History of Biblical Interpretation, Volume 1: From the Old ...

Society of Biblical Literature
Publication Notice
History of Biblical Interpretation,
Volume 1: From the Old Testament
to Origen
Henning Graf Reventlow; translated by
Leo G. Perdue
From the very beginning, Holy Scripture has always been interpreted
Scripture, and its interpretation determined the development and the his-
tory of both early Judaism and the first centuries of the Christian church.
In this volume, the first of four on the History of Biblical Interpretation,
readers wil discover how the earliest interpreters of the Bible made the
Scriptures come alive for their times—within the contexts and under the
influences of Hellenism, Stoicism, and Platonism, as well as the inter-
pretive methods developed in Alexandria. Particular attention is paid
to innerbiblical interpretation (within the Hebrew Bible itself and in the
New Testament’s reading of the Hebrew Bible), as wel as to the interpretive practices reflected in the translation of
the Septuagint and the writings of Qumran, Philo, the early rabbis, the apostolic fathers Barnabas and Clement, and
early Christian leaders such as Justin Martyr, Marcion, Irenaeus, and Origen.
Henning Graf Reventlow is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Exegesis and Theology, Faculty of Protestant
Theology, University of the Ruhr, Bochum, Germany. He is the author or editor of numerous volumes, including
The Authority of the Bible and the Rise of the Modern World (Fortress); Problems of Old Testament Theology in the
Twentieth Century (Fortress); and Creative Biblical Exegesis: Christian and Jewish Hermeneutics through the Centuries
(JSOT Press).
◆ Resources for Biblical Study 50 ◆ 978-1-58983-202-2 ◆ paperback, $29.95 ◆ ix + 243 ◆ November 2009
Hardback edition available from Brill Academic Publishers (www.bril .nl)
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Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Biblical Interpretation within the Bible
1.1. The Work of Redactors
1.2. Threats as Words of Salvation
1.3. The Torah as a Norm for Redaction and Interpretation
1.4. Historicizing and Idealizing Interpretation
1.5. Redaction as Interpretation
2. Between the Testaments
2.1. Translation as Interpretation: The Septuagint
2.2. Early Jewish Interpretation: The Qumran Scrol s
2.3. The Philosophers’ Interpretation of Homer and Hesiod
2.4. Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture: Philo of Alexandria
3. The Old Testament in the New
3.1. The Kingdom of God Has Drawn Near: Jesus Christ
3.2. Primitive Christian Explanations of the Christ-Event
3.3. The Scripture Is Written “for Our Sake”: Paul
3.4. The Promise Is Fulfilled: Matthew
3.5. The Old Testament Is Prophecy about Christ: The Sermons of the Book of Acts
3.6. Christ Surpasses the Old Testament Institutions: The Epistle to the Hebrews
3.7. A Christian Visionary in the Succession of the Prophets: The Apocalypse of John
3.8. A Refutation in the New Testament: The Letter of 2 Thessalonians
4. The Early Centuries of the Common Era
4.1. Further Development of the Torah: Early Rabbinic Interpretation of the Bible
4.2. The Apostolic Fathers
4.2.1. The Old Testament Is Only for Christians: The Letter of Barnabas
4.2.2. A Letter of Exhortation Based on the Old Testament: The Letter of 1 Clement
4.3. Early Apologetics: Justin Martyr
4.4. The Abrogation of the Old Testament? Marcion and His Program
4.5. Harmony of the Testaments: Irenaeus of Lyon
4.6. The Way of the Soul toward Perfection: Origen
Summary
Selected Resources and Readings
Index of Names and Places
Index of Subjects
Index of Biblical References

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