How do you know when a Bible passage refers to another, earlier text? Sometimes the author signals a direct quotation with such phrases as “it is written” or “as in the Law of Moses.” But many times there is no such direct quotation but merely an allusion. For example, Jonah grabs a variety of psalms in his prayer in Jonah 2. And his flight toward Tarshish was motivated by his belief that Exodus 34:6 was true (see Jonah 4:2).
Recognizing such allusions often unlocks part of the author’s argument in a passage. Missing the allusions leaves you in the dark. So how do you learn to recognize them so you can make use of them?
Steve Bateman reviews a recent book by Matthew Swale called Scripture’s Use of Scripture in the Old Testament. In the book, Swale does not offer a foolproof method for calculating the presence of legitimate allusions. Instead, he describes three instincts we can develop as readers to help us sense when a biblical author may truly be alluding to a prior text.
The three instincts:
- Look for shared terminology between passages.
- Look for common themes between passages.
- Look for evidence of intention on the author’s part to bring about some sort of change in the audience through the reference.
Of course, all three instincts require us to simply be people of the word, who read, re-read, and re-read some more so we grasp the Bible’s big picture and so allusions start sounding familiar. Perhaps this is your year to join our annual 90-day Bible reading challenge, to help you grow in those areas.
But whether you participate in our challenge or not, you may find Swale’s book or Bateman’s review useful to you.
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