ASPECTS OF
PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS
ALLAN M. HARMON
v
CONTINUING
study is being given to the importance of
Old
Testament quotations in the New Testament, and
several
significant works have appeared in recent years.1 On
the
Pauline use of the Old Testament the fullest study in
recent
times is that of E. E. Ellis, who concludes that the
significance
of the Old Testament for Paul's theology "can
hardly
be overestimated."2 While studies such as Ellis', which
consider
the Pauline usage in its totality, must be prosecuted,
yet
detailed work requires to be carried out by following a
more
selective approach. This can be done by concentrating
attention
on a particular section of the Pauline writings or
by
an examination of the way in which Paul employed quota-
tions from a
particular Old Testament book. For this present
study3
the second method has been adopted, and attention
will
be directed to some limited aspects of the use of Psalter
quotations
by Paul. Approximately one-third of all the New
Testament
quotations of the Old Testament are made by
Paul,
and of these about one-fifth are from the Psalter. Only
the
prophecy of Isaiah is used more frequently by him.
The impact of C. H. Dodd's study4
on the use of the Old
Testament
in the New is easily discernible on subsequent
1 E. g., E. E. Ellis, Paul's Use of the Old Testament,
Edinburgh, 1957;
S.
Kistemaker, The
Psalm Citations in the Epistle to the Hebrews,
1961;
E. D. Freed, Old Testament Quotations in
the Gospel of John,
1965;
R. H. Gundry, The Use of the Old
Testament in St. Matthew's Gospel
with Special
Reference to the Messianic Hope,
2 Op. cit., p. 149.
3 In this article I am utilizing
considerable material which is included
in
my doctoral dissertation, Paul's Use of
the Psalms, submitted to the
Faculty
of
drawn
here are based on the detailed examination of the individual quota-
tions in that
dissertation.
4 C. H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures: The Sub-Structure of New
Testament
Theology,
studies.
When the Pauline Psalter quotations are reviewed,
there
is the opportunity to test Dodd's thesis that the New
Testament
writers selected whole portions of the Old Testa-
ment and that it is
not the detached words, which serve as a
pointer,
but the total context that forms the basis of their
argumentation.
If Dodd's contention is correct, it is of con-
siderable importance for
a correct understanding of many of
the
quotations from the Psalms, which are often held to be
taken
arbitrarily out of their context by Paul.
Qumranic
studies have also added significance to a study
such
as the present one, and in this connection the impetus
created
by the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is along
several
lines. First, the claim is made that the exegetical
method
practiced at
midrash pesher, is very
similar in many cases to New Testa-
ment methods.
Stendahl5 has applied this comparison to the
formula
quotations in Matthew, while both Ellis and Kiste-
maker
do so for the Pauline quotations.6 Secondly, discovery
of
the fragmentary manuscripts 4Q Testimonia and 4Q
Florilegium, when
considered along with a Greek manuscript
which
seems most probably to be a list of testimonies,7 has
influenced
the reopening of the testimony-book hypothesis
associated
with the name of J. Rendel Harris. Thirdly, the
manner
in which the Old Testament is employed in several of
the
Dead Sea Scrolls adds weight to other evidence which
suggests
that we must question the legitimacy of those defini-
tions of quotation in
the New Testament which would restrict
it
to passages from the Old Testament formally acknowledged
as
quotations by the presence of an introductory formula.
The accumulated evidence indicates
that in the literary
world
in New Testament times it was the practice of authors
to
interweave with their own words quotations from other
writers
without any acknowledgment of the source, the readers
being
expected to recognize them as quotations. In defining
what
is meant by "quotation" in the New Testament, con-
5 K. Stendahl,
The
6 Ellis, op. cit., p. 146; Kistemaker, op. cit., p. 73.
7 P. Ryl.
Gk. 460. See C. H. Roberts, Two Biblical
Papyri in the John
Rylands Library
ASPECTS OF
PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS 3
temporary
literary practice must not be allowed so to domi-
nate our thinking
that we fail to do justice to the much broader
concept
of quotation prevailing in the ancient world. For
the
New Testament Swete's definition does not go beyond
the
evidence relating to literary practice in that period and
is
to be accepted as satisfactory: "By passages formally cited
we
understand (1) those which are cited with an introductory
formula
... ; (2) those which, though not announced by a
formula,
appear from the context to be intended as quotations
or
agree verbatim with some context in the O.T."8 In the
present
study the attempt has been made to adhere to Swete's
definition,
and thus, where the context or wording of the
passage
suggests that it is a quotation from the Psalter, it
has
been included in the assessment of Paul's use of the Psalms.
The Pauline usage of the Psalter has
been examined in the
speeches
attributed to Paul in the book of Acts and in the thir-
teen
epistles traditionally ascribed to him (thus including the
Pastorals
but excluding Hebrews). However, the quotations
from
the Psalms are distributed unevenly over the Pauline
speeches
and epistles, being found only in Romans, I and II
Corinthians,
Galatians, and Ephesians, as well as in the
speech
of Paul at Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:16-41). Of these
quotations
the majority occurs in Romans. This is evidently
not
because the Psalter was unknown among other Christians,
but
because the quotations from it suited Paul's purpose
admirably
when he was writing to the Roman church and
blended
harmoniously into the teaching he was seeking to
impart
to the Christians there. Moreover, they added the
authority
of the Old Testament scriptures to that teaching.
A.
THE PSALTER QUOTATIONS AND SCRIPTURE
1. The Text of the Psalter
Paul's
quotations from the book of Psalms cannot be
traced
back to a sole textual source, though the predominant
influence
was clearly the LXX Psalter.9 Out of twenty-seven
8 H. B. Swete,
An Introduction to the Old Testament in
Greek, 2nd ed.;
9 A list of the quotations,
together with a textual classification, is given
in
the appendix to this article.
