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How to Study the Bible's Use of the Bible: Seven Hermeneutical Choices for the Old and New Testaments
How to Study the Bible's Use of the Seven Hermeneutical Choices for the Old and New Testaments by Gary Edward Schnittjer and Matthew S. Harmon is an essential resource aimed at teaching a hermeneutic for understanding the Bible's use of the Bible. Intended for students of both testaments, the book's innovative approach demonstrates how the Old Testament use of Scripture provides resources for the New Testament authors' use of Scripture. The authors provide students with a clear approach to handling the Bible's use of itself through seven key hermeneutical choices organized into individual chapters. Each chapter introduces a hermeneutical choice and then provides several examples of the Old Testament use of Old Testament and the New Testament use of Old Testament. The plentiful examples model for students the need to ground hermeneutics in biblical evidence and provide insight into understanding why the Bible's use of the Bible is important.
304 pages, Hardcover
Published October 8, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 2, 2025
I’ve benefited from Schnittjer and Harmon’s work in the past so I expected much. Their structure of “seven choices” promised to be clarifying (it reminded me of Sailhamer’s helpful structure in his intro to OT theology). But this was rough!
The book suffers in a few ways.
Writing/editing. This is some of the worst academic writing I’ve read. There’s an immense lack of clarity on the grammatical level. Sentence fragments, unconnected thoughts, and unexplained jargon abound. Sometimes it’s difficult to even find a verb. The introduction and first few chapters are particularly bad, reading like hastily written first drafts. A lack of clarity is always annoying, but it’s crippling in a book for students about a tricky technical subject. This was was amplified by a rank overuse of jargon. And the authors often complicate rather than bringing simplicity. This won’t serve students, it will overwhelm. I’m not a novice in this subject but still I didn’t know what the book was trying to say much of the time.
The choices framework. Though it had great promise, in practice the seven choices framework didn’t really work for me. The authors present the seven binary choices as those each student must decide upon for themselves (xxvii), but in the first chapter they go straight for the throat, diving into hard polemics against one of the choices without adequately explaining the situation for the uninitiated. Further, the authors advocate a both/and approach for five of the seven choices. And some of the seven choices are less essential than others, such as typology and prosopological exegesis, which the authors acknowledge interpreters won’t face as regularly. So, the framework of “choose this or this” does not really serve the content of the book. The book is really the authors’ corrections to common approaches to scripture’s use of scripture. Which is fine, but don’t shoehorn it into a framework.
So with that out of the way, what about the content itself? It’s merely ok, with some great moments and some clunkers.
Two chapters were quite strong: those of detecting allusions and vertical context. The authors present helpful guidelines for how to detect allusions while correcting the inadequacies in other approaches. I appreciated their insistence that the apostles learned from the OT’s own self-interpretation rather than some “second temple” hermeneutic. And that we must pay attention to “vertical” context — where we discover a text quotes a text which itself quotes other texts.
The typology chapter was frustrating. What I find annoying about typology was on full display. Typology is so often presented as a solution to a problem that interpreters create: namely, the problem of the OT’s “original context.” When the NT’s interpretation doesn’t seem to align with one’s understanding of “original context,” typology comes to the rescue. It’s like an elastic band that can stretch over any gap. But what if there’s no gap? If an apostle applies an OT passage to Christ, what if we believe them? But when we say its “original context” is about something other than Jesus, upon what authority do we do so? Our own, certainly not that of inspired scripture. But, back to the review. The authors’ example concerning the psalms was a case in point. They simply assumed the psalm “original context” referred to David’s own life events. But the NT applies the psalms to Jesus. So any application to Jesus must be a case of typology. But this ignores the very words of the apostles when they show their hermeneutic (e.g. Acts 2; 1 Peter 1).
The prosopological exegesis (PE) chapter was infuriating. I suspect it was “written by committee,” since the acknowledgements mention how many people critiqued versions of the chapter. It showed—it was particularly hard to read. The authors overly complicated PE and explained it in a convoluted way. More, their definition of PE was broken: they claim that PE assigns “new” speakers or addressee. But for the NT and early church, PE is typically presented as discerning the speaker/addressee that are there in the OT, not reassigning them. For example, the arguments of Acts 2 and Hebrews 1 depend upon these OT passages truly being about Christ. The authors claim that PE can be found in the OT was exciting, but their examples were mostly bizarre and unhelpful.
All in all, not a great book. This hurts all the more since it had such promise. “You could have been the chosen one!”
The book suffers in a few ways.
