The New Testament authors favor the prophets. Why?

[Wick Stick]

In Acts 2, Peter gives the sermon of his life to the assembled Jews who are at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. In verses 29-30, he says something I found peculiar - that David was a prophet.

Now, we know David as a king. And David was also a priest - he claims so in Psalm 110. But David a prophet? And that got me to thinking... WHY? David is already the most important king of Israel and one of only 3 members of the prestigious Order of Melchizedek (with Melchizedek and Jesus Himself). Why single him out as a prophet, too? Do the prophets hold some special status that would put them above kings and priests?

The answer seems to be yes.

I found a survey of places where the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament and did a little number-crunching. It turns out that the New Testament authors heavily prefer the books of prophecy:

Author	Number of Times Quoted
Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy)	68 (+27 duplicate quotations)
David (Psalms)	55
Isaiah	45
Other Books of Prophecy	33
Books of History (Joshua - Esther)	12
Solomon (Proverbs, Songs, Ecclesiastes)	6
Job	3

Even discounting the duplicate quotations for Moses (Exodus & Deuteronomy overlap a lot), that means the New Testament authors quote the prophets nearly 10x as often as non-prophets (201 - 21).

But wait, it gets worse... I looked up those 12 citations from the non-prophetic books and... half of them are from prophets. 4 from Samuel and 2 from Elijah.

So... why DO the New Testament authors quote the prophets almost exclusively?

It seems to me that the NT authors regarded the prophets as more authoritative than the other books.

 

[civic]

I found this top 10 list of most quoted OT books in the NT

1. Psalms (68 times)​

2. Isaiah (55)​

3. Deuteronomy (44)​

4. Genesis (35)​

5. Exodus (31)​

6. Leviticus (13)​

7. Proverbs (8)​

8. Zechariah (7)​

9. Hosea (6)​

10. Jeremiah (5)​

 

[civic]

Here is a list of NT books quoting the OT numbering 845

O.T. Quotations Found in the N.T. - Study Resources

Quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament lists the number of times the O.T. is quoted in each N.T. book. 'Romans...74' 'Revelation...249'

www.blueletterbible.org

The Gospel of Matthew	96
The Gospel of Mark	34
The Gospel of Luke	58
The Gospel of John	40
Acts of the Apostles	57
Romans	74
1 Corinthians	41
2 Corinthians	13
Galatians	16
Ephesians	11
Philippians	3
Colossians	3
1 Thessalonians	2
2 Thessalonians	2
1 Timothy	6
2 Timothy	2
Hebrews	86
James	16
1 Peter	20
2 Peter	10
1 John	6
Revelation	249
Total	845 Times *

[th]

New Testament Book​

[/th][th]

Old Testament Verse Occurrence​

[/th]​

---

* BLB Note: The original work The People's New Testament by Johnson showed a total of 855, but the counts in the original work total to 845.

 

[Wick Stick]

I found this top 10 list of most quoted OT books in the NT

1. Psalms (68 times)​

2. Isaiah (55)​

3. Deuteronomy (44)​

4. Genesis (35)​

5. Exodus (31)​

6. Leviticus (13)​

7. Proverbs (8)​

8. Zechariah (7)​

9. Hosea (6)​

10. Jeremiah (5)​

Interesting. I have slightly different totals, but the overall conclusion I think is the same. The NT authors prefer the prophets.

Proclaiming David a prophet, in particular, suggests that they gave the prophets some status above and beyond the other books.

Book Citations in NT
Genesis 27
Exodus 27
Leviticus 11
Numbers 2
Deuteronomy 28
Joshua 0
Judges 0
Ruth 0
1Samuel 2
2Samuel 2
1Kings 2
2Kings 1
1Chronicles 1
2Chronicles 1
Ezra 0
Nehemiah 0
Esther 0
Job 3
Psalms 55
Proverbs 6
Ecclesiastes 0
Song of Solomon 0
Isaiah 45
Jeremiah 5
Lamentations 0
Ezekiel 2
Daniel 4
Hosea 5
Joel 1
Amos 2
Obadiah 0
Jonah 1
Micah 2
Nahum 0
Habakkuk 2
Zephaniah 0
Haggai 1
Zechariah 5
Malachi 3

Also the Deuterocanon:
Tobit 3
Judith 0
1Maccabees 1
2Maccabees 1
Wisdom 4
Sirach 2
Baruch 0

 

[Wick Stick]

Here is a list of NT books quoting the OT numbering 845

That's a lot. My list only includes places where the NT specifically quotes. I.e. it is says "it is written" or "according to the prophet Isaiah."

