We know that there are lots of places in the New Testament where the Old Testament is quoted by Jesus or Paul or somebody else. Psalm 118:22 is quoted by Jesus during Holy Week (Matthew 21:42-44), but is also referred to indirectly in Matthew 16:18 (by Jesus in response to the Confession of St Peter). And then Paul picks up on it later in Ephesians 2:19-22.
But I've been finding it surprising (although I don't know why) that New Testament writers quoted other earlier New Testament writers, and Old Testament writers quoted earlier Scriptures.
For example, the canticle in the Service of Prayer and Preaching (LSB 261) is from Isaiah 12: "The Lord God is my Strength and my Song, and He has become my Salvation." But that is a quote of Psalm 118:14. And the psalm quotes the canticle sung centuries before on the east side of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:2).
John (Revelation 21:5) quotes Jesus' statement, "Behold, I am making all things new." Paul (who wrote before John) brings that up at the end of 2 Corinthians 5. That's why I like so much that Mel Gibson's movie put that quote in the mouth of Jesus on the way to the cross.
We know the words in the catechism from Mark 16:16 about baptism. But I just noticed recently that John includes that same statement when he records Jesus' catechesis on baptism (John 3:18, as He spoke to Nicodemus).
I knew Jesus would often apply OT Scriptures to Himself. But His preaching would also be based on OT Scripture. For example, in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) one of the things He says is based on Psalm 37's theme (vv 9-11) about the meek inheriting the earth.
When the Babylonian captives returned to Jerusalem, they prayed and confessed their sin and listened to the Bible readings. Their words (recorded in Nehemiah 9) included the confession (v 17) that God is "gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness" which is a quote from the prophet Joel (2:13) three centuries earlier. There are also lines in their confession which sound almost identical to phrases from Psalm 78, as well as the whole overall shape of Nehemiah 9 being very similar to Psalm 78.
Another example: Psalm 90 (written by Moses) is quoted in the Isaiah 40 passage about the grass withering and the flower fading. Then later Jesus refers to this in the Sermon on the Mount (end of Matthew 6).
These are just a few of the "copycat" examples I've noticed recently. I guess the reason I never saw these things before (and the reason I see so few now) is that I know so little of my Bible. But when I do notice these things, it's neat to see how the inspiration of Scripture is so much just the repetition of the words God has given before. And it underscores the importance of thoroughly knowing those words -- memorizing those words -- so that they become our own too.
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Hi Susan ... Jus t popped by to see you.
ReplyDeleteI'm teaching a class at a small private school on composition, but now we are doing poetry for a bit. I was using Veith's book, _REading Between the Lines_ about English lit for my notes and used the portion about Parallelism in the scriptures. Not just in Psalms, but throughout.
As far as Psalms and poetry goes, he pointed out that Hebrew poetry is the only poetry that is completely translatable, they were inspired to write without depending on figures of speech.
the kids were impressed that God could be so far sighted... :)
Brenda in Wallowa