Writing/editing. This is some of the worst academic writing I’ve read. There’s an immense lack of clarity on the grammatical level. Sentence fragments, unconnected thoughts, and unexplained jargon abound. Sometimes it’s difficult to even find a verb. The introduction and first few chapters are particularly bad, reading like hastily written first drafts. A lack of clarity is always annoying, but it’s crippling in a book for students about a tricky technical subject. This was was amplified by a rank overuse of jargon. And the authors often complicate rather than bringing simplicity. This won’t serve students, it will overwhelm. I’m not a novice in this subject but still I didn’t know what the book was trying to say much of the time.
The choices framework. Though it had great promise, in practice the seven choices framework didn’t really work for me. The authors present the seven binary choices as those each student must decide upon for themselves (xxvii), but in the first chapter they go straight for the throat, diving into hard polemics against one of the choices without adequately explaining the situation for the uninitiated. Further, the authors advocate a both/and approach for five of the seven choices. And some of the seven choices are less essential than others, such as typology and prosopological exegesis, which the authors acknowledge interpreters won’t face as regularly. So, the framework of “choose this or this” does not really serve the content of the book. The book is really the authors’ corrections to common approaches to scripture’s use of scripture. Which is fine, but don’t shoehorn it into a framework.
So with that out of the way, what about the content itself? It’s merely ok, with some great moments and some clunkers.
Two chapters were quite strong: those of detecting allusions and vertical context. The authors present helpful guidelines for how to detect allusions while correcting the inadequacies in other approaches. I appreciated their insistence that the apostles learned from the OT’s own self-interpretation rather than some “second temple” hermeneutic. And that we must pay attention to “vertical” context — where we discover a text quotes a text which itself quotes other texts.
The typology chapter was frustrating. What I find annoying about typology was on full display. Typology is so often presented as a solution to a problem that interpreters create: namely, the problem of the OT’s “original context.” When the NT’s interpretation doesn’t seem to align with one’s understanding of “original context,” typology comes to the rescue. It’s like an elastic band that can stretch over any gap. But what if there’s no gap? If an apostle applies an OT passage to Christ, what if we believe them? But when we say its “original context” is about something other than Jesus, upon what authority do we do so? Our own, certainly not that of inspired scripture. But, back to the review. The authors’ example concerning the psalms was a case in point. They simply assumed the psalm “original context” referred to David’s own life events. But the NT applies the psalms to Jesus. So any application to Jesus must be a case of typology. But this ignores the very words of the apostles when they show their hermeneutic (e.g. Acts 2; 1 Peter 1).
The prosopological exegesis (PE) chapter was infuriating. I suspect it was “written by committee,” since the acknowledgements mention how many people critiqued versions of the chapter. It showed—it was particularly hard to read. The authors overly complicated PE and explained it in a convoluted way. More, their definition of PE was broken: they claim that PE assigns “new” speakers or addressee. But for the NT and early church, PE is typically presented as discerning the speaker/addressee that are there in the OT, not reassigning them. For example, the arguments of Acts 2 and Hebrews 1 depend upon these OT passages truly being about Christ. The authors claim that PE can be found in the OT was exciting, but their examples were mostly bizarre and unhelpful.
All in all, not a great book. This hurts all the more since it had such promise. “You could have been the chosen one!”
February 11, 2025
Rather technical and dry, but engaging once you get used to the style of the prose. The inclusion of efficiently presented case studies is helpful for making the proposed choices and processes “come alive.” I will be returning to this as a manual and resource for many projects to-come.
February 3, 2025
A bit theoretical and jargon-y at times, but a good followup to basic hermeneutic textbooks.
November 11, 2024
While being a textbook and so academic in nature, this work lays out interpretive issues that everyone should be aware of and helps the author better understand how the Bible interacts with itself and reads itself... which in turn helps us read the Bible.
September 26, 2025
An outstanding work documenting a truly breakthrough approach to engaging Scripture’s use of Scripture
Schnittjer and Harmon significantly advance the practice of hermeneutics, focusing on how earlier Scripture is used by later Scripture. The seven interpretive decisions presented in the work, taken together, present a breathtaking refresh to how the Bible should be studied. I appreciate that the authors note that while “understanding the basic message of scripture” does not require use of the extensive background materials available nor the sometimes intricate processes outlined in the book, these resources and approaches are “vital for gaining a fuller sense of what the biblical authors are trying to communicate” (105). Working through the book I found myself having a sense of being back in seminary, sharpening my interpretive skills. Of particular interest to me is how the authors challenge the prevailing approach to how New Testament authors used and alluded to the Old Treatment by demonstrating a pattern of interpreting and advancing meaning of texts in the Old Testament itself. Rather than needing to appeal to a so-called rabbinic approach to interpretation that may or may not have existed in the New Testament era, Schnittjer and Harmony demonstrates that one needs look no further than the Old Testament itself to see a Spirit-inspired process of interpreting and applying older texts to new situations.
