Excerpt BealeCarson OTComm PDF

C o m m e n t a ry
on the
New Testament Use
of the Old Testament
Edited by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament,
Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2007. Used by permission.
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 1 8/27/07 10:42:49 AM


C o m m e n t a ry
on the
New Testament Use
of the Old Testament
Edited by
G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson
K

2007 by G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE,
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright
Published by Baker Academic 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by per-
a division of Baker Publishing Group mission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James
Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by per-
and Apollos mission. All rights reserved.
(an imprint of Inter-Varsity Press)
Norton Street Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible, New
Nottingham NG7 3HR England Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyn-
email: ivp@ivpbooks.com dale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights
website: www.ivpbooks.com reserved.
Printed in the United States of America Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised
Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout All rights reserved.
the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception
is brief quotations in printed reviews. Scripture quotations labeled TNIV are from the Holy Bible,
Todays New International Version. TNIV.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by
the Library of Congress, Washington, DC. permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
ISBN 10: 0-8010-2693-5

ISBN 978-0-8010-2693-5
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.
UK ISBN 978-1-84474-196-0
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are the authors

translations.
Scripture quotations labeled ESV are from The Holy Bible, En-
glish Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a
division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American

Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971,
1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used
by permission.

Contents
Preface vii
List of Contributors ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction xxiii
Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835

Craig L. Blomberg Moiss Silva
Mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111 Colossians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841
Rikk E. Watts G. K. Beale
Luke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 12 Thessalonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .871
David W. Pao and Jeffrey A. D. Weima
Eckhard J. Schnabel
12 Timothy and Titus . . . . . . . . . 891
John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415 Philip H. Towner
Andreas J. Kstenberger
Hebrews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919
Acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 George H. Guthrie
I. Howard Marshall
James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 997
Romans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 D. A. Carson
Mark A. Seifrid
1 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015
1 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695 D. A. Carson
Roy E. Ciampa and
2 Peter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1047
Brian S. Rosner
D. A. Carson
2 Corinthians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
13 John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1063
Peter Balla
D. A. Carson
Galatians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 785
Jude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069
Moiss Silva
D. A. Carson
Ephesians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
Revelation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1081
Frank S. Thielman
G. K. Beale and
Sean M. McDonough
Index of Scripture and

Other Ancient Writings 1163
v

Introduction
It might be the part of wisdom to say what this tors would be informed by such discussions but
book is not, so as to clarify what it is and how it would focus their attention on the places where
works. NT writers actually cite or allude to the OT. Un-
Nowhere does this volume survey contempo- derstandably, even elegant discussions of one of
rary debates over the use of the OT in the NT. The the subdisciplines, discussions one finds in other
many subdisciplines that contribute to this enter- workscomparisons between Jewish and Chris-
prise have not been canvassed. For example, we do tian exegetical techniques, for instance, or studies
not systematically compare non-Christian Jewish in typologyinevitably utilize only a small per-
exegetical methods with the exegetical methods centage of the actual textual evidence. By contrast,
on display in the NT. We do not review the ongo- what we have attempted is a reasonably compre-
ing debate between (a) those who argue that the hensive survey of all the textual evidence. Even
NT writers usually respect the entire context of a casual reader of this volume will quickly learn
the OT texts they cite or to which they allude and that each contributor brings to bear many of the
(b) those who argue that the NT writers engage
contemporary studies as he works his way through
in a kind of prooftexting that takes OT passages
his assigned corpus, so along the way many of the
out of their contexts so as to prove conclusions
that belong to the commitments of NT Christians contributors make shrewd comments on particu-
but not to the antecedent Scriptures they cite. We lar techniques and hermeneutical discussions. Ac-
have not summarized the extraordinarily complex cordingly, contributors have been given liberty to
developments in the field of typology since Le- determine how much introductory material to
onhard Goppelt wrote his 1939 book Typos. We include (i.e., prior discussions of the use of the
could easily lengthen this list of important topics OT in their particular NT book). Nevertheless,
that have not been systematically addressed in the focus of each contributor is on the NTs use of
this book. the OT. All OT citations in the NT are analyzed
One of the reasons we have not surveyed these as well as all probable allusions. Admittedly there
topics is that all of them have been treated else- is debate about what constitutes an allusion. Con-
where. Though it might be useful to canvass sequently not every ostensible OT allusion that
them again, we decided that it was more urgent has ever been proposed will be studied but only
to put together a book in which all the contribu- those deemed to be probable allusions.
xxiii
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxiii 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

Introduction
The editors have encouraged each contributor trajectory or not. (2) They sometimes show that
to keep in mind six separate questions where the Jewish authorities were themselves divided as to
NT cites or clearly alludes to the OT (though they how certain OT passages should be interpreted.
have not insisted on this organization). Sometimes the difference is determined in part
1. What is the NT context of the citation or by literary genre: Wisdom literature does not
allusion? In other words, without (yet) going into handle some themes the way apocalyptic sources
the details of the exegesis, the contributor seeks do, for instance. Wherever it is possible to trace
to establish the topic of discussion, the flow of out the reasoning, that reasoning reveals impor-
thought, and, where relevant, the literary struc- tant insights into how the Scriptures were being
ture, genre, and rhetoric of the passage. read. (3) In some instances, the readings of early
2. What is the OT context from which the Judaism provide a foil for early Christian read-
quotation or allusion is drawn? Even at its sim- ings. The differences then demand hermeneutical
plest, this question demands as much care with and exegetical explanations; for instance, if two
respect to the OT as the first question demands of groups understand the same texts in decidedly
the study of the NT. Sometimes energy must be different ways, what accounts for the differences
expended simply to demonstrate that a very brief in interpretation? Exegetical technique? Herme-
phrase really does come from a particular OT pas- neutical assumptions? Literary genres? Different
sage, and from nowhere else. Yet sometimes this opponents? Differing pastoral responsibilities?
second question becomes even more complex. (4) Even where there is no direct literary depen-
Under the assumption that Marks Gospel picks dence, sometimes the language of early Judaism
up exodus themes (itself a disputed point), is it provides close parallels to the language of the NT
enough to go to the book of Exodus to examine writers simply because of the chronological and
those themes as they first unfold? Or are such cultural proximity. (5) In a handful of cases, NT
OT exodus themes, as picked up by Mark, filtered writers apparently display direct dependence on
through Isaiah? In that case, surely it is important sources belonging to early Judaism and their han-
to include reflection not only on the use of the OT dling of the OT (e.g., Jude). What is to be inferred
in the NT but also on the use of the OT within the from such dependence?
OT. Or again, how does the Genesis flood account 4. What textual factors must be borne in mind
(Gen. 69) get utilized in the rest of the OT and as one seeks to understand a particular use of the
in earlier parts of the NT before it is picked up OT? Is the NT citing the MT or the LXX or a
by 2 Peter? Sometimes a NT author may have in Targum? Or is there a mixed citation, or perhaps
mind the earlier OT reference but may be inter- dependence on memory or on some form of text
preting it through the later OT development of that has not come down to us? Is there significance
that earlier text, and if the lens of that later text is in tiny changes? Are there textual variants within
not analyzed, then the NT use may seem strange the Hebrew tradition, within the tradition of the
or may not properly be understood. Greek OT, or within the Greek NT textual tra-
3. How is the OT quotation or source handled dition? Do such variants have any direct bearing
in the literature of Second Temple Judaism or on our understanding of how the NT is citing or
(more broadly yet) of early Judaism? The reasons alluding to the OT?
for asking this question and the possible answers 5. Once this groundwork has been laid, it be-
that might be advanced are many. It is not that comes important to try to understand how the
either Jewish or Christian authorities judge, say, NT is using or appealing to the OT. What is the
Jubilees or 4 Ezra to be as authoritative as Gen- nature of the connection as the NT writer sees it?
esis or Isaiah. But attentiveness to these and many Is this merely a connection of language? One of
other important Jewish sources may provide sev- the editors had a father who was much given to
eral different kinds of help. (1) They may show communicating in brief biblical quotations. His
us how the OT texts were understood by sources mind was so steeped in Scripture that Scripture
roughly contemporaneous with the NT. In a few provided the linguistic patterns that were the first
cases, a trajectory of understanding can be traced recourse of his speech. If one of his children was
out, whether the NT documents belong to that complaining about the weather, he would quietly
xxiv
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxiv 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

Introduction
say (quoting, in those days, the KJV), This is the established by a succession of similar events over
day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad time?
in it. In fact, he knew his Bible well enough that Or again, is the NT writer claiming that
he was fully aware that the original context was some event or other is the fulfillment of an OT
not talking about the weather and our response to prophecya bold this is what was spoken by
it. He knew that the verse occurs in one of the cru- the prophet (e.g., Acts 2:16) sort of declaration?
cial rejected stone passages, and the day over Soon, however, it becomes clear that the fulfill-
which the psalmist rejoices is the day when the ment category is remarkably flexible. An event
stone is vindicated (Ps. 118:2224; note v. 24 in may fulfill a specific verbal prediction, but in
the TNIV: The Lord has done it this very day; biblical usage an event may be said to fulfill not
let us rejoice today and be glad.). Nevertheless only a verbal prediction but also another event
the passage provided the verbal fodder for him to or, at least, a pattern of events. This is commonly
express what he wanted to say, and granted what labeled typological fulfillment. In that case, of
the Bible does actually say elsewhere about Gods course, a further question arises. Are the NT writ-
goodness and providence, he was accurately sum- ers coming to their conclusion that this fulfillment
marizing a biblical idea even though the biblical has taken place to fulfill antecedent events simply
words he was citing did not, in their original con- out of their confidence in the sovereign Gods or-
text, articulate that idea. Are there instances, then, dering of all things, such that he has established
when the NT writers use biblical language simply patterns that, rightly read, anticipate a recurrence
because their minds are so steeped in Scripture of Gods actions? Or are they claiming, in some
that such verbal patterns provide the linguistic instances, that the OT texts themselves point for-
frameworks in which they think? ward in some way to the future?
More generally, do the NT writers appeal to
On the other hand, are there occasions when
the OT using exactly the same sorts of exegeti-
a NT writer uses an expression that crops up in
cal techniques and hermeneutical assumptions
many OT passages (such as, say, day of the Lord,
that their unconverted Jewish contemporaries
especially common in the prophets), not thinking
displayone or more of the classic lists of mid-
of any one OT text but nevertheless using the ex-
doth, the rules of interpretive procedure? The
pression to reflect the rich mix of promised bless- most common answer to this question is a decided
ing and promised judgment that characterizes the Yes, but the affirmation fails to explain why the
particular instantiations of the OT occurrences? two sets of interpreters emerge with some very
In this case, the NT writer may be very faithful different readings. One must conclude that either
to OT usage at the generic level, even while not the exegetical techniques and hermeneutical as-
thinking of any particular passage, that is, indi- sumptions do not determine very much after all
vidual OT occurrences may envisage particular or else that there are additional factors that need
visitations by God, while the generic pattern com- careful probing if we are to explain why, say, Hil-
bines judgment and blessing, and the NT use may lel and Paul read the Hebrew Scriptures (or their
pick up on the generic pattern while applying it Greek translations) so differently.
to yet another visitation by God. 6. To what theological use does the NT writer
Alternatively, NT writers may be establishing put the OT quotation or allusion? In one sense,
some sort of analogy in order to draw a moral les- this question is wrapped up in all the others, but
son. Just as the ancient Israelites were saved out of it is worth asking separately as it highlights things
slavery in Egypt but most of the adult generation that may otherwise be overlooked. For instance,
did not make it into the promised land because it is very common for NT writers to apply an
they did not persevere in faith and obedience, OT passage that refers to YHWH (commonly
so believers contemporary with Paul and with rendered Lord in English Bibles) to Jesus.
the writer to the Hebrews need to persevere if This arises from the theological conviction that
they are to be saved at the last (1 Cor. 10:113; it is entirely appropriate to do so since, granted
Heb. 3:719). But when is such a formal analogy Jesus identity, what is predicated of God can
better thought of as a typology, that is, a pattern be predicated no less of him. In other passages,
xxv
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxv 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

