New Testament Views of Torah

by

William R. G. Loader

• LAST REVIEWED: 09 May 2023
• LAST MODIFIED: 27 September 2017
• DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0037

Introduction

“Law” or “Torah” (Hebrew) normally refers to instruction given by God to Moses at Sinai and preserved in the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), but can occasionally be used more broadly, even to refer to the Psalms, as in John 10:34. This article focuses on the former meaning and thus on works that deal with how New Testament writers (and also the historical Jesus) view the Law. Research on the latter has been greatly influenced by the way scholars have understood how Judaism at the time of Jesus and the early Christian movement viewed the Law. Stereotypical conflicts between Protestants and Catholics contributed to stereotypical views of Judaism and Law in much of the literature up to the mid-20th century, so that, at worst, Judaism was depicted as a religion where one earned status before God by meticulous observance of the Law, seen as burdensome, and had no real hope of forgiveness. Since the 1970s, much more attention has been given to the Jewishness of Jesus and the early Christian movement and to more careful delineation of their attitudes toward the Law. The impact of the study both of the Dead Sea Scrolls and of pseudepigraphic literature also undermined monolithic understandings of Judaism. Key aspects in the revised understanding are recognition that Judaism of the period was diverse; that there was a range of interpretation among those who saw themselves as Law-observant, including those who enhanced its strictness by setting aside its more lenient provisions or its leniency by making for a wider range of exceptions; that Temple or cult and ethical law were not considered as two separate entities but as aspects of Law as a whole, so that challenging any significant part challenged the whole; and that within the Law concepts of purity, uncleanness, pollution, and sin need to be carefully distinguished. Much of the engagement by New Testament writers with the Law reflects the conflicts within the Christian movement over the extent to which the Law (as Scripture) remained authoritative, especially in relation to Gentiles and to Christian Jews responding to them, and whether and to what extent new situations called for some aspects of the Law to be overridden—temporarily or even permanently—or set aside, or even whether faith in Jesus supplanted the Law except as testimony to its own intended replacement. Diverse views exist both among New Testament writers and among scholars in their assessment of them.

Introductory Works

E. P. Sanders contributed most to a renewed appreciation of Judaism as a religion of grace where Law was instruction on how to live.

Reference Works

One important starting point is examination of the words used for “Law” in the writings, though study of single-word use must be supplemented by contextual studies. Gutbrod 1967 and Hübner 1991 are standard reference works. Westerholm 2008 provides an overview of the use of the concept.

• Gutbrod, W. “ΝΟΜΟΣ.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 5. Edited by Gerhard Friedrich, 1022–1091. Translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1967.

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  First published in Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament in 1942, this article includes consideration of the use of the word and its derivatives and the concept of the Law also in the Greek and Hellenistic world; the Old Testament, including the Septuagint; and in Judaism.

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• Hübner, Hans. “ΝΟΜΟΣ.” In Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 2. Edited by Horst Balz and Gerhard Schneider, 471–477. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1991.

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  First published in Exegetisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament in 1981, this entry contains an extensive bibliography and a detailed discussion of all relevant occurrences of the word.

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• Strawn, Brent A., ed. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law. 2 vols. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.

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  A major resource on all aspects of Law in the biblical literature, 130 entries by more than 100 scholars.

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• Westerholm, Stephen. “Law in the NT.” In New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Edited by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, 594–602. Nashville: Abingdon, 2008.

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  This article provides a brief overview of the concept of law in each of the New Testament writings or groups of writings.

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General Overviews

Most publications deal with particular writings or clusters of writings, such as the gospels, or with their key figures, Jesus and Paul. This is appropriate in recognition of the diversity of approaches among them. Comprehensive accounts occur mostly in depictions of New Testament theology. Both Hahn 2002 and Smend and Luz 1981 attempt an overall assessment of New Testament treatments of the Law, differentiating among the diverse theological strands. Limbeck 1997 deals primarily with Jesus, Paul, and Matthew, arguing that all three drive toward the goal already seen as the Law’s purpose in the Old Testament. Wilckens 2009 treats the issue of Law within the context of historical development within early Christianity. Crossley 2010 deals with a range of issues of controversy in relation to the Law in the New Testament, providing information from Jewish sources and exposing the distortions that Crossley argues have arisen from stereotyped understandings of Judaism.

• Crossley, James G. The New Testament and Jewish Law: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: T&T Clark, 2010.

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  A simple introduction designed to challenge false stereotypes and set the early Christian responses to Law within the context of a diverse Judaism, with particular attention to Sabbath, purity, food, divorce, retaliation, oaths, vows, circumcision, family, and interaction with Gentiles.

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• Hahn, Ferdinand. Theologie des Neuen Testaments. 2 vols. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2002.

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  Treats the historical Jesus, then writings with a more positive attitude reflecting Palestinian Judaism (Matthew, James, Revelation), followed by those that reflect tension (especially Paul), see the Law as preparatory (Luke-Acts, Hebrews), or depict it as superseded (Johannine literature), concluding with a synthetic analysis. See especially “Das Problem des Gesetzes,” Vol. 2, pp. 337–372.

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• Limbeck, Meinrad. Das Gesetz im Alten und Neuen Testament. Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1997.

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  The section on the New Testament deals primarily with the historical Jesus, Paul, and Matthew, but on Jesus treats attitudes toward the Temple and toward the Law as though they were distinct issues. See especially “Jesus und die Tora” (pp. 97–114); “Paulus und das Gesetz” (pp. 115–128); “Das Matthäusevangelium” (pp. 129–145); “Die Funktion des Gesetzes” (pp. 146–147).