4
quotations,
ten are in agreement with the LXX and the He-
brew,
and three in agreement with the LXX against the
Hebrew.
To these must be added six quotations where
the
variation from the LXX is slight, being; due mainly to the
necessity
to adapt a quotation in order to fit a new context.
When
these facts are observed, together with the absence of
any
quotations agreeing with the Hebrew against the LXX,
then
it is obvious how strong the influence of the LXX Psalter
has
been upon him.
In seeking to ascertain the source of
particular quotations,
we
must bear in mind Paul's trilingual background. His
familiarity
with the LXX, which is patent, would doubtless
go
back to childhood days. This would probably be true
whether
he was brought up in
in
LXX
among the Jews in
the
recent finds of portions of the LXX at Muraba'at.11 But
when
we speak of the LXX as the source of so many of Paul's
quotations
we should bear in mind that in pre-Christian times
the
Pentateuch was the only part of the LXX which possessed
a
more or less stereotyped text, for the Greek text of other
sections
of the Old Testament was very fluid.
Because of its place in the worship of
the Greek Diaspora
and
in the Christian church, the text of the LXX, it appears,
has
been subjected to a number of recensions, and
"the possi-
bility of variant
readings is more obvious here than anywhere
else
owing to the need of copying and recopying the Psalter
for
use in the synagogue and church liturgy."12 However, on
10 See his
11 A. C. Sundberg,
"The Old Testament of the Early Church," Harvard
Theological
Review,
LI (1958), 213. On the trilingual milieu in first century
Journal of
Biblical Literature,
LXXXIII (1964), 404—408; and for a full
discussion
on the dissemination of a knowledge of Greek among all strata
of
Palestinian Jews in New Testament times, J. N. Sevenster,
Do You
Know Greek? How
Much Greek Could the First Jewish Christians Have
Known?,
13 B. J. Roberts, The Old Testament Text and Versions: The
Hebrew
Text in
Transmission and the History of the Ancient Versions,
1951,
pp. 184 f.
the
occasions when Paul deviates from the LXX in quoting
from
the Psalter, it does not seem that this is due to the use
of
variant LXX renderings, for none of his variations agrees
with
any known LXX manuscript. Even though manuscript
evidence
is lacking at present, the fact that recensional varia-
tions had commenced
prior to New Testament times makes
this
a possible solution.
The employment by Paul of targums is another possible
explanation
for variations both from the LXX and the MT.
Wilcox
has rightly warned against treating any "aberrant"
Old
Testament quotation as a casual use of Scripture "without
first
attempting to determine whether its form can be traced
in
other textual traditions of the Old Testament, such as the
Palestinian
Targumim."13 The Targum on the Psalms
(along
with
that of Job) contains many more variants from the MT
than
other Targums,14 while its style suggests that it is really
"an
eclectic combination of a number of Targumim."15 There
is
only one case among Paul's quotations from the Psalter
where
there may possibly be targumic influence, this being
in
Ephesians
4:8. Because of the widespread support for the
contention
that Paul is here citing the Targum, a fuller dis-
cussion of this point
is apposite.
In quoting from Psalm 68:18 Paul
deviates from the MT
in
that he substitutes the verb "gave" for "received":
"When
he
ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave
gifts
to men." Repeatedly the statement is made that Paul
is
here simply adopting the rendering of the Aramaic Targum.
For
example, F. F. Bruce says: "The change . . . is intentional;
Paul
adopts this reading because it alone fits his context;
but
where did he get it from? The answer is — from a Targum,
or
traditional paraphrase of the Hebrew Old Testament in
the
Aramaic vernacular.''16
13
M. Wilcox, The Semitisms of Acts,
14 W. Bacher,
"Targum," The Jewish Encyclopedia, XII,
1906,
62.
15 B. J. Roberts, op. cit., p. 209.
16 F. F. Bruce, in comments on a.
paper by B. F. C. Atkinson, "The
Textual
Background of the Use of the Old Testament by the New,"
Journal of the
Transactions of the Victoria Institute, LXXIX (1947), 60.
More
recently Bruce has said that "if this secondary reading [i. e., the
6
A very fanciful interpretation is
given to Psalm 68:18 in
the
Targum, which refers it to Moses in his ascent to
Mount
Sinai
to receive the Law. S. R. Driver's translation of the
Targum rendering is as
follows: "Thou didst ascend to the
firmament,
0 Moses the prophet; thou didst take captivity
captive;
thou didst teach the words of the Law; thou didst
give
gifts to the children of men: but the rebellious ones who
become
proselytes, and repent, upon them resteth the Shekinah
of
the glory of the LORD God."17 A similar rendering of the
verse,
though more literal, is found in the Syriac Peshitta
Old
Testament. Driver was inclined to accept the view that
the
Peshitta had come under Jewish influence at this
point,18
but
it is more likely that the Peshitta reading arose
under the
influence
of the New Testament version of the Psalm, or else
independently.
Recently Lindars has asserted that it is pre-
carious
to cite the Peshitta as supporting the Targum, and
has
pointed out how easily in Syriac, especially in the Estran-
When a comparison is made between the Targum rendering
and
Ephesians 4:8, it is apparent that a completely different
interpretation
of the passage is given in the two places. The
only
thing that is identical is the use of the verb "gave."
It
seems doubtful, therefore, that the claim that Paul was
citing
from the Targum version can be substantiated. The
admission
must be made that Paul may have been acquainted
with
the Jewish interpretation of the verse, but it would
seem
to be coincidental that the word "gave" occurs in both,
in
view of the essential difference in meaning and lack of
other
close verbal affinity. It is best to regard this as an
instance
of deliberate alteration by Paul in order to bring
out
the full meaning of the passage.
