT indices cited recently on the list) with no attempt to justify it on
theoretical grounds (whether linguistics or rhetoric). An extended
discussion of the theoretical issues can be found in my book , Paul and
the Language of Scripture (Cambridge U. Press, 1992), pp. 33-37, 65-66.
For the sake of methodological clarity, I would argue that we should reserve
the term "quotation " for passzgessages that are clearly marked as such (none
Cbi, and use other terms (alusionlusion. echo,,
reminiscence, etc.) for the unmarked refernces to Scripture. ences to Scripture. The question
of whether the reference is intentional or unconscious is notoriously
difficult to resolve in htthe latter cases, whereas it is quite clear in
the former.

DJack Vogt (sorry, my mailer won't do attachments!)
is a perfect example of this problem. Does Paul "intend""  " to refer here to
Isaiah 42:8 or not? Who knows":? The qpersistent question of when or if we
can discern authorial intent comes fully to the fore in passages like this.
It is difficult to see how we could what basis we might have for judging in this case.
Carl might be interested, however, in the argument advanced by Dietrich-
Alex Koch in his magesterial work, Die Schrift als Zeuge des Evangeliums
(Mohr, 1986), that the origianl nal FGreek manuscripts of the NT contained the
Tetragrammaton in passages like this. (Yes, I saifdd NT manuscripts!) The
same phenomenon can be seen in the some of the Qumran texts. (Sorry, I don;t't
have Koch's book handy to cite the pages, but it's clearly marked in the
tionstion (or perhpas aps even a
"B-Hebrew" question) that I don't think I've ever seen discussed on this
list! But before someone askes me to reproduce Koch's argument (which has
been taken quite seriously , by the way), I must note that my small college
library does not have the book and I just recetly ntly returned it to a library
20 miles away. , so someone else will have to do the honors. Any takers?

Chris Stanley
McKEndree Collegee
Lebanon, IL 62254



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