Canon Formation: Tracing the Role of Sub-Collections in the Biblical Canon

✍ Scribed by W. Edward Glenny; Darian R. Lockett (editors)

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2023
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 369
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Contributors to this volume examine the various collections of canonical sub-units in the canon, considering the state of the question regarding each particular collection. The chapters introduce the issues involved in sub-collections being accepted in the canon, summarize the historical evidence of the acceptance of these collections, and discuss the compositional evidence of “canonical consciousness” in the various collections. The contributors consider paratextual evidence, for example, the arrangement of the books in various manuscripts, the titles of the books, and also include evidence such as the presence of catchwords, framing devices, and themes.
The book begins with a consideration of the two overarching collections – the Old and New Testaments. Next, several sub-collections within the Hebrew Bible (OT) are considered, including the Torah, Prophets, the Megilloth, the Twelve (both in their Masoretic Text and Septuagint forms), and the Psalter. In addition, sub-collections in the New Testament include the four-fold Gospel, the Pauline Collection (usually with Hebrews in the early manuscripts), the function of Acts within the New Testament, the Praxapostolos (Acts along with the Catholic Epistles), and the function of Revelation as the end of the canon.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Halftitle page
Title page
Copyright page
Contents
Tables
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Permissions
Abbreviations
Introduction
Section One The Bible as a Whole and the Old and New Testament as Canonical Units
1 The Bible Canon and Its Significance: Textual Comprehensiveness, Function, Design, and Delimitation
Apostolic address and authority
Comprehensiveness: appeal to the “full” apostolic text
Th e NT canon—a collection of prior text collections
Function: the Bible canon as intensified scriptural address and criterion
Delimitation and design: numerical appeal and the shaping of biblical canonicity
Paratextual arithmetical design patterns and the canonical text corpus
Canonical shaping and alphabetical all-comprehensiveness
Codicological design patterns: alphabetical paragraph division
Codicological design patterns: alphabetical and divine-name figures
2 The Canonical Shape of the Hebrew Old Testament
The fundamental shape of the Hebrew Bible
The Arrangement of the books in the divisions
The tripartite structure and theories of canonization
3 The Canonical Shape of the Greek Old Testament
Contents of the Greek Old Testament
Shape of the Greek Old Testament
Conclusions
4 The Canonical Shape of the New Testament
“A collection of collections”
Which order? What shape?
Interpreting the shape of the NT canon
Moving forward
Conclusion
Section Two Old Testament Canonical Sub-Units
5 The Pentateuch as Canon
Latitude versus Longitude
Undisclosed commitments
Canonical context
Pentateuchal privilege
Canonical format
The Law, the Prophets, and the Writings
6 The Canon of Psalms
Origins and authorship
Critical approaches to the text—Classical period
Critical approaches to the text—the Modern period
The Shape of the Psalter
The “story” of the Psalter
The shaping of the Psalters
Concluding remarks
7 The Canonical Role of Israel’s Wisdom Collection
Canon as list and the OT wisdom books
Canon as authority
Canon—not as authority—and the OT wisdom books
Canon as rule and the OT wisdom books
OT wisdom and the OT
OT wisdom and the New Testament
OT wisdom today
8 The Macro-Structure of the Megilloth
9 The Canonical Function of the Nebi’im
The Prophets as a canonical section in the Scriptures of Israel: overview
Former and Latter Prophets: Prophets in history
The three: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
The Twelve
Prophetic inspiration
Conclusion
10 Prophetic Intentionality in the Twelve
Prophetic intentionality and the canonical location of the Twelve
Prophetic intentionality in the Twelve: books or Book?
Prophetic intentionality and the unity of the Twelve
Prophetic intentionality in the books of Hosea and Malachi
Conclusion
11 The Book of the Twelve in the Septuagint
LXX Twelve
Reading the Twelve as a unit
Two different orders
The location of the Twelve in Hebrew and Greek Bibles
Early textual evidence for the Twelve
Literary coherence in LXX Twelve
A theological theme in LXX Twelve?
LXX Twelve as a tripartite work
LXX Twelve and a Christian reading of Scripture
Section Three New Testament Canonical Sub-Units
12 The Four-Fold Gospel Collection
State of research
Development of the Gospel canon
Implications of a Four-Fold Gospel
13 Corpus Apostolicum
Catholic Epistles as a collection
The association between Acts and the Catholic Epistles
The function of the Corpus Apostolicum in the New Testament canon
14 The Pauline Corpus
Early Lists
Early writers
Manuscript evidence
Conclusions about evidence for the Corpus Paulinum
Hebrews and the Corpus Paulinum
Collection theories
15 Revelation as the Ending of the Canon
Why canon formation was necessary
Inclusion of the Book of Revelation into the canon
Acceptance, status, and use of Revelation
Canonical order: historical issues and theological significance
Implications arising from Revelation as the canon ending
Section Four Hermeneutical Considerations of Canon
16 Hermeneutical Reflections on Canonical Sub-Collections: Retrospect and Prospect
Relating history, theology, and hermeneutics in canon studies
The formation and function of canonical sub-collections
Sub-collections and canonical contextuality
Sub-collections and canonical intentionality
Sub-collections and canon-consciousness
Sub-collections and biblical theology
Closing reflection
Contributors
Index of Biblical/Extra-Biblical References
Index of Ancient Sources
Index of Modern Authors