Page 91 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

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author of Genesis as the utterance of God.” It was, therefore, decisive for him to cite and
interpret the Old Testament when he preached, especially on the debatable issues.

Jesus interpreted the Scripture in a manner similar to his contemporary Jewish exegetes.

In his interpretation, Jesus utilized literal, midrash, pesher, typological approaches that were

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prevalent in his time. Jesus adopted a literal approach to the Scripture, especially on the matter
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of the moral issues of human relationship. He also took midrashic approaches, especially in

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the context of debate. According to Ellis, midrash, meaning “commentary,” is regarded not
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only as “the result of exposition” but also “a way of expounding Scripture.” The motive of this

approach is to make Scripture contemporary in order to apply it to the interpreter’s current

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situation.

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Ibid., 127.
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David s. Dockery, Biblical Interpretation Then and Now: Contemporary Hermeneutics
in the Light of the Early Church (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Books, 1992), 23-34. For Jewish
interpretation of the Scripture, see Jacob Neusner, Invitation to Midrash: The Workings of
Rabbinic Bible Interpretation (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers Inc., 1989). It is regarded
one of the most important publications on the Jewish hermeneutics.

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For example, see Mk 7:10 (Matt. 15:14) and Mk. 10:7 (Matt. 19:5)

81 Mk. 2:25-28. See Dockery, Biblical Interpretation, 30. Riesner, “Jesus as Preacher,”
190. He sees Lk. 10:25-37 and Matt. 15:1-9 as the form of a yelammedenu-midrash and Mk.
12:1-11 as an example of proem-midrash. Further on the subject of midrash, see Hermann L.
Strack, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash (New York: Harper & Row, Publishing Inc.,
1965), 201-34.

82 E. Earle Ellis, “The New Testament’s Use of the Old Testament,” in Biblical
Hermeneutics: A Comprehensive Introduction to Interpreting Scripture, 2d ed. eds. Bruce Corley,
Steve W. Lemke, and Grant I. Lovejoy (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2002),
75.

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Ibid. See also Renee Block, “Midrash” in Approaches to Ancient Judaism: Theory and
Practice, ed. William S. Greens, trans. Mary Howard Callaway, Brown Judaic Studies 1
(Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1978), 31-33. She denotes Midrash as a “edifying and