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Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament: Exegesis And Interpretation
This concise guide by a leading New Testament scholar helps readers understand how to better study the multitude of Old Testament references in the New Testament. G. K. Beale, coeditor of the bestselling "Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament," focuses on the "how to" of interpreting the New Testament use of the Old Testament, providing students and pastors with many of the insights and categories necessary for them to do their own exegesis. Brief enough to be accessible yet thorough enough to be useful, this handbook will be a trusted guide for all students of the Bible.
"This handbook provides readers with a wonderful overview of key issues in and tools for the study of the use of the Old Testament in the New. I expect it to become a standard textbook for courses on the subject and the first book to which newcomers will be directed to help them navigate through these sometimes complex waters."
--Roy E. Ciampa, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2011
148 people are currently reading
641 people want to read
About the author
Gregory K. Beale
32 books196 followersG. K. Beale (PhD, University of Cambridge) is professor of New Testament and biblical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the coeditor of the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament and the author of numerous books, including A New Testament Biblical Theology: The Unfolding of the Old Testament in the New.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 6, 2023
A wealth of knowledge on how the NT authors use the OT. Beale provides the methodology behind understanding how the new authors intended to use OT passages, how to avoid doing it poorly, and why it matters. Concise, chocked full of bibliographic references for your benefit, and easy to understand, this is a must-read for anyone wanting to study their Bible better!
January 7, 2021
4.5
Footnotes alone worth the price of the book.
Footnotes alone worth the price of the book.
March 15, 2025
Useful, but dry. I also feel like it could have been organized in a better way.
June 19, 2025
A “wow” kind of resource. Must-have for preachers, teachers, and scholars. Would heartily recommend to anyone, honestly.
December 15, 2022
Indispensable to working through New Testament use of the Old Testament. Pretty huge help if you’re someone (like me) who has a background in churches that just viewed OT prophecies as the only way the NT used the OT as opposed to types & shadows, allusions, echoes, and more.
December 26, 2024
Love this book. Paradigm shifting for me. Thankful to read it again.
November 7, 2012
When it comes to the study of hermeneutics the New Testament use of the Old Testament is one of the most controversial areas. Central to the swath of differing interpretations is the idea of continuity and discontinuity between the testaments and the definition, nature and use of typology and allusions.
There is perhaps no one else on the contemporary scene who is known for their studies on the NT use of the OT than G.K. Beale. In 2007 Beale and D.A. Carson released a co-edited book Commentary on the New Testament us of the Old Testament. This book has no doubt set an example on how to understand this important topic. Along these lines, Baker published Beale’s new book A New Testament Biblical Theology. In this book readers saw a stellar defense of what is essentially an amillennial interpretation of the NT. Agree with it or not, Beale provides a compelling model and case for how the NT uses and interprets the OT and how that should inform our understanding of the OT’s intent. Among other things, the primary basis for Beale’s understanding of the NT’s use of the OT is that there is a high degree of continuity between the testaments and that typology and allusions run rampant throughout the NT text. While Beale does tip his hat to some of the hermeneutical pillars of his understanding of the NT use of the OT in the introduction to this book, for those who have read or are reading this work and would like a more detailed description of the criteria by which he makes the hermeneutical decisions he does the wait is over.
Baker has now published Beale’s Handbook on the New Testament use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation. While some would have rather seen a more exhaustive treatment of the subject, Beale is clear that “the purpose of this handbook is to provide a short guide to the use of the OT citations and allusions in the NT.” (p. xvii) As a handbook, as opposed to a more detailed study, Beale is more general in his assessments of thoughts and a lot of the content is taken up with surveying the various views within the field of NT use of the OT. It is the guidelines laid out in this book that served as the basis by which all the contributors to the Commentary on the NT use of the OT followed.
