Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 68:2 (Jun 2025)
Article: A Mosaic Of Mosaic Influence: Deuteronomy And Guarding The Good Deposit In 2 Timothy
Author: Kyle J. Keesling, Jr.

A Mosaic Of Mosaic Influence: Deuteronomy And Guarding The Good Deposit In 2 Timothy

Kyle J. Keesling Jr.

Kyle J. Keesling Jr. is a biblical worldview specialist at BJU Press in Greenville, South Carolina, and a PhD student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: The Pastoral Epistles present an intriguing test case on the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament. Some scholars have contended that Old Testament themes do not play a central role in Paul’s argument in 2 Timothy, even though a Deuteronomy-based Moses-Joshua paradigm has been argued for. However, that Moses-Joshua paradigm, combined with other elements from Moses’s instruction in Deuteronomy, push against that contention. I argue that further connections can be made, in that a cluster of words and their associated themes suggest that Paul recontextualizes several Deuteronomic themes in his exhortations to Timothy about the good deposit in 2 Timothy. Central to both Moses’s speeches and Paul’s instruction is for the audience of each to (1) hear the testimony of God, (2) guard it diligently, (3) pass it on to the next generation, and (4) entrust it to faithful future leaders. Paul’s recontextualizing of these themes reminds Timothy of his heritage while exhorting him to persevere in suffering for Christ and his church.

Key words: Deuteronomy, 2 Timothy, Mosaic influence, allusion, the good deposit, New Testament use of the Old Testament

The Mosaic influence on NT studies can hardly be overstated, given the Pentateuch’s foundational influence for all of Scripture. The Pentateuch is the bedrock of the whole biblical story and message. Take the pulse of the biblical writers, and some measure of the Pentateuch will be found in their messages.1 However, the Pastoral Epistles (henceforth PE) have historically been understood to lack evidence of this influence. The only two places where Paul uses an explicit introductory formula or quotation are in 1 Timothy 5:18 and 2 Timothy 2:19.2 The limited

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number of quotations of the OT in the PE led Gerd Häfner to conclude “that the author of these letters is no expert in Scripture-based reasoning.”3 Häfner recognizes that “formulations, motives, or themes that are found in Israel’s Scriptures” are seen within the PE, but he believes that “they are usually nonspecific to the concerns of the letters.”4 Whi...