The Current Quest for the Meaning of the Text of the Old Testament -- By: Thomas A. Nicholas

Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 34:2 (May 1972)
Article: The Current Quest for the Meaning of the Text of the Old Testament
Author: Thomas A. Nicholas


The Current Quest for the Meaning of the Text of the Old Testament

Thomas A. Nicholas

[The substance of this paper was delivered at the conference of the Board of Trustees and the Faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary on February 10, 1971.]

Basic to all theological concerns is the text of the Word of God, i.e., the text of Scripture. It is that text to which appeal is made as the final and sole authority for all matters of faith and life. The foundational importance, therefore, that attaches to the text and the necessity of knowing precisely what the text means make the quest for such knowledge imperative, and occasionally, when the text presents obscurities or difficulties, quite poignant.

I wish to pursue this afternoon the subject of “the current quest for the meaning of the text of the Old Testament.” This subject is, I believe, integrally related to the concerns to which Professor Gaffin addressed himself in a paper read at a similar meeting a little over two years ago, and which was subsequently published in the Westminster Theological Journal.1 It was pointed out in that article that the contemporary preoccupation with hermeneutics has been chiefly oriented toward New Testament studies. That emphasis is still predominant. Yet, the primarily theological character of today’s hermeneutical concerns and the inevitable influence upon the exegete of the philosophical-theological climate of his times bespeak a day when the “new hermeneutic” may have an even more self-conscious effect upon the study of the Old Testament than it does at present. Professor Gaffin was also seeking in that article to provide an orientation toward understanding an exceedingly complex state of affairs. I herein accept and assume that orientation, including the views

of the text of Scripture presented there, while not, of course, wishing to implicate Professor Gaffin by any views expressed in this paper. My own particular concerns at this time are more closely related to the text itself and, moreover, to the text of the Old Testament.

My concern with this quest is prompted not only by an appreciation of its foundational importance as noted above, but by a growing awareness of the changes that have occurred in that quest in recent years. Consequently, this paper will attempt to survey some of the ways in which the quest for the meaning of the text of the Old Testament is currently being undertaken and to suggest some of the implications of this quest for the Reformed interpreter of Scripture.

It is to be noted that the quest for the meaning of the text is set over against the establis...

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