Interpreting the Old Testament Theologically: Essays in Honor of Willem A. VanGemeren

By Andrew T. Abernethy

How should Christians read the Old Testament today? Answers to this question gravitate between two poles. On the one hand, some pay little attention to the gap between the Old Testament and today, reading the Old Testament like a devotional allegory that points the Christian directly to Jesus. On the other hand, there are folks who prioritize an Old Testament passage's original context to such an extent that it is by no means clear if and how a given Old Testament text might bear witness to Christ and address the church.

This volume is a tribute to Willem A. VanGemeren, an ecclesial scholar who operated amidst the tension between understanding texts in their original context and their theological witness to Christ and the church. The contributors in this volume share a conviction that Christians must read the Old Testament with a theological concern for how it bears witness to Christ and nourishes the church, while not undermining the basic principles of exegesis.

Two questions drive these essays as they address the topic of reading the Old Testament theologically.

• Christology. If the Old Testament bears witness to Christ, how do we move from an Old Testament text, theme, or book to Christ?
• Ecclesiology. If the Old Testament is meant to nourish the church, how do scriptures originally given to Israel address the church today?

The volume unfolds by first considering exegetical habits that are essential for interpreting the Old Testament theologically. Then several essays wrestle with how topics from select Old Testament books can be read theologically. Finally, it concludes by addressing several communal matters that arise when reading the Old Testament theologically.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Dec 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9780310535065

Andrew T. Abernethy

Andrew T. Abernethy (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College. He has written several books, including Eating in Isaiah (Brill, 2014), The Book of Isaiah and God's Kingdom (IVP, 2016), God's Messiah in the Old Testament, with Greg Goswell (Baker, 2020), Discovering Isaiah (Eerdmans, 2021), and Savoring Scripture (IVP, 2022).

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List of Contributors

Andrew T. Abernethy, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

Richard E. Averbeck, Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Daniel I. Block, Gunther H. Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wheaton College

M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas), Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

Stephen B. Chapman, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Duke Divinity School

Stephen Dempster, Professor of Religious Studies, Crandall University

Mark Futato, Robert L. Maclellan Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary

Dana M. Harris, Associate Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Ron Haydon, Adjunct Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

Richard S. Hess, Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Denver Seminary

James K. Hoffmeier, Professor of Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern History and Archaeology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Carol M. Kaminski, Professor of Old Testament, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Bo H. Lim, Associate Professor of Old Testament, Seattle Pacific University

John Monson, Associate Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Anthony R. Petterson, Lecturer in Old Testament and Hebrew, Morling College, Australian College of Theology

Richard Schultz, Blanchard Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

Daniel C. Timmer, Professor of Old Testament, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; Faculté de théologie évangélique (Montreal)

Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Research Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Gregory Waybright, Senior Pastor, Lake Avenue Church (Pasadena, CA)

Lissa M. Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, Providence Theological Seminary (Otterburne, Manitoba)

Christopher J. H. Wright, International Ministries Director, of Langham Partnership

Abbreviations

Introduction

Andrew T. Abernethy

Rather than approach any book of the Bible solely from within the historical situation of that book, readers must admit unashamedly that they come to the reading of that book with colored glasses. They live between the times of Christ’s resurrection and his glorious appearing, and they also live between the horizon of their time and that of the ancient books. But God speaks to them within their own cultural milieu. . . . The Bible speaks because God speaks!

Willem A. VanGemeren¹

How should Christians read the Old Testament today? Answers to this question can gravitate between two poles. On the one hand, some pay little attention to the gap between the Old Testament and today, reading the Old Testament as a devotional allegory that points the Christian directly to Jesus. On the other hand, there are folks, especially Old Testament scholars, who prioritize an Old Testament passage’s original context to such an extent that it is by no means clear if and how a given Old Testament text might bear witness to Christ and address the church. This volume is a tribute to Willem VanGemeren, an ecclesial scholar who operated amidst the tension between understanding texts in their original context and their theological witness to Christ and the church.

Interpreting en route to the New Jerusalem

Before Theological Interpretation of Scripture (TIS) was a movement, Willem VanGemeren was inviting students and readers to join him in his quest to interpret the Old Testament in light of the church’s moment within redemptive history. As those living in the year of the Lord (AD, anno Domini), yet awaiting Christ’s second coming (BC, before Christ),² the church should read the Old Testament ever mindful that the scarred, living, risen Christ nourishes and sustains his pilgrim church by the Scriptures through the Spirit along their journey toward the New Jerusalem.