Despite widespread support for the
contention that Paul
Targum] had not been
available to him the first [the rendering of Ps.
68:18]
would not have been unsuitable . . .": The
Epistle to the Ephesians:
A Verse-by-
Verse Exposition,
17 S. R. Driver, "Notes on
Three Passages in
Expositor, IX, Third
Series (1889), 22.
18 Ibid.
19 B. Lindars,
New Testament Apologetic: The Doctrinal
Significance of
the Old
Testament Quotations,
has
been influenced by the Targum in Ephesians 4:8, it
cannot
be
substantiated that he was citing from it, and as this is
the
only case where there is any resemblance between the
variations
from the MT in his Psalter quotations and the
Aramaic
Targums, the conclusion must be drawn that the in-
fluence of these upon
the text of Paul's quotations was neg-
ligible. Nor is there
any evidence to suggest that Greek
Targums were employed
by Paul, though the possibility of
the
existence of such Targums must not be overlooked.20
Quotation from memory is an
explanation which is often
advanced
to explain variations from the MT and the LXX in
quotations.
It must have been difficult to find readily a
reference
in a papyrus roll,21 and though the use of codices
doubtless
facilitated the finding of particular passages, yet
it
seems likely that the widespread use of codices by the
Christian
church did not come until after the New Testament
period.22
Thus it is most probable that many of the quotations
in
the New Testament were made from memory. The fact
that
the quotations from the Psalms in the New Testament
have
a tendency to be cited most accurately of all is by no
means
inconsistent with quotation from memory.23 In that
era
memory was practiced and relied upon to a great extent,
especially
among the Jews,24 and it would not be surprising
if
Paul and the other New Testament writers followed the
common
practice. Literary customs of that period should not
be
judged by those of the present day.
The application of this explanation to
Paul's Psalter quota-
tions faces certain
difficulties. One is that at times accurate
quotations
from the LXX stand alongside ones with significant
20 Cf. L. L. Morris, The New Testament and the Jewish Lectionaries,
21 F. G. Kenyon, Books and Readers in Ancient
1932,
p. 66.
22 C. C. McCown,
"Codex and Roll in the New Testament," Harvard
Theological
Review,
XXXIV (1941), 235; B. M. Metzger, The
Text of the
New Testament:
Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration,
1964,
p. 6.
23 Atkinson, op. cit., p. 41.
24 Cf. B. Gerhardson,
Memory and Manuscript: Oral Tradition and
Written
Transmission in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity,
1961,
pp. 71ff.
variations
(e. g., Rom. 3:13-14, where the quotations in verse
13
are accurate, but that in verse 14 is a variant text). An-
other
is that on at least one occasion Paul quotes two consecu-
tive verses, the
first of which contains several alterations from
the
LXX, but the subsequent verse is a completely accurate
citation
of the LXX (
word
order and other minor variations may be explained by
memory
citation, yet it is difficult to believe that many of the
major
variations are to be explained in this way.
Another factor to which due weight
must be given is that
Paul
often combined the functions of appellant and interpreter
of
Scripture. G. T. Purves, in his inaugural lecture at
Prince-
ton,
expressed himself in this way with reference to Paul:
"He is ever bent on letting the
light of the gospel on the
Scripture, as well as on supporting
the gospel by the Scrip-
ture. He
never pretended that he had derived his doctrine
from the Scripture. He always claimed
that he had derived
it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Then, however, he saw
the meaning of Scripture, and could
both appeal to it and
explain it. His exegetical method
therefore was determined
by his practical purpose.... When
quoting, he is often
interpreting. Hence some of his
striking combinations of
passages. Hence his change of
phraseology when occasion
required. Hence his attitude now of
reverence for its letter,
and now of apparent disregard of its
letter and attention
solely to its essential meaning."25
This
factor appears to be the most satisfactory explanation
of
the variations in I Corinthians 3:20 and Ephesians 4:8, and
may
also explain those in Romans 3:14 and Romans 11:9.
The
remaining quotations, apart from those cases where the
text
has been altered to fit a new context26 or perhaps to
quotation
from memory,27 may have had their origin in an-
other
textual tradition, either in a recension of the LXX
or
possibly
in a Greek Targum. The variations, then, which are
manifested
in Paul's quotations as compared with the LXX
Psalter
appear to be accounted for by a combination of
factors
rather than a single one.
25 G. T. Purves,
"
Review, XIII (1893),
19.
26 Cf. Acts 13:35; Rom. 3:11; Rom.
3:18.
27 Cf. Rom. 3:20; Rom. 15:9; Rom.
15:11; I Cor. 15:25; Gal. 2:16.
ASPECTS OF
PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS 9
2. The Testimony-Book Hypothesis
Comment is necessary on the current
discussion of the
testimony-book
hypothesis when dealing with Paul's Psalter
quotations,
for Rendel Harris, who developed this theory
postulated
in germ form by Hatch, appealed to several
sections
in the Pauline epistles involving quotations from the
Psalter
as proof of his theory. Many have criticized the
theory
as originally formulated, but at present the whole
question
is being reconsidered. This reconsideration rests
largely
on the basis of the papyrus fragment P. Ryl. Gk. 460,
which
could well be a fourth-century copy of a much earlier
list
of Old Testament prophetic passages, and the
manuscripts
4Q Testimonia and 4Q Florilegium.
The former
of
these manuscripts consists of Old Testament texts strung
together
without comment, while the latter comprises at least
two
Old Testament passages with an interpretative comment
after
the first one.
It is often maintained that the
Psalter quotations in Romans
3:10
ff. are drawn, not directly from the Psalter itself, but
from
a selection already in existence. While it is true that
some
of the same texts, though in different order, are found
later
in Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho,28 yet it is more
likely
that Justin is dependent on Paul, rather than that
both
are drawing upon a testimony book. There is no other
evidence
to substantiate Paul's alleged dependence on another
document
at this point.
