What Did the OT Writers Know?

In the comments to my post, Mediating Between Dispensational and Covenant Theologies, Don Johnson brought up the issue of Kaiser's position on what the OT writers (particularly the prophets) understood as they wrote. I thoroughly agree with Don that "this conception of what the OT writers knew (and when did they know it) is an important part of understanding the whole."

Kaiser addressed this issue when interviewed by Andy Cheung. He made the point that he believes that the OT writers had an "adequate" understanding of what they were writing. "Adequate" doesn't imply that the writers had a full understanding of all of the details (especially concerning eschatology), but rather that they knew what was essential. This is key to the view of progressive revelation and to Kaiser's argument and methodology in both Toward and Old Testament Theology (1978) and The Promise-Plan of God (2008). It is also key to Eugene Merrill's argument and methodology in Everlasting Dominion (2006).

What follows are a few excerpts from the three aforementioned books that address (and hopefully) clarify this issue.

Eugene Merrill –

[T]he true prophet was a vehicle of divine revelation, one who declared not his own word but also that of God. (Everlasting Dominion, p. 92)

In line with our frequently reiterated method, we shall attempt to blend both a canonical and a chronological approach in an attempt to be sensitive to the impetus lying behind the present (Hebrew) canonical order as well as to the principle of progressive revelation of which, one would think, the prophets themselves were consciously aware.#[see Kaiser, Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 11] That is, later prophets were in possession of the works of their predecessors and used them, even if not explicitly, as a matrix within which they formulated their own contributions to the emerging collection of inspired works. (Everlasting Dominion, p. 492, emphasis mine)

Walter Kaiser –

Even more crucial, can it be shown form the claims of the original participants in the events and thoughts of these OT texts that they were conscious of a continuing stream of events, meanings, and ideas which preceded them and that they felt themselves obligated to acknowledge some type of permanent, normative demands laid on their beliefs and actions?

There is an inner center or plan to which each writer consciously contributed.(Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 11, emphasis mine)

The accumulation of the total message was never far from most of the writers’ minds as they chose the words or connected their experiences with what had been their religious and revelational heritage up to that point in time. Notice, this is not the usual Analogy of Faith procedure in which the NT or later theology is allowed to set the pace for earlier passages. On the contrary, it is what we will call the Analogy of Antecedent Scripture where chronologically antecedent canonical theology must be checked to see whether it informed the theology under investigation. (Toward an Old Testament Theology, p. 16, emphasis mine)

Thus the prophetic promise was not a group of scattered predictions that only later made sense after Christ appeared and others had reinterpreted many of the old prophetic words. If the prophets merely had been prognosticating or foretelling the future, then the focus of their message would have fallen only on two things: (1) the word spoken before the event, and (2) the final fulfilling event itself. While this view of prophecy may be proper and legitimate in itself, at least according to some students of prophecy, it fails to capture precisely that aspect that had captivated the hearts and minds of the Old Testament writers and saints the most.

The prophets’ messages were not heterogeneous and disconnected predictions, randomly announced throughout an otherwise dull drone of chastisements. Nor was prediction even the main feature of prophecy. Rather, the prophets were proclaimers of righteousness, preaching both law and promise, grace and judgment, to motivate the people to repentance and a life of obedience in the will and plan of God. Their predictions were often given as incentives to their contemporaries for holy living in that day, seeing that the future belonged to their God and to his righteous reign.

More was to be found in these predictions, of course, than novel glimpses of the future scattered as bits of candy to whet the appetite of a sensate or occult mentality that hungered to be the first to know what would be in tomorrow’s headlines in the newspapers. Instead of any such whimsical purpose as this, the prophets often deliberately cast their words about the future in the phraseology and conceptual patterns of past prophecies. There was a deliberate borrowing and supplementing from the previous words of the Abrahamic-Davidic promise. Hence, for them, the future was part of God’s single, cumulative, ongoing promise from the past as well as a pointer to the future. (The Promise-Plan of God, pp. 152-53; compare with Toward an Old Testament Theology, pp. 183-84, emphasis mine)

What Did the OT Writers Know?

A Few Excellent New Titles

This past month, or so, has been packed with a host of excellent new publications. Here are a few that I have noted.