Fundamental Issues in Interpreting the NT use of the OT
For Beale, there are two main and foundational issues that need to be brought to the fore in order to effectively understand how the NT uses the OT. First there is the issue of continuity between the testaments. Central to this issue is deciding “whether the NT interprets the Old in line with the original OT meaning.” (p. 1) Even a cursory reading of just the OT quotations in the NT brings the attentive reader to ask how did Paul or the others authors get such and such conclusion from that OT passage? This is a question everyone’s method must answer. After surveying various answers to this question Beale concludes “that NT authors display varying degrees of awareness of literary contexts, as well as perhaps historical contexts, although the former is predominant.” (p. 12)
The second foundational issue is that of typology. Defining typology is of great importance because it can determine what and how much of the NT is typological. Beale defines typology as the following:
"The study of analogical correspondences among revealed truths about persons, events, institutions, and other things within the historical framework of God’s special revelation, which, from a retrospective view, are of a prophetic nature and are escalated in their meaning.” (p. 14)
This definition is long but helpful as it rightly includes several elements: analogical correspondence, historicity, a pointing-forwardness/foreshadowing, escalation and retrospection (p. 14). Lest some think that typology cannot be listed under the umbrella of exegesis since it seems to fall out of the parameters of authorial intent Beale says the following:
"Typology can be called contextual exegesis within the framework of the canon since it primarily involves the interpretation and elucidation of the meaning of earlier parts of Scripture by later parts…..the expansion of the database being interpreted does not mean that we are no longer interpreting but only that we are doing so with a larger block of material." (p. 25)
For some this may be stretching it in order to make ones conclusions about the text fit just so they can be called “exegetical”. Anyone who has red his NT biblical theology will feel that there a places where Beale has crossed the line with his broad use of typology and Beale is reasonable to recognize that not everyone will go the extra mile with him in a number of passages. However, this should not cause the reader to toss his definition out the door.
Along these same lines, which the discussion of quotations is important, what is perhaps more germane to the discussion of typology is the definition of an allusion. It is here again that various interpreters and theologians widely disagree. While a simple definition of an allusion maybe that of “a brief expression consciously intended by an author to be dependent on an OT passage,” this needs more explanation (p. 31). Beale expands this a bit when he says, “The telltale key to discerning an allusion is that of recognizing an incomparable or unique parallel in wording , syntax, concept, or cluster of motifs in the same order or structure.” (p. 31) For Beale, there is not necessarily a minimum word count or other similar type criteria for identifying something as an allusion. In fact, he goes so far as to say that “it remains possible that fewer than three words or even an idea may be an allusion.” (p. 31) This will no doubt strike some readers as odd and wonder then how can anything not be termed an allusion so long as a connection can be made. To be fair, Beale is not setting up a definition so he or others can get away with exegetical abuse just to see an allusion anywhere they want. While readers will find a number of his allusional finds to be stretching it, Beale does the hard work of exegesis and is persuasive nonetheless.
The Nine Step Process to Interpreting the NT use of the OT
With foundational matters and definitions take care of, Beale spends the second shortest chapter in the book outlining his nine step process for interpreting the NT use of the OT. In regards to these steps Beale notes, “The procedures discussed here suggest different angels from which we can look at a passage. When all these approaches are put together, they will provide a cumulatively better understanding of the way the NT interprets the OT.” (p. 42) The steps are as follows:
1. Identify the OT reference. Is it a quotation or allusion? If an allusion it must fit the criteria mentioned earlier.
2. Analyze the broad NT context where the OT reference occurs.
3. Analyze the OT context both broadly and immediately, especially interpreting the paragraph in which the quotation or allusion occurs.
4. Survey the use of the OT text in early and late Judaism that might be of relevance to the NT appropriation of the OT text.
5. Compare the texts: NT, LXX, MT, and targums, early Jewish citations (DSS, the Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, Philo)
6. Analyze the author’s textual use of the OT.
7. Analyze the author’s interpretive use of the OT.
8. Analyze the author’s theological use of the OT.
9. Analyze the author’s rhetorical use of the OT.
The whole of chapter three fleshes out these nine steps more fully. While there may be debate as to what counts as an allusion I cannot see how any camp would have much grounds for rejecting any of these steps. These would be steps used by all sides of the debates. Following this, chapter four is spent discussing the twelve primary ways in which the NT uses the OT. Once a passage, verse, phrase, word or concept is identified as an allusion then it helps to be able to categorize what use the allusion fits into. Various examples are given for each category. For the fourth and fifth steps Beale deals with these at length in chapter six. There is a multitude of works listed and the sheer sight of them is daunting making one wonder if they can ever complete the task without owning or having access to them. In chapter seven Beale uses Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7 as a case study in showing these steps work.
Tucked in the smallest chapter in the book and briefly touched on in chapter three (p. 53), chapter five addresses what he believes to be the five hermeneutical and theological presuppositions of the NT writers:
1. There is an apparent assumption of corporate solidarity or representation.
2. In light of corporate solidarity or representation, Christ as the Messiah is viewed as representing the true Israel of the OT and the true Israel – the church – in the NT.
3. History is unified as a wise and sovereign plan so that the earlier parts are designed to correspond and point to the later parts.
4. The age of eschatological fulfillment has come in Christ.
5. As a consequence of the preceding presuppositions, it follows that the later parts of biblical history function as the broader context for interpreting earlier parts because they all have the same, ultimate divine author which inspires the various human authors. One deduction from this premise if that Christ is the goal toward which the OT pointed and is the end-time center of redemptive history, which is the key to interpreting the earlier portions of the OT and its promises.
