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Introduction
In 2005, Moyise and Menken did not include a chapter on Ephesians in their volume, Isaiah in the New Testament. They reason, “Ephesians might have qualified, with over a dozen or so allusions listed, but then we could easily find double or treble this number of allusions in the books represented here. The New Testament (NT) writings that have been included here are those in which Isaiah plays a major role, and so this collection gives an accurate overview of the significance of Isaiah in the New Testament.”1 Moyise and Menken’s admission opens the possibility that the uninvestigated Isaiah usages in Ephesians may reveal more than previously thought. In a more recent examination, Thielman builds on Lincoln,2 Moritz,3 and other works, looking exclusively at the use of the Old Testament (OT) in Ephesians.4 In contrast to Moyise and Menken, Thielman asserts that the author of Ephesians makes extensive use of the OT for specific reasons. In speaking of the author of the epistle he writes, “His interaction with the Old Testament played an important role in accomplishing his purpose. He alluded to a range of texts in Psalms and Isaiah to remind his readers that if they were ‘in Christ,’ they had joined God’s anointed king in the victory God had given him over the enemies of his people.”5
If an OT “victory” theme is sustainable in Ephesians, what is left undone is the question of what the cumulative use of the OT passages meant to the author as he composed his letter. It is the “dozen or so allusions” as well as several other usages of the OT victory theme in Ephesians that may make a case for the new exodus in this present thesis. In an attempt to demonstrate this proposal several introductory factors will be discussed including Paul’s authorship, the occasion and destination of the epistle, a survey of approaches to the purpose of Ephesians, the OT as the basis of the Pauline thought world, the author’s OT sources, and the utilization of a typological-historical hermeneutic.6
1.1 The Question of Paul’s Authorship
It is unnecessary in this present effort to maintain an unassailable position on Paul’s authorship or the epistle’s solidarity with the rest of the Pauline Corpus; however, Pauline authorship will be assumed.7 The authorship of Ephesians has been vigorously debated by many prominent scholars. Some dispute Paul’s hand in the writing (such as Goodspeed,8 Lindemann,9 Dahl,10 Lincoln,11 Brown,12 Best,13 and Dunn14), while others affirm it (Percy,15 Caird,16 M. Barth,17 Dodd,18 Hoehner,19 and O’Brien20), and still others are uncertain (e.g., Schnackenburg21). Even as the debate continues,22 those who doubt Paul’s authorship proceed in investigating the use of the OT in the epistle.23 Although not all letters in the Pauline Corpus may be regarded as stemming from Paul, they are nevertheless regarded as Pauline in nature.24 Those scholars who focus on the use of the OT in Ephesians do so by accepting the letter generally as it stands, with authorship remaining a relatively minor issue.
However, doubts concerning Paul’s authorship should elicit caution on the part of interpreters. Although the use of the OT in Ephesians may share common themes with the disputed and undisputed Paulines, comparisons that “prove a similarity of thought on some particular point between Ephesians and Paul tells us very little.”25 When seeking to affiliate the usages of the OT in Ephesians with the Pauline Corpus, clear correlations must exist and each linkage should stand on its own merit. Dependence on common OT texts cannot be the sole proof for common authorship or connecting passages. For example, Eph 1:20–22 and 1 Cor 15:25–27 both use Pss 8:6 and 110:1.26 Although it may be maintained that Paul wrote both Ephesians and 1 Corinthians, the apostle uses the psalms from different perspectives.27 In 1 Cor 15 the triumph of God is future, in Ephesians it is present. This reminds the interpreter of the complexities involved in seeking to understand the use of the OT in the NT, even if the same supposed author is in view.
In summary, this work assumes Paul’s authorship of Ephesians but not without reservation. Old Testament parallels between Ephesians and other portions of the Pauline Corpus cannot be mechanistically applied due merely to common authorship. All potential corre...