To Advance the Gospel: New Testament Studies, 2nd edition (The

436 Pages·2006·21.56 MB·English

by  Joseph A. Fitzmyer

General Editors
ASTRID B. BECK
DAVID NOEL FREEDMAN
Editorial Board
HAROLD W. ATTRIDGE, History and Literature of Early Christianity
ADELA YARBRO COLLINS, New Testament
JOHN HUEHNERGARD, Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
PETER MACHINIST, Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
JOHN P. MEIER, New Testament
SHALOM M. PAUL, Hebrew Bible
STANLEY E. PORTER, New Testament Language and Literature
JAMES C. VANDERKAM, History and Literature of Early Judaism
Available
John J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination, Second Edition
Frank Moore Cross, Jr., and David Noel Freedman,
Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry
S. R. Driver, A Treatise on the Use of the Tenses in Hebrew
and Some Other Syntactical Questions
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., The Semitic Background of the New Testament
(combined edition of Essays on the Semitic Background
of the New Testament and A Wandering Aramean)
Joseph A. Fitzmyer, SJ., To Advance the Gospel, second edition
Birger Gerhardsson, Memory and Manuscript and
Tradition and Transmission in Early Christianity
Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel: Its Life and Institutions
TO
ADVANCE
THE
GOSPEL
New Testament Studies
SECOND EDITION
JOSEPH A. FITZMYER, SJ.
WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN I CAMBRIDGE, U.K.
DOVE BOOKSELLERS
LIVONIA, MICHIGAN
Originally published 1981 by
The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York
© 1981 Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.
Second edition © 1998 Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.
Published jointly 1998 by
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 I
P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.
and by
Dove Booksellers
30633 Schoolcraft Road, Suite C, Livonia, Michigan 48150
Printed in the United States of America
02 01 00 99 98 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fitzmyer, Joseph A.
To advance the Gospel: New Testament studies / Joseph A. Fitzmyer.
— 2nd ed.
p. cm. — (The biblical resource series)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-8028-4425-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Bible. N.T. — Criticism, interpretation, etc.
I. Title, n. Series.
BS2395.F58 1998
225.6 — dc21 97-51670
CIP
CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition vii
Preface to the First Edition ix
Abbreviations xi
I. Gospel Topics
1. The Priority of Mark and the "Q" Source in Luke 3
2. The Virginal Conception of Jesus in the New Testament 41
3. The Matthean Divorce Texts and Some
New Palestinian Evidence 79
4. Aramaic Kephä* and Peter's Name in the New Testament 112
5. Crucifixion in Ancient Palestine, Qumran Literature,
and the New Testament 125
II. Pauline Topics
6. The Gospel in the Theology of Paul 149
7. Reconciliation in Pauline Theology 162
8. Paul and the Law 186
9. 'To Know Him and the Power of His Resurrection" (Phil 3:10) 202
10. New Testament Kyrios and Maranatha
and Their Aramaic Background 218
11. Habakkuk 2:3-4 and the New Testament 236
v
Vi CONTENTS
III. Lucan Topics
12. Jesus in the Early Church through the Eyes of Luke-Acts 249
13. The Ascension of Christ and Pentecost 265
14. The Use of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts 295
15. The Designations of Christians in Acts and Their Significance 314
16. "A Certain Sceva, a Jew, a Chief Priest" (Acts 19:14) 332
IV. Further Pauline Topics
17. KE<\>akr\ in 1 Corinthians 11:3 341
18. The Consecutive Meaning of e<|>' <S in Romans 5:12 349
19. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament 369
Appendix 382
Indexes
Subjects 385
Modem Writers 390
Scripture References 401
Other Ancient Writings 416
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
WHEN EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY asked about the possibility of reprinting
To Advance the Gospel, I was only too happy to comply. The book was originally
published by The Crossroad Publishing Company of New York in 1981 and has
been out of print for a number of years. My editor at Eerdmans also asked that
I consider adding some further New Testament studies to the eleven that were
in the original publication. Again, I was happy agree to the suggestion, and the
reader will find eight further topics treated in this reprint edition.
