| Introduction The majority view among orthodox Christians is that God knows everything that has ever happened, is happening now and will ever happen, [omniscient]. That God's sovereignty, which is plainly taught in Scripture, cannot be separated from His omniscience. [Although the actual word omniscient is not used in Scripture see verses such as Psalm 139:1-4,6-8]. However in recent years a few scholars have proposed a radically different view [in which free will plays a big role], claiming that there is no divine script for the future. A doctrine that is called Open Theism, which pays lip-service to the omniscience of God. While there may be some differences in the details, supporters of open theism can roughly be divided into two camps.. The first one claims that while the future is knowable by God, He voluntarily limits His knowledge of the future so that free will choices can remain truly free. [Verses like Genesis 18:21 and 22:12 (below), which seem to indicate that there are things God did not know, have largely prompted this viewpoint.] The second camp believes that since the future hasn't happened yet, it is not knowable... even by God. They hold that if God knows what we are going to choose, when it comes time to make a choice, we cannot choose to do something other than what is 'known' by God, thus we are not truly free, but are predestined to fulfill the future that God already knows [called, I believe…Theological Fatalism].
So the first question to arise is .. Is God all knowing about the future and if He is, how does He do so? Answering the first question is not really that difficult, bearing in mind that foreknowledge and foreordination are not the same thing. Knowing something will happen is not equivalent to making it happen. Foreordination The pages of Scripture are replete with examples of God telling people what His future purpose and intentions are and what He plans to bring about [foreordination]. The most outstanding example being, of course, the birth, life and death of Jesus. Acts 2:23 tells us that Jesus was “delivered up by the determinate counsel [purpose] and foreknowledge of God…” [Also See Section on Prophecy]. In Isaiah 46:9-10, distinguishing Himself from false and dead idols, God tells us that, unlike them, He will not fail to carry out all His plan. Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
However this verse bring up an interesting consideration.. How can God declare the end from the beginning without knowing what men will do, besides what He Himself will do? All intended action depends, to a greater or lesser degree, on other factors. For example I intend to drive to work this morning. However I do not know whether Mr. X is going to run a red light, side swipe my car at an intersection causing me to wind up in hospital instead. Along the same lines, God has to absolutely know that some idiot is not going to set off a nuclear device and bring this world to an end this week, thus rendering most of the book of Revelation redundant. Other illustrations of God’s foreordination include the destruction of Judah by Babylon.. “behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith Jehovah, and I will send unto Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof …” [Jeremiah 25:9]
And the return to Israel.. For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. [Jeremiah 29:10]
Foreknowledge But there are also other prophecies that fall outside of this category… the predictions of events that will occur in the future that God Himself is not directly responsible for. While all one needs is one instance of God’s foreknowledge to prove the case, the book of Daniel gives us several. Daniel The book of Daniel presents an extraordinary display of prophetic foreknowledge of the succession of empires from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian king about 600 B.C. to the Roman Empire which began to come into power around 241 B.C. Additionally Daniel 11 spans the centuries from Cyrus The Great to the reign of the antichrist and the end of the age. [DETAILS] It has been argued that all these kingdoms [involving hundreds of thousands of people] did what they did because it was in God’s plan for them to do so. That they had to follow the blueprint. If this is the case, free will is merely an illusion, having long plummeted to it’s demise off the cliffs of predetermination.. Judas Judas' betrayal of Christ was prophesied in the Old Testament and quoted in Matt. 27:9-10… Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was priced, whom certain of the children of Israel did price; and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. [Attributed to Jeremiah, it was in fact a prophecy by Ezekiel. [See Footnote I]
and David in Acts 1:16. Brethren, it was needful that the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to them that took Jesus. [See Footnote II]