Rendel
Harris himself cited29 the evidence from Justin
Martyr's
Dialogue with Trypho
in his attempt to prove that
in
making his quotations in Romans 10-15 ff. Paul was de-
pending
upon written testimonies. In that passage Isaiah 53:1
is
closely associated with Psalm 19.4. He also linked the use
of
Psalm 68:18 in Ephesians 4:8 with the citation of the
same
passage by Justin Martyr.30 The unconvincing nature
of
Harris' observations is shown by the fact that in the latter
case
he alleges that the variations in Justin Martyr are too
28 Dialogue, XXVII.
29 J. R. Harris, Testimonies, II,
30 Ibid., p. 39.
striking
to allow that he was quoting from Ephesians. If this
were
correct, it should follow that the variations are too great
to
allow for the use by both Paul and Justin Martyr of a
single
written source, but this is precisely what Harris con-
tends
took place.
A number of the Pauline quotations
from the Psalms occur
in
other New Testament books. This shows the currency of
the
quotations, but the textual variations among them render
it
extremely difficult to see them as coming from one testimony-
book
source. If we take, for example, Psalm 110:1, which is
quoted
frequently in the New Testament, we find that it
appears
in five different forms. Admittedly, Paul replaces the
LXX
e]k deciw?n on three
occasions by e]n deci%?, which also
appears
in Hebrews alongside an accurate citation of the
LXX
text of the verse. However, the existence of a testimony
book
containing the quotation in this form is not the only
solution
which could be advanced to explain this form of
the
text. It is one thing to assert that Paul is following a
tradition
of exegesis; it is another to maintain that this tradi-
tion must of
necessity have been written.
Substantial evidence
to
support the testimony-book hypothesis is still lacking. For
the
present it is much more satisfactory to agree with T. W.
Manson's
observation that "the earliest form of the 'Testimony
Book'
was determined by the form of the primitive preaching
and
the book itself was written on the 'fleshy tablets' of the
preacher's
heart."31
That some portions of the Psalter had
an important place
in
the apostolic preaching is patent, and the fact that Paul
and
John can quote different parts of the same verse is by no
means
accidental.32 The same applies to the use of Psalm
16:10
by both Peter and Paul.33 These facts are not surprising
considering
that Paul claimed that the gospel he preached
was
the same as that proclaimed by the other apostles (I Cor.
15:11),
and therefore common interdependent exegesis of Old
31 T. W. Manson,
"The Argument from Prophecy," Journal
of Theological
Studies, XLVI (1945),
132.
32 Jn. 2:17;
33 Acts 2:27; 13:35.
ASPECTS OF
PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS 11
Testament
passages is only to be expected. In the case of
Psalm
69 it is most probable that Paul and John were giving
expression
to such a common exegetical tradition in regard
to
this Psalm, especially when it is borne in mind that other
verses
from the same Psalm occur in Matthew, Mark, John,
Acts,
and Romans;34 but this exegetical tradition appears on
the
face of present evidence to have been oral. Moreover, the
fact
that so many of Paul's quotations from the Psalms do
not
occur in any of the non-Pauline books of the New Testa-
ment is a pertinent
reminder that the hypothesis of a written
testimony
book or of an unwritten exegetical tradition in
regard
to certain Old Testament texts fails to account for
many
of the Pauline quotations. If all, or at least most, of
his
quotations were drawn from a testimony book, it is sur-
prising that other New
Testament writers do not make use
of
more of these passages than they do. Therefore Hunter is
correct
when, in reference to an anthology of testimonia, he
maintains:
"Paul was too fully saturated in the Old Testa-
ment to be wholly
dependent upon such a collection. The
words
and phrases of the Old Testament had become so much
a
part of his mental furniture that he could pick and choose
quotations
to suit his purpose."35 Consequently, it is not
difficult
to believe that Paul himself first selected the catena
in
Romans 3:10 if. when his evident deep knowledge of the
Psalter
and width of selection from it is observed.
It is clear that so far as the Pauline
Psalter quotations are
concerned
the testimony book hypothesis cannot adequately
account
for them. The textual variations in quotations of
the
same passage shed doubt on the theory, and by it the
reason
for Paul's choice from such a range of Psalms cannot
be
explained. As it is often presented, the hypothesis fails to
take
sufficiently into consideration the fact that Paul was
deeply
versed in the Psalter and was able to apply particular
passages
with penetrating understanding to the truths he was
enunciating.
34 Mt. 27:48; Mk. 15:36; Jn.
15:25; Acts 1:20a; Rom. 11:9 f.
35 A. M. Hunter, Paul and His Predecessors, 2nd ed.;
pp.
63 f.
3. The Introductory Formulae
The Pauline Psalter quotations are
introduced by the same
range
of formulae as is employed in the New Testament in
general
and as Paul uses in regard to passages from other Old
Testament
books. While not all the Psalter quotations are
introduced
by formulae, yet there are some significant features
in
respect to those that are used. It is hardly surprising that
the
verb gra<fw is used most
frequently, often in the perfect
tense,
so that the emphasis falls not just on a past divine
action,
but on the continuing results of that action.
The use of ge<graptai in this connection is highly sig-
nificant, for it is
employed in the case of the Psalms, in which
the
element of subjective experience enters more fully than
in
most other sections of the Old Testament where revelation
is
from God to man ab
extra. Vos has commented on this
"subjective
revelation" in the following way: "By this is
meant
the inward activity of the Spirit upon the depths of hu-
man
sub-consciousness causing certain God-intended thoughts
to
well up therefrom. . . . Although brought up through
a
subjective
channel, we none the less must claim for it absolute
divine
authority; otherwise it could not properly be called
revelation.
