The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, week 4

The Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament (taught by Seth Ehorn)

Week 4: The Art of “Misquotation”: Textual Alteration and Quotation Practice

Common Types of Alteration:

  1. Reversing order of words (to emphasize something) (e.g., 2 Cor 6:17 )

  2. Changing person, number, gender, tense, and mood (to better fit a new linguistic context or draw out a new meaning) (e.g., 1 Cor 14:21)

  3. Omitting words from the text (to make it more concise, to emphasize something, or offer a new interpretation) (e.g., Rom 11:3)

  4. Adding words to the text (to clarify a meaning) (e.g., 1 Cor 15:45)

  5. Replacing words or phrases by new formulations (to emphasize something or express a new meaning) (e.g., Eph 4:8)

  6. Merging or conflating one verse into another (e.g., Rom 9:33)

  7. Combining different texts back -to- back (e.g., 1 Cor 15:54 - 55)

Conclusions:

  1. The NT authors play by ancient “rules of the game ” when it comes to their quotation practices. The religious nature of the source texts did not appear to affect their handling of sources.

  2. Quotations were not necessarily employed to preserve the exact wording of the source quotation, but to present particular interpretations of those sources.

  3. Thus, their “misquotations” bear witness to their interpretive ingenuity and preserve those interpretations for later readers.

Use of OT in NTJoel & Karin .