Puzzling Apostolic Hermeneutics of the Old Testament as Theological Hermeneutics

Abstract

In this article, I argue that puzzling apostolic interpretations of some Old Testament messages as fulfilled in specific New Testament contexts, to which the Old Testament messages do not apparently refer, are actually applications of the Old Testament messages to apostolic times. These applications are informed by a view of God, distinctively manifest in prophecy, which understands him to speak in ways commensurate with his foreknowledge and purposes, with the result that what he has said has multiple references beyond the single initial one. This view of God is presupposed by the apostles’ use of the verb πληρωθῇ through its close association with prophecy, hence their use of the verb for “applies to”.