no letter of recommendation
Despite the Gospel of Matthew’s indebtedness to Israel’s scriptures, the paucity of διαθήκη (“covenant”) is striking. This paper addresses the silence by investigating the reception and intertextuality of Deuteronomy 29-30 in Matthew’s Gospel—a key text in Israelite restoration eschatology. I argue that two Matthean motifs—the function of divine/apocalyptic revelation and the description of the ἐκκλησία … Read more
The image of the vineyard in Isaiah 5:1–7 is well known. Jesus himself reuses the metaphor to confront presumptive attitudes in the first century (Matt 21:33–46). However, familiarity notwithstanding, the full force of the vineyard image is frequently underappreciated. The key issue is determining the meaning of the rare plural noun באשׁים in 5:2, 4. … Read more
The Epistle to the Ephesians has long been a focal point for discussions about Paul’s theology of Jewish-Gentile unity and divine covenant faithfulness. While scholars have extensively analyzed the letter’s themes of reconciliation, ecclesiology, and cosmic Christology, the role of pronoun usage in shaping these arguments remains underexplored. This study offers a detailed exegetical and … Read more
Previous scholarship on the cosmic eschatology of Hebrews 12:25-29 generally suggests a pessimistic view of the created world’s destiny. Some scholars, drawing on Platonist or Philonic thought, argue for a metaphysical dualism (e.g., James Thompson, Wilfried Eisele). They contend that Hebrews’ inherent pessimism regarding the material world naturally leads to the expectation of cosmic dissolution … Read more