Even if everyone could agree on Beale’s nine steps mentioned above and the definition of typology and an allusion, it is here where readers of one theological persuasion or another will find great disagreement. No doubt, Beale’s theological bent plays a clear role in seeing these as theological and hermeneutical presuppositions. Some readers will use this list to toss his whole method but I think that would be unwise. There is still much to be gleaned from Beale’s approach to the subject.
Conclusion
As a guide book the Handbook on the NT use of the OT will serve as a helpful tool for this field of study and I expect it to be used in school classrooms of varying theological persuasions. Despite the theological differences some readers will have with Beale there is much take away from Beale’s methodology and proposed steps of interpreting the NT use of the OT. Despite differences, Beale must be respected for his desire to rightly understand and interpret Scripture’s intended meaning. He has a high view of the text and the task of exegesis. This is a book that should be broadly read and will provide exegetes of all levels with many things to think about.
NOTE: I received this book for free from Baker Academic in exchange for a review. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review and the words and thoughts expressed are my own.
There is perhaps no one else on the contemporary scene who is known for their studies on the NT use of the OT than G.K. Beale. In 2007 Beale and D.A. Carson released a co-edited book Commentary on the New Testament us of the Old Testament. This book has no doubt set an example on how to understand this important topic. Along these lines, Baker published Beale’s new book A New Testament Biblical Theology. In this book readers saw a stellar defense of what is essentially an amillennial interpretation of the NT. Agree with it or not, Beale provides a compelling model and case for how the NT uses and interprets the OT and how that should inform our understanding of the OT’s intent. Among other things, the primary basis for Beale’s understanding of the NT’s use of the OT is that there is a high degree of continuity between the testaments and that typology and allusions run rampant throughout the NT text. While Beale does tip his hat to some of the hermeneutical pillars of his understanding of the NT use of the OT in the introduction to this book, for those who have read or are reading this work and would like a more detailed description of the criteria by which he makes the hermeneutical decisions he does the wait is over.
Baker has now published Beale’s Handbook on the New Testament use of the Old Testament: Exegesis and Interpretation. While some would have rather seen a more exhaustive treatment of the subject, Beale is clear that “the purpose of this handbook is to provide a short guide to the use of the OT citations and allusions in the NT.” (p. xvii) As a handbook, as opposed to a more detailed study, Beale is more general in his assessments of thoughts and a lot of the content is taken up with surveying the various views within the field of NT use of the OT. It is the guidelines laid out in this book that served as the basis by which all the contributors to the Commentary on the NT use of the OT followed.
Fundamental Issues in Interpreting the NT use of the OT
For Beale, there are two main and foundational issues that need to be brought to the fore in order to effectively understand how the NT uses the OT. First there is the issue of continuity between the testaments. Central to this issue is deciding “whether the NT interprets the Old in line with the original OT meaning.” (p. 1) Even a cursory reading of just the OT quotations in the NT brings the attentive reader to ask how did Paul or the others authors get such and such conclusion from that OT passage? This is a question everyone’s method must answer. After surveying various answers to this question Beale concludes “that NT authors display varying degrees of awareness of literary contexts, as well as perhaps historical contexts, although the former is predominant.” (p. 12)
The second foundational issue is that of typology. Defining typology is of great importance because it can determine what and how much of the NT is typological. Beale defines typology as the following:
"The study of analogical correspondences among revealed truths about persons, events, institutions, and other things within the historical framework of God’s special revelation, which, from a retrospective view, are of a prophetic nature and are escalated in their meaning.” (p. 14)
This definition is long but helpful as it rightly includes several elements: analogical correspondence, historicity, a pointing-forwardness/foreshadowing, escalation and retrospection (p. 14). Lest some think that typology cannot be listed under the umbrella of exegesis since it seems to fall out of the parameters of authorial intent Beale says the following:
"Typology can be called contextual exegesis within the framework of the canon since it primarily involves the interpretation and elucidation of the meaning of earlier parts of Scripture by later parts…..the expansion of the database being interpreted does not mean that we are no longer interpreting but only that we are doing so with a larger block of material." (p. 25)
For some this may be stretching it in order to make ones conclusions about the text fit just so they can be called “exegetical”. Anyone who has red his NT biblical theology will feel that there a places where Beale has crossed the line with his broad use of typology and Beale is reasonable to recognize that not everyone will go the extra mile with him in a number of passages. However, this should not cause the reader to toss his definition out the door.