Introduction
however, God sends the Messiah or the Davidic a number of other associations that are initially
king, and Jesus himself is that Davidic king, thus startling become commonplace with repetition.
establishing a distinction between God and Jesus. NT writers happily apply to the church, that is,
The subtleties of these diverse uses of OT texts to the new covenant people of God, many texts
meld with the complexities of NT Christology to that originally referred to the Israelites, the old
constitute the essential building blocks of what covenant people of God. In another mutation,
would in time come to be called the doctrine of Jesus himself becomes the eschatological locus of
the Trinity. Other theological alignments abound, Israelan identification sometimes effected by
a few of which are mentioned below. Sometimes, appealing to OT texts (e.g., Out of Egypt I called
more simply, it is worth drawing attention to the my son, Matt. 2:15; Hos. 11:1) and sometimes
way a theological theme grounded in the citation by symbol-laden events in Jesus life that call to
of an OT text is aligned with a major theological mind antecedent events in the life of Israel, for
theme in the NT that is treated on its own without example, Jesus being tempted in the wilderness
reference to any OT text. for forty days and forty nights, Matt. 4/Luke 4,
These, then, are the six questions that largely closely connected with Deut. 8 and the forty years
control the commentary in the following pages. of Israels wilderness wanderings. This example
Most of the contributors have handled these overlaps with another pregnant set of associations
questions separately for each quotation and for bound up with the son language that abounds
the clearest allusions. Less obvious allusions have in both Testaments. In fact, it is likely because of
sometimes been treated in more generic discus- conceiving Jesus as representing true Israel that
sions, though even here the answers to these six NT writers began to conceive of the church this
questions usually surface somewhere. Moreover, way as well, since Christ corporately represents the
the editors have allowed adequate flexibility in church, and what he is in so many ways is likewise
presentation. Two or three contributors wrote true of the church.
in more discursive fashion, meaning they kept Third, one of the distinctive differences one
these questions in mind, but their presentations sometimes finds between the way NT writers read
did not separate the questions and the answers the OT and the way that their non-Christian Jew-
they called forth. ish contemporaries read it is the salvation-histori-
Five further reflections may help to orientate cal grid that is often adopted by the former. Some
the reader to this commentary. kind of historical sequence under the providence
First, one of the reasons for maintaining flex- of a sovereign God is necessary for almost any kind
ibility in approach is the astonishing variety of of typological hermeneutic, of course, but there is
ways in which the various NT authors make ref- something more. In Galatians 3, for instance, Paul
erence to the OT. Matthew, for instance, is given modifies the commonly accepted significance of
to explicit quotations, sometimes with impressive the law by the simple expedient of locating it after
formulaic introductions. By contrast, Colossians the Abrahamic promise, which had already es-
and Revelation avoid unambiguous and extensive tablished the importance of justification by faith
citations but pack many, many OT allusions into and which had already promised blessing to the
their texts. Some NT writers return again and Gentiles. Thus instead of asking an atemporal
again to a handful of OT chapters; others make question such as, How does one please God?
more expansive references. To this must be added and replying, By obeying the law, Paul instead
the complications generated by NT books that are insists on reading the turning points of OT history
literarily dependent on other NT books or are, in their chronological sequence and learning some
at very least, very similar to others (e.g., 2 Peter interpretive lessons from that sequence. That sort
and Jude, the Synoptic Gospels, Ephesians and of dependence on salvation history surfaces else-
Colossians). The contributors have handled such where in the NT (e.g., Rom. 4), and not only in
diversity in a variety of ways. Paul (e.g., Heb. 4:113; 7). Thus, eschatological
Second, in addition to the obvious ease with fulfillment has begun with Christs first advent
which NT writers (as we have seen) apply to Jesus and will be consummated at his last coming.
a variety of OT texts that refer to YHWH, so also Ostensible parallels in Jewish literature preserve
xxvi
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxvi 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

Introduction
(especially at Qumran) a sense of what might be insist is actually there in the Scriptures and what
called inaugurated eschatology (several texts they are forced to admit they did not see until
insist that the Teacher of Righteousness brings fairly late in their experience forces them to think
in the last times), but that is something differ- about the concept of mysteryrevelation that is
entiable from this sense of historical sequencing in some sense there in the Scriptures but hidden
within the Hebrew Scriptures being itself a crucial until the time of God-appointed disclosure.
interpretive key to the faithful reading of those In other words, the same gospel that is some-
Scriptures. times presented as that which has been prophesied
Fourth, here and there within the pages of and is now fulfilled is at other times presented as
this commentary one finds brief discussion as to that which has been hidden and is now revealed.
whether a NT writer is drawing out a teaching from This running tension is a lot more common in
the OTi.e., basing the structure of his thought the NT than might be indicated by the small
on the exegesis of the OT textor appealing to numbertwenty-seven or twenty-eightof
an OT passage to confirm or justify what has in occurrences of the Greek word mystrion. Ga-
fact been established by the Christians experience latians and John, for example, are replete with
of Christ and his death and resurrection. This the theological notion of mystery without the
distinction is a more nuanced one than what was word mystery being present. Transparently, this
mentioned earlier, viz., the distinction between complex issue is tightly bound up with the ways
those who think that the citations bring with them in which the NT writers actually quote or allude
the OT context and those who think that the NT to the OTin particular, what they think they
writers resort to prooftexting. For the evidence is are proving or establishing or confirming. No-
really quite striking that the first disciples are not where is there a hint that these writers are trying
presented as those who instantly understood what to diminish the authority of what we now refer
the Lord Jesus was teaching them or as those who to as the OT Scriptures. After a while the alert
even anticipated all that he would say because of reader starts stumbling over many instances of
their own insightful interpretations of the Hebrew this complex phenomenon and tries to synthesize
Scriptures. To the contrary, they are constantly the various pieces. A favorite illustration of some
presented as, on the one hand, being attached to in explaining this phenomenon is the picture of a
Jesus yet, on the other, being very slow to come seed. An apple seed contains everything that will
to terms with the fact that the promised messi- organically grow from it. No examination by the
anic king would also be the Suffering Servant, the naked eye can distinguish what will grow from
atoning lamb of God, that he would be crucified, the seed, but once the seed has grown into the full
rejected by so many of his own people, and would apple tree, the eye can then see how the seed has
rise again utterly vindicated by God. Nevertheless, been fulfilled. It is something like that with the
once they have come to accept this synthesis, they way OT passages are developed in the NT. There
also insist, in the strongest terms, that this is what are organic links to one degree or another, but
the OT Scriptures actually teach. They do not those links may not have been clearly discernible
say, in effect, Oh, if only you could experience to the eye of the OT author or reader. Accord-
Jesus Christ the way we do, you would then enjoy ingly, there is sometimes a creative development
a different set of lenses that would enable you to or extension of the meaning of the OT text that
read the Bible differently. Rather, they keep trying is still in some way anchored to that text. But it
to prove from the Scriptures themselves that this would take another sort of book to gather all the
Jesus of Nazareth really does fulfill the ancient exegetical evidence gathered in this commentary
texts even while they are forced to acknowledge and whip it into the kind of biblical-theological
that they themselves did not read the biblical texts shape that might address these sorts of questions
this way until after the resurrection, Pentecost, more acutely.
and the gradual increase in understanding that Fifth, contributors have been encouraged to
came to them, however mediated by the Spirit, as deploy an eclectic grammatical-historical liter-
the result of the expansion of the church, not least ary method in their attempts to relate the NTs
in Gentile circles. This tension between what they reading of the OT. But it would not be amiss
xxvii
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxvii 8/17/07 2:11:15 PM

Introduction
to point out (1) that such an approach is fairly postcritical methods; and (3) that we sometimes
traditional or classical; (2) that such an ap- need reminding that the NT authors would not
proach overlaps substantially with some recent have understood the OT in terms of any of the
postcritical methods that tend to read OT books dominant historical-critical orthodoxies of the
as whole literary units and that take seriously such last century and a half.
concepts as canon, Scripture, and salvation his- Without further reflection, then, we devote
tory (concepts that would not be entirely alien this commentary to the study of the NT text as
to the authors of the NT), though it allows for it quotes and alludes to the OT text.
more extratextual referentiality than do most
xxviii
BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxviii 8/17/07 2:11:15 PM

Acts
I. Howard Marshall
Introduction mulas occur in speeches addressed to Jewish (or

Jewish-Christian) audiences (Steyn 1995: 230);
The influence, whether literary or theological, contrast the lack of direct citation in the speeches
of the Old Testament upon the Lucan writings ... in Lystra and Athens. Allusions are found much
is profound and pervasive (Barrett 1988: 231). more widely (but are still sparse in the second
This is a verdict that probably nobody could dis- half of Acts), and they are not confined to the
pute. An analytical count of the instances of the speeches; the narrator can also use Scripture and
use of the OT in Acts is impossible because of
is influenced by its wording (e.g., the Elijah/Elisha
the variety of types of usage and the difficulty
reminiscences in 1:111). The scriptural refer-
of assigning uses to specific categories. However,
ences are thus concentrated in the first half of the
we can gain some idea of the scale of the usage in
book in preaching and defensive speeches to Jews
Acts by observing that Steyn (1995: 2631) lists
twenty-five explicit quotations identified by the and proselytes, but they are surprisingly absent
use of introductory formulas (actually twenty- from Pauls defense speeches in the second half of
seven, since two of these instances each cite two Acts, even when these are directed to a predomi-
OT passages) and nine uses of direct phrases not nantly Jewish audience.
introduced by formulas (cf. Longenecker 1999: As with the rest of the NT, the use of the OT in
6971). Alongside these there are a large number Acts has been the subject of extensive investigation
of uses of scriptural language, allusions, and uses in recent scholarship. Detailed listings and texts
of scriptural motifs. of the scriptural sources for citations employed by
Nevertheless, the relative distribution of the Luke are given in Archer and Chirichigno 1983.
scriptural material in Acts is somewhat surpris- The textual sources used by Luke have been in-
ing. Formal citations are spread rather unevenly vestigated at length in Clarke 1922; Holtz 1968.
through the book, mainly in the first half. The Introductory surveys of Lukes usage can be found
texts that can be clearly identified as formal ci- in Barrett 1988; Fitzmyer 1998; Hanson 1983:
tations occur in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 13, 15, 7889; Longenecker 1999: 6387; Moyise 2001:
23, 28; there are none in chapters 5, 6, 912, 14, 4562; Schneider 19801982: 1:23238. The
1622, 2427. The so-called speeches are natu- history of scholarship is surveyed in Bovon 2006:
rally the main location for scriptural material in 87121, 52531; Steyn 1995: 121. Particular
Acts, and all the quotations introduced by for- attention has been focused on the OT background
513

