Papers by Nicholas G Piotrowski
Tyndale Bulletin, 2013
Matthean scholars are nearly unanimous that LXX Psalm 129:8 [MT 130:8] is the allusive background... more Matthean scholars are nearly unanimous that LXX Psalm 129:8 [MT 130:8] is the allusive background to Matthew 1:21 notwithstanding formidable semantic differences. Ezekiel 36:28b-29a; 37:23b, however, provides a more convincing and more fruitful conceptual background for Matthew’s programmatic verse. Semantic and thematic considerations bear this out. The result of reading Matthew 1:21 through the lens of Ezekiel 36:28b-29a; 37:23b is the selection of frames for reading the rest of the gospel in terms of the prophet’s vision for Israel’s restoration from exile.
Criswell Theological Review, 2018
This article organizes the most helpful texts for understanding the idea of ongoing exile during ... more This article organizes the most helpful texts for understanding the idea of ongoing exile during the Second Temple period, and offers five ways in which the themes of exile and restoration matter for Biblical Theology.
Westminster Theological Journal, 2019
Significant Pentateuchal themes serve a major leitmotif in 1 Samuel that narratologically shape S... more Significant Pentateuchal themes serve a major leitmotif in 1 Samuel that narratologically shape Saul’s demise (as well as David’s rise) in the language of Gen 3:15, 4:5b–8, and 25:19−34 (as well as 27:37−41). David is predictably portrayed as the “Seed of the Woman,” but the reader is increasingly shocked by the gradual typecasting of Saul as a manifestation of the “Seed of the Serpent” (Gen 3:15) and “another nation” (Gen 25:23), first appearing like Cain and then Esau. Moreover, thematic links between Gen 3:17 and Deut 18:9–22 find redemptive-historical development in 1 Samuel as Saul, like Adam, does not hear/obey the voice of the Lord. The entire David-Saul struggle, therefore, is read against the backdrop of Genesis as a whole and Deut 18. This reading provides theological depth to the characterization of Saul and further elucidates the contribution of 1 Samuel to redemptive history.
Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, 2022
A small number of contemporary scholars have suggested that in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul speaks of ... more A small number of contemporary scholars have suggested that in 1 Corinthians 6:19 Paul speaks of the body of Christ as the one temple of the Holy Spirit, not the individual bodies of every Christian. This study contends that such a reading is historically likely, literarily plausible, and redemptive-historically coherent. It is also helpful in clarifying both the rest of the pericope and the entire letter. Historically, three considerations point in this direction: (1) The rest of the Pauline corpus speaks of the corporate church as the singular temple of God. (2) Other early Christian authors (especially Peter and even the Gospels) describe the corporate church as the singular temple of God. (3) Greek, not Jewish, sources describe human bodies as temples, and that of multiple gods. Literarily, two lines of argument are presented: (1) careful attention to the nouns and pronouns in the immediate context, and (2) the discourse through chapters 3-6, as well as the retrospectively illuminating chapters 12-14. Redemptive-historically, it is significant that the true God has always had one dwelling place in the creation.
Bulletin for Biblical Research, 2015
A handful of scholars have recently focused on the importance of “the deportation to Babylon” in ... more A handful of scholars have recently focused on the importance of “the deportation to Babylon” in Matt 1:11, 12, 17 and the determinative role it plays for understanding the author’s conceptualization of redemptive history. Others, however, demur. This article draws attention to three observations heretofore neglected in the discussion of what “the deportation to Babylon” might mean for appreciating the narrative’s theological setting, as well as interpreting the entire gospel: (1) an “interrupted chiasm"; (2) the precise meaning of μετοικεσία in 1:11, 12, 17; and (3) the enumeration of the generations in 1:17. The aggregate effect is to read Matthew’s genealogy in apocalyptic terms as an attempt to assert Yahweh’s covenantal faithfulness despite the chaos of historical events—namely, the exile that inhibits the path to fulfilling Davidic and therefore also Abrahamic promises.
Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 2022
Rightly have biblical theologians underscored Genesis 3:15. It is the first word of redemption. I... more Rightly have biblical theologians underscored Genesis 3:15. It is the first word of redemption. It is the promise that a descendant of Eve will reverse the effects of the serpent’s deception. In no small part that means restoring humanity to the place of rest, to the arboreal temple that was the Garden of Eden. Jared M. August summarizes the shape of this redemption well as a retrieval of Edenic life in three ways: (1) the destruction of evil, (2) the restoration of creation, and (3) the renewal of God’s presence among humanity. This article seeks to add a fourth element: the expectation that the serpent-crushing “Seed of the Woman” will renew humanity’s ability to hear the voice of the Lord. Just as the fall was precipitated by not heeding God’s word, obeying God’s word will serve as both the means and the end of salvation.
