A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
by Fred G. Zaspel
The church of our generation has witnessed a wonderful explosion of interest in Biblical Theology, one aspect of which is the study of how biblical writers make use of earlier biblical writings. So far this attention has primarily focused on the New Testament use of the Old Testament – a very important and fruitful area of study. Gary Schnittjer has taken another important step and has set out to examine how writers of the Old Testament Scriptures make use of earlier Old Testament writings.
His method is to take up successive portions of Scripture, book by book through the Old Testament, uncover citations and allusions to earlier writings, and examine the way these later writers interpret the former. And the payoff of this exercise is enormous in the hermeneutical and exegetical insight gained.
Schnittjer describes his goal in writing:
“My goal is to provide a student-friendly introduction to the use of Scripture in every book of Israel’s Scriptures. The Bible’s use of the Bible embodies a small but important part of the progressive revelation of God’s redemptive will. Later biblical authors often taught something new by interpretive allusions to earlier scriptural teachings. Old Testament Use of Old Testament goes scroll by scroll one case at a time evaluating scriptural exegesis within Israel’s Scriptures.”
Here is Tremper Longman’s endorsement:
Gary Schnittjer provides an insightful and detailed guide to how the various books of the Old Testament allude to and interpret other books. I enthusiastically recommend that all serious students of Scripture have this significant reference book in their library.”
A genuine contribution to biblical study and another “must-have” resource for the busy pastor.