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• Smend, Rudolf, and Ulrich Luz. Gesetz. Kohlhammer Taschenbücher—Biblische Konfrontationen 1015. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1981.

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  Very useful overview, which includes treatment of the Old Testament (Smend) and early Judaism (Luz), and giving attention to the historical Jesus, before discussing positive (Matthew) and differentiated negative responses to the Law (especially Paul, Hebrew, Mark, and John; Luz). See especially Ulrich Luz, “Das Neue Testament,” pp. 58–156.

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• Wilckens, Ulrich. Theologie des Neuen Testaments. Vol. 2, Die Theologie des Neuen Testaments als Grundlage kirchlicher Lehre. Part 2, Der Aufbau. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 2009.

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  Discusses the significance of the Law both for early Christians’ relationship to Israel (pp. 120–163) and for the inner development of the church (pp. 164–202).

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Anthologies and Collected Essays

A number of collections are the product of conferences and publish revised conference papers. Kertelge 1986 brings together contributions by leading German scholars, as does Lindars 1988 of leading British scholars in the 1980s. Sänger and Konradt 2006 does the same for German scholarship in more recent times. Derrett 1970 addresses a wide range of New Testament texts through the eyes of a specialist in Jewish studies. Similarly, Jackson 2008 presents essays on legal themes relating to New Testament use of Torah in the light of contemporary Jewish tradition. Tait and Oakes 2009 presents contributions resulting from a Swiss-British colloquium. Each collection is a useful source, though inevitably the range and quality within each varies. Bockmuehl 2003 is a collection of the author’s own previously published works, including important contributions such as on adultery as mandating divorce.

• Bockmuehl, Markus. Jewish Law in Gentile Churches: Halakhah and the Beginning of Christian Public Ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003.

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  An anthology of the author’s previously published works, including important discussions of divorce (argument Matthew’s exception clause is to be assumed in all versions of the prohibition) and of the handling by Jesus of halacha and ethics, as well as topical treatments (natural law, Noachide commandments, Luke and public ethics).

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• Derrett, J. Duncan M. Law in the New Testament. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970.

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  A rich source of background information on a range of themes, sometimes propounding highly disputed readings, but the value lies especially in the citation and discussion of pertinent data.

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• Jackson, Bernard S. Essays on Halakhah in the New Testament. Jewish and Christian Perspectives 16. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.

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  These studies include treatment of marriage and divorce, forensic issues (testimony and trials), conceptual discussions of the relation of letter and spirit, and a reassessment of the parable of the prodigal son in the light of Jewish inheritance law.

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• Kertelge, Karl, ed. Das Gesetz im Neuen Testament. Quaestiones Disputatae 108. Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 1986.

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  A set of excellent papers from leading German scholars, ranging from Müller’s discussion on the range of tolerance of different stances within Judaism touched on under Responses to Sanders to treatments of the historical Jesus, Paul, Matthew, the Hellenists, Acts 15, and the Gospel of John.

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• Lindars, Barnabas, ed. Law and Religion: Essays on the Place of the Law in Israel and Early Christianity. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 1988.

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  Another fine set of discussions, by leading British scholars, dealing in Part 2 with the historical Jesus and in Part 3 with Paul, Ephesians, and Luke-Acts.

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• Sänger, Dieter, and Matthias Konradt, eds. Das Gesetz im frühen Judentum und im Neuen Testament: Festschrift für Christoph Burchard zum 75. Geburtstag. Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 57. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006.

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  Includes a range of papers, mostly dealing with a New Testament writing or writer in comparison with Jewish sources.

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• Tait, Michael, and Peter Oakes. The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. London: T&T Clark, 2009.

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  Papers on selected themes, from Mark, Q, John, and Acts to Galatians and Jude, with useful discussions also of the alleged hope for a messianic Torah (Tait) and of the use of Law in seeking to change social behavior (Downing).

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Bibliographies

Aside from what one can find using the search engines for the databases of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) and the Biblical Bibliography of Lausanne (BIBIL), most bibliographical lists deal only with aspects of New Testament views of the Law. On the historical Jesus, Meier 2009 contains extensive bibliographies. On the gospels, both Loader 1997 and Repschinski 2009 contain extensive bibliographies, including detailed reviews of research. For Paul, a good starting point is Dunn 1998, where the relevant chapters begin with a substantial bibliography.

• Dunn, James G. D. The Theology of Paul the Apostle. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1998.

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  Chapters on the Law begin with a representative bibliography.

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• Loader, William R. G. Jesus’ Attitude towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 97. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1997.

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  Reviews research in relation to each gospel, including John.

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• Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. Vol. 4, Law and Love. Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.

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  Detailed bibliographies on divorce, oaths, Sabbath, and purity.

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• Repschinski, Boris. Nicht aufzulösen, sondern zu erfüllen: Das jüdische Gesetz in den synoptischen Jesuserzählungen. Forschung zur Bibel 120. Würzburg, Germany: Echter Verlag, 2009.

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  Reviews research in relation to the first three gospels.

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The Gospels

The following works bring together analyses of each gospel’s attitude toward the Law and should also be taken into account when considering individual writings. The focus of Banks 1975 is identifying Jesus’s independent authority in relation to the Law. Hübner 1986 examines the extent to which a re-Judaizing influence can be detected in Matthew and Luke. Vouga 1988 also examines development of attitudes toward the Law, especially in response to conflicts. Dautzenberg 1986 argues for a Law-observant stance at the beginning of the Christian movement. