Echoes of Jesus in the First Epistle of Peter

Timothy E. Miller

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9781666733372, 9781666727968
• eBook ISBN: 9781666727975
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

How did the words of Jesus influence the writing of 1 Peter? That is the question that is at the heart of this study. Of course, the answer is complicated by the fact that 1 Peter nowhere directly references the words of Jesus. Nevertheless, the impact of his words are evident throughout the letter. The first third of the book lays the foundation for answering the question by giving clear and concise criteria for identifying places where 1 Peter uses the words of Jesus. The rest of the book walks through the text of 1 Peter section by section, submitting each potential echo of Jesus's words to the criteria previously developed. The book concludes by considering how the words of Jesus influenced the themes and content of the letter.

1

Introduction

“The Echoes of Jesus,” in the title of this work alludes to the groundbreaking scholarship of Richard Hays in mining out the echoes of the Old Testament (OT)1 in the New Testament (NT).2 Hays work is largely responsible for the significant uptick in scholarly interest in the function of source texts in biblical studies, referred to by Hays as intertextuality.3 While Hays was focused primarily on the relation of OT texts to NT texts, Michael Fishbane has spearheaded interest in the use of the OT within the OT, often referred to as inner-biblical exegesis.4 An area less explored, though rich in potential, is the relation between NT texts and the tradition of Jesus’ words in the early church.5 Hay has rightly noted that “wherever there is a community of readers who hearken to earlier texts as powerful and evocative voices with a claim to be heard in the present, intertextual writing and reading will take place.”6 Accordingly, since this was certainly the case with the early church, there is reason to engage in this study.7

A thesis on the use of Jesus Tradition (JT) in the First Epistle of Peter (1P) exists at the crossroads of two areas of scholarship historically overlooked. John Elliott’s now famous description of 1P as the “exegetical step-child” of NT scholarship highlights how 1P was historically treated by scholars.8 Thankfully, due in part to Elliott’s own efforts, scholarship on 1P has taken significant steps since the publication of that article.9 As for the use of JT outside the Gospels, Bauckham has referred to it as “the Cinderella of scholarship,” because it has generated relatively few book-length studies. Indeed, Batten and Kloppenborg describe the study of JT in 1P (along with James and 2 Peter) as being “on the periphery of New Testament scholarship.”10

Like the interest in 1P more broadly, interest in JT in 1P has improved in recent years. This is in part due to the work of Duane Watson and Peter Davids in organizing a Society of Biblical Literature program unit dedicated to the use of JT in the letters of James, Peter, and Jude. This unit ran from 2009–14 and resulted in a book on the same topic.11 Much of the recent research has demonstrated that Bauckham was right when he suggested that epistles like 1P “provide much important evidence about the extent to which Gospel traditions were known and the ways in which they were used in the early church before and during the time of writing of the canonical Gospels.”12

Despite the increased attention of scholarship on 1P and on the JT in epistolary literature, one area at that intersection remains relatively unexplored. Previous studies have not attempted to demonstrate how the JT, particularly the words of Jesus, are used by the author of 1P in the development of the epistle. This is the focus of the present study, which seeks to show how 1P uses the words of Jesus to instruct, encourage, warn, and strengthen the readers.

In order to answer this question, it is necessary to survey the work that has been done on the topic. This will be the purpose of chapter two. The third chapter will address the assumptions made in this study, develop criteria to determine the presence of the JT, and formulate a method to accomplish the stated goal. Once the criteria have been established in the third chapter, chapters four through nine work through 1P according to contextual divisions (1:1–2; 1:3–12; 1:13—2:10; 2:11—3:12; 3:13—4:11; 4:12—5:14), evaluating places where dominical logia have been suggested in previous scholarship. Each chapter will end with a summary of how the words of Jesus function within the considered text. Chapter ten, the conclusion, will make comprehensive observations concerning Peter’s use of his dominical source throughout the epistle. Following the conclusion, an appendix is included that reveals where scholars have proposed verba Christi.

1. While “Old Testament” is not a neutral term, few others are helpful. For instance, the title, Hebrew Scriptures, masks the existence of Aramaic in the text and overlooks the fact that the New Testament (NT) authors frequently use the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew and Aramaic. “Israel’s Scriptures” is also a possibility (and it is the title taken by Hays), but the title is unwieldy and may suggest that the scriptures are not the church’s scriptures. Thus, I maintain the classic des...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: History of Scholarship
• Chapter 3: Assumptions, Criteria, and Method
• Chapter 4: First Peter 1:1–2
• Chapter 5: First Peter 1:3–12
• Chapter 6: First Peter 1:13—2:10
• Chapter 7: First Peter 2:11—3:7
• Chapter 8: First Peter 3:8—4:11
• Chapter 9: First Peter 4:12—5:14
• Chapter 10: Summary and Conclusions
• Appendix: Proposed Parallels
• Bibliography