In this subjective form revelation and inspiration
coalesce."36
Thus revelation which was given by God in this
manner
is placed on exactly the same level as objective revela-
tion, and the authority
of the Psalmodic passages is in no
way
less than that of the remainder of the Old Testament.
It
should also be remembered that quotations drawn in the
main
from the Psalter can be designated as "law" by Paul in
Romans
3:19. In the catena of quotations in the preceding
verses
of that chapter there is none from the "law" in the
strict
sense, the Pentateuch.37 This again shows that the in-
trinsic authority of
revelation is not affected by the channel
through
which it was mediated.
36 G. Vos,
Biblical Theology: Old and New Testaments,
1959,
p. 21.
37
The Mishnah also employs the word "law" to
refer to the Scriptures
as
a whole. Cf. B. M. Metzger, "The Formulas Introducing Quotations
of
Scripture in the NT and the Mishnah," Journal of Biblical Literature,
LXX
(1951), 302.
On
four occasions Paul uses le<gw to introduce
Psalter
quotations.
In the first of these (Acts 13:35) God is the
subject
of the verb, yet in Psalm 16, from which the citation
is
made, the words are addressed to God. Clearly they can
be
considered as God's words because they form part of the
text
of the Old Testament.38 In two other cases (
11:9)
David is mentioned as the subject of the verb, though
this
does not in any way diminish the authority of the quota-
tion. From Romans
15:9ff., where a variety of formulae is
employed,
it is apparent that the authority of an Old Testa-
ment passage was in
no way lessened when the human author
was
specified.
The other Pauline Psalter quotations
are either introduced
by
an exceedingly brief formula (e. g., menou?n ge,
10:18;
kai> pa<lin, Rom. 15:11) or
cited without any intro-
ductory formula at all.
The brevity of formula in the Pauline
usage
can be compared with a similar usage in the Mishnah,
though
in general the Pauline and New Testament usage have
closer
affinity to Qumranic literature in this respect than
to
the
later Mishnaic.39
B.
PAULINE HERMENEUTICS AND THE PSALTER
1. Paul and Jewish Exegetical
Methods
It is instructive to make a comparison
between Paul's
interpretation
of the Psalter and that represented in Jewish
teaching,
both rabbinic and Qumranic. If attention is directed
first
to the rabbinic interpretation, it is noticeable that Paul
deviates
from rabbinic method as well as from rabbinic
exegesis.
The claim has frequently been made that in certain
instances,
such as Acts 13.34 f. and Romans 4:6ff., Paul can
use
a quotation from the Psalter only by employing the
second
of Hillel's rules, namely, analogy of expressions. In
38 Cf. on this point our Lord's
attribution of words to God which in the
Old
Testament are not spoken by him (Matt. 19:5).
39 Cf. Metzger, "The
Formulas Introducing Quotations of Scripture in
the
NT and the Mishnah," op. cit., p. 305; J. A. Fitzmeyer,
"The Use of
Explicit
Old Testament Quotations in
New
Testament," New Testament Studies,
VII (1960-61), 305.
the
former of the cases just mentioned, Paul, after quoting
from
Isaiah 55:3b, "I will give you the holy and sure blessings
of
David," proceeds to cite Psalm 15(16):10b, "Thou wilt
not
let thy holy one see corruption." There are certainly
verbal
connections between the two passages (dw<sw
in both
verses,
and to>n o!sion with ta>
o!sia), but although prima
facie it may appear
that Paul was indulging in rabbinic prac-
tice by linking two
passages with the same catchword,40 yet
a
closer examination of the passage suggests otherwise. The
Isaianic passage is a
reflection on the original promise in
II
Samuel 7:16, and the adjectival form ta> pista< in the
LXX
recalls the verb pisto<w
used in the Samuel passage.
In
Isaiah 55:3 the promise is stated in general terms only,
and
in his speech Paul proceeds to show that this promise
could
not have been fulfilled were it not for the fact that
the
Messiah rose from the dead. The eternal covenant would
not
be an eternal one if the Messiah was subject to corrup-
tion. The citation
from Psalm 16 is not only then to show
the
general connection of the promise to David with Jesus,
but
also probably to demonstrate how the incorruptibility of
Jesus
following his resurrection fulfills the promised prolonga-
tion of a reigning
heir in II Samuel 7.41 Hence, the linking of
Psalm
16 with the preceding quotation is not merely because
of
a formal, verbal connection but because the one of whom
the
Psalm speaks was raised from the dead as a signal demon-
stration of the fact
that he was the Messiah, the one in whom
the
sure promises of the Davidic covenant were fulfilled.
The other passage involving a
quotation from the Psalter
concerning
which the allegation is made that Paul is following
rabbinic
exegetical practice is Romans 4:6 ff. Having spoken
of
Abraham's faith as being reckoned for righteousness Paul
adduces
also David's position to show that Abraham's case
was
by no means an isolated one. Among other writers
Barrett,
while admitting that Paul's argument is "more than
exegetical
quibbling and playing with words," claims that
40 Cf. the comments of K. Lake
and H. J. Cadbury, The Beginnings of
Christianity, IV,
on the Acts of
the Apostles,
41 Cf. D. Goldsmith, "Acts 13
33—37: A Pesher on II Samuel 7," Journal
of Biblical
Literature,
LXXXVII (1968), 321—324.