Jesus could not know that Judas would betray Him if God cannot know the future choices of anyone other than Himself. Again if it was in God’s plan for Judas to betray the Christ, then Judas had no choice in the matter, but had to comply with the horrendous act. Peter One of the most noteworthy examples is that of a prediction Jesus made to [and about] Peter, related in all four of the Gospels. [Matt 26:34; Mark 14:30-72; Luke 22:34; John 13:38] Jesus had just gotten through quoting [in Matt 26: 31] the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7 which said when the shepherd was smitten, the sheep of the flock would be scattered. In other words the disciples would all desert Him. Upon which Peter, true to form, piped up and said he would never betray Jesus even to death, a sentiment which was subsequently echoed by the others... Jesus then made a very specific prediction about what Peter would do within the next 24 hours. He told Peter that that very night he would deny Him three times before the cock crowed twice. Which is exactly what happened. Peter followed Jesus into the court of the high priest, was recognized by one of the maids of the high priest and [possibly fearing for his life] denied that He knew Jesus. It seems that he had barely got the words out of his mouth when the cock crowed once. Shortly thereafter the finger was again pointed at Peter by both the maid and some of the crowd and Peter denied the Lord twice more, whereupon the cock crowed a second time. A common belief is that Jesus knew Peter well enough to predict these actions. Therefore His words were based not on his knowledge of the future, but on his knowledge of Peter’s character. That Peter was quite predictable. While it is quite true that it does seem possible to make an educated guess at what Peter was likely to do under a given set of circumstances, it is impossible to attribute the entire prediction to familiarity with Peter’s temperament.. Several other factors came into play here none of which were related to Peter’s personality and can not be accounted for other than God ‘seeing into’ the future. For example… 1) How did Jesus know that these events would take place within the next few hours? The prediction is not only specific about Peter’s actions, but to the actual time the incident would take place. 2) How did Jesus know that Peter would be hanging around some place where he stood the risk of being recognized? None of the other disciples were. 3) How did Jesus know that Peter would not draw from some deep inner courage and find the strength to say “Yes I was with the Christ”? People are known to do some very unexpected and very brave things. The worm does turn. But in any case Peter was, by all accounts, pretty brash. 4) How did Jesus know that the rooster would crow twice. It is not impossible that the owner tired of hearing the noise, rung the rooster’s neck after the first occurrence, or even decided to have a late night rooster supper. Besides which the rooster had to crow at precisely the right time.
The point has been made that God does influence the course of history and, as such, was perfectly capable of influencing Peter actions that night (following Jesus into the court), influencing the slave girl to turn and take a good look at Peter, influencing Peter’s denial, and causing the rooster to crow at the appropriate time. Of course this is a possibility, but is it likely? What earthly purpose did it serve to orchestrate this entire episode? It had no bearing on the major event... the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Did it perhaps serve to point something out to Peter himself.. Some flaw in his character perhaps, or to once again emphasize that Jesus was God. In answer to that it seems that Peter had already had much pointed out to him in several incidents with Jesus.. in ways that did not make hash of his free will. and if they hadn’t yet figured out who Jesus was, then the shortly to happen resurrection would certainly dispel any and all lingering doubts. It seems, not only simpler, but far more plausible that when Peter vehemently denied that he would every deny Christ, The Lord, seeing into the future (I use this term loosely), simply refuted this, clearly spelling out what Peter would do when confronted. In fact there is an extremely significant verse in the book of John.. From henceforth I tell you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he. [John 13:19]
Not only is Jesus telling the disciples that He will tell them the future, He is claiming to be deity, basing his claim to be God on the fact that he can predict the future. [See Significance of the I AM Passages] However the question has to be asked is how exactly does God foretell the future. A question that has been debated up one side and down the other… for decades. Genesis 18 & 22 The Bible clearly teaches the omniscience of God as in Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. [Psalm 147:5] O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out! [Romans 11:33] because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. [1 John 3:20]
A challenge similar to that of Isaiah 46:9-10 (above) is presented by Psalm 147:5… If God's understanding is infinite [with no boundaries or limits] then God's knowledge also has to be infinite since understanding is based on knowledge. Also note that 1 John 3:20 does not say God has the capacity to know all things, but that God actually “knows all things.” However If God knows everything, some have questioned why do certain statements exist in Scripture that seem to indicate otherwise. The following four questions are asked by God regarding someone’s whereabouts at a particular time. In Genesis 3:9 He literally ask Adam where he (Adam) is.. In Job 38:4 God asked Job where he (Job) was when God created the world saying .. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? In Genesis 4:9 God asked Cain where his brother Abel was. In Genesis 18:9 The Lord asked Abraham about the location of his wife.