1. Grogan, Geoffrey W. Psalms. Two Horizons Old Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008. Paperback. 502 pages. ISBN: 0802827063
• 
• In a previous post, I highlighted Grogan's Prayer, Praise and Prophecy: A Theology of the Psalms. I've been eagerly awaiting the appearance of this commentary on the Psalms.
• Geoffrey W. Grogan is a lifelong theological educator. His previous works include commentaries on Isaiah, Mark, and 2 Corinthians and books on the Trinity, Christology, and the theology of the Psalms.
• Geoffrey Grogan has authored the following commentaries: In the Focus on the Bible Commentaries series - 2 Corinthians (2007), Mark (2003); and in the Expositor's Bible Commentary series - Isaiah (1986).
2. Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, 2nd edition. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. Paperback. 560 pages. ISBN: 0801031990
• 
• I announced this volume here, and shared some comments from Dr. Layton Talbert, who is an acquaintance of Dr. Merrill's and who compared and contrasted the first edition with Walter Kaiser's A History of Israel (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998). If you missed that post, I'd encourage you to take a minute to read Dr. Talbert's comments.
• Eugene Merrill (ETS page) began his studies at Bob Jones University. It was there that he earned a B.A. (1957), an M.A. (1960), and his first Ph.D. (1963). He taught for a while at the University and then went on to earn a second M.A. at New York University (1970), an M.Phil. (1976), and a second Ph.D. at Columbia University (1985). He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.
• You will also want to be acquainted with Eugene H. Merrill's Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament (2006) and An Historical Survey of the Old Testament (1992). Merrill has also contributed to Show The No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide (2003), Cracking Old Testament Codes: A Guide to Interpreting Literary Genres of the Old Testament (1995) and A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament (1991).
3. Kaiser, Walter C., Jr. The Promise-Plan of God: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008). Hardcover. 432 pages. ISBN: 0310275865

• Read a sample
• Download the Scripture Index
• 
• I announced this book here. This book is a complete revision and expansion of Walter Kaiser's Toward an Old Testament Theology.
• Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University) is the Colman M. Mockler distinguished professor of Old Testament and president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He has taught at Wheaton College and at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

There are many others, but these are a few that have caught my eye.

A Few Excellent New Titles

Kingdom of Priests, 2nd edition by Eugene Merrill

Coming Soon

Merrill, Eugene H. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008. Paperback. 560 pages. $34.99

ISBN: 9780801031991

Read an Excerpt.

Publication date: Mar. 08 | Division: Baker Academic

Pre-Order: CBD ($19.99) | Amazon ($23.09)

This afternoon I noticed that Baker Academic will be releasing a 2nd edition of Eugene Merrill's Kingdom of Priests. I don't yet own a copy, but this book has been on my watch list for years. I remember some hearty recommendations of this work by Dr Layton Talbert as he taught through the kings of Israel in a Sunday School series.

This evening I emailed Dr Talbert and asked him to tell me, again, about the usefulness of this work. He graciously responded with a copy of his review of Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.'s A History of Israel (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1998) which has been published in Biblical Viewpoint. In this review he compared Kaiser's work with the preceding Kingdom of Priests by Eugene Merrill. Dr Talbert's review pointed out, in a not so flattering way, how much Kaiser seems to have relied upon Merrill's work. In the end he concludes that, "for the serious and reverent student or teacher of the Old Testament, Kaiser’s work makes a helpful addition to Eugene Merrill’s more theologically thoughtful and readable Kingdom Of Priests."

The major difference between these two History's is that of approach. Talbert notes,

Kaiser’s Preface makes clear that the focus of his concern is almost exclusively historical. Contrast that with Merrill’s philosophy of writing a history of Israel: “The Old Testament is first and foremost theological and not historical literature; this means that theological and not historical approaches must be brought to bear if its underlying purpose and message are to be discerned” (Kingdom Of Priests, 11). This difference in focus produces very different results, indeed. The difference is not that Merrill is any less historically helpful, but that Kaiser is less theologically illuminating.

In his email to me, Dr Talbert closed the sale with the following sentences:

Despite Kaiser’s greater name recognition and wider respectability, Merrill’s volume beats Kaiser’s hands down. (Naturally, since Merrill was trained and taught for a while at BJU!) It is more readable, more substantive, more thorough, more conservative, and less self-conscious about impressing liberal readers.

I especially like the the shameless plug for BJU. :)

Eugene Merrill (ETS page) began his studies at Bob Jones University. It was there that he earned a B.A. (1957), an M.A. (1960), and his first Ph.D. (1963). He taught for a while at the University and then went on to earn a second M.A. at New York University (1970), an M.Phil. (1976), and a second Ph.D. at Columbia University (1985). He is currently the Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary.

Here is a list of recommendations I have noted of Kingdom of Priests.

• Akin, Daniel L. Building a Theological Library: The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
• Carroll R., M. Daniel & Richard S. Hess. (2005) Annotated Old Testament Bibliography. DJ.
• Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. (2005) Basic Library Booklist. Revised ed.
• Köstenberger, Andreas J. (2007) Helpful Reference Tools for Biblical Studies.
• Ligonier Ministries. (na) Book Reviews & Recommendations.

Kingdom of Priests, 2nd edition by Eugene Merrill