Paul
proceeds by the word "reckon" (logi<zesqai) from
Genesis
15:6 to Psalm 32:1 f., and that "too much is made
to
hang upon verbal links."42 Such an approach fails to
recognize
how deeply Paul has penetrated to the meaning of
this
whole Psalm, for it is permeated with expressions of con-
fession, the
blessedness of free pardon, and the consequent
joy
of the forgiven sinner. F. F. Bruce rightly notes: “. . . the
link
is not a merely formal one: the non-imputation of sin,
in
which the psalmist rejoices, amounts to the positive imputa-
tion of
righteousness or pronouncement of acquittal, for there
can
be no verdict of ‘not proven’ in God's law court.”43
Rabbinic methodology, which connects
passages having
only
a verbal link, is nowhere in evidence in Paul's use of
the
Old Testament. In other ways too, such as his use of
merged
quotations as in Romans 3:10 if., Paul's methodology
deviates
from rabbinic practice, while the teaching he draws
from
various passages stands often in marked contrast to
that
found in rabbinic sources. In respect to a few citations
there
is some superficial similarity between Paul's interpreta-
tion and that of the
Jewish teachers. However, in the majority
of
the Pauline quotations from the Psalter there is a marked
dissimilarity.
Oesterley, after a careful study of the way in
which
the Psalter was expounded by the Jews, came to the
following
conclusion: "There is no getting away from the fact
that,
in the main, Jewish exegesis of the Psalms is often
artificial,
sometimes trivial."44 For the passages for which
we
also have the Pauline exposition, this conclusion is un-
doubtedly valid. In
contrast to the forced and arbitrary
exegesis
which characterizes the work of the Jewish inter-
preters Paul's
understanding of the Psalter quotations is
marked
by an assessment of each passage within its immediate
context
and in the light of progressive revelation.
The question of Qumranic
influence on Paul's interpreta-
42 C. K. Barrett, From First Adam to Last: A Study in Pauline
Theology,
Romans,
43 F. F. Bruce, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: An
Introduction and
Commentary,
44
W. O. E. Oesterley, The Psalms in the Jewish Church,
p.
197.
tion of the Psalter
must also be faced. From the eleven
caves
of
fragmentary
commentaries on a few Psalms. There are four
of
these ancient commentaries presently available for study.
Taking
them in their numerical order there is first the com-
mentary on portions of
Psalms 1 and 2 in 4Q Florilegium,
published
by Allegro.45 Much more extensive is the com-
mentary on Psalm 37 (4Q
p Ps 37), parts of which were pub-
lished originally by
Allegro, and a reconstructed text of which
Stegemann has issued more
recently.46 Two other fragmentary
commentaries
were found in Cave 1 at
by
Barthelemy and Milik in
1955,47 consisting of some brief
comments
on Psalm 57 and a somewhat fuller interpretation
of
Psalm 68.
It is impossible to say whether the
discovered
so far are portions of exegesis covering the whole
Psalter,
or merely commentaries on a few isolated Psalms.
What
is clear, however, is that these portions are very similar
in
style to the other
books
and display the same approach to the text. The use of
the
same forced interpretative methods as used in rabbinic
literature
suggested to Brownlee the designation "midrash,"
with
the term "pesher" added in order to
distinguish it from
other
types of Jewish midrash.48 Since Stendahl
took up the
term
"midrash pesher"
in his discussion of the Old Testament
formula
quotations in Matthew,49 it has become common to
45 J. M. Allegro, "Fragments
of a
MIDRAMM,"
Journal of Biblical Literature,
LXXVII (1958), 350—354.
46 J. M. Allegro, "A Newly
Discovered Fragment of a Commentary on
Psalm
XXXVII from Qumran,"
(1954),
69—75; "Further Light on the History of the
Journal of
Biblical Literature,
LXXV (1956), 89—95; H. Stegemann, "Der
Pegser Psalm 37 aus Hohle 4 von Qumran (4 Q p Ps
37)," Revue de Qumran,
IV
(1963), 235—270.
47 D. Barthelemy
and J. T. Milik, Discoveries
in the
I,
48 W. H. Brownlee, "Biblical
Interpretation among the Sectaries of the
the
49 Stendahl,
op. cit.
apply
this term to the exegetical method of the New Testa-
ment writers in
their treatment of the Old Testament.
Several points emerge from a study of
the Pauline Psalter
quotations
in the light of Qumranic methodology. The first
thing
to be observed is that whereas the Qumranic commen-
taries neglect the
sense and context of the original, this is
not
a feature of Paul's use of the Psalter. On the contrary,
the
context is heeded and often reflected in his writing, and it
is
obvious that the apostle is not imposing an arbitrary inter-
pretation on the passage
but seeking to expound and apply
the
principles that are clearly taught in it. Secondly, whereas
there
is considerable manipulation of texts by the Qumranic
commentators,
this procedure is absent from Paul's use of
the
Psalms. It is true that there are some variations from the
MT
and the LXX in his quotations, but most of these are of
minor
significance. Even in passages such as I Corinthians
3:20
and Ephesians 4:8 the word introduced into the text in
each
case is suggested in the immediate context in the Psalter.
Thirdly,
the Qumranic commentaries, including the frag-
mentary ones on the
Psalms, re-interpret the text and apply
it
to an end-time situation introduced by the ministry of the
Teacher
of Righteousness. The Pauline treatment of the
Psalter
stands in striking contrast to this, for one cannot but
be
impressed by the literal exegesis displayed by Paul, over
against
the forced eschatological method of
does
apply passages to his own day, but the teaching contained
in
them was as true for the day in which they were written
as
for New Testament days. The apostle quotes them be-
cause
of the permanent validity of their content, not because
he
was forcing an arbitrary meaning, with relevance exclu-
sively to his own day,
upon them. There are quotations from
several
Psalms which Paul applies to the Messiah. However,
these
are the words not just of a human commentator on the
Scripture,
but an inspired interpreter of it, who was applying
prophetic
teaching of the Psalms to the divine Messiah.
The Psalter quotation most often identified
as a case of
midrash pesher is undoubtedly
Ephesians 4:8. Admittedly
there
is a superficial resemblance between Paul's procedure
there
and the midrash pesher,
though it is apparent that Paul
respects
the context in Psalm 68 from which the quotation is
18
taken.