Along these same lines, which the discussion of quotations is important, what is perhaps more germane to the discussion of typology is the definition of an allusion. It is here again that various interpreters and theologians widely disagree. While a simple definition of an allusion maybe that of “a brief expression consciously intended by an author to be dependent on an OT passage,” this needs more explanation (p. 31). Beale expands this a bit when he says, “The telltale key to discerning an allusion is that of recognizing an incomparable or unique parallel in wording , syntax, concept, or cluster of motifs in the same order or structure.” (p. 31) For Beale, there is not necessarily a minimum word count or other similar type criteria for identifying something as an allusion. In fact, he goes so far as to say that “it remains possible that fewer than three words or even an idea may be an allusion.” (p. 31) This will no doubt strike some readers as odd and wonder then how can anything not be termed an allusion so long as a connection can be made. To be fair, Beale is not setting up a definition so he or others can get away with exegetical abuse just to see an allusion anywhere they want. While readers will find a number of his allusional finds to be stretching it, Beale does the hard work of exegesis and is persuasive nonetheless.
The Nine Step Process to Interpreting the NT use of the OT
With foundational matters and definitions take care of, Beale spends the second shortest chapter in the book outlining his nine step process for interpreting the NT use of the OT. In regards to these steps Beale notes, “The procedures discussed here suggest different angels from which we can look at a passage. When all these approaches are put together, they will provide a cumulatively better understanding of the way the NT interprets the OT.” (p. 42) The steps are as follows:
1. Identify the OT reference. Is it a quotation or allusion? If an allusion it must fit the criteria mentioned earlier.
2. Analyze the broad NT context where the OT reference occurs.
3. Analyze the OT context both broadly and immediately, especially interpreting the paragraph in which the quotation or allusion occurs.
4. Survey the use of the OT text in early and late Judaism that might be of relevance to the NT appropriation of the OT text.
5. Compare the texts: NT, LXX, MT, and targums, early Jewish citations (DSS, the Pseudepigrapha, Josephus, Philo)
6. Analyze the author’s textual use of the OT.
7. Analyze the author’s interpretive use of the OT.
8. Analyze the author’s theological use of the OT.
9. Analyze the author’s rhetorical use of the OT.
The whole of chapter three fleshes out these nine steps more fully. While there may be debate as to what counts as an allusion I cannot see how any camp would have much grounds for rejecting any of these steps. These would be steps used by all sides of the debates. Following this, chapter four is spent discussing the twelve primary ways in which the NT uses the OT. Once a passage, verse, phrase, word or concept is identified as an allusion then it helps to be able to categorize what use the allusion fits into. Various examples are given for each category. For the fourth and fifth steps Beale deals with these at length in chapter six. There is a multitude of works listed and the sheer sight of them is daunting making one wonder if they can ever complete the task without owning or having access to them. In chapter seven Beale uses Isaiah 22:22 and Revelation 3:7 as a case study in showing these steps work.
Tucked in the smallest chapter in the book and briefly touched on in chapter three (p. 53), chapter five addresses what he believes to be the five hermeneutical and theological presuppositions of the NT writers:
1. There is an apparent assumption of corporate solidarity or representation.
2. In light of corporate solidarity or representation, Christ as the Messiah is viewed as representing the true Israel of the OT and the true Israel – the church – in the NT.
3. History is unified as a wise and sovereign plan so that the earlier parts are designed to correspond and point to the later parts.
4. The age of eschatological fulfillment has come in Christ.
5. As a consequence of the preceding presuppositions, it follows that the later parts of biblical history function as the broader context for interpreting earlier parts because they all have the same, ultimate divine author which inspires the various human authors. One deduction from this premise if that Christ is the goal toward which the OT pointed and is the end-time center of redemptive history, which is the key to interpreting the earlier portions of the OT and its promises.
Even if everyone could agree on Beale’s nine steps mentioned above and the definition of typology and an allusion, it is here where readers of one theological persuasion or another will find great disagreement. No doubt, Beale’s theological bent plays a clear role in seeing these as theological and hermeneutical presuppositions. Some readers will use this list to toss his whole method but I think that would be unwise. There is still much to be gleaned from Beale’s approach to the subject.
Conclusion
As a guide book the Handbook on the NT use of the OT will serve as a helpful tool for this field of study and I expect it to be used in school classrooms of varying theological persuasions. Despite the theological differences some readers will have with Beale there is much take away from Beale’s methodology and proposed steps of interpreting the NT use of the OT. Despite differences, Beale must be respected for his desire to rightly understand and interpret Scripture’s intended meaning. He has a high view of the text and the task of exegesis. This is a book that should be broadly read and will provide exegetes of all levels with many things to think about.