Are we to believe that God did not know where Job was when He created the world [when even we know the answer to that one], that He did not know where in the garden Adam was, that he was unaware of the physical whereabouts of Abel and Sarah. But then, if He knew where both Sarah and Abel were why did He ask the question? A pretty obvious answer in the cases of Adam and Cain is that both questions were rhetorical. But each present the questioned man the opportunity to own up to their sin and to repent. Spurgeon made this comment…. “God knew Cain to be guilty; yet he asks him, that he might draw from him a confession of his crime; for those who would be justified before God, must accuse themselves”. When God came to Abraham in Genesis 18, He was not there to savor Sarah's cooking or Abraham’s hospitality, but to bring a very important message. The “where is Sarah?” question was very possibly asked to include her in the hearing of the message [which was not common in those days] but had as much to do with her as Abraham... It is argued that God learned something in the following two verses. He had need to physically visit Sodom to ascertain the depth of their sin. In the second example it seems that God did not know what Abraham’s choices and actions would be until Abraham actually made those choices. God said to Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah: “I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know” [Genesis 18:21, emphasis added] After Abraham had proved himself willing to sacrifice his only son, God said “For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me. [Genesis 22:12, emphasis added].
In both verses directly above, the word translated ‘know’ is yada, which has far more subtle nuances that the English know. Strong’s [Exhaustive Concordance] tells us that yada is a primitive root; to know (properly to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively instruction, designation, punishment, etc.): - acknowledge, acquaintance (-ted with). Incidentally yada is also related to yed-ah' which is defined by the English word certify. Consider the following two verses. In the first one Namaan certainly learned something new. However in the other [which uses the same Hebrew word yada], Abraham didn’t. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant. [2 Kings 5:15] And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: [Genesis 12:11]
In other words yada can mean either a lack of prior knowledge or simply a realization or recognition of what is true. There is one more consideration here. Regardless of the fact that God knew ahead of time what Abraham’s response was going to be, He cannot possibly act upon human responses until the responses are made. Which brings the whole idea of free will into play. If we consider that God already knows what each of us are going to do in every aspect of our lives, and also know exactly what He Himself has foreordained to do, what is the point in acting out this immense human drama until the final curtain. How ridiculous would it be for God to say “I know exactly what you are going to do so you’re out of here”. The point is human free will.. we have to make and execute our own choices and decisions before God will act on them.
What About Free Will? Returning to the episode involving Peter.. Isn’t it true that once Jesus' words became part of the unalterable past, they guaranteed a particular future, regardless of what Peter may or may not have been inclined to do, making God's foreknowledge incompatible with human freedom and doing away with any shred of man’s free will. However Scripture is very very clear on the subject of free will. Aside from the myriad of examples in the Scriptures we have the very basic but outstanding illustration that literally permeates almost every page of Holy Writ… God does not want us to sin, but to be righteous. We, however, have free will and sin anyway. Which brings two highly illustrative verses to mind… One in the Old Testament, the other in the new. And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. [Joshua 24:15] Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. [Acts 7:51]
Scattered among verses that emphasize free will are those where the Bible instructs mankind to use their freel will to make righteous decisions. Among the examples below, the verses marked with an
asterisk * show that that mankind not only has the responsibility to exercise their free will but is instructed by God to do so.. And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? [Genesis 24:5] And if the woman be not willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath. Only thou shalt not bring my son thither again. [Genesis 24:8] And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought Jehovah's offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments. [Exodus 35:21] And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought brooches, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and armlets, all jewels of gold; even every man that offered an offering of gold unto Jehovah. [Exodus 35:22] * I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed; [Deuteronomy 30:19] * And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah. [Joshua 24:15] I make a decree, that all they of the people of Israel, and their priests and the Levites, in my realm, that are minded of their own free will to go to Jerusalem, go with thee. [Ezra 7:13] Let us choose for us that which is right: Let us know among ourselves what is good. [Job 34:4] For that they hated knowledge, And did not choose the fear of Jehovah: [Proverbs 1:29] * Envy thou not the man of violence, And choose none of his ways. [Proverbs 3:31] * If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: [Isaiah 1:19] For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land whose two kings thou abhorrest shall be forsaken. [Isaiah 7:16] * For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant: [Isaiah 56:4]
And if ye are willing to receive it, this is Elijah, that is to come. [Matthew 11:14] For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. [Romans 6:20] * Know ye not that they that run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? Even so run; that ye may attain. [1Corinthians 9:24] Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. [1Timothy 6:12] * but without thy mind I would do nothing; that thy goodness should not be as of necessity, but of free will. [Phm 1:14] * as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. [1Peter 2:16].
