# The Apostle Paul is so......unoriginal.



## smhbbag (Mar 24, 2010)

I've made a purposeful effort to spend just about all my time this year in the Old Testament. My general knowledge and understanding was nowhere near what I wanted, and this year I'm teaching a class through the Minor Prophets, so an in-depth review was in order.

I love finding little nuggets or tidbits that show me that New Testament phrases and sentences that I've memorized are not actually "New."

Tonight, it was Habakkuk 2:4 "the righteous will live by his faith."

Often, NT writers quote or paraphrase OT sayings that are not set apart as an OT quote by the translators. That's fine by me - it makes the text more readable, and I just don't often see the note at the bottom. It's a great joy to stumble on them by yourself when reading, rather than simply being told to reference it when reading the NT.

The only thing that keeps coming to mind when I find these is, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one." 

And His Word is one. It actually makes Paul's arguments resonate that much more loudly and clearly to know they are not "his."


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## Curt (Mar 24, 2010)




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## Ivan (Mar 24, 2010)

Yeah, like they are saying on another thread, the Bible is one book with one theme.


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## George Bailey (Mar 25, 2010)

*my current project...*

Is highlighting all of the verses in the OT that are quoted in the NT (I'm highlighting in both "T's and writing the x-ref). It's pretty enlightening.

One problem when I set out to start this is finding what's considered a quote, a paraphrase, a "use of similar language", or a "principle shown in both". When I was searching for lists of OT quotes in the NT to use, sources listed somewhere between about 275 and over 1000, depending on how tightly you define it within the spectrum that I mentioned. I decided to stick with close quotes for now, so somewhere around 300... 

BC


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## Semper Fidelis (Mar 25, 2010)

I was studying Habakkuk recently as well. When you understand Habakkuk's concern and God's reply then you can see what Paul is unpacking in Romans 1-3.

Essentially:
1. Habakkuk complains to God that the iniquity of God's people is great. (Hab 1:1-4)
2. God agrees with him and tells Habakkuk that He's going to judge the nation with the Chaldeans. (Hab 1:5-11)
3. Habakkuk complains to the effect: "The Chaldeans?! Those people are wicked! How can a Holy God deal with such treacherous people?" (Hab 1:12ff)
4. But, at least Habakkuk is smart enough to realize he's missing something and so he waits for the Lord's response in order to be corrected by Him. (Hab 2:1)
5. God knows the Chaldeans are wicked but, then again, so is the Nation. There is no distinction for all have fallen short of the glory of God.

So the message is basically this:
1. The people without the Book are wicked (see Romans 1:18ff)
2. The people with the Book are wicked (see Romans 2)
3. In other words, everyone is wicked in God's sight on the standard of His holiness.
And God's solution?
The just shall live by faith.

I love it!

And what a phenomenal song at the end of the Book:


> Habakkuk 3:17–19 (ESV)
> Though the fig tree should not blossom,
> nor fruit be on the vines,
> the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food,
> ...


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## Semper Fidelis (Mar 25, 2010)

By the way, this is a great resource:
Amazon.com: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (9780801026935): G. Beale, D. Carson: Books

I have it for Logos.


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## smhbbag (Mar 25, 2010)

Our church librarian has done a complete overhaul of our collections in the last 5 years. I've referenced that once or twice for specific things in previous classes, but haven't given it a thorough look. My two main sources are Boice's commentary on the Minor Prophets, and O. Palmer Robertson's The Christ of the Prophets.

Thanks to whoever fixed the typo in the title.


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## tommyb (Mar 25, 2010)

This is one reason I enjoy the translations that always use smallcaps when the OT is being quoted.


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