Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 68:2 (NA 2017)
Article: 1 Timothy 2:5–6 As A Christological Reworking Of The Shema
Author: Martin Feltham

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TynBull 68:2 (2017) p. 241

1 Timothy 2:5–6 As A Christological Reworking Of The Shema

Martin Feltham

([email protected])

Summary

This article draws upon Richard B. Hays’s observations regarding the way in which an ‘allusive echo’ can signal a broad intertextual interplay with a precursor text. I argue that the affirmation in 1 Timothy 2:5 that ‘there is one God’ is an ‘allusive echo’ of the Shema which points the attentive reader to an extended and carefully crafted intertextual interplay with the Shema and its Deuteronomic setting. I trace the way that 1 Timothy 2:5–6 reworks the Shema in the light of the story of Jesus Christ to affect the christologically driven opening up of God’s people to all nations.

1. Introduction

When 1 Timothy 2:5 states that ‘there is one God’, numerous interpreters have heard and noted the intertextual echo of Deuteronomy 6:4.1 ‘There is one God’ (εἷς θεός) is a formulaic statement in the New

TynBull 68:2 (2017) p. 242

Testament and can be considered ‘a crystallisation of the thought expressed in the Shema (Deut. 6:4)’.2 But despite the fact that many have noted this intertextual echo of the Shema, there has been little or no consideration of what, if any, extended interplay 1 Timothy 2:5–6 might have with the Shema and its literary surroundings in Deuteronomy.3

The argument of this article is that 1 Timothy 2:5 does not just make a brief and passing allusion to the Shema before quickly moving on to other things. Rather, the affirmation in 1 Timothy 2:5 that ‘there is one God’ is an ‘allusive echo’ which points the attentive reader to a rich and extended interaction with the Shema and its literary context. This article will trace the way in which 1 Timothy 2:5–6 at each point reworks the theology of the Shema or its Deuteronomic context in the light of the story of Jesus Christ.

2. Methodology

Within the field of New Testament studies, ‘allusive echo’ was brought to prominence by the landmark monograph of Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters o...

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