“Giving man the power to make a genuine, independent choice does not diminish God's control over His universe. Being omnipotent and omniscient, God certainly could so arrange circumstances as to keep man's rebellion from frustrating His purposes” [Dave Hunt. What a Sovereign God Cannot Do]. Predestination? In the course of our lives we make innumerable decisions, many of which will not have a very large impact on our lives. However there are some very important decisions most humans make at least once in their lives, like what career to pursue, who to marry, etc. Decisions that will have a significant effect on our lives perhaps for all of our lives. However there is one decision that cannot possibly be understated.. and that is the decision to follow Christ…, to be reborn. It is this decision that will determine the fate of the individual, not only for his seventy odd years on this planet, but for all eternity. It is interesting to note how many Calvinists defend the doctrine of the free will of mankind, believing that unregenerate people do possess free wills. Yet they believe that in the most important decision of all, that of the decision to follow Christ, man is not free, but God has already predetermined his fate. Man can and does decide everything else for himself, but this one momentous, vital decision has already been made for him and, like a fish caught in the net, there is nothing he can do about it, wiggle as he may. He is trapped for all eternity. This article is about God’s knowledge of the future and man’s free will, not about Predestination, which is amply covered in another section of the site. However, there are some noteworthy verses in Scripture which give rise to additional questions. For example Ephesians 1:11-13 says.. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (V.12) so that we should be to the praise of His glory, we who first trusted in Christ; in whom also you, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; (V. 13) in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
I quote [Please see Footnote III] “These verses are often taken as a ‘proof text’ for Predestination. However a close reading shows exactly the opposite. There is a distinct difference made between the ‘we’ of verse 11 and the ‘you’ of verse 13. Many commentators suppose that by the word “we” the Jews particularly are intended. Others believe the reference may be to the apostle and his fellow-laborers, which seems to be the correct interpretation in view of Paul saying that the ‘we’ are the ones “who first trusted in Christ”. So the apostles and disciples were “predestined according to the purpose of Him” simply shows that they were predestined to a large part in the God’s overall plan, since God already knew (Before the foundations of time) what they would do. This is further exemplified in verse 13 where Paul switches to ‘you’ (the Ephesians or possibly the Laodiceans) and says AFTER they believed they were “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”.”
So the questions here are if the apostles and disciples were ‘predestined according to His purpose” were they chosen on the basis of God knowing how they would respond to the Gospel and what manner of men they were. Or was it that being part of God’s larger plan they lost a certain amount of free will and were predestined to fill certain crucial roles? In light of all that has been said of man’s free will, one is certainly inclined to opt for the former. However consider the next two verses, the first one being slightly more telling than the second. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a Prophet unto the nations. [Jeremiah 1:5] “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. [Psalm 139:16]
So we do not really know the manner of the ordination of some people who have filled [and probably will fill] certain functions in the course of the unfolding of God’s master plan. It certainly seems that God knows every detail of a man’s life and character so thoroughly, that He can appoint people, from the foundations of time, to certain positions… knowing exactly how they will live up to the responsibility.
How Does God Know the Future? Again a topic that has been passionately debated with several ideas being put forth.. The Changeable Past For example one hypothesis that originated as far back as the 13th century [that I will call the changeable past] goes something like this.. “we probably have the ability to do something now such that if we were to do it, then the past would have been different (because God would known what we would do differently and hence would have acted differently in the past)… In other words, Jesus uttered words that actually did constitute a prophecy, but those same words would not have been a prophecy had Peter chosen otherwise” [Prophecy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy].