Prepare to roll up your sleeves, dust off your biblical Hebrew and Greek, and revisit your hermeneutical assumptions. I will be returning to this work over and over, and leveraging the resources recommended for years to come.
Schnittjer and Harmon significantly advance the practice of hermeneutics, focusing on how earlier Scripture is used by later Scripture. The seven interpretive decisions presented in the work, taken together, present a breathtaking refresh to how the Bible should be studied. I appreciate that the authors note that while “understanding the basic message of scripture” does not require use of the extensive background materials available nor the sometimes intricate processes outlined in the book, these resources and approaches are “vital for gaining a fuller sense of what the biblical authors are trying to communicate” (105). Working through the book I found myself having a sense of being back in seminary, sharpening my interpretive skills. Of particular interest to me is how the authors challenge the prevailing approach to how New Testament authors used and alluded to the Old Treatment by demonstrating a pattern of interpreting and advancing meaning of texts in the Old Testament itself. Rather than needing to appeal to a so-called rabbinic approach to interpretation that may or may not have existed in the New Testament era, Schnittjer and Harmony demonstrates that one needs look no further than the Old Testament itself to see a Spirit-inspired process of interpreting and applying older texts to new situations.
Prepare to roll up your sleeves, dust off your biblical Hebrew and Greek, and revisit your hermeneutical assumptions. I will be returning to this work over and over, and leveraging the resources recommended for years to come.
March 26, 2025
I'll be going through a fair amount of this book on my channel, and a lot of it already undergirds my exegesis. It truly gave me a few more powerful tools to what I had, sort of like upgrading from a hand saw to a powered saw. Does the same job, but now I have a bit more extensive knowledge, more vocabulary, and far more in depth examples and resources to pull on.
This book functions as a follow up to Hermanetics 101, and will truly take you deeper in your studies as well as giving you plenty of resources to dig into much deeper.
Chapter 1: Sequestered Verses Connected (should we isolate text from each other or not)
Chapter 2: Adjusted Meaning &/ Context Vs Advancement of Revelation
Chapter 3: Detecting Allusions as Art Vs Science
Chapter 4: Horizontal Vs Vertical Context
Chapter 5: Biblical Vs Extra Biblical relationships
Chapter 6: Backward Looking Vs Forward Looking Typological Patterns
Chapter 7: Historical Exegesis Vs Historical & Prosopological Exegesis
Closing Chapter: Case Studies
This book functions as a follow up to Hermanetics 101, and will truly take you deeper in your studies as well as giving you plenty of resources to dig into much deeper.
Chapter 1: Sequestered Verses Connected (should we isolate text from each other or not)
Chapter 2: Adjusted Meaning &/ Context Vs Advancement of Revelation
Chapter 3: Detecting Allusions as Art Vs Science
Chapter 4: Horizontal Vs Vertical Context
Chapter 5: Biblical Vs Extra Biblical relationships
Chapter 6: Backward Looking Vs Forward Looking Typological Patterns
Chapter 7: Historical Exegesis Vs Historical & Prosopological Exegesis
Closing Chapter: Case Studies
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2024
I had the opportunity to read this one before it went to press in order to provide an endorsement. It's such a helpful book!
Can a textbook also advance scholarship? This one does. Schnittjer and Harmon take the exploration of Scripture's use of Scripture to the next level by identifying weak areas and problematic approaches in previous scholarship, especially the widespread neglect of the Old Testament's use of the Old Testament. I expect to return to this volume again and again. It's methodologically rigorous, with clear examples in every chapter. The book will benefit advanced students who are ready to build on the basic foundation of their Hermeneutics 101 as well as career scholars who want to keep growing.
Can a textbook also advance scholarship? This one does. Schnittjer and Harmon take the exploration of Scripture's use of Scripture to the next level by identifying weak areas and problematic approaches in previous scholarship, especially the widespread neglect of the Old Testament's use of the Old Testament. I expect to return to this volume again and again. It's methodologically rigorous, with clear examples in every chapter. The book will benefit advanced students who are ready to build on the basic foundation of their Hermeneutics 101 as well as career scholars who want to keep growing.
February 14, 2025
For a short book it feels very academic which makes it not entirely engaging. But overall it provides some rules for a topic where people often fly off the hand rails.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews