Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 64:3 (Sep 2021)
Article: “Prophets And Apostles”: The Arrangement Of The Old Testament Canon And The Theological Interpretation Of Scripture
Author: Gareth Lee Cockerill

JETS 64:3 (September 2021) p. 433

“Prophets And Apostles”: The Arrangement Of The Old Testament Canon And The Theological Interpretation Of Scripture

Gareth Lee Cockerill*

^* Gareth Lee Cockerill is Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Biblical Theology at Wesley Biblical Seminary, 1800 E. County Line Rd., Ridgeland, MS 39157. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: This study argues that Christian biblical interpretation should be based on the canonical tradition attested by the twenty-one ancient Greek and Latin canon lists rather than on the threefold Masoretic canon. The arrangement of books in this Christian tradition is in harmony with the NT because it integrates the books of the Writings into the Former and Latter Prophets to produce a canon list that emphasizes the ongoing history of God with his people and the future fulfillment of God’s promises. This article describes the common characteristics of the canonical tradition attested by these twenty-one lists by comparing it to the threefold Jewish canon, shows how a detailed analysis of these lists support this tradition, and suggests ways in which this Christian canonical tradition is a helpful guide to biblical interpretation. The contemporary canons of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches are part of this Christian canonical tradition.

Key words: canon, Old Testament canon, threefold canon, Greek canon lists, Latin canon lists, Law, Prophets, Writings, Historical Books, Former Prophets, Latter Prophets.

Second Temple Jewish writers often used “the Law and the Prophets” as a holistic description for the Scriptures of Israel. On the other hand, Irenaeus and Tertullian could employ “the Prophets and the Apostles” as a description of the OT and the apostolic teaching recorded in the NT.1 The first of these expressions suggests a law- or Torah-centered view of the OT Scripture. The prophets call the people of God to Torah faithfulness. The second suggests an apostolic- or gospel-oriented approach to the entire Christian Bible (OT and NT). As in Hebrews 1:1, the entire OT is conceived of as “the Prophets” who point forward to and are fulfilled in the apostolic proclamation of the gospel found in the NT.

“The Law and the Prophets” developed into the “the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings,” the Torah-centered threefold division of the Jewish canon.2 This

JETS 64:3 (September 2021) p. 434

study argues that, despite their variety, the early Greek and Latin canon lists bear witness to ...