NOTE: I received this book for free from Baker Academic in exchange for a review. I was under no obligation to provide a favorable review and the words and thoughts expressed are my own.
January 5, 2025
Beale’s work is an extremely helpful guide to the NT’s use of the OT. This brief book unveils the methodology behind the much thicker Commentary he and Carson edited, and it’s really good! The methodology chapter (3) is worth the price of admission itself.
Here are some key highlights from my reading. 1.) Beale gives a succinct and quantifiable definition of typology, which is half the battle in most circles (found on page 14). Typology is characterized by analogical correspondence, historicity, pointing-forwardness, escalation, and retrospection. He also helpfully distinguished quotations from allusions. 2.) The NT authors are aware of the OT context, so interpreters need to pay attention to how the OT context informs the NT’s usage. This is HUGE! 3.) You need to look at the text of the quotation. The NT authors could be using the LXX, a recension of the LXX, or an original translation from the Hebrew. This could be an interpretative decision by the NT authors or just dependent on what text the authors had available to them. 4.) The NT authors could have had a similar interpretation to Jewish sources of their time, and this could be because of shared interpretations of the Old Testament, or the NT could deviate from contemporaries in light of Christ.
Beale is also modest in conclusions, acknowledging that this is an art, not a science in many cases based on how language data is synthesized and explained. He stands with many brilliant scholars from previous generations (e.g. Dodd, Johnson, France) and contemporaries (e.g. Evans, Moo, Bock, Carson) who are good examples of NT interpretation that does justice to the original OT context.
Here are some key highlights from my reading. 1.) Beale gives a succinct and quantifiable definition of typology, which is half the battle in most circles (found on page 14). Typology is characterized by analogical correspondence, historicity, pointing-forwardness, escalation, and retrospection. He also helpfully distinguished quotations from allusions. 2.) The NT authors are aware of the OT context, so interpreters need to pay attention to how the OT context informs the NT’s usage. This is HUGE! 3.) You need to look at the text of the quotation. The NT authors could be using the LXX, a recension of the LXX, or an original translation from the Hebrew. This could be an interpretative decision by the NT authors or just dependent on what text the authors had available to them. 4.) The NT authors could have had a similar interpretation to Jewish sources of their time, and this could be because of shared interpretations of the Old Testament, or the NT could deviate from contemporaries in light of Christ.
Beale is also modest in conclusions, acknowledging that this is an art, not a science in many cases based on how language data is synthesized and explained. He stands with many brilliant scholars from previous generations (e.g. Dodd, Johnson, France) and contemporaries (e.g. Evans, Moo, Bock, Carson) who are good examples of NT interpretation that does justice to the original OT context.
February 1, 2024
“He concludes that this phenomenon indicates that the NT authors were aware of broad OT contexts and did not focus merely on single verses independent of the segment from which they were drawn. Single verses and phrases are merely singposts to the overall OT context from which they were cited.” p.5
“The probability that authors like Paul were not limited to accessing excerpts is indicated by a spate fo works appearing since Dodd’s According to the Scriptures, works showing that NT writers were aware of the broader OT contexts from which they cited specific verses. A good example of such works most recently is by Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, and others have followed his wake.” p.7
“Though Paul views these new-creation prophecies to have been inaugurated (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15), Peter is looking to their yet future consummation. He encourages the readers to persevere in godly conduct now by assuring them that a new creation will come in which only those who are prepared now by being righteous will be able to enter.” p.67
“The NT writers’ selection of OT texts was not random or capricious or out of line with the original OT meaning but determined by this wider, overriding perspective, which views redemptive history as unified by an omnipotent and wise design. Throughout this design are expressed the unchanging principles of faith in God, God’s faithfulness in fulfilling promises, the rebellion of the unbelieving, God’s judgement on them, and his glory.” P.99
“The probability that authors like Paul were not limited to accessing excerpts is indicated by a spate fo works appearing since Dodd’s According to the Scriptures, works showing that NT writers were aware of the broader OT contexts from which they cited specific verses. A good example of such works most recently is by Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul, and others have followed his wake.” p.7
“Though Paul views these new-creation prophecies to have been inaugurated (see 2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15), Peter is looking to their yet future consummation. He encourages the readers to persevere in godly conduct now by assuring them that a new creation will come in which only those who are prepared now by being righteous will be able to enter.” p.67
“The NT writers’ selection of OT texts was not random or capricious or out of line with the original OT meaning but determined by this wider, overriding perspective, which views redemptive history as unified by an omnipotent and wise design. Throughout this design are expressed the unchanging principles of faith in God, God’s faithfulness in fulfilling promises, the rebellion of the unbelieving, God’s judgement on them, and his glory.” P.99
June 19, 2021
2021 reads: #21
Rating: 4 Stars
Very useful handbook for the NT's use of the OT. For a short book it does go into quite a bit of detail. Beyond looking at direct prophetic fulfilment, this is helpful in responsibly identifying types and analogies and various other uses. It provides an approach and examples of how to do a "usage" study by taking into account a variety of sources that can aid in understanding an NT author's interpretation of an OT passage. Also includes a helpful, yet still debatable, section on the presuppositions of the NT authors.