Acts
to the Christology developed in Acts (Bock 1987; In both cases the use of Scripture has what we
Rese 1969; Strauss 1995), but attention has begun may call a broadly apologetic or forensic func-
to be directed also to the background to the eccle- tion. The argument is directed largely toward
siology (Dupont 1979, 1985; Pao 2000). Numer- Jews, and it rests on what could be taken as com-
ous studies examine specific passages and themes, mon ground: the Scriptures accepted both by Jews
including several significant contributions by Du- (who did not yet accept Jesus as the Christ) and
pont. The most detailed recent study, but con- by Christians (whether believing Jews or Gen-
fined to the formal citations in the speeches of tiles). The use made of Scripture elsewhere in the
Peter and Paul, is Steyn 1995. NT confirms Lukes picture of a constituency of
Gentile Christians, many of whom had attended
Lukes Perspective the synagogue (whether as proselytes or God-
We are fortunate that Luke has given us some fearers), and others of whom had quickly accepted
insight into his approach. Two significant passages the Jewish Scriptures as their Scriptures. Both the
occur at the end of his Gospel. Jesus himself is rep- identity of Jesus as the Christ and the admission
resented as saying to the travelers to Emmaus, of Gentiles to the people of God were contested
issues, and the appeal to Scripture was central to
How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to the churchs apologetic and evangelism and also
believe everything that the prophets have said! to the establishment and confirmation of its own
Did not the Christ have to suffer these things identity. In Acts there are general references to
and then enter his glory? (Luke 24:2526)
such an appeal in 17:23, 11; 18:28; 28:23, and
Then Luke relates that Pauls activity in 9:22; 18:5 may be presumed to be
the same. It is by appeal to the scriptural teaching
beginning from Moses and all the prophets, he about the Christ and then by showing that Jesus
explained to them the things in all the Scriptures fits the picture that the conclusion can be drawn
concerning himself. (Luke 24:27) that he is the Christ (Albl 1999: 200201).
In the second passage we are told that Jesus At the same time, the appeal to Scripture serves
to explain the significance of what is going on in
opened their minds so that they could under- Lukes story. It shows how the events are to be
stand the Scriptures. He told them, Thus it is understood as the continuing work of God in ac-
written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the cordance with his promises in Scripture and thus
dead on the third day, and repentance leading form part of the unfinished story of his judgments
to the forgiveness of sins will be preached in and saving acts. The use of Scripture thus also has
his name to all nations, beginning from Jeru-
what has been termed a hermeneutical or, better,
salem. You are witnesses of these things. (Luke
24:4548) explanatory function.
The effect of these two passages is to show that Lukes Sources and Methods
for Luke, the events in question were predescribed The questions of where Luke got his scriptural
in Scripture and therefore necessarily had to take materials and how he used them can be posed at
place, and that these events included not only the more than one level.
suffering and glorification of Jesus, but also the The upper level is concerned with whether the
preaching to all nations. Lukes agenda in Acts use of Scripture in Acts is essentially the work of
picks up these two stages in the divine program. Luke himself as a creative writer or of the his-
He frequently draws attention to the conformity torical characters whose words he reports. Most
of the career of Jesus to Scripture and also to the of the scriptural material occurs in the speeches
way in which the preaching of the gospel to all attributed to the various principal actors, and it is
nationsand the consequent creation of a church common to attribute their composition to Luke
composed of believing Jews and Gentileswas himself with little if any source material on which
what God had foretold and foreordained. The to base them (e.g., Barrett 199498; Soards 1994).
use of Scripture in Acts tends to revolve round Other scholars attribute a greater role to possible
these two related foci. sources, whether these were accounts of actual
514

Acts
speeches given on the occasions described or were who submits the material to a rigorous analysis,
traditions of the kind of theology and preaching concludes that Luke was not always well or fully
characteristic of the early missionaries (e.g., Bruce informed on what happened and did the best that
1990; Larkin 1995; Witherington 1998). he could with the available sources; the speeches
The lower level is concerned with where Luke are basically his own work. So with respect to Acts
himself or his sources found the material that was 2 he comments, No one will maintain that this
used. Were the scriptural texts that were used taken speech contains the very words used by Peter on a
from the Hebrew or the Greek texts of the OT (or specific occasion in the life of the earliest church
possibly from other versions of the text, such as the (Barrett 19941998: 131) (nevertheless, Barrett
version of the Pentateuch used by the Samaritan [19941998: 33440] does hold that there is a
community)? And was there direct access to the Hellenist sermon behind Acts 7, although this is
texts or indirect access through such means as col- not the same thing as saying that the actual defense
lections of testimonia? If versions of the Scriptures of Stephen was the basis).
were directly used, were these reproduced from Others would emphasize more strongly that
texts available to the writer (or the preacher), or Luke was well informed for the most part, and
were people reliant on memory? that the speeches rest on a combination of early
But the question at this level is not simply about Christian traditions of the apostolic message and
access to texts. There is, we may say, a tradition of his own desire to express the sentiments proper to
how to understand and use the Scriptures from the occasion, expressed as I [the speaker] thought
a Christian point of view. Where and when did would be likely to express them, while at the same
this develop? No doubt it developed over time, time I endeavoured, as nearly as I could, to give
but how much of it is due to Lukes own creativity, the general purport of what was actually said;
and how much is due to the scriptural activity of these are the words not of Luke, but of the classical
the early church? For example, is Peters command Greek historian Thucydides (1.22.1), with whom
of Scripture in Acts 12 credible within fifty days he has sometimes been compared (Bruce 1990:
of the resurrrection of Jesus? 3440). Whether Thucydides actually followed
the policy that he delineated here is, to be sure, a
Sources and Redaction matter of debate.
The question of sources (or tradition) and re- The evidence is equivocal. With regard to the
daction (or creativity) is a tangled one. At one use of Scripture, the strongest argument for as-
end of the spectrum we have the view that the signing Luke the major role in the composition
account in Acts is fundamentally historical in the is the fact that the material exhibits a consider-
sense that it records events and teaching more or able unity in that the same texts are cited or al-
less exactly as things happened; the speeches in luded to in more than one speech or by more than
some cases may be abbreviated, but Luke is record- one speaker, and it is arguable that this harmony
ing what Peter and the others said on the specific reflects the mind of a single author. The well-
occasions that are described: There is still no founded proposal that an Isaianic new exodus
impediment to taking the speeches as containing motif runs throughout Acts (see below) speaks
in verbatim, prcis or summary form the substance for authorial shaping rather than piecemeal de-
of what was said on the occasions cited (Larkin velopment by different Christians. The picture
1995: 2223). For upholders of this position, it of Abraham found in various different speeches
is to be presumed that Luke got his information is a unified one (Dahl 1968). In some cases it is
directly from people who were present at the time. arguable that the complexity of the use of the OT
At the opposite end of the spectrum we have the appears to reflect careful thought and perhaps a
proposal that Luke is essentially a writer of fiction lengthy development rather than the off-the-cuff
with very little regard for what actually happened, remarks of a person suddenly summoned to ad-
and it can be assumed that the speech material in dress an occasion (Peters speeches are presented
particular is his own creation (Pervo 1987). as though they were unrehearsed, ad hoc treat-
In between those views we find a variety of ments). In one or two cases it is claimed that the
positions. Barrett, working as a critical historian point being made must depend upon the use of
515

Acts
a Greek version and could not have been made sionally Luke makes inferences from the text (e.g.,
on the basis of the Hebrew MT (this point is 13:20). In a number of cases the citations are said
made time and again with regard to Jamess use to show an affinity to the Hebrew texts in the
of Amos in Acts 15). There is some evidence for Dead Sea Scrolls (deWaard 1965: 78). What has
the use of testimonia, and if these were Christian been observed in the case of Acts is confirmed by
compilations, they presumably took some time the results of an examination of Lukes Gospel.
to be developed. In any case, the citations from the LXX show
On the other side, stress must be placed on the numerous changes in wording. Holtz has claimed
fact that much of the material is not peculiar to that where Luke is faithful to the LXX, this is
Luke himself, but represents tendencies found evidence of his own activity, but where there are
elsewhere in early Christianity. There is material divergences, this indicates that he was using tradi-
in common with Paul. The Isaianic motifs are tions; the weakness of this thesis and the failure
shared with Mark and Paul. Although it must be to consider other explanations are explored by
admitted that the LXX on occasion is particularly Bovon (2006: 11014). Many of the divergences
congenial to the points being made, nevertheless from the LXX are the result of working the cita-
in many cases the MT would still provide adequate tions into new syntactical contexts, but others
support, and in other cases we certainly cannot entail modifications of content to bring out the
rule out the use of a Greek version, particularly significance that Luke saw in them. Rese (1969:
in a Hellenistic Jewish setting. In a number of 21116) argues that Holtz has underestimated
cases it will be noted that Luke does not seem to the extent and significance of these changes, but
recognize or draw out the implications in the texts according to Bovon (2006: 11617), Rese tends
that he cites, and this may mean that the material to exaggerate in the opposite direction.
was originally framed by another hand. Problems arise, as we have noted, where scholars
In my opinion, the balance of probabilities have argued that a point made by Luke depends
tends to favor the kind of position proposed by upon use of the LXX rather than the MT, espe-
Bruce (see Marshall 1980: 3942; see further cially where the LXX is probably to be deemed
Witherington 1998: 4649, 11620). Justice secondary to the MT in its wording. In some cases,
must be done in recognizing both the use of it is argued, Luke is quoting speakers who prob-
source material by Luke and his own authorial ably were speaking Aramaic rather than Greek and
shaping of the material, in which inevitably there are very unlikely to have based their arguments on
is something of himself. a Greek translation of the Scriptures (this is fre-
quently said about the speech attributed to James
The Biblical Texts in 15:1518, where, it is claimed, the point being
Within Acts the main source for scriptural made depends upon the Greek version, which [it
citation is the LXX rather than direct recourse is assumed] James himself would not have been
to the Hebrew text. Following the research of using; however, see commentary on this passage
Holtz, there is a consensus that the form of text below). Such cases will be noted as we proceed;
used by Luke was close to that preserved for us in at least in some examples it is arguable that es-
Codex Alexandrinus (A). Lukes variation from sentially the same points could be established on
A is greatest in Psalms and to a lesser extent in the basis of the MT.
the Pentateuch. Witherington (1998: 12324, Controversy also surrounds the possible influ-
following Fitzmyer 1998: 3046) identifies seven ence of the Samaritan Pentateuch. The Samaritan
citations agreeing verbatim with the LXX, some community had its own version of the Pentateuch,
fourteen in close agreement with the LXX, and with a text that differs in points from the MT.
two where there is little agreement with the LXX. Some scholars have argued for the influence of
The evidence suggests that Luke did not use the Samaritan theology and the Samaritan Pentateuch
MT but on occasion may have used a Greek ver- on Acts, specifically in Stephens speech (Scharle-
sion other than the LXX or cited loosely from mann 1968: 3651; see the cautious discussion in
memory. Occasionally there are details that rest Wilcox 1965). Opinion has continued to harden
on extrabiblical sources (e.g., 13:21), and occa- against this hypothesis that would include the use
516