Timeless Eternity A very different perspective suggests that God exists outside of time altogether.. that God knows all events from the perspective of timeless eternity. This view proposes that God is not bound by time, since time was something that came into being at the creation. However does this bring up the interesting scenario of the past, present, and future being all one big now? Or do the past and the future ‘exist’ at all. It is imperative to understand that God did not create the past, present, and future. God only created time. Time is a one-way flow, untouchable, and unalterable. The past and the future do not exist, i.e. they are not objectively real. The past did exist, and the future will exist, but all that does exist is the present. The past can be considered real in that it truly existed at one point in time, but it is no longer real in the sense that it cannot be accessed in our world. We only have access to the present. Likewise the future can be considered real because it will truly exist, but is not yet real in the sense that it cannot be accessed. [Jason Dulle. Time, Eternity, and Predestination.]
In his article entitled Does God's Knowledge of the Future Render Free Will and Human Responsibility Meaningless? Jason Dulle makes the following statement .. “Time does not exist as past, present, and future, but only as the present. Past and future are only perspectives of events in the mind of man, based on the "now" in which he/she exists. Because the present is the only aspect of time that truly exists we can conclude that God did not create the future, and thus did not create all the events to occur throughout time. God merely created the existence of time, but because of His omniscience and foreknowledge He knows all that will happen in the span of time. God did not create the future, but he created humans who exist in time, and those humans make decisions in time which determine what will happen in the future (those successive series of "nows" at which we have not yet arrived). We make decisions in the present, by our own free will, which influence the end result yet to be realized in the future. These decisions, foreknown by God in His omniscience, allow God to have perfect knowledge of the results which are to be realized in the future of the created realm”.
He goes on to say… “The fact that the future is fixed in the mind of God, however, has nothing to do with free will. The real question is not "Is the future fixed?," but rather "Who fixes the future?". Scripture coupled with reason leads me to conclude that it is human freedom which fixes most events in the future, not the fiat decree of God. [there are events in the history of man that God has performed regardless of human initiative and free will, including the incarnation.]”
In the words of Greg Koukl “In other words, "Yeah, the future is set, but what sets it?" You set it. Your decisions determine what the future will be to a great degree. What that means is that your individual choices, by and large, make the difference in the future. I am speaking in general terms here about God's knowing the future as a function of His omniscience. However, knowing the future does not remove the possibility of your freedom in some measure in the future, because what He knows in the future are your free choices. This is a very important point.” …. “I am simply making the point that because God knows the future entirely that isn't the factor that sets the future and therefore robs you of any semblance of personal freedom. No, your freedom is what sets the future to a great degree; therefore, your free will actions are meaningful and your willful interaction with God in relationship is meaningful as well. In the broadest sense, God controls the future and nothing happens that He doesn't see, doesn't allow, and doesn't somehow work in with His larger plan. This is why we can fall back on the significant promise in the book of Romans that God will "cause all things to work together for good for those who love him and for those who are called according to his purpose." God can use everything, even man's free choices”. [What Determines the Future?]
A simple but telling analogy is provided by Matthew Slick of carm.org, in which he states… “By analogy, knowing what will happen does not mean that we are preventing or causing that thing to happen. The sun will rise tomorrow. I am not causing it to rise nor am I preventing it from rising by knowing that it will happen. Likewise, if I put a bowl of ice-cream and a bowl of cauliflower in front of my child, I know for a fact which one is chosen, the ice cream. My knowing it ahead of time does not restrict my child from making a free choice when the time comes. My child is free to make a choice and knowing the choice has no effect upon her when she makes it”. [If God knows our free will choices, do we still have free will?]