In a much debated area of biblical studies this book does much to codify an approach that will lead to greater clarity in exegesis and interpretation.
Rating: 4 Stars
Very useful handbook for the NT's use of the OT. For a short book it does go into quite a bit of detail. Beyond looking at direct prophetic fulfilment, this is helpful in responsibly identifying types and analogies and various other uses. It provides an approach and examples of how to do a "usage" study by taking into account a variety of sources that can aid in understanding an NT author's interpretation of an OT passage. Also includes a helpful, yet still debatable, section on the presuppositions of the NT authors.
In a much debated area of biblical studies this book does much to codify an approach that will lead to greater clarity in exegesis and interpretation.
January 10, 2025
A fanatic guide & intro on study of how the NT uses the OT!
Foundational for any study of biblical theology, which makes it especially useful & a worthy read for pastors & scholars
Technical at points even for an intro though, so a more suitable version of this topic for the average church member is “old made new” by Greg Lanier
Foundational for any study of biblical theology, which makes it especially useful & a worthy read for pastors & scholars
Technical at points even for an intro though, so a more suitable version of this topic for the average church member is “old made new” by Greg Lanier
September 29, 2020
Good hermeneutical principles, but dang, SO MUCH PASSIVE VOICE. So many dead constructions. It was like he didn’t want this book to be read, or that if it had to be read, heaven forbid that it be enjoyed!
May 7, 2024
This is a handbook, so at times it can be quite dry and tedious. That said, it is a wealth of information and useful tools. Particularly, Beale's comments on demonstrating typologies or allusions are gold.
November 8, 2024
Helpful, especially because it includes a bibliography with comments on how to utilize each resource in interpreting the OT. Took a remarkably long time for me to read, based on its size, but I attribute that to the fact that I’m a novice at this level of interpretation. Good stuff!
August 18, 2017
An excellent and helpful review of Beale's methodology. Four stars because at times I think the focus on links with Jewish and rabbinic sources goes a little too far, given that Scripture is given to God's people, not God's people who happen to be scholars in ancient literature. So, knocking off a star for that chapter, the rest of the book is exceedingly helpful on how to think about the way a New Testament author uses an Old Testament verse.
March 23, 2019
THE STANDARD. That's just fact and simple, y'all.
March 28, 2021
A good deep dive with a fairly comprehensive overview. Lots of good footnotes. Not a book for the casual studier. It is a resource I anticipate going back to many times.
July 27, 2022
Weirdly obsessed with authorial intent.
December 5, 2023
While some of the concepts went over my head, overall this book was a great tool in growing my knowledge on how the Bible interprets itself.
September 12, 2024
Excellent resource for biblical interpretation on the NT uses of the OT.
April 18, 2025
man, I forgot how much I love reading Beale. just so good. the best thing I've read for seminary in a while.
December 16, 2024
Beale has produced a concise manual for how to understand Old Testament citations in the New Testament. Worth a read for any expositor who wants to have an essential tool to discern the meaning of a text.
June 30, 2023
The prose is real rough...but it is a Handbook. Some real helpful stuff.
December 13, 2012
G. K. Beale provides a fine compact introduction to the subject of the title. In particular, the book explains the methodology that went into the much larger Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament which Beale co-edited with D. A. Carson. Intended also as a how-to manual, the book explores the challenges in the task at hand, then how to discern when the NT is in fact quoting or alluding to the OT, and next offers a multi-step approach to interpreting the OT in the NT. A compendium of various ways the NT uses the OT follows, then a chapter on the presuppositions of the NT writers, a survey on utilizing the Jewish backgrounds, and finally a case study.
Particularly welcome is Beale's incorporation of the conversation to date on how the OT uses its own earlier materials (inner-biblical exegesis) - a topic well traversed by biblical scholars over the past 25 or so years, but perhaps not as well known among many pastors or those engaged in practical missions where the OT comes into significant focus (e.g. missions to Jewish people).