If I had counted every place where it paraphrases without citing, or makes an allusion, it would perhaps be a number that large.

 

[mikesw]

The reason that the prophets are quoted often is that Jesus came in fulfillment of the prophecies. The era and events prophesied by the prophets were coming to fruition through Jesus, with a special warning to the people of Israel of the end of iniquity shared in Daniel 9.

 

[atpollard]

The numbers are skewed because you lump MOSES into the Prophets … Structurally, the first 5 books are “The Law” and I think calling Psalms and Proverbs “prophets” is also a reach. That leaves as “prophets”:

• Isaiah 45
• Jeremiah 5
• Ezekiel 2
• Daniel 4
• Hosea 5
• Joel 1
• Amos 2
• Jonah 1
• Micah 2
• Habakkuk 2
• Haggai 1
• Zechariah 5
• Malachi 3

Which is dwarfed by the patriarch Moses and his books of the Law:

• Genesis 27
• Exodus 27
• Leviticus 11
• Numbers 2
• Deuteronomy 28

 

[Wick Stick]

The numbers are skewed because you lump MOSES into the Prophets … Structurally, the first 5 books are “The Law” and I think calling Psalms and Proverbs “prophets” is also a reach.

Thanks for your response.

I do NOT call Proverbs (Solomon) a prophet. I haven't accounted it that way in my numbers above.

David HAS been reckoned as a prophet because the New Testament specifically says he is:

Acts 2:29-30 Men [and] brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

These verses were actually what led me down this path. I wondered... WHY is David counted among the prophets?

That leaves as “prophets”:

• Isaiah 45
• Jeremiah 5
• Ezekiel 2
• Daniel 4
• Hosea 5
• Joel 1
• Amos 2
• Jonah 1
• Micah 2
• Habakkuk 2
• Haggai 1
• Zechariah 5
• Malachi 3

Which is dwarfed by the patriarch Moses and his books of the Law:

• Genesis 27
• Exodus 27
• Leviticus 11
• Numbers 2
• Deuteronomy 28

Moses is very clearly a prophet - perhaps THE prophet. Moses calls himself a prophet, and the New Testament agrees, putting him of primary importance among the prophets:

Acts 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. (quoting Deu 18:15)

There is some room to quibble. Biblical scholars put a difference between Deuteronomy and the other books of the Law. Where they do, they cite the "prophet's concern." That is, the book of Deuteronomy seems to share concerns with the later books of prophecy - the administration of justice... and judgment when it is not upheld. Genesis through Numbers seem more interested in recording history, alliances, genealogies, instructions for how to offer sacrifices, etc.

It would be... precedented... to hold only Deuteronomy as a book of prophecy, and Moses other books as... not prophecy. Thoughts?

 

[Wick Stick]

The reason that the prophets are quoted often is that Jesus came in fulfillment of the prophecies. The era and events prophesied by the prophets were coming to fruition through Jesus, with a special warning to the people of Israel of the end of iniquity shared in Daniel 9.

Yes. Especially for Matthew. "How Jesus fulfills prophecy" seems to be Matthew's reason for writing.

 

[Soyeong]

In Acts 2, Peter gives the sermon of his life to the assembled Jews who are at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. In verses 29-30, he says something I found peculiar - that David was a prophet.

Now, we know David as a king. And David was also a priest - he claims so in Psalm 110. But David a prophet? And that got me to thinking... WHY? David is already the most important king of Israel and one of only 3 members of the prestigious Order of Melchizedek (with Melchizedek and Jesus Himself). Why single him out as a prophet, too? Do the prophets hold some special status that would put them above kings and priests?

The answer seems to be yes.