Although theological in his approach to Scripture, Willem bristles at interpretations that mute the discrete voices of Old Testament texts as they bear witness to Christ. He has a preconceived answer detector, readily uncovering how a student or interpreter is not entering into the world of the text but is instead co-opting the biblical text to support his or her own system. For this reason, an openness to what the text might say through a careful literary reading of texts in light of their original historical contexts is fundamental to hearing God’s voice through the text today. As Willem states in his introduction to the New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis,

[T]he Bible itself opens up perspectives that may challenge past interpretations and invites the traveler to journey into exciting, but not always known, landscapes of literary and linguistic possibilities. This journey requires interpretation—a detailed and nuanced assessment of the exegetical possibilities of the text, and an openness to the text as well as to one’s self. In between these two horizons (text and self), the text presents a message of God afresh to a new generation.³

God, speaking through the text of Scripture, must be able to have his say to the church. Willem’s foundation in linguistics has impacted several generations of pastors and scholars who were trained under his guidance to listen closely to the text in light of its genre and discourse.

Throughout his writing and in the classroom, Willem repeatedly summons attention to the historical, literary, canonical, and theological. The church needs to read the Old Testament in light of how it addressed an ancient Israelite audience (historical) through a genre-shaped logic (literary); and how through its formation and preservation it is able to address future readers (canonical) across the many eras of God’s redemptive mission that finds its culminations in Christ’s first and second comings (theological).⁴ The Old Testament must be free to address the church of the living God today in accordance with, and not apart from the historical and literary contours of its original message to ancient Israel and its preservation for subsequent generations.

Joining the Journey of Theological Interpretation

In my experience, some (many?) Old Testament scholars are suspicious of the TIS movement. One scholar expressed to me, Reading the Old Testament theologically strikes me as a quiet time meditation with footnotes! The reason for this impression is what the scholar perceives to be a dismissal of exegetical basics and original contexts within theological interpretation. Another sentiment I hear is a fear that theological readings of the Old Testament are merely impositions of the New Testament or systematic theology back onto the text. To some extent these concerns are legitimate theologically—the church must honor how God spoke to people in real times and places in the past as they read the Scriptures.

Are the perceptions of these Old Testament scholars about TIS correct? It is common for those within TIS to argue that the exclusive use of the historical-critical method has left the church bankrupt. Nonetheless, many within TIS advocate for how essential it is for the church to wrestle with Old Testament texts in their historical particularities. For instance, J. Todd Billings states, The revelation of God in Scripture takes place at particular times, in particular places, in particular cultures, and thus a close reading of a text will involve an analysis of its linguistic and historical features.⁵ Ultimately, it is dangerous to discount the ability of the Old Testament in its historical rootedness to bear genuine witness to the triune God. Scott Swain captures this danger well when he states:

Contrary to every form of Marcionism that has plagued the history of Christianity, it is the same God who makes himself known to Israel and the church . . . Each stage of God’s revelation thus represents God’s wholly reliable redemptive truth, tempered to that stage of redemption by the Divine Rhetor, and therefore profitable in its own right for imparting wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and to a life that is pleasing to God.⁶

In my opinion, there is not a hidden agenda within TIS to dismiss the important work of attending to texts in light of their original contexts (i.e., the grammatical-historical approach). Instead, TIS invites interpreters to assess and orient their tools theologically and to recognize that there is more to interpretation than the utilization of historical-critical methods.

In fact, historical considerations have been important in the history of the church until the modern era. The Antiochene school, St. Jerome, Nicholas de Lyra, and many Reformers were champions of historical sensibilities within ecclesial interpretation during their eras.⁷ Even if the essays in this volume are not the final word, it may be helpful to think of this volume as a step along the ancient path towards reading the Old Testament in ways that can better build up the church.

A Map for the Journey

This volume aims to honor our mentor, colleague, and friend by addressing a topic Willem VanGemeren holds dear. Several colleagues and a former president from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS), where Willem has served as Professor of Old Testament and Semitic Languages for nearly two decades, have contributed: Richard Averbeck, Dana Harris, John Monson, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Gregory Waybright. Additionally, Willem has taught thousands of students beginning first at Geneva College, then Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson), and ultimately at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School at which he retired, although frequently he still teaches in South Korea and around the globe. We were only able to invite a handful of his former students to contribute in honor of our teacher and mentor: Andrew Abernethy, Mark Futato, Dana Harris, Ron Haydon, Bo Lim, and Daniel Timmer. He has supervised PhD dissertations for nearly fifty students from around the globe, including students from Korea, Burkina Faso, Palestine, Myanmar, China, Nepal, Kenya, Nigeria, Hong Kong, Singapore, Greece, Brazil, and the United States. The other contributors in the volume either knew Willem personally as a colleague within the field or were eager to join in this project due to a shared love for reading the Old Testament theologically.