Acts
of this text of the Pentateuch (in addition to the 28 [see also commentary on Acts 1:16 below]).
references in Marshall 1980: 133n2, see Coggins In some places it has been suspected that a text
1982; Schneider 19801982: 1:44850). Equally may have influenced the composition, although
difficult to assess is whether Luke or his sources it is not in Acts as we have it. See commentary
show any affinities to the Targumim (see Wil- on Acts 10:36 below, where there is a conjecture
cox 1965 and the detailed critique in Emerton that Ps. 107:20 was originally in Peters speech;
1968). similarly, it has been claimed that Luke sometimes
From all this it is clear that for the most part abbreviated the citations, presumably because his
Luke has followed the LXX, making appropriate space was limited (Dupont 1979: 15152; see
changes to accommodate the material in his narra- further below).
tive and to bring out its significance more clearly, In one or two places we may suspect the pres-
but also that there is some evidence of use of other ence of allusions made by the speakers in the narra-
textual traditions, whether by Luke himself or by tive that Luke himself may not have observed (see
the sources that he is using.* commentary on Acts 2:3233 below, where this
may be the case, especially since the allusion is not
Lukes Canon based on the LXX; the typological possibilities in
Certain books are used more than others, par- Stephens speech in Acts 7 likewise do not seem to
ticularly so far as the citations are concerned: have been significant for Luke himself ).
Psalms (10x) and to a much lesser extent Exodus In any case, the wording and the formulation
(5x), Isaiah (3x), and the Minor Prophets (4x). of the speeches strongly reflect the compositional
There are no citations from the Historical Books, skills of Luke himself, so that what he wrote was
Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Writings (other than what he himself would have said in similar cir-
Psalms; hence the limitation in Luke 24:44 to cumstances. Albls work would imply that Luke
the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms [not the (or his sources) may have taken some OT material
Writings] is strictly correct). This fact led Holtz not directly from the LXX but had access to it
to the view that Luke had a limited collection of indirectly through collections of testimonia; this
books at his disposal and was ignorant of some perhaps would cohere with Holtzs view that Luke
that he might have used. Holtz argued that Luke used a limited set of OT books, but the latter does
had access only to the Minor Prophets, Isaiah, and not stand or fall simply by this consideration.
Psalms; he himself did not know the Pentateuch, An important fact confirmed by this analysis is
although he could have taken over citations from that Jesus statement that the Law, the Prophets,
his sources. In view of the virtual canonization of and the Writings bear witness to him is substan-
the OT as we know it by this time, this hypothesis tiated by the evidence of Acts. Pao (2000) has
was never a very likely one, and it is based on ex- indicated how Isaiah in particular has shaped the
plicit citations without taking into account the understanding of the early Christian movement
wider field of allusions or echoes of Scripture and in Acts; but alongside Isaiah, we should also note
the usage in Lukes Gospel (see Steyn 1995: 230; how much has been contributed by Psalms.
Albl 1999: 19091). For example, the full signifi- Testimonia
cance of Isaiah for Acts (formally cited just three
times) emerges only when allusions and motifs Early in the twentieth century the hypothesis
are taken into account. There are also the pas- of a collection (or collections) of scriptural texts
sages where Luke refers generally to the Scrip- (testimonia) that were used by early Christians was
tures without specifying which passages he may popular, particularly with British NT scholars,
have had in mind, leaving us the puzzle of trying of whom the best-known is perhaps J.R. Harris.
to identify them (Acts 3:18, 24; 17:2, 11; 18:24, The theory could appeal to material in the early
church, but first-century evidence was lacking.
*Decisions are sometimes difficult to reach because of the The theory apparently was laid to rest by C.H.
textual variants in both the LXX and Acts. Scribes often as- Dodd (1952), who offered in its place the pro-
similated the texts of sources and citations to one another. No
attempt has been made in the commentary to record minor posal that early Christians drew their scriptural
variants, which in any case seldom affect the sense. texts from a set of selected OT passages to which
517

Acts 2:2
1:21 of Weeks (Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:1521;

Went in and went out (cf. 9:28) is a septua- Num. 28:26; Deut. 16:912). In the OT this feast
gintalism for being active, often used of people was simply a celebration of the wheat harvest. By
in leadership roles (cf. Num. 27:17; Deut. 31:2; this time, however, the festival was associated with
Josh. 24:11; 1Sam. 18:16; 29:6; 2Kings 19:27; Ps. the renewal of the covenant made with Noah and
121:8 [120:8 LXX]; see Jervell 1998: 12627). then with Moses (Jub. 6:1718), and in second-
century Judaism it was regarded as the day when
1:25 the law was given at Sinai.
Note a parallel in wording between Judas turned
aside from (pareb with apo) and the use of the 2:2
same verb in Deut. 9:16 (cf. 17:20), where the The association of the coming of the Spirit with
Israelites turned aside from the way that the Lord a noise like a powerful wind and with tongues
had commanded them; however, similar wording like fire is no doubt to be understood primarily
is found elsewhere (e.g., Exod. 32:8), indicating in the light of the prophecy by John the Baptist
that we have nothing more than the use of bibli- (Luke 3:16), but at a secondary level the imagery
cal language. used is reminiscent of the descriptions of theo-
phanies in the OT. Gods coming is associated
1:26 with mighty storms consisting of wind, thunder,
Compare Prov. 16:33 for a recognition that God and lightning (2Sam. 22:16; Ps. 18:715; Ezek.
works through the casting of lots; there is no di- 13:13). Denova (1997: 170) draws attention to
rect allusion to the assumption expressed here, the saving winds in Exod. 14:21; Num. 11:31,
although it clearly was the basis of the method but these are more instrumental than revelatory.
chosen here. In any case, the point is made in the Fire accompanied the theophany at Sinai itself
MT and not in the rather different rendering in (Exod. 19:18). Johnson (1992: 46) argues for a
the LXX. The casting of lots was a familiar OT Moses typology and holds that there is a delib-
procedure (Lev. 16:8; Num. 26:55), also used at erate allusion to the Sinai event. However, the
Qumran (1QS V, 3; VI, 16). imagery of tongues of fire is not found here in
the OT (though cf. Isa. 5:24; 30:2730; Beale
2005a: 8487). The descent of the Spirit on the
Acts 2 people and their consequent speech has a model
in Num. 11:25, where the Lord came down in a
In chapter 2, with its accounts of the descent cloud and took some of the Spirit that was on
of the Spirit upon the followers of Jesus, of Peters Moses and put it on seventy of the elders of Israel,
speech to the people followed by their response, causing them to prophesy. The common points
and of the nascent life of the early church, we have are the reception of the Spirit and the subsequent
a number of scriptural points to observe. The first verbal activity (prophecy is a term broad enough
is the background to the event in the Feast of Pen- to include speaking in tongues). Whether Lukes
tecost and then possible models for the disciples readers were meant to make the association is not
speaking in tongues. Second, Peters speech makes clear, since there are no clear verbal echoes. But
a deliberate appeal to Scripture to show that the the passage does go on to express the longing that
events are a fulfillment of prophecy and therefore all of the Lords people would be prophets (Num.
are to be understood as the consequences of the 11:29); it was understood in later Judaism as hav-
exaltation of the Messiah, who is to be identified ing an eschatological fulfillment and was linked
with Jesus. At the same time, the question of an with Joel, which was understood as its specific
implicit juxtaposition of the giving of the law to fulfillment (Midr. Ps. 14:6, cited in Evans 1993b:
Moses and the giving of the Spirit to Jesus arises. 187). Filling with the Spirit is mentioned with
respect to Elisha in Sir. 48:12.
2:113 Another possible link is with Isa. 28:115,
2:1 where there is an attack on priests and prophets
The occasion of the coming of the Spirit is the who are intoxicated with wine and a prophecy that
day of Pentecost, otherwise known as the Feast God will speak to his people with foreign lips and
531

Acts 2:5
strange tongues (Betz 1968, cited in Evans 1993c: 2:1436

215n8; Jervell 1998: 13435). There is a citation Peters sermon begins with a text that not only
from this passage in Pauls discussion of tongues very conveniently provides the scriptural expla-
in 1Cor. 14:21 (Isa. 28:11), and the immediately nation of the strange behavior of the believers,
following text about the precious cornerstone (Isa. but also offers a golden opportunity to develop
28:16) was also used by the early church. The ver- the theme of Jesus Christ thanks to its linking of
bal coincidences are noteworthy, but the thrust the outpouring of the Spirit with the theme of
of the two passages is quite different. salvation for those who call on the name of the
Lord. The sermon thus becomes essentially an
2:5 explanation of who this Lord is. Having noted
The phrase every nation under heaven is paral- that Jesus was attested by God through mighty
leled in Deut. 2:25; 4:19. It is simply an example works (echoing Joel 2:30, cited in v.19), and hav-
of biblical language. Similarly, listen carefully ing mitigated the opposing impression given by
(entizomai [2:14]) uses a familiar LXX word for his death by insisting that it fell within the plan
summoning the attention of the hearers (cf. Joel of God, Peter describes how God raised Jesus
1:2, perhaps an echo in light of the ensuing cita- from the dead because he could not be held by
tion of Joel in Peters sermon to the crowd; see it. What happened is interpreted by reference to
Evans 1993c: 216n11). Ps. 16 which, it is argued, cannot apply to David
himself because he died (and did not rise); but
2:911 God had promised a future ruler as a descendant
More than one sermon has been preached on of David (Ps. 132), and so Ps. 16 applies to this
the multiplication of mutually unintelligible ruler. Now Jesus had been raised from the dead,
languages at Babel (Gen. 11:19) being undone and the Spirit had been poured out by him. It fol-
lows that he has been exalted to Gods right hand,
at Pentecost, but there is no hard evidence in the
as prophesied in another psalm (Ps. 110), which
text for seeing this interpretative nuance in Lukes
again could not be applied to David himself. It
story; the possibility of a verbal link in the use of follows also that Jesus is now the Lord who grants
the verb synche (2:6; cf. Gen. 11:79) is explored salvation to all who call upon him.
favorably by Barrett (19941998: 119): the crowd The argument from Scripture is not easy to
at Babel was confused by the multiplicity of lan- follow. It demonstrates examples of so-called
guages, while the Pentecost crowd was confused midrashic exegesis, with its catena of scriptural
by hearing their own languages. Nevertheless, the citations and allusions, the repetition of words
evidence is not strong. Even so, this may be a good from the citations in the accompanying exposi-
example of how modern readers may helpfully tion, and the use of changes in wording to bring
read two narratives in the light of each other, even out the significance the more clearly (e.g., 2:17,
though there are no deliberate links from the later 30).
to the earlier. Bowker (19671968: 1046) argues that this
The list of nations is unusual. It certainly is not speech is certainly a proem homily with Joel
derived from the OT, but it does stand in a line of 2:32 as the bridge text, Deut. 29:121 as the seder
tables of the nations exemplified in the OT (Gen. (reading from the Torah), and Isa. 63:919 as the
haftarah (reading from the Prophets). The open-
10; 1Chron. 1:12:2; cf. Jub. 89; 1QM II, 1014;
ing scriptural text is clear enough. Bowker finds
Josephus, Ant. 1.120147; see Scott 1994: 52730). allusions to Deut. 29 in 2:36 (call to all Israel to
P.S. Alexander (1992: 983) holds that the list here, enter into the covenant [Deut. 29:1011]) and in
though brief and selective, can be seen as an allusion 2:39 (the covenant is with those present and ab-
to Gen. 10 if it is right to see in the Pentecost story sent [the unborn?] [Deut. 29:14]). The haftarah
a reversal of the confusion of languages reported in is identified on the grounds of linguistic parallels
Gen. 11. Denova (1997: 173) and Pao (2000: 131) between Isa. 63:19 and Joel 2:32, and the use of
draw attention to Isa. 11:11, where the scattered name in 2:38 and Isa. 63:12 (not 63:13 [pace
exiles of Israel are to be brought home. Bowker]), 16.
532