His application of this verse to the ascension of Christ
must
be seen in the light of his exegetical principles as a
whole,
and cannot be compared with the forced manner in
which
the
Teacher
of Righteousness. In these circumstances it is much
more
satisfactory to avoid referring to Paul's use of the
Psalter
as exemplifying the midrash pesher type
of exegesis,
when,
in spite of some similarities, his method differs so
radically
from that practiced at
clusion, that the
similarities between Pauline and Qumranic
exegetical
practices affect only the periphery of their the-
ologies,50
is certainly valid for the comparison of the Pauline
and
Qumranic interpretation of the Psalter. The
differences
are
so great between Paul's use of the Psalms and that of
the
Paul
has certainly not borrowed his exegetical principles from
are
due to the common background and not to direct influence.
2. Contextual Quotation
Strong indictments have often been
brought against Paul
for
his alleged failure to heed the context of the Old Testa-
ment passages which
he cites.51 An assessment must be made
whether
any claim in this direction insofar as the Pauline
Psalter
quotations are concerned can be substantiated. There
is
also the further question to which an answer is required,
namely,
whether the passages are cited solely for the teaching
contained
in them, or whether they are pointers to their whole
context.
A careful analysis of the Psalter
quotations fails to confirm
the
charge concerning neglect of context. In contrast to the
manner
in which quotations in rabbinic literature and in
the
Dead Sea Scrolls are isolated from their context, Paul
constantly
shows that heed has been paid to the context
from
which his quotations come. This is true even of those
from
the Psalter in Romans 3:10 if., which Edgar claims do
50 Fitzmeyer,
op. cit., p. 332.
51 Cf., as representative of more
recent writers, S. L. Edgar, "Respect
for
Context in Quotations from the Old Testament," New Testament
Studies, IX (1962-63),
56.
not
prove the universality of sin as in most cases they refer
only
to the enemies of Israel.52 This passage is perhaps the
most
significant one to take in order to see whether the claim
made
by Edgar and others can be substantiated. The list of
citations
commences with words from the opening of Psalm 14,
which
depict vividly the sinful condition of the whole world,
and
such a statement includes all to whom it is applicable.
Following
this general assertion Paul adduces passages which
show
that depravity is manifested in concrete ways by various
parts
of the body, with special emphasis on the way in which
the
sinful character of man reveals itself most pointedly in
his
speech. The source of all this diverse disclosure of sin is
traced
finally to the heart (Rom. 3:18). Gifford's comment
on
this catena is most apt: ". . . the passages cited would
bear
all that is laid upon them, even if they were less explicit
as
to universality of sin than some of them are."53
The universal application of these
quotations is made
explicit
in the words of Romans 3:19: "Now we know that
what
things soever the law saith,
it speaketh to them that
are
under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and
all
the world may be brought under the judgment of God"
(ARV).
The law does not only condemn the Jews who
possessed
it, but the Gentiles as well, for clearly Paul regards
the
latter as well as the former as being "under the law."
While
without the Old Testament law, yet the Gentiles
"were
not outside the sphere of the judgment which the
Old
Testament pronounced. This is saying that the descrip-
tions given in those
passages quoted were characteristic of
the
Gentiles as well as of the Jews and the corresponding
judgment
rested upon them to the end that they all might
be
without excuse and be condemned in the sight of God."54
Hence,
a true appreciation of the force of this verse leads
one
to a recognition of the invalid nature of many of the
criticisms
levelled against the Pauline use of the Old Testa-
ment in this section
of his epistles. Moreover, when Paul's
purpose
in adducing this list of Old Testament verses is seen,
52 Ibid.
53 E. H. Gifford, The Epistle of
Introduction,
54 J. Murray, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans: The
English Text with
Introduction,
Exposition and Notes,
I,
20
much
criticism of the way in which he is alleged to have taken
these
verses out of their contexts in the Psalms is also negated.
Paul
has not arbitrarily selected phrases regardless of con-
text,
for in every case the context is consonant with his
purpose.
When each quotation is seen in its
original setting, it is
apparent
that the passage as a whole contains the teaching
which
is often expressed in condensed form in the words
actually
chosen by Paul. In many cases other verses from
the
same passage could conceivably have been chosen which
would
have had the same effect in the argument. No charge
against
the apostle Paul of arbitrarily selecting Psalter quota-
tions and abstracting
them from their contexts can be sub-
stantiated. Repeatedly a
single verse of a Psalm aptly sums
up
the significance of the context from which it is drawn,
and
many of the quotations can be explained adequately only
when
viewed in their original setting.
The closely related question whether a
text is cited to draw
attention
to the whole context has been brought to the fore
by
C. H. Dodd, though the assertion he makes was known to,
and
expressed by, earlier writers.55 Speaking of the New
Testament
writers, Dodd says: "We have seen reason to
suppose
that they often quoted a single phrase or sentence
not
merely for its own sake, but as a pointer to a whole con-
text
— a practice by no means uncommon among contem-
porary Jewish
teachers, as they are reported in the rabbinic
literature."56
In general Dodd believes that this is evidenced
by
the fact that frequently the same Old Testament passage
is
cited by more than one New Testament writer, and often
adjacent
sentences from the same context are quoted. This
thesis
has been challenged by Sundberg,57 who denies that the
citation
of contiguous Old Testament passages by more than
one
New Testament writer necessarily indicates that a wider
55 Cf. E. C. S. Gibson, "The
Sources of
Old
Testament," Expositor, IV,
Second Series (1882), 127; E. G. King,
"
234;
A. Carr, "The Eclectic Use of the Old Testament in the New Testa-
ment," Expositor, XI, Sixth Series (1905), 346.
