Copyright © 2015 Jason Alan Motte All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary ...

262 Pages·2015·1.29 MB·English

Copyright © 2015 Jason Alan Motte

All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to
reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen
by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction.
A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL

HERMENEUTICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING

MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

__________________

A Dissertation

Presented to

the Faculty of

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

__________________

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

__________________

by

Jason Alan Motte

December 2015
APPROVAL SHEET

A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY EVANGELICAL

HERMENEUTICAL APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING

MESSIAH IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Jason Alan Motte

Read and Approved by:

__________________________________________
T. J. Betts (Chair)

__________________________________________
Duane A. Garrett

__________________________________________
Robert L. Plummer

Date______________________________
To Pamela, Abbie, and Natalie
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

LIST OF TABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Chapter

1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Thesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

History of Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Methodology and Research Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

2. CHRISTOCENTRIC APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Analysis of Specific Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Exegetical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

3. SECOND TEMPLE EXEGETICAL METHODOLOGY APPROACH . . . . . 75

Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Analysis of Specific Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Exegetical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

iv
Chapter Page

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

4. EPIGENETICAL APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Analysis of Specific Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Exegetical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

5. CANONICAL APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Analysis of Specific Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Exegetical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

6. DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Exegetical Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

7. PROPOSAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

General Finding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Areas for Further Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ANE Ancient Near East
AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies
BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research
BSac Bibliotheca sacra
CBQ Catholic Bible Quarterly
CTJ Calvin Theological Journal
CTQ Concordia Theological Quarterly
ERT Evangelical Review of Theology
EvJ Evangelical Journal
EvQ Evangelical Quarterly
HB Hebrew Bible
JETS Journal of Evangelical Theological Society
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
LHBOTS Library of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies
MT Masoretic Text
NTT Norsk Teologisk Tidsskrift
NovT Novum Testamentum
SBTJ The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
ST Studia Teologica
SwJt Southwestern Journal of Theology
TJ Trinity Journal
v i
TMSJ The Master’s Seminary Journal
TynBul Tyndale Bulletin
WTJ Westminster Theological Journal
ZAW Zeitschrift fur Die Alttestamentliche Wissenchaft
vi i
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Hillel’s hermeneutical principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2. General tendencies of evangelical approaches to messiah in OT . . . . . . . . . . . 204

vi ii
PREFACE
One day, while I was researching a paper on Deuteronomy for a doctoral
seminar, a book on a nearby shelf in the library caught my eye. It was Sigmund
Mowinckel’s He That Cometh. During a break, I read a few sections, and this dissertation
was set in motion.
Though it is not a lengthy work, this study marks the end of a long journey for
me. In fact, it was an exceedingly difficult voyage at times. But through it all, God was
gracious, and I praise him for his faithfulness. A large part of his grace involved placing
others in my life to help me cross the finish line, and I would like to take a moment and
thank them as well.
Foremost, I would like to thank my family—Pamela, Abbie, and Natalie never
complained about late nights or Saturdays spent in the library. And during the times that I
thought the journey would never end, they were there to encourage me. But more
importantly, they were there to laugh and remind me that while scholarship is important,
still greater things in life are more important.
David Deaton has been a friend since the very beginning of my academic and
ministerial paths. Words cannot express the amount of support he has given me through
the years. But during this particular season, he went above and beyond the call of duty for
our entire family. I will never forget his kindness.
I was privileged to serve on staff of two churches through this process, and
neither could have been more supportive to my family and I. Maple Grove Baptist housed
ix