Acts 2:17
However, this explanation is less than convinc- ence. Evans (1993c: 21820) further notes how
ing. One would expect the underlying texts to play the prophecy foreshadows what happens later in
some important role in a sermon that supposedly Acts: the offer of salvation to all people (includ-
is based upon them, but there is not the faintest ing Gentiles) and the consequent pouring out of
evidence that Isa. 63 in any way influenced the the Spirit on all people (i.e., all who respond to
content of the sermon; at best it has some weak the gospel), the performance of signs and won-
coincidences with Joel 2, which clearly is the de- ders, the prophetic activity of women (21:9), and
cisive basis for the sermon. And equally there is the experiencing of visions and dreams. Here and
no linguistic evidence that Deut. 29 has influ- elsewhere in Acts the prophetic Scripture is lived
enced the exposition. One might almost want to out in the experience of the believing community
say that Peter had gone out of his way to disguise (Evans 1993c: 221).
his sources! Reses (1969: 4655, 104) understanding of
2:1721 the citation as explaining what was happening
by reference to Scripture and not in terms of ful-
Peter explains the events that have just been
witnessed by the crowds by seeing in them the fillment of a scriptural prediction is difficult to
fulfillment of the prophecy in Joel 2:2832 justify. When a passage of Scripture is explicitly in
(3:15 LXX). The context of the prophecy is the future tense, announcing what God will do in
Joels summons to the people to true repentance the future, it is hard to understand the explanation
after they have been subjected to an invasion of of a contemporary event in terms of the passage as
locusts, a harbinger of worse things to come on not conveying the implication that in this way a
the day of the Lord. Yet the Lord promises to prophecy that was waiting to be fulfilled has now
take pity on his people and to restore the land to found its fulfillment (Bock 1987: 15669).
its former prosperity. Then comes the prophecy of 2:17
the outpouring of the Spirit as part of the events
The introduction to the citation This is what was
preceding the coming of the day of judgment. In
spoken by the prophet Joel has been compared to
the prophecy the coming of the Spirit is only a
the formula Its interpretation refers to... found
part of the event; it is accompanied by wonders
in the pesharim in the Dead Sea Scrolls. But the
in the sky and on the earth. And there will be the
opportunity of deliverance for all who call on the formulations are quite different from each other,
name of the Lord before the judgment falls upon although their functions are similar: the goal is
them. The judgment will be upon the nations that to identify some current event with something
have oppressed Gods people, whereas Israel will be described in a prophecy. There is a dialectic here.
saved. Within this set of events the outpouring of On the one hand, the significance of a hitherto
the Spirit will be upon all people, and the effect obscure prophecy (what is the prophet referring
will be that they will prophesy and see visions. to?) is explained by seeing it fulfilled in a particu-
The significance of this in its context is not im- lar event. On the other hand, the significance of an
mediately clear. The inspiration of prophets was a event (what exactly is happening?) is illuminated
sign of the presence of the Spirit and thus of Gods by seeing it as the fulfillment of a prophecy. Thus
activity and presence with his people; visions were the prophecy and the event shed light on one
associated with prophecy, and here dreams are also another. The assumption is that the correspon-
included as the working of the Spirit. dence between the scriptural description and the
The citation of the prophecy thus serves initially event will be self-evident or can be demonstrated
to explain the phenomenon of Spirit-possession fairly easily. Thus in the present case, if one rules
and speaking in tongues, but the passage moves out one possible explanation of the behavior of
on to announce the closely related proclamation the disciplesdrunkennessby the reasonable
of salvation for those who call upon the Lord. argument that people normally do not become
This second theme becomes in fact the dominant inebriated at that time of day, then the strange
one in Peters speech with his identification of the talk and exuberance can be seen to broadly match
risen and exalted Jesus as the Lord and Messiah the description of prophecy in Joel; one would
through whom salvation is offered to his audi- need to remember that in some cases prophecy
533

Acts 2:18
involved people acting in strange and even bizarre Joel 3:15 LXX [3:15 MT;
ways (1Sam. 10:56, 1013; 19:2024). 2:2832 ET] Acts 2:1721
kai euangelizomenoi hous kyrios
As is common when a citation is made, some proskekltai.
of the wording is repeated in the surrounding ma-
terial. Evans (1993c: 21617) claims that some A major alteration is the replacement of the
twenty words in Lukes narrative and the opening LXXs afterwards (meta tauta) with the phrase
words of Peters speech occur in Joel (whether in in the last days (en tais eschatais hmerais [cf. Isa.
the passage cited or elsewhere in the prophecy). 2:2]) in all manuscripts except B 076 (C pc) samss.
Some of these may be coincidental, but others may It is easier to explain the reading of the minority
be significant. Note the use of pour out (2:17, of manuscripts as assimilation to the text of Joel
33) and Lord (2:21, 36). (Bock 1987: 16061; Metzger 1994: 256) than
Lukes wording in the citation is very close to to account for a change from the original text of
the LXX, but there are a number of changes that Acts by later scribes (Haenchen 1971: 179; Holtz
Bock (1987: 15687) and Turner (1996: 26869) 1968: 78; Rese 1969: 5152). Haenchen holds
regard as pre-Lukan. Steyn (1995: 7490) argues that Luke did not think that the last days were
that a citation of such length probably was taken inaugurated by the time of Pentecost and there-
fore would not have made the replacement. This,
from a written text that differed in minor de-
however, is a dubious understanding of Lukan
tails from the LXX as we know it today and that
theology, and in any case it is arguable that both
Lukes changes tend to be theological rather than
versions of the text have reference to the last days
stylistic.
before the coming of the day of the Lord. Probably
Joel 3:15 LXX [3:15 MT; the intention of the change is to emphasize that
2:2832 ET] Acts 2:1721 the events of Pentecost do belong to the activity
kai estai meta tauta kai
3:1
kai estai en tais eschatais
2:17
hmerais,
of God in the last days: a new age has arrived.
legei ho theos, The insertion of God says (legei ho theos) con-
ekche apo tou pneumatos mou ekche apo tou pneumatos mou forms to typical prophetic style (cf. 7:6; see Rese
epi pasan sarka, epi pasan sarka, 1969: 4849). Turner (1996: 27778) notes how
kai prophteusousin hoi huioi kai prophteusousin hoi huioi it strengthens the contrast between God pour-
hymn hymn
kai hai thygateres hymn, kai hai thygateres hymn
ing out the Spirit and the Messiah doing so, thus
kai hoi neaniskoi hymn emphasizing the significant position of the latter
horaseis opsontai in taking over the divine function.
kai hoi presbyteroi hymn kai hoi presbyteroi hymn The order of the clauses about the young men
enypnia enypniasthsontai enypniois enypniasthsontai; and the old men is inverted compared with Joel.
kai hoi neaniskoi hymn
Luke inserts my with male and female slaves,
horaseis opsontai;
kai epi tous doulous
3:2
kai ge epi tous doulous mou
2:18 emphasizing their role as Gods agents rather than
kai epi tas doulas kai epi tas doulas mou their social status. The effect is that the terms re-
en tais hmerais ekeinais en tais hmerais ekeinais ferring to literal slaves in Joel are now understood
ekche apo tou pneumatos mou. ekche apo tou pneumatos mou, as a general description of Gods servants (Holtz
kai prophteusousin. 1968: 10). At the end of 2:18 Luke inserts and
kai ds terata en t ouran
3:3 2:19
kai ds terata en t ouran
an
they will prophesy; this repetition of the words
kai epi ts gs kai smeia epi ts gs kat, from 2:17 makes the effect of the Spirit on the
haima kai pyr kai atmida kapnou; haima kai pyr kai atmida kapnou. Lords servants crystal clear. For Turner (1996:
3:4
ho hlios metastraphsetai eis 2:20
ho hlios metastraphsetai eis 270), this reinforces the presentation of the Spirit
skotos skotos in Luke-Acts as the Spirit of prophecy.
kai h seln eis haima kai h seln eis haima,
prin elthein hmeran kyriou prin elthein hmeran kyriou 2:18
tn megaln kai epiphan. tn megaln kai epiphan.
Luke has kai ge, a reinforced form of Joels kai
kai estai pas hos an epikalestai
3:5 2:21
kai estai pas hos an epikalestai
to onoma kyriou sthsetai; to onoma kyriou sthsetai.
(and), which raises the question of whether
hoti en t orei Sin kai en Ierousalm he was familiar with a trend to translate Hebrew
estai anaszomenos kathoti eipen wgam with kai ge and even with a hypothesized
kyrios kai ge recension of the LXX (on this technical
534

Acts 2:21
problem, see Jobes and Silva 2000: 17173, and billows of smoke, are more puzzling; the next
28487). two clauses about the sun and the moon are a still
closer definition. The language is that associated
2:1920 with theophany, especially with the judgment on
The contrast of above and below and the ad- the day of the Lord, and therefore precursors of
dition of signs is Lukan. The last part of the that day probably are meant. It may well be that
passage ( Joel 2:32b [3:5b LXX]) is not included, Peter quoted these verses simply because he had
but it is partly cited in 2:39 (see commentary on to use the last verse in the passage and did not feel
Acts 2:39 below). that he could leave anything out. So 2:1920 may
These changes exemplify the practice of Luke be future from Peters (and Lukes, and our) point
and other NT authors in formal citations. They of view; a readership familiar with Luke 21:2528
feel quite free to make minor alterations that bring would have had no difficulty making the leap. It
out the significance of the original more fully, or is true that in 2:22 miracles, wonders, and signs
are purely stylistic, or are necessitated by the new were done by Jesus, but these hardly fit wonders
context (whether in content or style). in the heaven above. Mention should be made
The citation of the prophecy, then, has the effect of the hypothesis that the moon assumes a dull
of showing that what is happening is a fulfillment red color at the time of eclipse, and there was an
of prophecy and of explaining its character in the eclipse visible in Jerusalem at Passover in AD 33,
light of this divinely inspired commentary. which is taken to be the year of the crucifixion
First, it was clear to the NT authors that a (Humphreys and Waddington 1992). However,
great deal of prophecy previously had gone un- many scholars think that the crucifixion is more
fulfilled or was only partially fulfilled, but now plausibly dated to AD 30, and the portents are
they recognized events taking place that were its more plausibly understood as direct precursors
fulfillment. It may well be that in many cases this of the day of judgment.
was regarded as a simple matter for observation: A further point, however, is that the theo-
once you compared the prophetic forecast with phanic language is particularly associated with
the actual event, the correspondences were ob- the description of the original giving of the law at
vious. At the same time, they probably believed Sinai, both in the OT and in later Jewish sources,
that they were inspired by the Spirit to declare including Philo, Decalogue 46 (see texts in Turner
authoritatively, This is what was spoken by the 1996: 28384). So, although nothing is said at
prophet (2:16). this juncture to point to a parallel with Sinai, and
Second, the result of the identification was to in fact the citation is from Joel with its future
see the true nature of the event. The fact of a large reference, there could be an implied secondary
group of people (2:4 should almost certainly be reference to what happened at Sinai, with the
taken to mean that the 120 rather than just the implication that God is now doing something
twelve were affected) praising God in different similar but significantly different. The phenom-
languages, evidently under some constraint to ena that accompanied the giving of the law now
do so, provided an example of what the OT can accompany the coming of the Spirit in the last days
broadly describe as prophecy. (Turner 1996: 27989). Signs and wonders are
We should not expect a word-for-word fulfill- especially associated with Moses and the exodus
ment of every detail in the description. There will ( Johnson 1992: 4950). If so, this would be an
be dreams and visions later in Acts, but not neces- example of OT language being used in a way that
sarily confined to young and old respectively is evocative of another event when it is read in a
early Christians could recognize poetry when they wider context that recalls that event.
saw it! The reference to women chimes in with
1:14. Moessner (1998: 21819) notes how the 2:21
prophecy is fulfilled in the course of Acts. The final verse of the quotation was originally
But what about 2:1920? Lukes addition of simply an offer of deliverance from the impending
signs is doubtless fulfilled in the healing and judgment. It retained this sense for Peter, but the
other miracles in Acts. Wonders in the heaven reference to being saved broadened out in the
above, more closely defined as blood and fire early church to include all the present blessings ex-
535