There are three major sections within the volume:

• Theological Witness Gleaned through Interpretive Practices

• Theological Witness in Specific Old Testament Books

• Theological Witness amidst Community

In preparation for this volume, contributors were to allow two questions to inform their essays.

• Christology. If the Old Testament bears witness to the work of the triune God in Christ, how do we move from an Old Testament text, theme, or book to Christ?

• Ecclesiology. If the Old Testament is to nourish the church, how do Scriptures given originally to Israel address the church today?

This shared outlook should provide a level of continuity across the volume, although each author attends to these framing questions in various ways.

In Section One, six essays reflect upon interpretive habits that are fundamental to reading the Old Testament theologically. These habits move from narrow to expansive, from attentiveness to cultural-historical contexts (John Monson), genre (Andrew Abernethy), and biblical book structure (Richard Schultz) to consideration of the arrangement of the tri-partite Old Testament (Stephen Dempster), the two-testament Bible (Daniel Timmer), and the church’s reception of the Old Testament (Stephen Chapman).

In Section Two, essays from across the Old Testament canon examine how a passage or motif in a book functions theologically. In the Torah, Carol Kaminski (grace in Abram’s call in Genesis 12), Richard Averbeck (ritual law in Exodus and Leviticus), and Daniel Block (wisdom in Deuteronomy) probe theological witness within narratives, law, and Moses’s sermons. In the Prophets, Lissa Wray Beal (meals in 1 and 2 Kings), Bo Lim (Cyrus as messiah in Isaiah), James Hoffmeier (divine presence and absence in Jeremiah), and Anthony Petterson (messianic expectations in Zechariah) examine theological witness within the prophetic word. In the Writings, Mark Futato (Psalm 8) and Ron Haydon (wisdom in Daniel) display how songs and apocalyptic literature offer theological messages.

In Section Three, the essays have more of a communal focus. How does the Old Testament impinge on ethics today? M. Daniel Carroll R. examines how social ethics fits into the field of Old Testament theology, and then Christopher J. H. Wright considers how ethics within the Old Testament has a missional impact upon the New Testament. In what way does the family/clan structure in the Old Testament inform the identity of the people of God? Richard Hess explores how the family within the Old Testament can serve as a theological model for the covenant community. Finally, what would a New Testament scholar, a theologian, and a pastor have to say about interpreting the Old Testament theologically? Dana Harris argues from Hebrews that readers of the Old Testament must be mindful of typological trajectories. Kevin Vanhoozer speaks prophetically as a theologian into the field of Old Testament Theology. Finally, Gregory Waybright provides some pastoral insight into how the psalms of Israel are able to minister to the church today.

When Willem was inducting my classmates and me into the PhD program, he asked a simple question: Why are you here? We students gave the expected answers: to get a PhD; to become a professor; to be a better pastor. Willem said: you all are wrong. The reason you are here is to grow in character. There is no guarantee that you will complete this program, become a professor, or serve as a pastor. The one certain thing is that your character will be shaped and that will remain with you the rest of your lives. Although Willem’s greatest academic legacy is his integration of exegesis and theological imagination, his most significant legacy with his students is the example he set in allowing God’s word to shape his own life and his concern that his students not only study the Scriptures but also live before the God to whom the Scriptures bear witness. It is a great pleasure to dedicate this volume to Willem A. VanGemeren, our esteemed mentor, colleague, and friend.

Without the support of Zondervan's Katya Covrett, Nancy Erickson, and Stan Gundry this project would not have been possible. Thanks for allowing us to honor Willem in this way. As we dedicate this volume to you, Willem, we recognize how integral Evona, your beloved wife, has been in your ministry and our formation. Thanks to you both for your investment in our lives.⁸

1. The Progress of Redemption: The Story of Salvation from Creation to the New Jerusalem (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1988), 37.

2. Willem A. VanGemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word: An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990), 90–91.

3. Introduction, NIDOTTE, ed. Willem A. VanGemeren, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), 7.

4. See especially VanGemeren, Interpreting the Prophetic Word, 70–99.

5. J. Todd Billings, The Word of God for the People of God: An Entryway to the Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 56.

6. Scott R. Swain, Trinity, Revelation, and Reading: A Theological Introduction to the Bible and its Interpretation (New York: T&T Clark, 2011), 24.

7. For survey of interpretation and the influence of historical considerations in the history of Psalm 46’s interpretation, see Andrew T. Abernethy, ‘Mountains Moved into the Sea’: The Western Reception of Psalm 46:1 and 3 [45:1 and 3 LXX] from the Septuagint to Luther, JTS, forthcoming 2019.

8. Resources from the G. W. Aldeen Memorial Fund at Wheaton College have made it possible for me to both edit this volume and write my chapter Genre and Theological Vision. Thanks are also due to my teaching assistants Matthew Norton and Mason Lancaster for their assistance along the way.