I found a survey of places where the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament and did a little number-crunching. It turns out that the New Testament authors heavily prefer the books of prophecy:

Author	Number of Times Quoted
Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy)	68 (+27 duplicate quotations)
David (Psalms)	55
Isaiah	45
Other Books of Prophecy	33
Books of History (Joshua - Esther)	12
Solomon (Proverbs, Songs, Ecclesiastes)	6
Job	3

Even discounting the duplicate quotations for Moses (Exodus & Deuteronomy overlap a lot), that means the New Testament authors quote the prophets nearly 10x as often as non-prophets (201 - 21).

But wait, it gets worse... I looked up those 12 citations from the non-prophetic books and... half of them are from prophets. 4 from Samuel and 2 from Elijah.

So... why DO the New Testament authors quote the prophets almost exclusively?

It seems to me that the NT authors regarded the prophets as more authoritative than the other books.

Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the OT hundreds of times in order to support what they were saying, so it doesn't work for someone to hold the position that we should only follow what they said but not the Scripture that they considered to be an authoritative source. For example, Jesus quoted three times from Deuteronomy in order to defeat the temptations of Satan, which included saying that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3). In Deuteronomy 12:32, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Torah, and in Deuteronomy 13, the way that God instructed His people to determine that someone is a false prophet is if they speak against obeying the Torah. So there are major problems with interpreting Jesus as speaking against obeying what God spoke in Deuteronomy such as what He spoke in regard to refraining from eating unclean animals (Deuteronomy 14), yet people commonly don't bat an eye at interpreting him as doing that.

The Psalms express an extremely positive view of obeying the Torah, such as with David repeatedly saying that he loved it and delighted in obeying it, so if we consider the Psalms to be an authoritative source as is evident that it is the OT book that is most quoted by the NT, then we consider them to express a correct view of obeying the Torah and we will therefore share it. For example, in Psalms 1:1-2, blessed are those who delight in the Torah of the Lord and who mediate on it day and night, so we can't believe in the truth of these words as Scripture while not allowing them to shape our view of obeying the Torah. Moreover, the Apostles should be interpreted in light of the fact that they were in complete agreement with the view of obeying the Torah expressed in Psalms rather than as expressing views of obeying the Torah that are incompatible with the view that the Psalms are Scripture, such as saying that it is a heavy burden that no one can bear.

 

[mikesw]

Jesus and the Apostles quoted from the OT hundreds of times in order to support what they were saying, so it doesn't work for someone to hold the position that we should only follow what they said but not the Scripture that they considered to be an authoritative source. For example, Jesus quoted three times from Deuteronomy in order to defeat the temptations of Satan, which included saying that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3). In Deuteronomy 12:32, it is a sin to add to or subtract from the Torah, and in Deuteronomy 13, the way that God instructed His people to determine that someone is a false prophet is if they speak against obeying the Torah. So there are major problems with interpreting Jesus as speaking against obeying what God spoke in Deuteronomy such as what He spoke in regard to refraining from eating unclean animals (Deuteronomy 14), yet people commonly don't bat an eye at interpreting him as doing that.

Great. If Satan tempts me in the same way, I will try to remember what Jesus said to Satan. I do not add or remove from the Torah. It stays unedited in my Bible. Sometimes it makes for good reading.

The Psalms express an extremely positive view of obeying the Torah, such as with David repeatedly saying that he loved it and delighted in obeying it, so if we consider the Psalms to be an authoritative source as is evident that it is the OT book that is most quoted by the NT, then we consider them to express a correct view of obeying the Torah and we will therefore share it. For example, in Psalms 1:1-2, blessed are those who delight in the Torah of the Lord and who mediate on it day and night, so we can't believe in the truth of these words as Scripture while not allowing them to shape our view of obeying the Torah. Moreover, the Apostles should be interpreted in light of the fact that they were in complete agreement with the view of obeying the Torah expressed in Psalms rather than as expressing views of obeying the Torah that are incompatible with the view that the Psalms are Scripture, such as saying that it is a heavy burden that no one can bear.

The Psalms and Law were the only things they had. We now have Jesus.

 

[Soyeong]

Great. If Satan tempts me in the same way, I will try to remember what Jesus said to Satan. I do not add or remove from the Torah. It stays unedited in my Bible. Sometimes it makes for good reading.

