ew Testament Quotation at the Reader-Author Intersection

253 Pages·2015·2.03 MB·English

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Nixon, Lyn (2015) New Testament quotation at the reader-author intersection: evoking story for
transformation. PhD thesis, Middlesex University / London School of Theology. [Thesis]
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(cid:2)ew Testament Quotation at the
Reader-Author Intersection:
Evoking Story for Transformation

A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

by

Lyn Nixon

Middlesex University

Supervised at London School of Theology

May 2014
ABSTRACT
Lyn Nixon. (cid:1)ew Testament Quotation at the Reader-Author Intersection:
Evoking Story for Transformation.
Doctor of Philosophy, Middlesex University/London School of Theology, May 2014.

Given that a quoting author is first a reader of a text and on the presupposition that
communication is both cooperative and dialogical, this study considers quotation from a
fresh perspective. Our thesis is that, in many cases, (cid:1)T quotation of the OT promotes
transformation on the lifeworld/worldview level by evoking theological tradition.
The first part of the study unpacks the elements of this hypothesis, including:
intertextuality and the function of quotation; types of “context”; the author/text/reader
interaction and the implied author/reader construct; textual tradition and the relationship
of Story to lifeworld/worldview and theology; the evoking of Story and activation of
mutual context via quotation; and the resulting transformation of lifeworld/worldview,
theology and Story. The methodology we create to explore the transformational nature
of quotation frames these elements within a model of communicative interaction based
on speech-act theory. Our action model includes the illocutionary and perlocutionary
acts of the implied author as well as the illocutionary effect of understanding and the
associated perlocutionary effects (responses of belief and/or action) of the implied
reader. By holding the author, reader and text in creative tension, we present meaning as
cooperative, thus bridging the chasm between authorial intention and reader response.
We distinguish three reader roles: (i) an Independent reader ignores the illocutionary
and perlocutionary acts, (ii) an Analyst achieves the illocutionary response
(understanding) but is either unwilling or unable to respond with an associated
perlocutionary effect, and (iii) an Envisager understands the illocutionary act and also
responds with an associated perlocutionary effect. Perlocution thus reveals the
transformational response of the implied reader as well as the implied author’s
intentions for lifeworld/worldview, Story and theology. Making a perlocutionary
response associated with the illocution means that an empirical reader moves beyond
understanding to transformation.
To evaluate the purposes of NT authors and readers in communicative
interaction with regard to a specific quotation, we first determine the contribution of the
quoted passage and its co-text to lifeworld/worldview, theology and Story and assess
what it would mean to be an Envisaging reader of the quoted text. Then we determine
whether the NT author uses the quotation to transform the lifeworld/worldview,
theology and Story of the NT audience by evoking the theological Story-lines of the
source text.
Our examples and case studies come from the OT Psalms. The first case study is
the quotation of Psalm 115:1a LXX in 2 Corinthians 4:13. We investigate the claim that
Paul takes this verse “out of context” and we also consider the contention that Paul
reads the psalm messianically. In the second case study, we examine the
transformational efforts of various NT authors who quote Psalm 110:1.
ii
ACK(cid:2)OWLEDGME(cid:2)TS

I owe a debt of gratitude to my dissertation supervisor, Thorsten Moritz, whose probing
comments have often led me to sharpen my thinking and to discover new connections
between texts and arguments. His thoughtful reviews have added immeasurably to this
work. Of course, any remaining flaws are my own.

Others in the academic community have also been helpful—reading various sections of
the study (and in two cases, all of it), allowing me to read and quote from their
unpublished works, and providing words of encouragement when they were most
needed.

More than anyone, I am beholden to my husband, Carver, without whose support and
encouragement, this study might not have been attempted much less completed.
iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIO(cid:2)S

In addition to the Abbreviations found in The SBL Handbook of Style, the
following are used herein:

DTIB Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible. Edited by Kevin J.
Vanhoozer. London: SPCK; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
JPrag Journal of Pragmatics
MoTh Modern Theology
NETS A (cid:1)ew English Translation of the Septuagint and the Other Greek
Translations Traditionally Included under that Title: The Psalms.
Translated by Albert Pietersma. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
(cid:1)LH (cid:1)ew Literary History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation
PIL Papers in Linguistics
PT Poetics Today
QJS Quarterly Journal of Speech
VeEc Verbum et Ecclesia

The abbreviation LXX refers to A. Rahlfs, ed., Psalmi cum Odis, 3rd ed., Septuaginta:
Vetus Testamentum Graecum 10 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1979) for the
Psalms and to A. Rahlfs and R. Hanhart, Septuaginta, rev. ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche
Bibelgesellschaft, 2006) for all other OT books.
iv
CO(cid:2)TE(cid:2)TS

