If the New Testament authors interpret their Bible the way the prophets and psalmists interpret scripture, it is natural to wonder if that is where it started. Studying the Old Testament use of scripture shows that the prophets and psalmists did not invent their brand of biblical interpretation. It starts with Torah.
Old Testament prophets never seem to tire of looking back as the basis for looking forward. They look ahead to a new creation, a new Israel, a new exodus, a new temple, and even a new covenant. In the Old Testament, expectations for what Yahweh shall do are grounded on what Yahweh has done. That is who he is.
Prophets, psalmists, storytellers, sages, poets, and visionaries of Israel’s scriptures had been using the Torah and earlier prophets and psalms long before the days of the earliest Christians. The evidence suggests that later Old Testament authors closely studied earlier scriptures. Commitment to the word of God by the biblical authors makes it natural for them to recycle, reinterpret, and redeploy scriptural revelation.
Put differently, there is nothing at all unusual about the ways the authors of the New Testament use scripture.[ii] They followed a well-worn path of biblical exegesis that they found within their Bible. But there is more.
If the New Testament authors interpret their Bible the way the prophets and psalmists interpret scripture, it is natural to wonder if that is where it started. Studying the Old Testament use of scripture shows that the prophets and psalmists did not invent their brand of biblical interpretation. It starts with Torah. Even though I had seen the hints, I was still surprised.
The authors of Israel’s scriptures interpret Torah in line with the ways the later parts of Torah interpret the earlier parts. Torah itself provides an authoritative guide for later scriptural authors to advance revelation by exegesis of scripture.
The Spirit of God used the word of God as one tool for advancing revelation. Perhaps the close study of Torah and the early prophets by later scriptural writers falls within what could be called “canonical consciousness.” Devotion to Yahweh and close study of his word by scriptural writers helps explain the deep continuity that runs through the Old Testament and into the New Testament.
