Old Testament in the New Testament

Poetic Book Literature in the New Testament

Compartmentalizing Scripture is a contemporarily popular way to study the Bible and is very useful at times. However, Scripture tends to unify itself. Despite studious efforts to “divide and conquer,” perhaps a more appropriate approach would be to identify the areas where different sections of Scripture are sewn together and then further study how and why. One particular facet of sectional mingling is the way the Old Testament passages are quoted in the New Testament, specifically the poetic book quotations.
The authors of the New Testament included approximately 250 express Old Testament quotations, and if one includes indirect or partial quotations, the number jumps to more than 1,000. “It is clear that the writers of the New Testament were concerned with demonstrating the continuity between the Old Testament Scriptures and the faith they proclaimed” (Gloer). The attempt of the writers was not specifically to show the continuity but indirectly they accomplished such a demonstration.
The most significant Person to appear in the writings of the New Testament would undoubtedly be Jesus, the Son of God. Matthew, the author of the first book in canonical order in the New Testament, records Jesus quoting Poetic literature several times. It should not go unmentioned that though Matthew and others have recorded numerous quotations of Poetic literature, it can be assumed that more quotations took place but were simply not recorded and/or canonized. The Psalms most commonly occur out of all the Old Testament quotations found in the New Testament (Green 2). In each gospel a psalm can be found cited. Usually it was not used directly as the author had intended but rather an applied use to fit the context of the situation. The Psalm however, was never taken wrongly out of context; the manner in which they were quoted was accurate.
Some Old Testament texts are interpreted typologically. In this approach, the New Testament writer sees a correspondence between persons, events, or things in the Old Testament and persons, events, or things in their contemporary setting (Green 27). The correspondence with the past is not found in the written text, but within the historical event. Underlying typology is the conviction that certain events in the past history of Israel as recorded in earlier Scriptures revealed God 's ways and purposes with persons in a typical way. Today numerous people quote the Psalms as direct promises readily available to today like or wherever they may desire to apply them. The psalms are not irrelevant in totality by any means, but it should be understood that they are to be interpreted for what they are, considering the poetic structure and historical context in which they were written (Henrich 4). No person better exemplifies how to apply a Psalm then Jesus. One particular quotation recorded by Matthew is found in Matthew 13.35, “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the World.” After reading this several questions are raised and numerous implications are made, necessitating further study. The context of this quotation by Jesus is when he was telling his disciple why he spoke in parables, which he doing through a parable. The portion of Scripture that Jesus used was Psalm 78.2 by Asaph. This particular Psalm is a reciting of Israel’s early history as a nation, serving as a warning against the repetitious unfaithfulness exhibited by Israel the nation (Ryrie). Green suggests that the first line of the quotation is quoted verbatim and is plainly stating that parables will be spoken. However, he further concludes that the second part of the quote is not verbatim but is actually a pun. For the same Greek word is not used for “the foundation of the world,” it is actually the same idea that carries the idea of “sowing seed” (Green 13). It is not of any error, it is simply Jesus using poetic portions from the Old Testament to demonstrate his mission and style in teaching. It was to hide things. Preach and teach and most will listen few will understand but all will know fully in the end. Like when the seed is harvested, the Kingdom and God’s truth will not remain hidden.
Another very significant poetic book reference is found in Matthew 21.9 and 23.39 where Psalm 118.26 is quoted, “Blessed is the One who comes in the Name of the Lord; We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.” This Psalm was fulfilled early in the presentation of Jesus as King when Israel welcomed and cheered Jesus in saying Hosanna. But then it was quoted later directly by Jesus when he was informing the people that they will not see him again until his return, the “second coming.” Israel rejected their king which did not surprise Jesus (Kalvesmaki). He rightly used the Psalm for he knew he would be King but it was not at this time, not at this time of Hosanna cheers in vain. Therefore it must be concluded that in the divinely inspired writing of the Scriptures that the particular use, which Jesus used, was the meaning from when it was originally composed.
That deduction is not contingent on the notion that the writers of the poetic books were fully aware of everything they were composing or rather how it would be used and worked out in the future of God’s historic plan. It is interesting to note that recorded Scripture though it is about spiritual living and teachings of Christ it is also simply a record of or in history. And those who quote or reference Old Testament literature are not always looking for a precise grammatical equivalency but are merely communicating a message. It is also vital in the studying of the New Testament to understand that those Jews who lived in that era were incredibly familiar with the Old Testament writings, it was their daily living and their very culture. The New Testament writers may have used a version of the Old Testament which is unknown to us, or they may have been quoting from memory. It has also been suggested that the Old Testament quotations may have been drawn from “testimony books,” collections of selected, combined, and interpreted Old Testament texts gathered by the early Christian community for proclamation and apologetics (Gloer). We have to apply tremendous effort to even grasp the same mentality of the New and Old Testament Jews concerning Scripture.
Another quotation is found when Peter and John had been ordered (unsuccessfully) by the Sanhedrin not to preach Jesus Christ. The New Testament church prayed to God for the continuing boldness of the apostles. In their prayer, they quoted Psalm 2:1-2 and applied it as a prophecy of what had happened to Jesus Christ (Heinrich 4). The psalm speaks about the nations conspiring and the people plotting vain things, and about kings and rulers gathering together against the Lord and his anointed. The church cried to God, "Why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples devise futile things? The Kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ." (Acts 4:25-26).
Psalms were not the only portions of the Old Testament quoted in the New Testament, Proverbs 3.11-12 is mentioned in Hebrews 12.5-6, “My Son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” The writer of Hebrews was discussing discipline in life in regards to God’s discipline towards his sons (Jamieson 570-571). The quotation exert was particular in reference to wisdom, exhorting young men or sons of wisdom to not forsake disciplines. It is emphatic, not necessarily word for word precision in literal meaning in consideration of the context but it is of no less value. Contrarily, it is of great value as this synthesizing of texts to validate disciplinary exhortations is consistent through the course of hundreds of years. The Bible as a whole with all of the various inculcated cultures, decades, economies and kings remains unified in its message, and this fact becomes increasingly clear as the major divisions are brought together.
As Scripture is studied there are several concepts and principles that have to be kept in mind, in regards to the topic of this paper the most important principle or concept would be historical context and perspective. Meaning that contemporary Bible student have a tremendous amount of revelation that the Old Testament writers did not have, therefore our perspective is incredible different than those Old Testament writers as well as the writers of the New Testament (Gloer). The writers of the Old Testament had a different theological perspective than the writers of the New Testament and both views are distinct than views existing today. The authors of the New Testament did not deliberately use a strange exegetical method, they wrote from their particular perspective in history. That particular view was one of expectation and fulfillment. The writers had, and were very familiar with, the Old Testament writings which had a central theme of a coming Messiah. The New Testament writers had the unique privilege of witnessing the fulfillment of those prophecies and prophetic references (Ryrie). That is the view in which they wrote from, they interpreted and applied the Old Testament writings in the way of Jesus as the central theme. Obviously we do not share the exact perspective, but it must be an underlying concept to grasp when studying the New Testament if we are to better understand the truth of Scripture. Today’s application of the Old Testament writings is slightly different in that we can now view those expecting passages as fulfilled in totality. There are prophecies yet to be fulfilled in the Old Testament, but the emphasis is on those writing referring to the Christ and his life on earth. In summation, the quotations of the poetic books in the New Testament had applicable truth to the current era in history as they have their appropriate places in today’s era. And usually the quotations were referenced in regards to Jesus earthly ministry and the fulfillment of those prophecies; many referred to the second coming of Christ and ought to be distinguished as such. In our study of the Scripture today we must understand the varying perspectives in which the writers wrote and apply their writings and quotations accurately to our lives today.