Acts 2:23
perienced by those who were convinced that they Zion and Jerusalem will be one who is saved, as
would also be delivered from the final judgment the Lord said, and those who preach good news
and enter into the presence of God. From this to those whom the Lord has called. Doubtless,
passage developed the use of call on (epikale) one could interpret 2:21 in the light of 2:39 to
as a term for seeking salvation; the same citation imply a limitation of the opportunity of calling
is made in Rom. 10:13, and the verb is found in upon the Lord to those whom the Lord has called,
Acts 9:14; 22:16; 1Cor. 1:2; 2Tim. 2:22; 1Pet. but it is sounder to interpret 2:39 in the light of
1:17. Interestingly, God calls (kale) people to 2:21. Luke has turned Joels perfect has called
salvation (e.g., Rom. 8:30), and people call on (the MT has a present form, is calling) into a
him to be saved. The full phrase used here, how- statement of future intent and generalized it. It
ever, is call on the name of the Lord (cf. 9:14; is incredible that the sermon could possibly have
22:16; Rom. 10:13; 1Cor. 1:2), which seems to ended with a limiting statement that would have
be a Hebrew idiom that stresses the fact that this caused the hearers to ask, But am I among those
is not an unknown god, but rather the God whose whom God is calling? especially in the light of
character and reputation are known. In Joel (as the first part of 2:39.
elsewhere in the OT) the Lord is Yahweh. By But we have gotten ahead of ourselves. Al-
2:36, Peter has claimed that God has conferred though Peters citation has the immediate effect of
the title Lord on Jesus (cf. 7:59; Rom. 10:1214; offering an explanation of the odd behavior of the
1Cor. 1:2; but in 1Pet. 1:17 it is the Father who disciples in terms of the outpouring of the Spirit,
is called upon). it also has the very important function of drawing
It should not be overlooked that the verse con- a link between this event and the offer of salvation
stitutes an invitation and a promise of salvation to those who call on the name of the Lord (Rese
to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord. Joel 1969: 5255). The next stage in Peters argument,
presumably was thinking only of Jews and tacitly therefore, will be to identify the Lord as Jesus, or
excluded the Gentile nations (cf. Joel 3:12). Rese rather, to show that Jesus is the Lord.
(1969: 50) and Turner (1996: 270) note that at 2:23
this point Luke omits Joel 2:32b (3:5b LXX),
Behind this reference to Gods decreed plan and
which centers salvation on Jerusalem, although he
foreknowledge Allen (19701971) has traced the
cites the last few words in 2:39; Dupont (1979:
influence of the decree (q) made to David in
151) notes the literary skill evidenced in this way Ps. 2:7, which is to be understood as a promise
and concludes that the speech is a product of of what God will do. Allen argues that the same
conscious literary activity. At this stage Peter may background lies behind 4:28; 10:42; 17:31, al-
have had only Jews (and proselytes) in his sights, though, if this is the case, there is no evidence
but Paul uses the text as a prooftext for the univer- that the origin of the concept was in the mind
sality of the offer of salvation to Jews and Gentiles of the author.
(Rom. 10:1213). God admits all men to himself
without exception ... since no man is excluded 2:2428
from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is Having described the way in which God showed
set open to alla sentiment that one might be his approval of Jesus by giving him the ability to
tempted to ascribe to some Arminian theologian, do mighty works and then deliberately let him
but, no, this is Calvin (19651966: 1:62), rightly be put to death, Peter states that God raised him
taking Scripture in its plain sense. from the dead. This simple statement (anestsen)
Here it may be convenient to note that the is then expanded by the phrase freeing him from
language of the citation also influences the very the agony of deathliterally, by loosening the
end of Peters sermon (thus creating what is called pangs of death (lysas tas dinas tou thanatou).
an inclusio, whereby identical or similar material The word pangs normally refers literally to
forms the framework for a passage). There, at the pains of childbirth, which may seem to be a
2:39, we find that the promise of the gospel is ad- strange metaphor to use of death (even a death
dressed to all whom the Lord our God will call, as painful as crucifixion), and the choice of verb
which reflects Joel 3:5b LXX: For on Mount also is unusual. There is a parallel phrase in Job
536

Acts 2:24
39:2 LXX: Have you counted their months In any case, Jesus could not be held captive by
filled with bringing forth [i.e., until the time of death for long. Why not? Peter answers by cit-
gestation is complete], have you loosened their ing what David said about him. Again we have
pangs? The point seems to be that Job is unable a lengthy quotation, from Ps. 16:811 (15:811
to count up the days of gestation for mountain LXX), following the wording of the LXX pre-
goats and then cause their birth pangs to start or cisely but omitting the last line of the psalm (plea-
act as midwife and bring their pangs to an end. sures at your right hand forever). But the LXX
The nineteenth-century scholar F.Field noted is not identical with the MT.
that the verb ly can mean to bring to an end. MT LXX/Acts
So the metaphor as used by Peter would refer to I have set Yahweh before me I saw the Lord before me
God bringing the pains of death to an end, but continually; continually;
he uses it because out of the death comes a kind because he is at my right hand, because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved. so that I may not be moved.
of rebirth to life for Jesus. Rese (1969: 1057) is
Therefore my heart was glad, Therefore my heart was glad,
skeptical of this explanation because in his view and my glory rejoiced; and my tongue rejoiced;
there is no evidence for the concept of a birth out also my flesh will rest in also my flesh will dwell in
of death and for a corresponding interpretation confidence. hope.
of resurrection. For you will not abandon my For you will not abandon my
soul to Sheol, soul to Hades,
Luke has used an expression that occurs in the you will not give your holy nor will you give your holy one
LXX, but without reference to the particular pas- one to see the pit/destruction. to see corruption.
sage where it occurs. He may have been guided to You will show me the path of You have made known to me
it by the use of dines in Ps. 17:56 LXX (18:45 life; paths of life;
there is fullness of joy with you will fill me with joy with
ET [cf. 2Sam. 22:6]). There the MT has cords your face, your face,
(cf. NIV, NRSV); an unvocalized Hebrew bl pleasures at your right hand pleasures in your right hand
could have been read in the LXX as bel (pang) forever. forever.
instead of as ebel (cord, bond [for this meaning,
In the MT Ps. 16 (15 LXX) is ascribed to
see 1QHa XI, 28]). However, there is no need David. It is a prayer for help from God (16:1)
for the explanation given by some scholars that that is based upon Davids relationship with God
Luke was misled by this confusion, nor do we need and an affirmation of his commitment to God
the elaboration of this view by Lindars (1961: (16:26). This becomes a statement of praise to
3940), that Ps. 18:45 has been reinterpreted in God and confidence in him (16:711), and it is
the light of Ps. 16:6 and then misunderstood by this latter section that is cited here. The psalmist
Luke. Barrett (19941998: 14344) thinks that has placed Yahweh before himself; the LXX I
Luke followed Ps. 17:6 LXX (or Ps. 114:3 LXX saw (proormn) is an interpretation of the He-
[116:3 ET]), where, despite the use of pangs, brew I set. The implication is that he continu-
the verbs are appropriate for cords, and this led ally trusts in God and obeys him. With a shift of
Luke to use a verb appropriate for cords. Hanson metaphor, he declares that Yahweh is at his right
(1980: 15055) argues that Luke used verbs that hand, the place where a helper would be (cf. ex-
are more appropriate to cords than to pangs, and pressions about God giving help with his right
this indicates that underlying the Greek is a Se- hand). (More commonly we hear of sitting at the
mitic source that conceived of Christ being deliv- right hand of Yahweh; the thought of the privi-
ered from the realm of death by God. Bock (1987: leges enjoyed by a person sitting at the right hand
17172) argues for the use of a mixed metaphor, of a king is used in 16:11b, but is not in mind at
with the elements of pain and distress associated this point.) Consequently, he can be confident
with death encircling the psalmist already pres- that he will not be affected by any opposition.
ent in the MT, and the idea of travail leading to According to the usual interpretation, David here
birth not being present. The Greek word din has a is speaking not in his own person, but rather as
broader meaning of pain in general (Exod. 15:14; the Messiah, who refers to the help that God will
Deut. 2:25; Job 21:17), but the Hebrew bel is give him (throughout his life and not simply in
used only of travail. relation to his death [see Pesch 1986: 1:122]). A
537

Acts 2:24
different interpretation is offered by Moessner and enjoyment (Bock [1987: 17677] notes that
(1998: 22329), who argues that the Lord who the MT might be expected to mean the kind of life
is at Davids right hand to help him in his distress required by God that leads to eternal life). He will
is none other than the Messiah. On this view, the experience joy in the presence of Yahweh, and for
citation is of David speaking in his own person the person at Yahwehs right hand there are plea-
(see further commentary on Acts 2:27 below). sures forever. (This final clause is not included in
Such a person can be glad and rejoice (16:9). the citation in Acts; Rese [1969: 5556] accounts
Here the MT has my glory (kbd), a term that for this by suggesting that the Holy Spirit is one
can be used for a persons inner being (cf. Ps. 7:5: of the pleasures, but it is poured out by Jesus
me [NIV], my soul [NRSV]); consequently, rather than remaining at Yahwehs right hand!)
the suggestion that originally the very similar my All of this, then, can be understood to refer to
liver (kbd) may have stood here (cf. Lam. 2:11 a long life in which the psalmist experiences the
MT; and see the LXX) is unnecessary. The NIV goodness of God.
here follows the LXXs my tongue (h glssa But let us see how the psalm is understood
mou) without indicating that this differs from the here. Peter starts from the acknowledged facts:
MT. In poetic parallelism David then declares that (1) David did indeed die; (2) David knew that one
his body (lit., flesh) will rest secure (note the of his descendants would be enthroned by God
change of tense). The Hebrew lbea is rendered because God had sworn that this would happen
in hope (ep elpidi) in the LXX, but both forms (there is a clear verbal allusion to Ps. 132:1112;
may imply trust in Yahweh, who raises the dead cf. 2Sam. 7:1216; Ps. 89:34, 3537). The fact
(see Rese 1969: 5657). David will not fear what that David had prophetic knowledge (Acts 2:30a)
can happen to him in the future. presumably applies not to his knowledge about his
By way of explication he adds that God will not descendant (2:30b), but rather to his own state-
abandon his life (nepe) to Sheol; he will not let ment about the Messiah (2:31). Therefore, Ps.
his faithful one (i.e., the psalmist) experience cor- 16 seems to be understood as a statement by this
ruption (aat; this normally means grave, pit, descendant that is voiced by David. Since David
but it also can have the abstract sense of destruc- could not be talking about himself in these verses
tion). Taken in its context, this need be no more (because he himself died and suffered corruption),
than an expression of assurance that Yahweh will he must have been speaking prophetically in the
preserve him from dying, at least for the time being first person on behalf of somebody else. Following
(the idea of never dying was not entertained). In Goppelt (1982: 12223), Rese (1979: 76) holds
the LXX Sheol is naturally rendered by hads, that the usage is not so much prophetic (prom-
and aat is rendered by diaphthora, corruption ise and fulfillment) as typological in that in what
(Haenchen [1971: 182n1] unnecessarily claimed David says he is stating a pattern that is true in the
that the LXX misread Heb. aat as it). Hence case of the Messiah (although it was not true of
it has been argued that whereas the MT refers only himself ); the psalm thus provides the authorita-
to deliverance from premature death, the LXX tive language for explaining the life, death, and
envisages deliverance from the corruption that resurrection of Jesus. But is it appropriate to use
follows death (Barrett 19941998: 147, following the term typological of a statement that was not
Benoit). Consequently, an interpretation in terms true of the type himself ?
of resurrection is possible only on the basis of the An alternative explanation is that the psalm
LXX (and therefore could not have been made by is being understood of David speaking of him-
Aramaic-speaking early believers [see Rese 1969: self and saying that the Lord (= the Messiah) is
5758]). However, it may be fairer to say that there to help him (2:25); he lives in hope because
this rendering simply made it marginally easier God will not abandon his soul to death (2:27a)
to interpret the psalm as referring to the actual nor let his Holy One (= the Messiah) suffer cor-
destruction of the human body in the grave (see ruption (2:27b). David suffers in solidarity with
Bock 1987: 17576). the Messiah and rests his hopes on him (Moess-
Finally, Yahweh will make known to him a path ner 1998: 226). This attractive proposal faces
that consists in life (16:11)that is, fullness of life some problems. There is the question whether
538

