Textual and hermeneutical aspects of Paul's use of the Old Testament in 1 and 2 Corinthians

Part I presents the textual and conceptual vectors which form the background to the specific examination of the OT in 1 and 2 Cor. Ihe first aim is to discern the original OT text-forms in order to conclude what was or was not a Pauline alteration. Septuagintal transmission-history in first century Palestine is discussed in the light of recent methodological advances made by Barthelemy, Cross and others. The paper follows, in the main, the established positions of Barthelemy and Tov. The second aim concerns why Paul selected and, in several cases, edited the OT texts. Oral and written tradition in Palestine is examined by interaction with the critical debates centered on the works of Gerhardsson and others. Distinctions between literary form and exegetical method are made in view of possible anachronistic errors when comparing early Christianity with Judaism and Rabbinics. Part I concludes by surveying nine major works specifically concerning Paul's use of the OT. A caveat arises to consider Paul's own usage apart from the imposition of a later critical method.Part II contains the detailed observation of the textual and hermeneutical evidences. Organized by OT books, each passage is examined on textual, contextual and hermeneutical levels. A cumulative perspective of Paul's textual bases and hermeneutical methods and conceptualities emergesPart III presents the textual and conceptual con¬ clusions. Hermeneutically, Paul shows a consistent tendency to use the OT for more than anti-Judaistic polemic (Lindars) or simple illustration (Ulonska). The basis of his use was an historical understanding of the OT. Paul's conceptuality displays a continuity of deity and piety from the OT to the NT. The conclusions of Harnack, Dodd, Lindars, Braun and others concerning Paul's concepts of continuity are evaluated in this light. The paper concludes with an elaboration of possible in¬ dications of a Palestinian Greek OT in 1 and 2 Cor. Textually, Paul shows positive evidence for a Palestin¬ ian Greek OT divergent from the LXX. In the absence of evidence from Qumran, Paul's OT text-forms provide early evidence for the state of the Greek OT in Palestin