The original eleven studies are simply reprinted as they first appeared, but
the reader will find in the appendix some further notes, bibliographic and
otherwise, that deal with some aspects of the articles as they first appeared. The
eight new articles, which are being added in this reprint edition of TAG, have
been slightly revised and updated. In the first printing of TAG, the original eleven
articles dealt with Gospel Topics and Pauline Topics; the eight new articles
discuss further Pauline Topics and some Lucan Topics, i.e., matters that deal
with the Lucan Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles.
In the Preface of TAG acknowledgement was duly made to the editors of
periodicals and publishers of books in which the eleven original articles first
appeared. There is no need to repeat that acknowledgement here. I am further
indebted to the editors of periodicals and publishers of books in which the eight
new articles have first appeared. Grateful acknowledgement is hereby expressed
to the following sources of these articles:
12. "Jesus in the Early Church through the Eyes of Luke-Acts," Scripture
Bulletin 17 (1987)26-35.
13. "The Ascension of Christ and Pentecost," TS 45 (1984) 409-40.
14. "The Use of the Old Testament in Luke-Acts," SBL Seminar Papers 1992
(ed. E. H. Lovering, Jr.; Atlanta, GA: Scholars, 1992) 524-38 (with the
permission of Scholars Press).
vn
Vlll PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
15. "The Designations of Christians in Acts and Their Significance," Unite et
diversite dans VEglise: Texte officiel de la Commission Biblique Pontificale
et travauxpersonnels des membres (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana,
1989) 223-36 (with permission of Libreria Editrice Vaticana).
16. " 'A Certain Sceva, a Jew, a Chief Priest' (Acts 19:14)," Der Treue Gottes
trauen. Beiträge zum Werk des Lukas. Für Gerhard Schneider (ed. C. Buss
mann and W. Radi; Freiburg im B.: Herder, 1991) 299-305 (with the per
mission of Verlag Herder).
17. "Kephale in I Corinthians 11:3," Interpretation 47 (1993) 52-59.
18. "The Consecutive Meaning of e<t>' co in Romans 5.12," NTS 39 (1993)
321-39 (with permission of Cambridge University Press).
19. "The Resurrection of Jesus Christ according to the New Testament," The
Month 258 (No. 1439, November 1987) 402-10.
Finally, I want to express my thanks to Michael Thomson and Charles Van Hof
of Eerdmans for their help in bringing all these studies into a new book form.
JOSEPH A. FITZMYER, SJ.
Professor Emeritus, Biblical Studies
The Catholic University of America
Resident at:
Jesuit Community, Georgetown University
P.O. Box 571200
Washington, DC 20057-1200
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
". . . what has happened to me has really
served to advance the gospel..."
PHILIPPIANS 1:12
THE ELEVEN ESSAYS which are gathered together in this book were written over
a period of thirteen years and present reflections on a number of important New
Testament problems. They fall into two main categories, which have been the
object of my research and investigation over the years, the Synoptic Gospels
and the Pauline corpus. Some of the essays in Part I, devoted to "Gospel Topics,"
make use of new Palestinian evidence that has recently come to light to aid in
the interpretation of old Gospel problems; others (chaps. One and Two) are
attempts to reformulate older problems in the light of modern Gospel research.
Topics such as the Marcan priority and the Lucan use of "Q," the virginal
conception of Jesus, the Matthean form of the divorce prohibitions, the play on
Peter's name in Matt 16:18, and the question of crucifixion in ancient Palestine
are of continual interest to modern readers. Among "Pauline Topics" those
dealing with the meaning of the gospel, the law, reconciliation, the power of
Jesus' resurrection, the meaning and origin of kyrios, and the use of Hab 2:3-4
are of perennial concern. These two bodies of essays may not be a closely knit
unit, but they seem to be of sufficient interest to present them together between
the covers of one volume.
None of these essays repeats those in either of the two previous volumes
of my collected essays, either Essays on the Semitic Background of the New
Testament (London: Chapman, 1971; reprinted, Missoula, MT: Scholars Press,
1974) or A Wandering Aramean: Collected Aramaic Essays (SBLMS 25; Mis
soula, MT: Scholars Press, 1979). [Note: these two works have now been
IX