A gold mine for students of the NT

I am only one chapter away from finishing the revision of cross references in the book of Luke.* It is slow and fascinating work. One of the books I am using is Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, editors, Baker Academic, 2007. It discusses all of the OT quotations in the NT, as well as many of the allusions and "echoes". It is a wonderful tool. Each quotation is examined through six different lenses:

• NT context
  
• OT context
  
• General context within Judaism
• Textual questions
• Usage of the OT passage by the NT author
• Theological use
  

The book springs from the fact that the New Testament was not written in a vacuum. All of the original participants--writers, characters in the text, the hearing audience--were immersed in the Jewish culture which, in many ways, revolved around the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) and its Greek translation, the Septuagint.

In fact, the greatest motivation we have for this type of study comes from Jesus himself: "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).

Our lack of familiarity with the Law, Prophets and Writings hinders us from understanding the rich nuances of the NT authors. This commentary is one valuable way of "turning on the lights" for us as we read the NT in the 21st century.

Let me share an example from my recent cross reference journey. In Luke 23:31, Jesus says to the crowd which is lamenting his imminent death: "For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?" What is going on here? The commentary offers this suggestion: "The proverb...is best explained in terms of the green wood representing Jesus and the dry wood standing for the Jews. The basic idea is that dry wood burns more easily than green wood" (p. 394). The authors (David Pao and Eckhard Schnabel) explain that, in the OT, faithful Israel is often pictured as a green and fruitful plant (see Isa 5:1; Jer 11:16; Hos 10:1). Unfaithful Israel is described as dry and unfruitful (see Isa 37:27; Hos 9:16; Joel 1.12). The conclusion: "If God allows Jesus, who is innocent, the 'green wood,' to suffer the fate that Jerusalem is preparing for him, what will be the fate of Jerusalem, the 'dry wood.'?"

The exhaustive "Index of Scripture and Other Ancient Writings" allows the user of this book to "backtrack" from the OT to the NT. There are also generous bibliographies for each book of the NT.

The Vida Nova publishing house has acquired the rights to do a Portuguese edition of this mammoth 1200-page work. I can hardly wait...

* The cross references will become part of the new Vida Nova Study Bible when it launches next year in Brazil.