Interpretive traditions romans 10, deu 30

[Daniel_Marsh]

Romans 10:6-8

6But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’[a]” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’**" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[c] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:

Deuteronomy 30:12-14

12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

Ok, last night I was reading about “interpretive traditions” of OT texts used in the NT. Basically, these traditions of understanding OT scriptures are recorded in Jewish writings like the targums.

For example, Kugel’s treatment of how the ancient interpreters understood the tale about how God instructed Moses to build the tabernacle (Deut 30:11-14) is typical of the presentations in this book. Kugel quotes the passage and then points out the questions that arise from the text or that the text leaves unanswered. He then explores how several texts understood the idea that Torah (God’s instructions) are not to be found in heaven (Deut 30:12). Baruch 3:29-4:1 notes that apart from Torah, divine wisdom is not available. Targum Neophyti (Deut 30:12) and b. Baba Metzia 59b take this text to mean that Torah is no longer secreted away but has been given to humans and they now have the responsibility of learning, doing, and teaching its precepts. Kugel then turns to the New Testament, Romans 10:6-8, to show how Paul perhaps alludes to these verses from Deuteronomy and turns them on their head, making them refer to Christian interests in knowing what is the true basis of faith. Kugel’s explication of just this pericope (Deut 30:11-14) indicates the considerable learning behind this collection of biblical interpretations. The Jewish and Christian texts exploited by Kugel range from the ancient biblical translations to the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the New Testament and early Church Fathers, the Targumim, and “early” rabbinic literature.

This is not Kugel’s first journey into these exegetical traditions.

For those interested in the techniques and process of biblical exegesis, readers are advised to consult Kugel and Rowan A. Greer, Early Biblical Interpretation, Library of Early Christianity 3 (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986). In fact, The Bible as It Was fits nicely the period between biblical exegesis covered in Kugel and Greer (see also Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985]) and classical Jewish midrash (see also Fishbane, The Exegetical Imagination: On Jewish Thought and Theology [Cambridge, MA: Harvard, 1998]).

Each of the 25 chapters in The Bible as It Was begins with a synopsis of the biblical passage or story that brings the reader into the story. Kugel then explains how the passage or story was understood in antiquity by quoting from the ancient texts themselves. Kugel’s narrative and the quotations highlight how these texts were understood in antiquity.

arts.ualberta.ca/JHS/reviews/review014.htm

google.com/search?hl=en&q=+targum+Deut+30**

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

This interpretive tradition is an answer to Jewish people who claim that the apostles misinterpret the OT. Basically, there are lists that demonstrates that NT interpretation is in line with Jewish interpretation of their day.

worldbiblesociety.org/messiah.html

virtualreligion.net/iho/texts7.html

For the Word is nigh you, in your schools;[1] open your mouth, that you may meditate on it; purify your hearts, that you may perform it. Behold, I have set before you this day the way of life, wherein is the recompense of the reward of good unto the righteous, and the way of death, wherein is the retribution of the wages of evil unto the wicked. [JERUSALEM. **The law is not in the heavens, that thou shouldst say, O that we had one like Mosheh the prophet to ascend into heaven, and bring it to us, and make us hear its commands, that we may do them! Neither is the law beyond the great sea, that thou shouldst say, O that we had one like Jonah the prophet, who could descend into the depths of the sea, and bring it to us,

and make us hear its commands, that we may do them! For the word is very nigh you, in your mouth, that you may meditate upon it, and in your hearts, that you may perform it. See, behold, I have set before you this day the way of life, which is the path of the good, and the way of death, which is the path of the evil.] For I teach you to‑day to love the Lord your God, and to walk in the ways that are right before Him, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and judgments, and live and multiply; that the Lord your God may bless you in the land into which you are entering to possess it. But if you think in your heart that you will not obey, but will go astray to worship the idols of the nations, and serve them, I proclaim to you this day, that you will perish, and will not prolong your days on the land to which you are to pass over the Jordan to possess it. I attest this day, not only you, who are to pass away from this world, but the heavens and the earth, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and its reverse. Choose therefore the way of life, even the law, that you and your children may live the life of the world to come; that you may love the Lord thy God, to obey His Word, and keep close unto His fear; for the law in which you occupy yourselves will be your life in this world,[2] and the prolongment of your days in the world that cometh; and you shall be gathered together at the end of the scattering,[3] and dwell upon the land which the Lord sware to your fathers, to Abraham, Izhak, and Jakob, to give it unto them.
tulane.edu/~ntcs/pj/pjdt29-30.htm

The word in the case of Romans is Jesus or maybe the word of God.

tulane.edu/~ntcs/tgtext.htm

home.comcast.net/~rciampa/Scripture.htm