SECTION ONE

THEOLOGICAL WITNESS GLEANED THROUGH INTERPRETIVE PRACTICES

Chapter 1

Original Context and Canon

John Monson

Introduction

Eternal truths. Ancient context. Biblical text. Contemporary life. These four realities present the modern reader with a seemingly impossible task. How can they be made to relate to each other, and more importantly, how do the first three work together so as to nourish the church and deepen its faith?¹ Most biblical scholars and persons trained for ministry are instructed to begin with exegesis. This is commonly understood as the comprehensive, multi-disciplinary examination of a biblical passage so as to establish plainly what the biblical author intended to communicate to his or her original readers.² Theological understanding and life application follow. This study opens with a brief description of what exegetes call the historical context or original context, which ideally is the first step of Old Testament interpretation. Next, the linkage between context and theology is explored under the rubric of an approach that we introduce as context-canonical. Lastly, this approach is put into action through illustrations that begin with a text and progress from context to canon to Christ and then to application.

What Is Original Context?

In today’s world when people are introduced, the first questions they ask each other are Where are you from? and What do you do? It makes perfect sense to direct the same questions toward the authors of Scripture, even though they are so far removed from us in time and space. God’s message is mediated through these ancient authors, their locations, cultural realities, and the events that they describe. The expression context of Scripture denotes different things to different scholars. Most commonly it is understood to mean the ancient cognate literature of Israel’s neighbors and the valuable historical understanding that it can yield.³ To be sure, the context of Scripture comprises non-literary sources as well. The text of the Old Testament exhibits a geographical rootedness and cultural expression that is woven into the tapestry of the eastern Mediterranean and its ancient civilizations. Elsewhere we have proposed the term contextual criticism as a means of incorporating intentionally all the elements of original context into mainstream biblical criticism.⁴ The modern reader is called to suspend for a moment the abstract categories and patterns of modern Western thought and to enter that ancient, distant setting that gave rise to the text.

What is Original Context?

Sadly, today many Christians are more familiar with Tolkien’s Middle Earth and Lewis’s Narnia than they are with the real time and space contexts within which the biblical witness is set.⁵ The message of Scripture is embedded in real life settings with challenges that are not so different from the ones we face today. Therefore, an essential starting point for biblical interpretation is to gain an understanding of the physical, cultural, and historical realities of events recorded in any given biblical text and to understand the real world of the ancient authors. As Grant Osborne writes in his classic book on hermeneutics,

The historical and logical contexts provide the scaffolding upon which we can build the in-depth meaning of a passage. Without a strong scaffolding, the edifice of interpretation is bound to collapse.⁶

The original context of Scripture assures us that we do not follow cleverly devised myths (2 Pet 1:16) and that the story of redemption is more than an allegory. It matters to our faith not only that Jesus Christ rose from the dead (1 Cor 15:14) but also that Abraham received the promise both in Mesopotamia and in the land, that Moses gave the law, that David ruled in Jerusalem, that Jeremiah preached in the temple, and that Nehemiah built his wall.⁷ Context also brings the Bible to life by drawing the reader into the regional perspectives, cultural practices, and political challenges that the biblical characters experienced.

Ultimately, however, original context gives us more than apologetics or illumination. It lends cohesion and order to the Bible’s genres and events, and it connects the reader and his or her life experience to the biblical stories and characters in a very personal way. More than connecting the then and there to the here and now, the context of Scripture helps to transform the story of God’s interaction with his people from black and white into Blu-Ray HD. The individual faith journeys of the ancients become relatable vignettes that can encourage the reader’s own spiritual life.⁸

The Components of Original Context

Original context can be broken down into three parts: land, material culture, and cognate texts. The biblical authors sometimes assume the reader’s knowledge of such things. At other times they draw upon these elements overtly and combine them in creative ways (see Figure 1).

Fig. 1. Context and Biblical Interpretation

Fig. 1. Context and Biblical Interpretation

Land

The land component of context typically receives the least attention in biblical studies even though it is in some respects the most potent. Hence it will receive the most attention in the illustrations below. With its variegated regions and geographical features, the land of the Bible undergirds the entire Old Testament. It is the place, after all, that the LORD your God looks after (Deut 11:13). Its natural features and geopolitical developments are referenced in almost every Old Testament passage. The story of ancient Israel is set in a land of uncertain rainfall, a vulnerable land bridge between powerful civilizations and world powers, a place where climate, geology, topography, and land use were of primary concern in ancient times just as they are today. This testing ground of faith is the intricate stage of Israel’s drama,⁹ the playing board where [n]ature and the course of history show that here, from the beginning onwards, there cannot be talk of any chance.¹⁰

In addition to countless illustrations from nature, agrarian life, and history, the land offers a kind of hermeneutic of its own.¹¹ The regional perspectives and associations between locations, landscapes, and routes create an integrated understanding of events that is akin to intertextuality in canonical study and genre in literary study. Behind the written page, so to speak, is a worldview and physical vantage point that is held by the biblical authors as well as the individuals and people groups they describe.¹² For the reader, the land also creates tensions and expectations which arise in a manner that is comparable to literary techniques employed by the biblical authors.¹³ This will become apparent in the illustrations below.