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1

PART I. DEVELOPI(cid:2)G A METHODOLOGY 8

CHAPTER 2. QUOTATION 9
Quotation and Intertextuality 9
The Production of Meaning 11
The Function of Quotation 12
Linguistic Theories of Quotation 16
Quotation as Demonstration 16
Involvement and Joint Production 18
Literary Theories of Quotation 19
Strategies of “Humanist Imitation” 19
Power in Quotation 20
The Maintenance of Cultural Continuity 26
Quotation as a Link to Tradition 27
Conclusion 29

CHAPTER 3. CONTEXT AND THE AUTHOR/READER RELATIONSHIP 30
Empirical and Implied Author and Reader 30
The Implied Author and Reader 31
The Narrator and the Listeners 33
Context 35
Socio-Historical Context 35
Literary Context (Co-Text) 37
Linguistic Conventions 38
Mutual Context and Cooperative Communication 39
The Activation of Mutual Context by Quotation 43
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul by Richard B. Hays 46

CHAPTER 4. TRADITION, STORY, LIFEWORLD AND THEOLOGY 51
Tradition and Story 51
Four Works on “Tradition” 52
Paul’s Use of the Exodus Tradition 52
Mark’s Use of the Isaianic New Exodus 54
The Isaianic New Exodus in Acts 58
Paul’s Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9-11 60
Story and Lifeworld/Worldview 64
“Story” versus “story” 66
Lifeworld/Worldview, Story and Theology 67
Evoking Story by Quotation 69
Transformation 70
Transformation and Power 73

v
CHAPTER 5. COMMUNICATIVE INTERACTION AND READER ROLES 75
The Communication of Meaning 76
Speech Acts 78
Speech Acts and “Text” Acts 79
“Locutionary” Acts 81
Illocutionary Acts and Illocutionary Force 82
Searle’s Taxonomy of Illocutionary Acts 84
The Tellability of Assertives 86
Non-Defective and Successful Illocutionary Acts 87
Illocutionary Intention 88
The Illocutionary Effect of Understanding 90
The Reader Roles of Independent and Analyst 92
Perlocutionary Acts and Effects 93
Successful Perlocution and the Interactive Communication of 99
Meaning
The Reader as Envisager 102
Speech-Act Complexes 104

PART II. CASE STUDIES 107

CHAPTER 6. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDIES 108
The Organization of the Case Studies 108
The Psalms within the Jewish Lifeworld 109
The Psalms in the Praxis of the First-Century People of Yahweh 111

CHAPTER 7. PSALM 115:1a LXX AS QUOTED IN 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13 115
Psalm 115 LXX [116:10-19 MT] 116
The Locution 117
The Illocution 117
The Perlocution 121
The Contribution of Psalm 115:1-3 to Story, Lifeworld and Theology 122
Intervening Interpretation 123
The Quotation of Psalm 115:1a in 2 Corinthians 4:13 124
Would the Corinthian Church Have Known Psalm 115 LXX? 124
The Implied Author and Audience 125
The Theological Story-Lines of 2 Corinthians 1:8-7:16 128
The Illocution of the Quotation and its Speech-Act Complex 130
Perlocution and Transformation 137
Conclusion 138

CHAPTER 8. PSALM 110:1 AS QUOTED BY VARIOUS NT AUTHORS 140
Psalm 110 [109 LXX] 141
The Locution of Psalm 110:1-3 [109:1-3 LXX] 141
The Metaphors in Psalm 110:1-2 [109:1-2 LXX] 142
The Illocution of Psalm 110:1 [109:1 LXX] 145
The Perlocution of Psalm 110:1 [109:1 LXX] 152
A Summary of the Contribution of Psalm 110:1 to Story, Lifeworld and 153
Theology
Post-Exilic Interpretation of Psalm 110 153
vi
Messianic Expectations in the First Century 154
Psalm 110:1 as Quoted by Jesus and Reported in the Synoptic Gospels 159
The Locution 159
The Illocution 159
The Perlocution 168
The “Son of Man” Seated at the Right Hand of God 168
Psalm 110:1 as Quoted by Peter and Reported in Acts 2:34-35 172
The Locution 173
The Illocution 173
The Perlocution 178
Psalm 110:1 as Quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:25 181
The Locution 181
The Illocution 182
The Perlocution 185
Psalm 110:1 as Quoted in Hebrews 1:13 185
The Locution 185
The Illocution 186
The Perlocution 190
“A Priest Forever” 190
Conclusion 191

CHAPTER 9. CONCLUSION 194
The Development and Use of Our Methodology 194
Looking Ahead 196

