A Note on Relationships between Texts

I think there’s considerable confusion about the way texts in scripture can/do relate to one another. Often people simply take the Bible as a simple, flat space in which one can bring any set of texts or passages together to create a valid theological result. (I should pause to reflect on the notion of a “valid theological result, but, hmmm, some other time!)

So let’s just look at the ways in which texts might relate:

1. Quotation. One text can quote from another. In some cases this is clear, especially with quotations of Hebrew scripture in the New Testament.
2. Paraphrase: Similar phraseology is used. This may involve simply use of a familiar turn of phrase, or it can be a substitute for quotation. This, and quotation can present a problem for translators who translate the Hebrew text in the Old Testament, but then deal with an Old Testament quotation which is taken from the LXX. I commented on this in Hebrews 2:6-8 here and here.
3. Allusion. A word or idea brings to mind words or ideas in an earlier book, but doesn’t directly quote or paraphrase.
4. Similar imagery. This is a sort of common technical language, and can be hard to trace or prove. It is more a matter of a similar well drawn from by both texts.
5. Canonical relationship. A text may show no knowledge of another, but it is related in the way the overall canon of scripture is understood. Here we are looking much more at how the people using the text perceive the combined message of various books than at anything in the mind of the various writers.
6. Ideas. There may be ideas held by multiple writers that we cannot trace to an exposition by any one of them, but that form part of the basis for thought.
7. Theological. The relationship may reside largely in the reader’s theology, in that they see various doctrines expressed, usually in part, through various texts that really only relate in that theological connection. The connection may be one none of the writers conceived of.
8. Not related. Just for completion.

It’s important to be aware of these and other relationships between texts, because the specific way in which texts relates impacts our answers to questions of interpretation. For example, a brief quote might draw in thoughts from the source text, carrying more freight than the simple text conveys. Unfortunately, this sort of “umbra” drawn in with a text is easy to exaggerate or imagine completely.

I post this list simply to suggest things to think about as you read. If you see some connection between texts, think of just what that connection might be, and whether the author of the text you’re reading might have been aware of it and intended it to be part of the meaning of his text.

Folks such as myself who emphasize exegesis and critical Bible study tend especially to look negatively on #7, but we should remember that whether we attribute our theology to specific Bible writers or not, we do have a theological view. Everyone partakes of #7 at some point.

Key point: Be aware of the sort of relationship you are either using or creating when going from scripture to theology.

(Featured image credit: yra1111 from iStockPhoto.com)