Culture

The second component of original context is the cultural expression that arises from life on the land. As Alan Millard writes, "The material remains (realia) of daily life—pots and pans, jewelry, tools and weapons, plans of towns, their walls and gates, and the houses they protected—bring reality to the textual references."¹⁴ But they are more than props on a stage. They are drawn in to God’s interaction with his people and through them many of Scripture’s written truths are expressed. Today these cultural realities are widely known and easily accessible in the archaeological record that is vast and growing.¹⁵ Countless excavated artifacts exist that were handcrafted at the very times and in the very places to which biblical accounts refer. In fact, some excavated architecture and a number of epigraphic finds can be traced directly to individuals mentioned in the Bible.¹⁶ It is a tragic paradox that these expansive, well-published results of biblical archaeology are mostly ignored by exegetes and pastors at a time when the cultural realities of the Old Testament are better known and more readily available than they have been since the biblical period itself.¹⁷

Cognate Languages

There exists today a vast body of literature from the ancient Near East that intersects with the intellectual, cultural, and religious environment of the Old Testament.¹⁸ Conveniently the modern exegete can silhouette the biblical text against its wider literary and cultural environment.¹⁹ Ancient Israel was one culture and polity within the matrix of ancient Near Eastern cultures. Its laws, songs, wisdom sayings, and bureaucratic archives had much in common with those of its neighbors. But like the people groups that surrounded it, Israel also had ethnic, cultural, and religious distinctives that are borne out in the Old Testament text just as they are uncovered in the archaeological record.²⁰ Even a cursory reading of the Context of Scripture volumes alongside the Old Testament can provide the modern interpreter with a better understanding of each genre as well as a deeper appreciation for the unique theological positions that they maintain.²¹

Biblical Archaeology and Historical Context

Archaeology and ancient Near Eastern history overlap to a large degree and represent academic disciplines that are indispensable for every exegete of the Old Testament. Biblical archaeology (known also as Syro-Palestinian or Near Eastern archaeology) is a multidisciplinary field of study that has revolutionized our understanding of the Old Testament. Bible-related architecture, artifacts, and texts are discovered in archaeological excavations on an almost daily basis.²² In addition to providing cultural insights, as noted above, these finds play an increasingly large role in the reconstruction of biblical history. In this regard, archaeology is often co-opted in support of presuppositions in favor of or against the Bible’s legitimacy as an historical source. Some conservative scholars use it as a tool for strained apologetics that prove the Bible. Conversely, secular scholars sometimes draw selectively upon archaeological finds as weapons for unreasonable critique of the Bible as history.²³

For the Christian scholar and pastor, a far more preferable approach in historical matters is to emphasize probability as opposed to proof. As one moves from the early second millennium setting of the patriarchs to the sixth- and fifth-century BC contexts of the exile and return, relevant textual and archaeological material increases in quantity and clarity. Thus, from a purely historical-critical and archaeological perspective, cumulative circumstantial evidence lends only general support for biblical historicity up to the imperial age. The preponderance of evidence increases after the eighth century BC through the postexilic era.²⁴ Notwithstanding the negative assessment of some scholars, biblical episodes read within their literary, cultural, and geographical contexts generally align comfortably with ancient Near Eastern history.²⁵ The deconstruction/reconstruction of history by some with naturalistic orientations need not discredit historiography and theologically oriented history.²⁶ Manifold synchronisms between biblical and ancient Near Eastern history and their shared connection to the ever-expanding archaeological record do not allow the interpreter to single out the Bible as tendentious and untrustworthy among other ancient sources.²⁷ Indeed, when set against ancient treaties and law codes, cultural and religious practices, international conditions, and the geopolitical scenes of the ancient Near East, it becomes obvious that the Bible fits.

Context Does Not Preclude Canon

Within the ever-changing sub-disciplines of biblical criticism, the canonical approach is well known and is addressed elsewhere in this volume. Two brief observations are made here for our ultimate purpose of later linking canon to context in the service of theological understanding.²⁸

First, when freed from the quest of historical criticism to determine what really happened and how the text came to be, canonical criticism with its many permutations serves to highlight the grand narrative of Scripture. It makes thematic connections between books and content.²⁹ Moreover, because it is a branch of biblical criticism, canonical criticism can create space for ecclesiastical concerns even when a more skeptical historical criticism dominates.

