The Apostle Paul's Use Of Old Testament Scripture

 The Logic of Paul’s use of Deuteronomy 25:4 in 1 Corinthians 9:9-10

In the broader context of Deuteronomy 25, God was concerned with justice even for the most vulnerable. The apostle Paul in making the case that “servants of the gospel who sow spiritual things among people should benefit materially from those same people” analogically uses a Deuteronomic law for a stronger argument.[1] The first approach is in use of a lesser to greater argument (moving from a law about animals to an application of a principle related to humans). In defending the rights of apostles in first Corinthians (“Do we not have the right to our food and drink?” 9:4), Paul makes a comparison by pulling on a universal principle. “He applied an Old Testament law to the issue at hand, insisting that God was concerned about more than an oxen,”[2]  also an integral part of that agrarian society. Even though the Deuteronomic text on the surface deals with an oxen plowing/threshing grain, “the command is not for the oxen in Israel’s day, but it is for our sake.”[3] Another way to say it is that there was a deeper moral principle that undergirded the Deuteronomic law and Paul exegeted a fuller meaning in first Corinthians 9:10.[4]

The second approach is a proverbial use of the text. Commentators “suggest the Deuteronomic text was already understood proverbially” and not written only for the welfare of animals but as advocating for the rights of humans.[5]  “This is how Rabbis could argue that what is true of oxen is all the more true of men.”[6] Paul, then, accurately applied the Deuteronomic text to make a strong case as such:  if the oxen can eat of its labor, the same principle applies to the welfare of those working in ministry. This second approach is the most convincing as it was part of his intertextual approach commonly practiced. Evidence of this can be seen in his use of Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17, (“going far deeper than an explicit quotation.")[7]

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[1]  G. K. Beale, Handbook On The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament: Exegesis And Interpretation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), 67.

[2]  Richard L. Pratt, Holman New Testament Commentary: 1-2 Corinthians, ed., Max Anders, (B&H Publishing Group, 2000), 138, accessed August 23, 2018, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/reader.action?docID=673831&query=1+corinthians

[3] Beale, Handbook, 68.

[4]  Pratt, Commentary, 138.

[5]  Beale, Handbook, 68.

[6]  Leon L. Morris, 1 Corinthians, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, Vol.7. InterVarsity Press (2014): 8, accessed August 23, 2018, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/lib/liberty/reader.action?docID=2030116&query=1+corinthians

[7]  Steven Moyise, Paul and Scripture: Studying The New Testament Use Of The Old Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010), 111-2.

Written by Kevin A. Hall

Problem Passages: New Testament Use of Psalms In The Book Of Hebrews

The ministry of the Psalms gives testimony to a God who is both immanent and personal, who reveals himself throughout biblical history. The Psalms is also a “universal statement about the majesty of Yahweh and the delegated authority of humanity.”[1] It contains some of the most profound sentiments humans have about themselves and God. “It functions to give people opportunity to articulate their uncertainties about their positions as human beings in the world, before drawing them into statements of faith.”[2] In contrast to the poetry of the Psalms, the author of the letter to the Hebrews will effectively utilize the quotations and imagery of the Psalms to “demonstrate the superiority of Christ to every other key Jewish figure and institution.”[3] The author of the book of Hebrews will apply a Christological hermeneutic that reveals how “the moonlight of the Old Testament is replaced by the sunlight of a new era in God’s dealings with men.”[4]