56 C. H. Dodd, The Old Testament in the New,
Cf.
also his According to the Scriptures, p. 126.
57 A. C. Sundberg,
"On Testimonies," Novum Testamentum, III (1959),
270
ff.
ASPECTS OF
PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS 21
context
is in view. Up to a point Sundberg's criticism of
Dodd's
position is valid, but the fact that repeatedly quota-
tions are drawn from
adjacent sentences in the Old Testament
or
from detached sentences within the same chapter does
show
that the context was well known to the early Christian
writers.
This renders Dodd's hypothesis plausible, especially
when
we consider that many of the early readers of the New
Testament
were extremely well versed in the Old Testament
Scriptures,
so that a single key verse could easily recall for
them
the context from which it came.
An evaluation of Dodd's thesis can be
made only on the
basis
of a detailed examination of the individual quotations.
Some
observations can be made with respect to the Pauline
quotations
from the Psalter. In quite a few cases, such as
the
use of Psalm 36:1 in Romans 3:18 or that of Psalm 32:1
in
Romans 4:7-8, the remainder of the Psalm from which the
verse
comes is extremely relevant to Paul's argument, and
there
are often connections in thought and language between
the
context in Paul's writing and the particular Psalm. One
must
at least allow for the possibility that in these cases a
single
verse may be intended as a pointer to its whole context.
More
definite grounds for supporting Dodd's position come
from
the citation of verses whose application to the point in
question
is inexplicable without an understanding of the
context.
It is difficult to conceive that Paul would employ
such
a verse unless he intended his readers to recall the com-
plete Psalm and thus
appreciate the significance of the cita-
tion. An
illustration of this may be given. In Romans 10:18
Paul
quotes the words of Psalm 19:4, "Their sound has gone
out
into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the
world."
This quotation is applied to the hearing by
of
the message of salvation. To appreciate the significance of
the
quotation the parallelism in, the Psalm must be borne in
mind.
The first part of the Psalm (verses 1–6) is concerned
with
general revelation, while the second part (verses 7–14)
deals
with special revelation.58 When Paul takes over verse 4
of
the Psalm and applies it to the extent to which the Gospel
has
been proclaimed abroad, he is not doing violence to the
context
but rather respecting it. He has chosen the verse
58 Cf. the
discussion on this verse in
22
from
the Psalm which most graphically expresses the universal
character
of God's revelation. Paul's use of this verse is
explicable
only to a reader aware of the context in Psalm 19
and
the parallelism inherent in it. In a case such as this it
seems
most probable that Paul intended the one verse to
recall
the whole Psalm to the mind of the reader.
In three other passages in the Pauline
epistles involving
Psalter
quotations there is more definite evidence to suggest
that
Paul had in mind the fuller context. The first verse of
Psalm
117 is quoted in Romans 15:11 in connection with the
thought
that Christ came to minister in order that the Gentiles
might
glorify God for his mercy. The only other verse in
that
Psalm seems to lie behind the use by Paul of the thoughts
of
truth and mercy in verses 8–9 of the same chapter. Then in
I
Corinthians 3:20 the alteration of tw?n a]nqrw<pwn to tw?n
sofw?n in the
quotation of Psalm 94:11 appears to be Paul's
summing
up of the character of the worldly wise, and so
reflects
the context in the Psalm, where the emphasis is placed
on
the contrast between the ways of God and the ways of
men.
Finally, the knowledge of more of the context of Psalm 4
seems
to be implied by Paul in Ephesians 4:26 than just the
few
words he quotes, for the second part of verse 26 is most
probably
a reflection of further words in that Psalm.
The conclusion to which this evidence
points is that in
some
instances of Psalter quotations Paul does intend to
draw
attention to the whole context and not just to a few
isolated
words. It is difficult to be certain that this is so,
hence
it is wise to approach the question with more caution
than
Dodd has done in stating his position. The Psalter
quotations
taken as a whole do not appear to be mere "proof
texts,"
but when seen in their wider setting add point and
significance
to Paul's arguments. To readers, the majority
of
whom would be well versed in the LXX Psalter, such
quotations
would serve as a pointer to the larger passage.
There
is sufficient evidence to regard at least some of his
quotations
as being indicative of the fact that the wider con-
text
was before the apostle's mind as he wrote and that he
also
wished his readers to recall the whole context and apply
it
to the question under discussion.
Free
ASPECTS OF PAUL'S USE OF THE PSALMS 23
APPENDIX
PAULINE PSALTER QUOTATIONS
Classification:59
1 — in agreement with the LXX and the Hebrew
2 — in agreement with the LXX against
the Hebrew
3 — in agreement with the Hebrew
against the LXX
4 — at variance with the LXX and the
Hebrew where they agree
5 — at variance with the LXX and the
Hebrew where they vary
* — indicates only a slight variation
from the LXX
NT
OT Classification
Acts 13:22 Ps. 89:20 1
13:33 2:7 1
13:35
16:10 4*
Rom. 3:4b 51:4 2
3:11–12 14:2–3 4
3:13a 5:10 1
3:13b
140:4 2
3:14 10:7 5
3:18 36:1 4*
3:20 143:2 4
4:7–8 32:1 2
8:36 44:22 1
10:18 19:4 1
11:9–10 69:22–23 5
15:3 69:9 1
15:9 Ps. 18:49 4*
15:11 117:1 4*
I Cor. 3:20 94:11 4*
10:26 24:1 1
15:25 110:1 4
15:27 8:6 4
II Cor. 4:13
116:10 1
9:9 112:9 1
Gal. 2:16 143:2 4
Eph. 1:22 8:6 4
4:8 68:18 4*
4:26 4:4 1
59
This
classification is that of Ellis, op. cit., p. 150.
:
Chestnut
Hill
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