Greek Rhetoric In The Old Testament

There are many examples of New Testament writers utilizing Jewish interpretation, such as the Targums, and Greek rhetorical styles to compose their documents and letters. As James Gregory states, “Authors of the New Testament were Jewish and did utilize Jewish exegetical methods, they also used Greek rhetorical features when composing their documents” (Gregory). Some examples of Greek rhetoric include, “the Sermon on the Mount…deliberative, Jesus’ speech and prayer in John 13-17…epideictic, and 2nd Corinthians…forensic” (Gregory). This means that New Testament writers explained how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament storyline as well as used the common persuasion methods of the their day. For example, Jewish interpretation and Greek rhetoric can be found in the way Luke writes his Gospel and the book of Acts. In both instances, Luke relies heavily on connecting
For example, Jesus’ references in the Sermon on the Mount of “an eye for an eye,” “a certificate of divorce,” and “vows” all carried a greater understanding in Jesus’ time than Matthew explains in his Gospel. However, Jesus’ audience would have immediately known how to apply those teachings to their lives because they had be taught by Rabbis. Yet, Jesus then implemented Greek rhetoric to underscore his argument—taking their understanding to a whole new level. This is why a proper understanding of Greek rhetoric is necessary for people to day as well. Finally, as James Gregory states “We can conclude that Jewish authors could compose documents according to Greek rhetoric and allow their interpretations of Scripture to function within that structure” (Gregory). In other words, we must allow the text to stand within itself full of Old Testament interpretation and Greek rhetoric rather than skipping over what is