Introducing Scripture Quotes in Hebrews
[12/26/2016] 1:05 PM Man … I still can’t believe I just read this today. A commentator repeats an age-old argument against the Pauline authorship of Hebrews by noting how Paul quotes the Old Testament: “Scripture says” or “It is written.” Then he goes on to state, “The letter [of Hebrews] never uses these expressions but usually puts a simple “It says,” without giving the subject (cf. Heb 1:6, 7; 5:6; 8:8, 13; 10:5; 12:26).”
Hmm. I wrote a big ol’ book (38 pages) about this subject and guess what? The “It says/He says” method of introducing Old Testament quotations in Hebrews is paralleled in — are you ready? — 1 Cor 6:16; 15:27; 2 Cor 6:2; Gal 3:16; Eph 4:8 and 5:14. You can find all of this on p. 5 of my book The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul. Look up these verses for yourself if you like. On the same page of my book, in footnote 12, you will also find this quote from volume 4 of Nigel Turner’s A Grammar of New Testament Greek: “This impersonal use of ‘he says’ is quite rabbinical and also Pauline ….”
My only suggestion is that you, as a reader, need to examine carefully everything you read, regardless of who the author is. The includes, of course, anything I write. Follow the evidence wherever it leads. And as for us authors, let’s try our best to set aside bogus appeals to data meant to shut down debate. I promise to work harder at this myself.
(From Dave Black Online. Used by permission. David Alan Black is the author of The Authorship of Hebrews: The Case for Paul.)
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