Some students will delve right in and apply Beale's multi-step approach. Others may benefit from taking a class where this serves as the text, with hands-on exercises and interaction with professors and other students.
The bibliographies throughout are a sure guide to anyone who wants to pursue the topics in more depth.
While not everyone will agree with Beale's listing of the presuppositions shared by the NT writers in approaching the OT - and Beale recognizes this - this is an extremely helpful introduction to the subject. Warmly recommended!
Particularly welcome is Beale's incorporation of the conversation to date on how the OT uses its own earlier materials (inner-biblical exegesis) - a topic well traversed by biblical scholars over the past 25 or so years, but perhaps not as well known among many pastors or those engaged in practical missions where the OT comes into significant focus (e.g. missions to Jewish people).
Some students will delve right in and apply Beale's multi-step approach. Others may benefit from taking a class where this serves as the text, with hands-on exercises and interaction with professors and other students.
The bibliographies throughout are a sure guide to anyone who wants to pursue the topics in more depth.
While not everyone will agree with Beale's listing of the presuppositions shared by the NT writers in approaching the OT - and Beale recognizes this - this is an extremely helpful introduction to the subject. Warmly recommended!
February 18, 2016
Beale's "Handbook on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament" was an incredible read! My understanding of how to read the NT authors has grown tremendously from this book.
Beale begins his book justifying a modern biblical interpreter's ability to interpret the Bible in the same way the NT authors did. He even claims that the idea that the apostle's method of interpretation being invalid for today because of their position is birthed out of postmodernism.
Beale gives methods of interpreting NT quotes, allusions, and echoes of the OT. A quick summary of Beale's hermeneutic for reading OT quotes would "examine the OT context." Beale then goes on to give a few examples of this.
In order for Beale to fully explain NT author's views of fulfilled prophecy (such as Matthew 2:15 from Hosea 11:1), he must spend much time explaining typology and allegory. Unfortunately though, I felt like this took up a majority of the book.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. This is a must read for any Bible student/scholar. However, be warned, this book mostly covers the topic of typology. Though Beale does an incredible job at this I really feel like he simply gave an overview of a lot of things I had already thought through. Also, his explanation of how NT authors quote the OT is very simple and concise. For the size of this book it is incredible! However, I wish Beale had doubled the page numbers and gone into more depth.
Overall this book simply met my expectations and nothing more and for this I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
Beale begins his book justifying a modern biblical interpreter's ability to interpret the Bible in the same way the NT authors did. He even claims that the idea that the apostle's method of interpretation being invalid for today because of their position is birthed out of postmodernism.
Beale gives methods of interpreting NT quotes, allusions, and echoes of the OT. A quick summary of Beale's hermeneutic for reading OT quotes would "examine the OT context." Beale then goes on to give a few examples of this.
In order for Beale to fully explain NT author's views of fulfilled prophecy (such as Matthew 2:15 from Hosea 11:1), he must spend much time explaining typology and allegory. Unfortunately though, I felt like this took up a majority of the book.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. This is a must read for any Bible student/scholar. However, be warned, this book mostly covers the topic of typology. Though Beale does an incredible job at this I really feel like he simply gave an overview of a lot of things I had already thought through. Also, his explanation of how NT authors quote the OT is very simple and concise. For the size of this book it is incredible! However, I wish Beale had doubled the page numbers and gone into more depth.
Overall this book simply met my expectations and nothing more and for this I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
September 18, 2020
This book started its life as a set of notes for the contributing authors of the Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (edited by G.K.Beale and D.A. Carson) so that they could treat the passages in question in the style that was expected of them. After the publication of that volume, Beale updated and expanded the notes for publication. The result is an almost comprehensive guide on how to interpret Old Testament quotations and allusions in the New Testament. Beale gives a nine-step process for how to accurately arrive at this interpretation, along with examples, definitions and copious footnotes.
The book is aimed at an academic level since most amateur theologians/Bible students simply wouldn’t have the time to fully follow Beale’s process. His writing style, while articulate, is not easy to digest and the footnotes, while invaluable, mean that the reader will be chasing rabbit-trails and will take a long time to finish reading the book. Having said that, for those that are willing to do the work to get through it, there is a gold mine of material. The section detailing Matthew’s quotation (in Matthew 2:15) of Hosea 11 is worth the price of the book by itself. I found that some Beale’s steps are too detailed to use in every study session (researching 1st century Jewish literature comes to mind), but overall his method will influence how I study the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament for the foreseeable future.