APPENDIX A: WORKS WHICH USE SPEECH-ACT THEORY 198

APPENDIX B: THE SPEECH-ACT COMPLEXES OF PSALM 115:1-3 LXX 202
AND PSALM 109:1 LXX AND THEIR QUOTING NT TEXTS

APPENDIX C: AN EVALUATION OF POTENTIAL PRE-CHRISTIAN 205
MESSIANIC REFERENCES TO PSALM 110

BIBLIOGRAPHY 208
vii
CHAPTER 1
I(cid:2)TRODUCTIO(cid:2)1
That the Jewish Scriptures (OT2) and the New Testament (NT) are related is evidenced
by the frequency with which references, and in particular quotations, from the former
are found in the latter. The nature of this relationship has been much discussed. Richard
Hays groups the questions that have been asked about the use of the OT into five
categories, including: which books and passages are quoted by NT authors and what
form of the text was used, how NT exegesis relates to that of rabbinic Judaism (midrash
or pesher) or to early Christian exegetical traditions, and whether the NT authors “use
the Old Testament with exegetical-theological integrity, or … rifle it for prooftexts and
twist its meaning.”3 Although Hays suggested over 20 years ago that, at least with
regard to Paul, these questions “have been either answered in full or played out to a
dead end,”4 the question of whether the NT authors quote the OT with “exegetical-
theological integrity” continues to be debated, re-fueled in part by Hays’ own literary
intertextual approach.
In this regard, interesting questions concerning quotation include: the function
of a particular quotation; whether the main function of quotation is to offer proof via an
appeal to authority; and what role is played by the context, co-text and original meaning
of a source text in a receptor text. Given that a quoting author is first a reader of a text,
an issue which underlies these questions is whether the author, reader or text is the locus
of “meaning.” Some discussions assume adversarial or “power” relationships between
the quoted author/text, the quoting author/text and the audience of the quoting
author/text.5 In some cases, these discussions are based on the premise that the quoting
author uses the quoted material without regard for its original meaning.6

1 All italic, bold and uppercase type is original to the author quoted, unless otherwise noted.
Also, unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references herein are to the NRSV.
2 Our use of this term is not intended to imply anything about the canonical status of the
Jewish/Hebrew Scriptures at the time of the NT writings.
3 See R. B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven: Yale University Press,
1989), 9-10; quote is from p. 9. He explores Paul’s work, but his conclusions are valid for all NT authors.
4 Hays, Echoes, 9. More recently, and from a somewhat different perspective, D. L. Bock
identifies four different approaches taken by evangelical scholars to the use of the OT in the NT
(“Evangelicals and the Use of the Old Testament in the New, Part 1,” in Rightly Divided: Readings in
Biblical Hermeneutics, ed. R. B. Zuck [Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1996]).
5 We explore some of these in chapter 2.
6 The original impetus for this study was a comment of M. D. Hooker concerning the use of the
OT by NT authors: “Often one is left exclaiming: whatever the passage from the Old Testament
1
Our presupposition instead is that communication, including quotation, tends to
be cooperative or dialogical.7 Therefore, we find it profitable to consider quotation from
a fresh perspective. Our thesis is that, in many cases, (cid:1)T quotation of the OT promotes
transformation on the lifeworld/worldview level by evoking theological tradition.
In each of the next four chapters, we develop various aspects of this hypothesis
and, in the process, create a new methodology to explore quotation. In chapter 2, we
explore intertextuality, and more specifically explicit quotation, from a functional
perspective, i.e., what does quotation do? After analyzing pertinent linguistic and
literary theories of quotation, we conclude that quotation does not serve primarily as a
proof via an appeal to authority or to establish the primacy of the quoter in a power
relationship. Rather, a key function of quotation is to evoke Story and, specifically,
theological tradition.8 Our discussion of quotation thus raises the issues of theological
tradition, the relationship between the old and new contexts of the quotation and the
interaction between author and reader.
At the beginning of chapter 3, we take up the latter topic, using the construct of
the implied author and reader to frame the communicative efforts of the empirical
author and reader.9 This construct makes it possible to determine authorial intention, as
revealed by the implied author, without requiring retrieval of the motivation of the
empirical author. Identifying the implied reader makes it possible to determine intended
reader response. Thus, determining what would be fully successful communication is
independent of knowing how any empirical reader actually responds.
We then lay the groundwork for our development of the concept of Story by
examining “context,” first outlining the various types of context (socio-historical and
literary context plus linguistic conventions) and then presenting “mutual context” as the
subset of context shared by author and reader. Quotation activates (and perhaps first
creates) mutual context. Because of the foundational nature of Hays’ work, we conclude
chapter 3 by interacting with his arguments concerning intertextuality and context in
Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul.
We develop the concept of theological tradition in chapter 4. After first defining
“tradition,” we critique works by four ground-breaking scholars who, building to some

originally meant, it certainly was not this!” (“Beyond the Things that are Written? Saint Paul’s Use of
Scripture,” (cid:1)TS 27, no. 3 [April 1981]: 295).
7 For this, we rely on Gadamer, Stuhlmacher, R. Hays, N. T. Wright, Snodgrass, Thiselton, etc.
8 We capitalize “Story” to indicate it is not limited to narrative genre.
9 Key resources here are Booth, Chatman, Walhout, Lanser, Wolterstorff, etc.
2