Biblical Hebrew Forum

["George Athas" <gathas AT globalfreeway.com.au>]

John,

The NT writers do not seem to be finding proof-texts in the sense that I 
think you are
advocating. They seem to be employing typology. For example, Matthew's Gospel 
uses the
"out of Egypt" text as a precedent or "type" for Jesus rather than saying 
that it was
originally and totally about Jesus. The Gospel writers were out to proof text 
Jesus by
seeing how he fit the mould of the ancient scriptural precedents set in the 
Hebrew Bible.
Thus, they see Jesus as "fulfilling" the precedents (ie, fitting the mould), 
rather than
"making" the precedents. The Hebrew Bible gives the types, and Jesus is the 
anti-type.

Best regards,

Dr GEORGE ATHAS
(Sydney, Australia)
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