Works Cited
Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poetic Books of the Old Testament: ~~~~~The Wisdom and Song -of Israel. Chicago: Moody Pr, 1979.
Green, H. Benedict. Matthew, Poet of the Beatitudes (Journal for the ~~~~~Study of the New Testament Supplement). Sheffield: Sheffield ~~~~~Academic Press, 2001. Print.
Gloer, Hulitt . "OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - Holman ~~~~~Bible Dictionary." 17 Oct. 2010 ~~~~~<http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T4699>. plement). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. Print.
Heinrich, Mark. Old Testament Quotations. New York: Grace Publishers, ~~~~~2005. Print.
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry 's Commentary: Matthew. Unabridged ed. ~~~~~Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. Print.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, and Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown 's ~~~~~Commentary On the Whole Bible. New Ed ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: ~~~~~Zondervan, 1999. Print.
Kalvesmaki, Joel. "Table of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament." The ~~~~~Septuagint Online. N.p., 23 Feb. 1999. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. ~~~~~<http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/NTChart.htm>.
Ryrie, Charles. The Ryrie NASB Study Bible. Chicago: Moody Publishers, ~~~~~2008. Print.

Cited: Bullock, C. Hassell. An Introduction to the Poetic Books of the Old Testament: ~~~~~The Wisdom and Song -of Israel. Chicago: Moody Pr, 1979. Green, H. Benedict. Matthew, Poet of the Beatitudes (Journal for the ~~~~~Study of the New Testament Supplement). Sheffield: Sheffield ~~~~~Academic Press, 2001. Print. Gloer, Hulitt . "OLD TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT - Holman ~~~~~Bible Dictionary."  17 Oct. 2010 ~~~~~&lt;http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T4699&gt;. plement). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001. Print. Heinrich, Mark. Old Testament Quotations. New York: Grace Publishers, ~~~~~2005. Print. Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry 's Commentary: Matthew. Unabridged ed. ~~~~~Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. Print. Jamieson, R., Fausset, and Brown. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown 's ~~~~~Commentary On the Whole Bible. New Ed ed. Grand Rapids, Michigan: ~~~~~Zondervan, 1999. Print. Kalvesmaki, Joel. "Table of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament." The ~~~~~Septuagint Online. N.p., 23 Feb. 1999. Web. 17 Oct. 2010. ~~~~~&lt;http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/NTChart.htm&gt;. Ryrie, Charles. The Ryrie NASB Study Bible. Chicago: Moody Publishers, ~~~~~2008. Print.