Acts 2:30
non-Greek-speaking Christians would have in- to refer to experiences in the presence of God that
terpreted Yahweh as a reference to the Messiah follow death, unless we take the reference to be a
(2:25): would this interpretation be possible only metaphorical one to the experience of joy in the
on the basis of the Greek text? And there is the period that follows deliverance from premature
difficulty that Hebrew poetic parallelism would death. (3) The former interpretation of the psalm
strongly suggest that my soul and your holy would be consistent with Davids own experi-
one (2:27) must refer to the same person rather ence. Only the latter requires that it be applied
than to David and the Messiah respectively. Cer- to somebody else who was resurrected. (4) The
tainly by 2:31 it would seem that both parts of the promises of an enthroned descendant of David
verse are understood to refer to Jesus (as Moessner appear to refer to one of his immediate offspring,
[1998: 228] agrees). Solomon, rather than to a distant descendant or
It is implicit in Peters argument that when Jesus ruler (the Davidic descent of Jesus is not in fact
was seen by his followers as raised from the dead, brought into the discussion here). However, it is
it was his actual physical body that had been raised obvious that Solomon and all Davids subsequent
(so that his tomb was left empty) and exempted descendants had died like David himself (2:29),
from physical decay. That is to say, what the psalm so the argument about Davids descendants is in
said is seen to fit what was known about Jesus by fact concerned with the continuation of his line
actual observation: he came alive after dying, and beyond his immediate descendants, and therefore
his body evidently had not decayed. Peters interpretation in a wide sense in 2:30 is
For what purpose has Peter used this psalm? sufficiently plausible.
One result is to explain why it was impossible for
2:29
Jesus to be held prisoner by death. Jesus had the
promise of God that he would not let his faithful David is described as a patriarch; although the
one decay in the grave. But the other result, and word patriarchs is used in the LXX for the chief of
the more significant one, is to claim that if what a family or a tribe (1Chron. 24:31) and is applied
happened to Jesus fits what David prophesied in to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in 4Macc. 7:19 (cf.
the psalm, then Jesus must be the Messiah. Du- Acts 7:89; Heb. 7:4; hence our familiar usage),
pont (1979: 109) expresses the point precisely: it is not used elsewhere of David.
It is often asserted that Peter desires to prove 2:30

that Jesus has really risen from the dead, but Here we have the only NT description of David as
that is obviously inaccurate, for Peter presup- a prophet, but the motif occurs in 11Q5 XXVII,
poses the resurrection as a datum of faith. What 11 (Garca Martnez 1996: 309); Philo, Agricul-
Peter wishes to establish is rather the fact that ture 50, and his prophetic speech is mentioned in
Jesus, having really risen from the dead, is truly Acts 1:16; Mark 12:36.
the Messiah of which the psalm speaks.... The The language in 2:30 is generally thought to
resurrection owes its value as a sign precisely to be based on Ps. 132:11 (131:11 LXX), para-
the oracle of the psalm which announced that
phrased to fit the context: The Lord swore
the Christ would rise.
truth to David and will not revoke it, I shall place
The inevitable modern question is, Does this [someone] from the fruit of your body on your
use of the psalm work? (1) So far as first-century throne.
people were concerned, the Davidic authorship of Ps. 131:11 LXX [132:11
the psalm was unquestioned (cf. the psalms head- MT/ET] Acts 2:30
ing: A Miktam of David). (2) The psalm appears mosen kyrios t Dauid altheian hork mosen aut ho theos
to say You will not let me die, but Peter takes it kai ou m athetsei autn
ek karpou ts koilias sou ek karpou ts osphyos autou
to mean something more like You will not let me thsomai epi ton thronon sou; kathisai epi ton thronon autou,
remain dead once I have died. The psalm is thus
understood to refer to a person, once dead, not Where the psalm has simply mosen Luke adds
being left in death and suffering the consequent the dative hork, producing a Semitism (the noun
decay of the body. In favor of this interpretation is equivalent to the Heb. infinitive absolute) found
is the way that the last verse of the psalm appears in Exod. 13:19; Num. 30:3; Josh. 9:20; T.Jud.
539

Acts 2:31
22:3. The English one of his descendants para- term itself is not found with this reference, and
phrases from the fruit of his loins. Where the that this usage developed only later in Jewish lit-
LXX has ek karpou ts koilias sou, Luke has ek karpou erature. However, whereas the original reference
ts osphyos autou, using the more appropriate term in the relevant OT passages was to the reigning
for a male, osphys (loin; used euphemistically, as monarch (or an immediate successor), by the time
in 2Chron. 6:9), and changing to the third per- the psalms were collected and effectively canon-
son. Kathisai is based on the next verse, Ps. 131:12 ized (cf. Luke 24:44) the references in them were
LXX. Rese (1969: 1079) at first expresses doubt understood, where appropriate, as messianic (cf.
whether a specific source can be found and holds Ps. 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 28:8; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 105:15;
that there is a multiplicity of passages that have 132:10, 17; see Mays 1994: 99107). This is true
influenced Luke: Ps. 131:11 LXX; 2Chron. of the Hebrew Psalter; it is all the more the case
6:910; Ps. 88:45 LXX (89:34 ET); 2Sam. with the LXX version (Schaper 1995: 13864).
7:12; but in the end he agrees that Ps. 131 is the We can now see why it was appropriate to take Ps.
main source, with some influence from 2Chron. 132:1112 as a reference to the Messiah. The new
6. However, he notes that in 2Chron. 6 the prom- element here, then, is not so much the recogni-
ise of a son for David is assumed to be fulfilled in tion of the psalms as messianic as it is the claim
Solomon. In Ps. 131 the reference is to Davids that the fulfillment of the prophecy in Ps. 16 is
sons and grandsons sitting on the throne, but the resurrection. At this point the language of the
promise is conditional on their obedience, and citation is picked up and contextualized (third
at a later stage a messianic reinterpretation took person instead of first person). An important
place. (Witherington [1998: 146] claims that this verbal alteration in 2:31 is the replacement of
psalm was used at Qumran and cites 4Q174 1 I, your Holy One by his flesh (the parallelism
713; this seems to be a mistake.) of soul and flesh that could have resulted [cf.
At this point there is an interesting reading in 2:27a/b] does not take place, since the former
the Western Text of Acts yielding this result: God term is not repeated here). Flesh was used in
had promised him that from the fruit of his heart the preceding verse of the psalm, so it is not an
according to the flesh he would raise the Messiah arbitrary insertion here, but it is the appropriate
and seat him on his throne (D*; other manu- word for the human body in its character as cor-
scripts, including the Majority Text, vary slightly). ruptible material.
Black (1974: 12123) defends this reading on the
grounds of its good attestation (including 1739) 2:3233
and the consequent improvement to the syntax. Having established what David said prophetically
It fits in with the Lukan use of anistmi to refer about the Messiah, Peter now repeats that God
to the raising up of Jesus from the dead, behind raised Jesus from the dead (cf. 2:24), a point that
which may lie Gods promise to raise up a scion can be confirmed by the witness of the apostles.
of David onto the stage of history in 2Sam. 7:12; This event is then understood as an exaltation
there is similar material in 13:2237 and also in by the right hand of God. The verb hypso is oc-
Rom. 1:3. Black has not gained any supporters casionally used for the resurrection and exaltation
(see the critique in Bovon 2006: 1078). of Jesus (5:31; cf. John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 34; cf.
hyperhypso in Phil. 2:9), and the right hand of
2:31 God is a familiar OT expression for God acting
David is credited with seeing what was to come. in power. Dodd (1952: 99) proposed that behind
Thus the statement in the psalm is understood the language here lies Ps. 117:16 LXX, the right
to be prophetic. But exactly what David foresaw hand of the Lord has exalted me (dexia kyriou
is not stated. On the basis of this foreknowledge hypssen me [= 118:16 MT, the text of which
he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ. This differs from the LXX]), and noted that the im-
is the first use of the term in Acts, and here it is mediately following words are I shall not die,
clearly a title signifying the future ruler in the but live. On this view, the right hand of God is
line of David who will reign in the kingdom of understood instrumentally as the means of resur-
God. It is often said that although the concept rection. In view of the not infrequent use of this
of the Messiah/Christ is found in the OT, the psalm by Jesus and his followers, this proposal
540

Acts 2:32
is quite plausible (see Brunson 2003; similarly, Psalm 67:19 LXX (68:18 ET) states, When
Dupont 1979: 12426; Doble 2002a: 7). you ascended on high, you took captivity captive,
However, Lindars (1961: 4244) holds that the you received gifts [domata] among men [lit., in a
starting point for the phrase lay in the last clause man]. The psalm could be understood to refer to
of Ps. 15:11 LXX (not quoted by Peter), where receiving gifts for men, and it was so understood
at [Gk. en] your right hand expresses place. He in the Targum, where the words of the law were
then refers to Ps. 67:19 LXX (68:19 MT; 68:18 given to men: You have ascended to heaven, that
ET), anebs eis hypsos, and finds here the source is, Moses the prophet; you have taken captivity
for the verb hypssen. Then t dexia tou theou is to captive, you have learnt the words of the Torah;
be taken locatively, as in Ps. 109:1 LXX (110:1 you have given it as gifts to men (cited in Lin-
MT/ET), ek dexin mou, cited in 2:35 (similarly, coln 1990: 24243). The verse is explicitly cited
Dupont 1973: 224; Pesch 1986: 1:124; Strauss in Eph. 4:8, but with significant alterations: he
1995: 140n2; Turner 1996: 275n20). gave gifts to men. In this connection it may be
Yet another proposal is that Ps. 139:810 significant that later Peter refers to the gift [drea]
(138:810 LXX) is relevant. There David speaks of the Holy Spirit (2:38; cf. 8:20; 10:45; 11:17);
about his inability to escape from Gods presence; was it the influence of the psalm that led to the
whether he ascends (anabain) to heaven or de- use of the term gift for the Spirit?
scends to Hades, Gods right hand will hold him The verb received is seen by several scholars as
(Doble 2002b: 20). evidence for the influence of the psalm (Lindars
In assessing these alternative solutions, we may 1961: 5159; Dupont 1973). The reference in
find it unnecessary to choose between them, since 2:34 to David not ascending is strong confirma-
scholars admit that more than one influence may tion for this. In rabbinic Judaism the giving of the
be present; the wording was such that listeners law was associated with Pentecost. Hence there is
or readers would be reminded of several OT a possibility that the early Christians saw a parallel
passages. Nevertheless, the question as to which (or contrast) between the giving of the law and
source is primary is a proper one. the giving of the Spirit and took over Ps. 68 (67
So far as the right hand of God is concerned, LXX), which was interpreted of the giving of the
the instrumental understanding is preferable. Acts law, and freshly understood it of the giving of the
5:31 is ambiguous; the phrase used there is dif- Spirit, and that this understanding lies behind not
ferent from the locative one from Ps. 15:11 LXX only Eph. 4:8, but also the present passage in Acts.
used here in 2:34; and it can be argued that the A further link with the psalm was detected by
phrase summarizes the action of God in 2:32 (Bar- W.L. Knox, who observed that the Targum of Ps.
rett 19941998: 149). 68:34 described how God with his word [memra]
If, as is probable, Ps. 67:19 LXX lies behind the gave with his voice the Spirit of prophecy to the
next part of the verse, this is a strong argument prophets (cited in Barrett 19941998: 149).
for seeing it as influencing the earlier part also. In my commentary (Marshall 1980: 7879) I
However, it can also be argued that the use of Ps. expressed some doubt as to whether Luke himself
117:16 LXX is primary, and that this then gave saw this allusion. A significant difficulty is that the
a verbal link to Ps. 67. allusion rests upon the Jewish tradition, deposited
The next part of the verse introduces a fresh in the Targum, and that there is no indication of
thought: Jesus has received from the Father the its presence in the LXX, the Scripture that Luke
promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you was using. Bock (1987: 18183) thinks that there
now see and hear. The promised Holy Spirit is no influence by the psalm at all, on the grounds
is literally the promise of the Holy Spirit (so that all the elements in the verse can be traced to
NRSV) and alludes back to Luke 24:49; prom- Luke himself. The only word in common with the
ise is used for the content of the promise rather psalm is received, which Luke could not avoid
than (as more usually) for the action of promis- using to describe the action between God and
ing. The reference to God as the Father echoes Jesus. Barrett (19941998: 14950) thinks that
the same passage. But has received has another the echoes are present but is doubtful that Lukes
source. readers, and perhaps even Luke himself, would
541