Canonical criticism as it was originally conceived did not displace other approaches but instead complemented them and aligned them toward Scripture’s larger theological goals.³⁰ In this process it was recognized that the text of the Old Testament makes associations between real people and events on the one hand and interpretive, conceptual, and theological concerns on the other.³¹ Although historical criticism aimed to illumine the historical origin of individual utterances, canonical criticism extends the original context to include the occasion when original texts were compiled into book form and then ultimately canonical form in order to address later audiences with the divine witness. Instead of being disassociated from historical concerns, canonical criticism takes the historical quest further by asking the reader to account for why biblical books came into their final forms and to consider what vision of history the text itself is inviting the reader to adopt.

Fig. 2. Context and Canon

Fig. 2. Context and Canon

A second observation concerning the canonical approach that can anchor exegesis in both original context and theology is that it fosters intertextual readings. This branch of literary criticism considers each text in a way that relates it to other texts in the corpus through quotation, allusion, echo, etc.³² The myriad of intertextual possibilities requires a grid or organizing principle of some sort. Whereas it is common to turn to the laws of the Pentateuch, to New Testament fulfillment, or to Christian theology for such a reference point, it can also be found in the coherence of the original context.³³

Professor VanGemeren and his students refined the dynamic interpretive method of intertextuality through the analogy of intersecting nodes (lexemes, themes, passages) that relate to each other through webs of connectivity that in turn hold great interpretive and theological potential.³⁴ In the pages that follow we propose to widen VanGemeren’s web to include associations with original context. Put another way, we propose to read the Old Testament theologically by combining the intertextual web of canon with the contextual web of regions, sites, cognate texts, and realia. The resulting dialectic is what we call the context-canonical approach.

Context-Canonical Exegesis

If context and canon are treated as mutually reinforcing interpretive frameworks, then the supposed divide between them becomes artificial and unwarranted. When combined into a context-canonical method they provide a cohesive mechanism for reading the Old Testament theologically and christologically.³⁵ It was the Lord who established the geography, cultivated and protected his people in history, and then oversaw the process by which the canonical organization and shaping of incarnational Scripture pointed to the incarnational work of Christ. Old Testament exegesis done properly will not flatten the text so as to exclude original context; nor will it limit the text to modernist historical reconstruction that downplays theology. And it need not be limited to the confines of this or that theological system. A holistic, integrated approach helps the reader to see the Bible as a story within a particular setting whose protagonist, author, and final editor is God himself (see Figure 2). As the inspired and authoritative Word of God that documents his relations with the world and the ancient faith community, Analysis and exegesis [of the Old Testament] must serve divine address.³⁶

In sum, the context-canonical approach (a) recovers the importance of land in biblical interpretation; (b) has a favorable view of the Bible’s fit within its ancient context; (c) is canonical in that it accepts the theological focus and thematic, intentional unity of the canon in its final form; and (d) implements christological readings as a legitimate hermeneutic. Such a treatment of an Old Testament passage not only makes it possible to inquire behind the text into its ancient context but also to interpret within the text as a cohesive theological corpus that coalesces around Christ’s appropriation of the passage toward himself. Then it is possible to apply the truths of the passage beyond the text to the receiving community wherever and whenever it might be.

CREATING ASSOCIATIONS AND READER EXPECTATIONS

Fig. 3. Context-Canonical Hermeneutic

Fig. 3. Context-Canonical Hermeneutic

Illustrations

A context-canonical approach can be applied to countless biblical texts, each with its unique combination of underlying contextual elements and canonical associations. From the agricultural context come many illustrations, such as the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1–7 that resonate through Israelite culture and the canon to Jesus’s words in John 15:1–11. From daily life come texts such as Jeremiah 18 in which the analogy between Israel and the potter’s clay is addressed to a culture where pottery was ubiquitous. From biblical history comes the theological barometer of Judah’s spiritual health that is reflected both in the moral standing of the nation’s leadership and the ability of its border fortresses to withstand foreign invasion. For any conceivable study of this type, a large bibliography of compartmentalized contextual, canonical, and theological works could be assembled under the framework of the proposed approach.

Three illustrations of the context-canonical approach are offered below. They show that land is the place where obedience and love toward God unfolds as Israel experiences God’s blessings and curses in the promised land. The illustrations represent three stages of Israel’s relationship to the promised land. In the first illustration land is the focus, whereas more contextual components are considered for the second and third. In each illustration, context, canon, Christ, and church will be considered. It is hoped that this approach might be replicated in ecclesial settings (see Figure 3).