Conclusion: While there is little doubt that God does know the most minute details of what will happen in the future, this knowledge does not in any way take away from our free will. We have free choice and God knowing ahead of time what choices we will make has no effect on us making those choices. We make the choices but God knows ahead of time what we are going to choose. However the answer to how God knows the future is outside the realm of our experience and knowledge. And since the Bible is silent on this particular attribute of God we can do little but make educated guesses. However no matter how intelligent the scholarship, it still remains something that we have no hope of completely understanding, as with the doctrine of the Trinity.. Perhaps we shall at some point see and understand more than we do now, but until that day comes all we can do is wonder. He truly is an Awesome God.  |
Footnote I: Matt. 27:9 says that this prophecy was “Spoken by Jeremy the prophet”. However The words quoted here are not to be found in the book of Jeremiah, but is likely to have originated with Zechariah 11:12-13, which has given skeptics much fodder. However the quotation is almost verbatim, and it is unlikely that Matthew would have known the text so well yet attributed it to the wrong author. It was not at all uncommon for the Jews to combine two or more sets of information, texts, ideas, etc. into one and attribute it to just one source. For example [cited in Where was the Judas quote from, actually? www.christian-thinktank.com/judas30where.html] "(x) According to Brown, Death, p. 651, ‘he most plausible [explanation] is that in 27:9–0 Matt is presenting a mixed citation with words taken both from Zech and Jer, and …he refers to that combination by one name’ Jeremiah 18–9 concerns a potter (18:2–; 19:1), a purchase (19:1), the Valley of Hinnom (where the Field of Blood is traditionally located, 19:2), ‘innocent blood’(19:4), and the renaming of a place for burial (19:6, 11); and Jeremiah 32:6–5 tells of the purchase of a field with silver.
"We accept solution (x), for not only was it common practice to substitute part of one verse for part of another, that is, to create conflated citations, but, in early Christian circles, such citations were sometimes attributed to one rather than two sources. Mk 1:2 attributes Mal 3:1 + Isa 40:3 to Isaiah. Rom 9:27 assigns Hosea 2:1 + Isa 10:22 to the same prophet. Mt 2:5– attributes to ‘he prophet’s quotation from Micah 5:2 + 2 Samuel 5:2 = 1 Chr 11:2, and 21:5 prefaces its conflation of Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9 with ‘The word through the prophet saying’. Matthew 27:9–0 is one more example of this phenomenon. That Jeremiah is named rather than Zechariah (who is never assigned a quotation in the NT despite several citations) may be due to the prominence of the former or to his reputation as the prophet of doom or to Matthew’ desire to call attention to what might otherwise be missed (whereas the use of Zechariah is obvious; cf. Senior). The effect in any event is to prod us to read Zechariah 11:13 in the light of Jeremiah 18:1ff. (the allegory of the potter) and 32:6– (Jeremiah’ purchase of a field with silver). [International Critical Commentary] "Matthew viewed these events as the fulfillment of a prophecy of Jeremiah. But the prophecy Matthew quoted was primarily from Zechariah, not Jeremiah. There is a close resemblance between Matthew 27:9-10 and Zechariah 11:12-13. But there are also similarities between Matthew’ words and the ideas in Jeremiah 19:1, 4, 6, 11. Why then did Matthew refer only to Jeremiah? The solution to this problem is probably that Matthew had both prophets in mind but only mentioned the “Major” prophet by name. (A similar situation is found in Mark 1:2-3, where Mark mentioned the Prophet Isaiah but quoted directly from both Isaiah and Malachi.) In addition, another explanation is that Jeremiah, in the Babylonian Talmud (Baba Bathra 14b), was placed first among the prophets, and his book represented all the other prophetic books. [Bible Knowledge Commentary] [PLACE IN TEXT]
Footnote II: The passage to which Peter refers is commonly supposed to be that recorded in Psalm 41:9 [Yea, mine own familiar friend ...hath lifted up his heel against me]. While this is a possibility, the reference may not be to the 41st Psalm, but to the passage in the 69th Psalm, which Peter quotes just a couple of verses later in Acts 1:20 [For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be made desolate, And let no man dwell therein: and, His office let another take.]. [PLACE IN TEXT] Footnote III: I happened across this oh-so-simple explanation of Ephesians 1:11-13, which until then had always been a difficult verse to understand. Most people, including myself, totally miss the significance of the switch from the ‘we’ of verse 11 to the ‘you’ of verse 13. However I copied down the relevant paragraphs, then closed the page without noting the author’s name or the URL. I have since been totally unable to find it again. [PLACE IN TEXT] |
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