Page 92 - A Dissertation for Doctor of Philosophy

Jesus interpreted the Scripture applying the pesher approach, too. Pesher, meaning

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interpretation, was named by it’s “explanatory formula, ‘the interpretation (pesher) is.’”

Whereas midrash seeks to make the Scripture contemporary and relevant to present situations,

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pesher attempts to comprehend it “from the standpoint of imminent apocalyptic fulfillment.”

Ellis accounts the same thing that “the Qumran pesher, unlike rabbinic midrash but very much

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like early Christian practice, is both charismatic and eschatological.”

Richard Longenecker maintains that it is pesher that represents the most characteristic

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interpretation of the Scripture in Jesus’ preaching. Though Jesus often interpreted the

Scripture in light of his life and ministry, he consistently presented himself as the fulfillment of

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that Scripture.

In his inaugural preaching at the Nazareth Synagogue, Jesus read Isaiah 61:1 and

proclaimed, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:21). R. T. France

summarizes the fulfillment of the Old Testament in Jesus. He writes:

explanatory genre” that has five characteristics: 1) its foundation is in Scripture; 2) it is
homiletical; 3) it seeks to clarify the meaning of the text; 4) it attempts to be practical; and 5) it
seeks to discover the basic principles inherent in the legal sections, or it sets out to find the true
significance of events mentioned in the narrative sections of Pentateuch.

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Ellis, “The New Testament’s Use,” 80.
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Dockery, Biblical Interpretation, 31.
86 Ellis, “The New Testament’s Use,” 80.

87 Richard N. Longenecker, Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period (Grand Rapids, MI.:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1975), 70-75.

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Matt. 3:15, 5:17, 13:14, 26:54-56, Mk. 1:15, 14:49, Lk. 4:21, 21:22-24, 22:37, and
24:44-47.