The point is that Jesus affirmed everything that God has spoken. However, Jesus is commonly interpreted as speaking against what what God spoke in Deuteronomy 14 in regard to refraining from eating unclean animals, so if Jesus had done that, then he would have sinned in violation of Deuteronomy 12:32 and been a false prophet according to Deuteronomy 13.

The Psalms and Law were the only things they had. We now have Jesus.

The Apostles had Jesus and they continued to quote from the OT as being an authoritative source, so they should not be interpreted as speaking against following it. In Matthew 4:15-23, Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, which was a light to the Gentiles, and the Torah was how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so repenting from our disobedience to it is a central part of the Gospel message. Jesus also set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Torah and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked, so Jesus spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Torah by word and by example.

 

[Peterlag]

In Acts 2, Peter gives the sermon of his life to the assembled Jews who are at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. In verses 29-30, he says something I found peculiar - that David was a prophet.

Now, we know David as a king. And David was also a priest - he claims so in Psalm 110. But David a prophet? And that got me to thinking... WHY? David is already the most important king of Israel and one of only 3 members of the prestigious Order of Melchizedek (with Melchizedek and Jesus Himself). Why single him out as a prophet, too? Do the prophets hold some special status that would put them above kings and priests?

The answer seems to be yes.

I found a survey of places where the New Testament quotes from the Old Testament and did a little number-crunching. It turns out that the New Testament authors heavily prefer the books of prophecy:

Author	Number of Times Quoted
Moses (Genesis - Deuteronomy)	68 (+27 duplicate quotations)
David (Psalms)	55
Isaiah	45
Other Books of Prophecy	33
Books of History (Joshua - Esther)	12
Solomon (Proverbs, Songs, Ecclesiastes)	6
Job	3

Even discounting the duplicate quotations for Moses (Exodus & Deuteronomy overlap a lot), that means the New Testament authors quote the prophets nearly 10x as often as non-prophets (201 - 21).

But wait, it gets worse... I looked up those 12 citations from the non-prophetic books and... half of them are from prophets. 4 from Samuel and 2 from Elijah.

So... why DO the New Testament authors quote the prophets almost exclusively?

It seems to me that the NT authors regarded the prophets as more authoritative than the other books.

David was a King and a Prophet. But he was not a Priest. Psalms 110 is referring to the Christ.

 

[Wick Stick]

David was a King and a Prophet. But he was not a Priest. Psalms 110 is referring to the Christ.

I disagree - Psalm 110 refers to BOTH David and to Jesus.

Look at David's actions. He mediates between God and Israel. He eats the shewbread. He offers sacrifices.

 

[Peterlag]

I disagree - Psalm 110 refers to BOTH David and to Jesus.

Look at David's actions. He mediates between God and Israel. He eats the shewbread. He offers sacrifices.

There is nothing in 2 Samuel 8:18 to say that David's sons were of the priesthood of Melchizedek. Nor Jethro. Nor Joseph. Nor David. Psalm 110:4 is addressed by the Lord to David's Lord. It is not addressed to David.

Was David a priest is the order of Melchizedek? (Ps 110)

2 Samuel 8:18 says: "...and David's sons were priests" but of the order of Melchizedek and not Aaron, as David had declared, inspired by the Holy Spirit in Ps 110. Solomon himself offered

hermeneutics.stackexchange.com

 

[Wick Stick]

There is nothing in 2 Samuel 8:18 to say that David's sons were of the priesthood of Melchizedek. Nor Jethro. Nor Joseph. Nor David. Psalm 110:4 is addressed by the Lord to David's Lord. It is not addressed to David.

Was David a priest is the order of Melchizedek? (Ps 110)

2 Samuel 8:18 says: "...and David's sons were priests" but of the order of Melchizedek and not Aaron, as David had declared, inspired by the Holy Spirit in Ps 110. Solomon himself offered

hermeneutics.stackexchange.com

I didn't appeal to 2nd Samuel, but since you brought it up...

That verse DOES say that David's sons were priests. They clearly couldn't have been Levitical priests, since they're not from that tribe. The chapter doesn't mention Melchizedek - that's a supposition based on a different chapter. But it is a logical supposition.

Conclusion: David's sons were priests because David was a priest.