Deuteronomy 6:4–9—The Great Shema at Nebo as Israel Enters the Land

Moses gave to Israel the great Shema before they entered the promised land. Through Israel’s history and throughout the canon it served as a benchmark for faith and a kind of manual for godly life in the land of the Bible. Its literary context is the second speech of Moses, which is an explication of the Ten Commandments within the covenant structure of Deuteronomy (Deut 4:44–26:15). The verses immediately before and after the passage contain descriptions of the land’s goodness, the legacy of the patriarchs in the land, and admonitions not to follow other gods lest exile be imposed (Deut 6:1–3, 10–15).

The physical context of this passage is Mount Nebo, the summit of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho (Deut 3:27):

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it. (Deut 34:1–4)

Fig. 4. Nebo, Shechem, and Dan

Fig. 4. Nebo, Shechem, and Dan

From this vantage point Moses could observe the land’s great agricultural potential (Deut 11:13–17) and easily envision the promises and temptations that it would hold (Deut 4–11; 30).³⁷ He could recount the many escapades of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob along the central mountain range as well as the promises made to them (Gen 13, 15). The view from Nebo made the moral choices of Deuteronomy all the more clear: The blessings of Bethel and the outrage of Sodom were clearly in view (Gen 13:10–12).

From a canonical perspective one might say that all roads lead to Deuteronomy because its theological truths lie at the heart of both the Old Testament and the New. Just as Nebo towers above the wilderness and hill country, so Deuteronomy inspires and permeates most of Scripture. One way to appreciate the hyper-canonical quality of Deuteronomy is to view its canonical centrality through the focused lens of the land hermeneutic introduced earlier. The reader not only shares Moses’s perspective but can also see beyond him to the subsequent canonical and chronological layering of Deuteronomy’s message being lived out and recited in the regions and locations that are visible from Nebo. Locations of biblical episodes create associations between texts that might not otherwise be noticed.

In the region of Bethel, Moses’s disciple Joshua would cleanse the people and first secure a foothold precisely where Abraham pitched his tent and received the land promise, the same place where Jacob glimpsed into heaven. The region of Bethel would also come to have negative associations for the reader of the canon, creating a tension between the Mosaic ideal and the people’s unfaithfulness. Centuries later in the same locale the tribe of Benjamin was decimated for its sin (though a remnant was spared, Judg 19–21) and Jeroboam’s idolatry sowed the seeds of rebellion and exile (1 Kgs 12:25–33). Nearby and also within view of Mount Nebo, Jonathan through simple faith delivered Israel from the Philistines, and Samuel mentored David. Looking southwest from Nebo, the region of Bethlehem, Tekoa, and the wilderness come into view. Here Boaz and Ruth kept the spirit of the law, David tended his sheep and became the fugitive psalmist, Jehoshaphat prayed for deliverance, and the prophet Amos invoked the ideals of Deuteronomy. Due west of Nebo one can see the wilderness imagery of Isaiah 40 along the Jericho-Jerusalem road and recall the ministry of John the Baptist.

Within this same view from Nebo, we find Christ modeling the ideals of Deuteronomy in his own person, from the opening of his ministry to Jerusalem and the cross, by which he brought closure to Moses’s message. With Mount Nebo in full view, Christ answered each of the devil’s temptations (Matt 4:1–11) with the very words of Moses recorded in Deuteronomy 6–11. Moses’s words must also have been on Jesus’s mind as he made his way with his disciples through the Judean wilderness for the last time along the Jericho-Jerusalem road to his passion and resurrection.

What can the believer learn from this context-canonical reading? For starters one is summoned to join Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Joshua, Samuel, Jonathan, David, Jehoshaphat, Amos, Isaiah, and others in faithful response to Moses’s instructions. Careful reading of the text in context also reveals a pattern of divine promise that is held in suspense across two millennia as characters are called to wait faithfully for God’s provision.

Abraham believes God even though he does not know that the land promise will be fulfilled in the very place where it was given, only five hundred years later! Israel’s yearning for a messiah must endure the failures of kings like Saul, the glories of kings like David, then the harsh punishment of exile for unfaithfulness until the word made flesh, the lamb of God, the consolation of Israel, appears to John the Baptist below Nebo on a path to suffer and save in Jerusalem (Matt 20:17–19). The church can rest securely in God’s promise to bless all nations that has come full circle to Jesus the Messiah by way of Deuteronomy’s setting, story, and demands. The Shema of Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and the law’s specific guidelines for individuals, families, communities, and leaders anchored the living out of obedience within the very land that Moses viewed from the top of Mount Nebo—the entire land was to be the arena for obediently living out the love of God.

