Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith

Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith. By Francis Watson. London: T & T Clark International, 2004. xvi + 584 pp., $34.95 paper.

The role of the OT in Paul's thinking has been of great interest in recent years. Some of the questions that have drawn the most attention are: How influential is Scripture in his writing? How does Paul understand Scripture in relation to early Judaism? How does he interpret it in relation to his Christian experience? These questions are all addressed in this volume by Francis Watson. It is a remarkable achievement that is sure to be used by many who are studying the use of OT in the NT as well as those interested in Paul's theology.

Watson approaches Paul's understanding of Torah by developing the idea that Paul is a first-century Jew. While others have considered this premise in part, Watson develops this idea more fully. "Paul and other Jewish readers participate in an ongoing conversation about how to read the Torah and the prophets, and the fact that they read differently is just what makes the conversation possible and necessary. This is the point where Paul's Jewishness becomes hermeneutically significant. As a Jew, Paul is involved in critically reading the Torah along with other Jews of his time" (p. 2).

From this premise, Watson then proceeds to examine portions of Paul's letters that reveal his interpretation of the Torah. Instead of considering these Pauline passages in isolation, Watson considers two other Jewish viewpoints alongside of Paul's. The first is a canonical understanding of these passages from the Torah. Jewish writers at Paul's time would have attempted to understand the importance of each passage canonically. While some modern scholars have criticized canonical interpretations of the Torah, a canonical grasp of Scripture would have been important for Paul and other contemporary Jewish writers. Thus, Watson engages in a search for the canonical understanding of the passages from the Torah that Paul saw as important.

The second viewpoint that Watson considers is that of contemporary Jewish writers. He considers how they understood the same passages from the Torah that Paul deemed significant. While this exploration can be lengthy at times and can be challenging to follow, particularly for those less familiar with second Temple Jewish literature, this part of Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith is unique. Some scholars take time to consider some relationship between Paul and early Judaism, but no one to my knowledge has devoted such time and space to considering how Paul's contemporaries understood particular Torah texts.

Throughout this volume, then, Watson maintains this three-way conversation between Paul, a canonical understanding of Torah texts, and the viewpoints of nonChristian Jewish authors. This dialogue is well illustrated in Watson's first chapter, which establishes the pattern. In this chapter, he considers Paul's understanding of the Hab 2:4 citation "the just shall live by faith" in Rom 1:17. He begins here, because he finds this citation critical for Paul's entire discussion of the Law and justification by faith as found in the book of Romans, particularly Rom 1:18-3:31.

After making his case for the importance of grasping Hab 2:4 for understanding the Law, Watson proceeds to consider this particular Scripture first in relation to its immediate context, then within the canon, and finally within early Jewish literature. As a result, Watson looks at the Habakkuk citation within the book of Habakkuk and the Book of the Twelve (i.e. the Minor Prophets). By examining Hab 2:4 within its immediate context, he finds this text to be a key theme of the book. When he compares it with the other prophets, he finds the idea to serve also as a central concept of the Book of the Twelve. Thus from this canonical perspective, it makes sense why Paul would have cited this particular Scripture text in Rom 1:17.

His discussion then moves to the viewpoint of a contemporary Jewish interpreter who also interprets the same text, the Teacher of Righteousness within the Habakkuk pesher. Watson examines this thoroughly, devoting over fifty pages to it, unlike the page or two that some would devote to this issue. Watson concludes that Paul is in agreement and disagreement with the pesherist's use of the verse. One way in which they agree is that the faith/works antithesis can be found in both readings of the Habakkuk text. They also agree on the importance of this text for salvation. They disagree in that the Habakkuk pesher takes and applies this text to following the Teacher of Righteousness, while Paul takes this text to apply to the universal scope of God's address in the gospel. These are some of the many conclusions that Watson draws from comparing Hab 2:4 in the Qumran Habakkuk pesher with Paul's use of it in Romans.

Subsequent chapters in Paul and the Hermeneutics of Faith take this three-way discussion between Paul, Torah, and non-Christian Jewish texts further. The subsequent chapters focus on Paul's reading of each of the books of the Pentateuch. The key cited passages from each of the books from the Torah are then considered in relation to their discussion in early Jewish literature. This leads to lengthy discussions on the canonical understanding of the Torah as well as on books such as Jubilees, Wisdom, 4 Ezra, 2 Baruch, and on authors such as Philo and Josephus.