The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, 2017
Once Jesus reaches Jerusalem in Mark 11 all of his actions and words in
the rest of the gospel be... more Once Jesus reaches Jerusalem in Mark 11 all of his actions and words in
the rest of the gospel bear directly on the temple. The goal of this article is to demonstrate how the discourse of Mark 11–12, and specific OT quotations therein, elucidates typological correspondences with Israel’s historic temple. The current temple is judged and a new temple is erected: the temple of the community of Jesus-followers. They will fulfill the eschatological purposes for the temple by extending God’s reign from Jerusalem to all the nations. To see this I will give specific attention to the typological function of the temple in the OT vis-à-vis the narrative discourse and quotations in Mark 11–12. In so doing, a Markan crux interpretum comes into clarity: 11:24’s “whatever you ask in prayer” is meant specifically in reference to the ministrations of the temple now fulfilled in Jesus’ followers. The church is, therefore, Jesus’ eschatological temple—rebuilt three days after Jesus’ destruction—that can now ask for “whatever” to accomplish its mission to the nations. In short, the events of Mark 11–12 comprise an extended temple antitype.
Matthew’s New David at the End of Exile
In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of ... more In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of the Old Testament quotations in Matthew’s prologue which establish a redemptive-historical context, and develop expectations for David’s son to end Israel’s exile and rule the nations.
Currents in Biblical Research, 2017
Before Wright published the first two volumes of his Christian Origins and the Question of God se... more Before Wright published the first two volumes of his Christian Origins and the Question of God series (1992; 1996) the discussion concerning late Second Temple Jewish concepts of exile was a quiet one. Since then, however, more and more scholars have begun to weigh in. Champions of the theory contend that Second Temple texts convey a matrix of concerns that together demonstrate a Jewish consciousness of being in a state of ongoing exile, notwithstanding the residency in the land of a significant population and a functioning temple. Dissenters argue that these scholars are illegitimately privileging one motif within a highly complex ancient religion, and assigning it a metanarrative role it never truly had. Others contend that ‘ongoing’ exile is too narrow of a description to account for the diversity of attitudes across several sects. Only recently, though, have major works been produced that thoroughly examine the primary texts in question. In the process, a growing chorus of voice...
Matthew’s New David at the End of Exile, 2016
In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of ... more In this volume, Nicholas G. Piotrowski demonstrates the narratological and rhetorical effects of the Old Testament quotations in Matthew’s prologue which establish a redemptive-historical context, and develop expectations for David’s son to end Israel’s exile and rule the nations.
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Papers by Nicholas G Piotrowski
the rest of the gospel bear directly on the temple. The goal of this article is to demonstrate how the discourse of Mark 11–12, and specific OT quotations therein, elucidates typological correspondences with Israel’s historic temple. The current temple is judged and a new temple is erected: the temple of the community of Jesus-followers. They will fulfill the eschatological purposes for the temple by extending God’s reign from Jerusalem to all the nations. To see this I will give specific attention to the typological function of the temple in the OT vis-à-vis the narrative discourse and quotations in Mark 11–12. In so doing, a Markan crux interpretum comes into clarity: 11:24’s “whatever you ask in prayer” is meant specifically in reference to the ministrations of the temple now fulfilled in Jesus’ followers. The church is, therefore, Jesus’ eschatological temple—rebuilt three days after Jesus’ destruction—that can now ask for “whatever” to accomplish its mission to the nations. In short, the events of Mark 11–12 comprise an extended temple antitype.
the rest of the gospel bear directly on the temple. The goal of this article is to demonstrate how the discourse of Mark 11–12, and specific OT quotations therein, elucidates typological correspondences with Israel’s historic temple. The current temple is judged and a new temple is erected: the temple of the community of Jesus-followers. They will fulfill the eschatological purposes for the temple by extending God’s reign from Jerusalem to all the nations. To see this I will give specific attention to the typological function of the temple in the OT vis-à-vis the narrative discourse and quotations in Mark 11–12. In so doing, a Markan crux interpretum comes into clarity: 11:24’s “whatever you ask in prayer” is meant specifically in reference to the ministrations of the temple now fulfilled in Jesus’ followers. The church is, therefore, Jesus’ eschatological temple—rebuilt three days after Jesus’ destruction—that can now ask for “whatever” to accomplish its mission to the nations. In short, the events of Mark 11–12 comprise an extended temple antitype.