The book is aimed at an academic level since most amateur theologians/Bible students simply wouldn’t have the time to fully follow Beale’s process. His writing style, while articulate, is not easy to digest and the footnotes, while invaluable, mean that the reader will be chasing rabbit-trails and will take a long time to finish reading the book. Having said that, for those that are willing to do the work to get through it, there is a gold mine of material. The section detailing Matthew’s quotation (in Matthew 2:15) of Hosea 11 is worth the price of the book by itself. I found that some Beale’s steps are too detailed to use in every study session (researching 1st century Jewish literature comes to mind), but overall his method will influence how I study the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament for the foreseeable future.
September 19, 2016
Excellent volume! G.K Beale unveils his methodology to identify and analyse the use of the OT by NT authors. Chapters 2 and 3 alone are worth the price of the book, and the bibliography is particularly useful (although not comprehensive, according to Beale). A must-read for any serious student of the New Testament!
November 1, 2016
There are some handbooks/instruction manuals that assume you know everything about the subject anyway, and there are others that walk you through the paces step by step. This was, sadly, a case of the former. What was said was important, but it's easily lost through the feature dump of technical specs that the author just assumes you already know.
June 6, 2019
This book annoyed me because the author spends the first part of the book discussing analytical methods that assume a lack of active participation by the Holy Spirit in biblical interpretation. The explanations given for when the Apostles cite sources not according to these rules sound like a varying series of cop-outs as a result. He stated that authors "misuse" OT references then makes excuses for why this is OK for them (but not for us, as we apparently don't have the same Holy Spirit and cannot interpret scripture correctly like they did). He mentions abuse of typology and eisegesis but doesn't give examples.
In the later parts of the text, links between the new and OT are extensively tabulated as references, which makes it heavy going for study and very unreadable to the casual reader who just wants to pick up a book and learn something.
Three stars because if you're Reformed or a nonbeliever this works fine for understanding how a reformed college will use rules to interpret the bible, and the author has clearly put a lot of work and background into this by summarising lots of commentaries I'm glad I don't have to wade through.
In the later parts of the text, links between the new and OT are extensively tabulated as references, which makes it heavy going for study and very unreadable to the casual reader who just wants to pick up a book and learn something.
Three stars because if you're Reformed or a nonbeliever this works fine for understanding how a reformed college will use rules to interpret the bible, and the author has clearly put a lot of work and background into this by summarising lots of commentaries I'm glad I don't have to wade through.
June 30, 2025
Dieses Buch ist zurecht ein Standardwerk, wenn es um den Gebrauch des Alten Testaments im Neuen Testament geht. Beale gelingt es, ein komplexes und oft vielschichtiges Thema zugänglich und systematisch aufzubereiten.
Besonders hilfreich ist die Differenzierung der verschiedenen Referenztypen wie Zitat, Anspielung (Allusion), Echo oder Metalepsis – eine Unterscheidung, die für eine sorgfältige Exegese absolut zentral ist und gerade im ersten Teil des Buches überzeugend und klar dargestellt wird.
Ebenfalls stark ist der Überblick über unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze in der Forschung sowie die Auseinandersetzung mit den hermeneutischen Prämissen der neutestamentlichen Autoren. Beale legt hier offen, welche Denkweise und theologischen Voraussetzungen hinter der Verwendung alttestamentlicher Texte stehen könnten.
Konkrete Textbeispiele und exegetische Anwendungen machen das Buch zudem sehr praxisnah – ideal für alle, die tiefer in die Thematik einsteigen möchten. Für Theologiestudierende, Lehrende oder Prediger eine klare Empfehlung. Ein durchdachtes, gut strukturiertes Einführungswerk mit Tiefgang.
Besonders hilfreich ist die Differenzierung der verschiedenen Referenztypen wie Zitat, Anspielung (Allusion), Echo oder Metalepsis – eine Unterscheidung, die für eine sorgfältige Exegese absolut zentral ist und gerade im ersten Teil des Buches überzeugend und klar dargestellt wird.
Ebenfalls stark ist der Überblick über unterschiedliche methodische Ansätze in der Forschung sowie die Auseinandersetzung mit den hermeneutischen Prämissen der neutestamentlichen Autoren. Beale legt hier offen, welche Denkweise und theologischen Voraussetzungen hinter der Verwendung alttestamentlicher Texte stehen könnten.
Konkrete Textbeispiele und exegetische Anwendungen machen das Buch zudem sehr praxisnah – ideal für alle, die tiefer in die Thematik einsteigen möchten. Für Theologiestudierende, Lehrende oder Prediger eine klare Empfehlung. Ein durchdachtes, gut strukturiertes Einführungswerk mit Tiefgang.
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