Acts 2:34
have picked them up. He notes, however, that if cerning the lord. Clearly the language about the
the allusion is present, it confirms the view that footstool is metaphorical for the subjugation of
Jesus received the Spirit to confer on the church enemies (cf. Josh. 10:24; 1Kings 5:3; Isa. 51:23),
at his ascension, a different event from his own and the language about sitting at Gods right hand
reception of the Spirit for his messianic minis- could also be metaphorical for being given the
try at his baptism (Luke 3:22; Acts 10:38). It authority and power of God to overcome the en-
remains possible that this exegesis of the psalm emies. But Peter takes the latter phrase literally of
was known to Peter or to the tradition that Luke the Messiahs ascent to heaven to sit beside God.
used, and that Luke therefore was influenced here It is understood likewise elsewhere in the NT
by an interpretation that had become traditional (Luke 20:4244 pars.; 22:69 pars.; Acts 7:5556;
in the church, although it was not reflected in Rom. 8:34; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1;
his Scriptures (see Strauss 1995: 14547). See 10:1213; 12:2; 1Pet. 3:22; see Hay 1973; for the
further Beale 2005b: 6972, who finds evidence use of Ps. 110:1 as a testimonium elsewhere in the
here for understanding Pentecost as the descent NT, see Albl 1999: 21636). The phrase at my
of the latter-day temple of Gods presence on his right hand echoes the usage from Ps. 16 earlier in
people. Peters speech (2:25), and it might be cited as an
The subsequent conferral of the Spirit is ex- example of the Jewish practice of gezerah shavah,
pressed by the verb poured out (ekche), which
the linking together of two citations by their use of
is derived from the quotation from Joel 3:1 LXX
common expressions (Longenecker 1999: 81).
(2:28 ET) in 2:17.
2:36
2:3435
Peter offers a further argument that it is indeed Hence this conclusion can be drawn: all the house
Jesus who ascended to heaven, not David, just of Israel (an OT expression [e.g., 1Sam. 7:2;
as it was Jesus, not David, who was resurrected. Ezek. 37:11] used frequently in Jewish prayers)
Again the point is made by a citation of Davids can know for sure that Jesus, who had been cru-
own words. The citation is the familiar Ps. 110:1 cified, has been made Lord and Messiah by God
(109:1 LXX), quoted word-for-word from the (for the association of Messiah and Lord, see Pss.
LXX. As it stands, David himself said, The Lord Sol. 17:32). The argument here is not simply that
said to my lord: Sit at my right hand until I make the oracle in Ps. 110 applies to Jesus, but also that
your enemies a footstool for your feet. There is the title lord, used in the psalm, must be ap-
scope for ambiguity in the LXX, which has to plied to him; since it refers to a person of higher
use one Greek word, kyrios, for the two Hebrew rank than David, it is a superlative title. The title
words yhwh (the Tetragrammaton, whose origi- Messiah is not actually used in any of the psalm
nal pronunciation probably was Yahweh, and citations, but we have seen that it is implicit in
for which Adonai [my Lord] was substituted the context of some of these citations, notably Ps.
when the word was read aloud) and dn. The 132:10 (131:10 LXX), which suggests to Dupont
former word refers to God, and the latter to the (1979: 15053) that the author of the speech was
speakers lord. The invitation to sit is addressed taking note of the contexts. He concludes,
to Davids lord, not to David himself, and the one
greater than David could only be the Messiah. Whoever composed the form of the speeches
which has been transmitted to us clearly had at
The Hebrew for at my right hand (lmn) is
his disposal written sources: either collections
translated by a plural in the LXX (ek dexin mou)
of scriptural citations, or else earlier written ver-
(see Rese 1969: 59). sions of the speeches which cited more explic-
(This understanding presupposes that David itly and at greater length the scriptural texts on
is the implied author of the psalm; a common which the speakers based their comments and
modern view is that the psalm was composed by arguments.
a subject of David or a later king and said what
Yahweh had promised to the subjects lord.) This observation might count as evidence that the
There must also be some uncertainty about the written speeches in Acts are summaries of fuller
interpretation of the oracle from Yahweh con- oral proclamations.
542

Acts 2:42
Does this statement mean that Jesus was made terpretation in Eph. 2:1317. Then comes the
Lord and Messiah only when he was exalted or phrase from Joel for all whom the Lord our God
that the exaltation proved that he already held will call. Joels plain relative clause (hous kyrios
this status? Certainly for Luke himself Jesus was proskekltai) is altered to an indefinite relative
already the Lord and Messiah before his crucifix- clause (hosous an) that implies indefinite extent
ion, and in the psalm the invitation to sit beside and is plainly inclusive; true, the Lord may call
God is addressed to one who is already Davids only some, but no such implied horizon is in view,
lord. Some think that Luke is recording an earlier and the point of the clause is not to set limits,
tradition of how Christology was understood in but rather to emphasize the gracious initiative of
the early church (Barrett 19941998: 15152). the Lord in announcing salvation. The omission
But the force of the statement is more probably of the latter part of Joel 2:32 LXX may also be
simply to contrast the attitude of those who cruci- significant as stressing the universalistic outlook
fied and rejected Jesus with Gods confirmation here.
of his real status by raising him from death and
exalting him to his right hand (Rowe 2007). His 2:40
baptism in the Gospel corresponds to his heavenly Peter urges his listeners, Save yourselves from this
installation in Acts, both of them preceded by his corrupt generation. The implication is that the
birth as Son of God to rule over the house of Jacob people are sinful and stand under Gods judgment,
forever (Luke 1:3233). but those who respond to Peters words will escape
from the judgment that is coming upon them. The
2:3741 term generation (genea), usually in the form this
2:37 generation (contrast Phil. 2:15) and sometimes
with an adjective (Luke 9:41; 11:29), is a pejorative
The description of the response of the hearers to
term for the Jewish contemporaries of Jesus and
the speech is expressed in language paralleled in
his followers that reflects OT usage (Deut. 32:5,
Ps. 108:16 LXX (109:16 ET), katanenygmenon
t kardia (katanyssomai, to be pierced, stabbed
20; Ps. 78:8 [77:8 LXX]; 95:10 [94:10 LXX]).
[cf. Gen. 34:7]); although the psalm was quoted Wilcox (1965: 30) suggests that a specific text, Ps.
previously in 1:20, it is unlikely that this led to the 12:7 (11:8 LXX), is reflected: You, Lord, will
use of this phrase (pace Wilcox 1965: 61). guard us and preserve us from this generation and
forever. However, the verb save is probably an
2:39 echo of 2:21 (Barrett 19941998: 156), and the
The width of the invitation to repent and be bap- lack of verbal agreement with the psalm makes
tized is emphasized by a return to Joel 2:32 (3:5 the hypothesis doubtful.
LXX). The promise is, of course, the promise The use of souls (psychai) for people is
of the gift of the Spirit (cf. 2:33) made by Joel. common in Acts (e.g., 2:43; 7:14 [cf. Gen. 46:27
For you and your children echoes OT language LXX]; 27:37; see also Rom. 13:1; 1Pet. 3:20; cf.
(Gen. 9:9; 13:15; 17:710; cf. Ps. 18:50). For all Acts 3:23) and reflects a septuagintalism for nepe,
who are far off picks up a phrase from Isa. 57:19 although the idiom is also found in classical Greek
that is also used in Eph. 2:1317. The vision cer- (see TDNT 9:632).
tainly includes Jews in succeeding generations and On baptism in the name of Jesus, see commen-
worldwide. Although some want to confine the tary on Acts 3:6 below.
scope to Jews (Denova 1997: 16975; Wall 2002:
68n129), Barrett (19941998: 15657) holds 2:4247
that potentially the message is also to other races Any links with the OT in this section are con-
(cf. the echo in 22:21; see Clark 2001: 113), and fined to echoes in language. The wonders and mi-
this is rightly confirmed by Pao (2000: 23031). raculous signs performed by the apostles (2:43)
This interpretation can be justified by reference echo the prophecy of Joel and the description of
to one rabbinic interpretation of Isa. 57:19 that the activity of God through Jesus, thus implying
interpreted it of proselytes (Num. Rab. 8:4, cited that these occurrences also are wrought by God
in Lincoln 1990: 147) and by the Christian in- in fulfillment of prophecy and hence serve to ac-
543

Excerpt BealeCarson OTComm PDF

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Excerpt BealeCarson OTComm PDF

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

C o m m e n t a ry

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 1 8/27/07 10:42:49 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 2 8/27/07 10:42:49 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 3 8/27/07 10:42:49 AM

ISBN 10: 0-8010-2693-5

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are the authors

Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 4 8/27/07 10:42:50 AM

Matthew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Philippians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835

Index of Scripture and

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 5 8/28/07 7:58:05 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxiii 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxiv 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxv 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxvi 8/17/07 2:11:14 PM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxvii 8/17/07 2:11:15 PM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd Sec21:xxviii 8/17/07 2:11:15 PM

Introduction mulas occur in speeches addressed to Jewish (or

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 541 8/27/07 10:46:05 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 542 8/27/07 10:46:05 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 543 8/27/07 10:46:05 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 544 8/27/07 10:46:06 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 545 8/27/07 10:46:06 AM

1:21 of Weeks (Exod. 23:16; 34:22; Lev. 23:1521;

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 559 8/27/07 10:46:11 AM

strange tongues (Betz 1968, cited in Evans 1993c: 2:1436

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 560 8/27/07 10:46:11 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 561 8/27/07 10:46:12 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 562 8/27/07 10:46:12 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 563 8/27/07 10:46:12 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 564 8/27/07 10:46:13 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 565 8/27/07 10:46:13 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 566 8/27/07 10:46:14 AM

It is often asserted that Peter desires to prove 2:30

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 567 8/27/07 10:46:14 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 568 8/27/07 10:46:14 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 569 8/27/07 10:46:15 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 570 8/27/07 10:46:15 AM

BealeCarson_OTComm_BKB_djm.indd 571 8/27/07 10:46:15 AM

You might also like