Joshua 24—Covenant Renewal at Shechem as Israel Lives in the Land

The impressive ancient city of Shechem, in the northern part of the central hill country, lies nestled within a majestic valley that separates Mount Ebal from Mount Gerizim. Its geographical position offers plentiful agricultural resources and easy access to routes in all directions, a fact that explains its massive defensive wall. Its artifacts are known through excavations conducted there in decades past.³⁸ The site offers everything that a tribe or kingdom could desire, including a natural setting that is distinctly conducive to large national gatherings. Appropriately, Shechem has been called the uncrowned queen of the hills.³⁹

Here at Shechem an elderly Joshua delivered his farewell address, his here I stand statement to the Israelite tribes (Josh 24). His challenge strongly echoes the Deuteronomy sendoff that Moses delivered on Mount Nebo and stands in stark contrast to the epic failures that followed in the book of Judges. Like Moses’s covenant renewal at Nebo, Joshua at Shechem allows the reader to move forwards and backwards in the canon, guided by the unifying themes and selectivity of passages that gravitate around a specific locale.⁴⁰ The amount of interrelated geographical, cultural, cognate textual material, and theological content at Shechem is simply overwhelming and worthy of an entire monograph.

Positioned on the slopes of Mounts Ebal and Gerizim and looking backwards canonically, the reader encounters Abraham, who faithfully responded to God’s call and traveled through the land as far as the site of the great oak of Moreh at Shechem (Gen 12:6). Here he built an altar and received yet more far-reaching promises. Interestingly, at Shechem archaeologists discovered not only massive walls and a city gate from Abraham’s time but also a cultic area with standing stones ( ) that signify either a covenant, a deity, or both.⁴¹ Could this be the place mentioned in Genesis? Later, Jacob would purchase land in this same area and thereafter the local well would be named after him, in spite of his son’s bloody revenge on the local inhabitants. Joseph passed by Shechem in search of his brothers, and it would become his final resting place.

The faithfulness of God and the fickleness of the patriarchs no doubt weighed on Joshua’s heart as he fulfilled the patriarchal promise and confirmed the Sinai covenant on the slopes of Mounts Ebal and Gerizim above Shechem (Josh 8:30–35; 24:1–28). Here again archaeological remains illuminate the text. Atop mount Ebal there sits a large altar that dates to the approximate time of Joshua, with biblical proportions and a notable absence of pig bones, which in other settings is suggestive of Israelite activity.⁴²

Alongside the biblical covenant theme, the promising region of Shechem elicits a kingdom-building response. Here a local chieftain named Labayu projected his power from Shechem to the entire region and beyond.⁴³ Later, in a murderous power grab at Shechem, Abimelech (Hebrew, my father is king) chose to ignore not only the admonition of his father Gideon but also Joshua’s stern warnings that earlier had echoed between Ebal and Gerizim. The impressive tower-like temple of the story has been identified in excavation.⁴⁴ This episode, together with Jotham’s parable of indictment and Abimelech’s demise, provide a striking contrast to the peoples’ own witness against themselves in Joshua’s presence: We will serve the LORD! (Josh 24:24). This is the very place where Israel in Joshua 8 had pledged to obey the Sinai covenant after their first victories in Canaan, as they pronounced blessings and curses to one another from the adjacent mounts.

The same words condemn both Judah and the northern tribes of Israel as context and canon attest to Rehoboam’s intransigence at Shechem. It precipitated the division of Solomon’s kingdom, the rejection of the covenant that Joshua had reaffirmed here, the official establishment of pagan worship in northern Israel, and ultimately the devastating invasion of Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak.⁴⁵ Dramatically, the undoing of patriarchal, Sinaitic, and Davidic covenants and the northern tribes turning their backs on Judah are all events that transpired under the shadow of Mount Ebal. From the perspectives of context, canon, and theology it comes as no surprise that centuries later Assyria destroyed the region during its eighth-century BC invasion and displaced the Israelites with those who became known as the Samaritans.⁴⁶

In light of the contrasting themes of covenant and kingdom building in the region of Ebal and Gerizim, one reads with great expectation and trepidation the account of Christ’s arrival at Jacob’s well, a stone’s throw from Shechem (Sychar). What might occur when this Joshua/Jesus of the Gospels would engage this ancient, storied covenant place charged with all its current tensions? Here, by the side of Jacob’s well, Jesus did not answer the promiscuous Samaritan woman with doctrine or conventional wisdom but with covenant words that recalled God’s promise to Abraham, Moses’s Shema, Joshua’s covenant, and consecutive stories of local covenant keeping and covenant breaking: Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

When Joshua 24 is examined from a context-canonical perspective its theological and spiritual lessons reverberate from Israelite covenant through christological amplification to the church and congregant alike. Which path will we follow? Whose kingdom will we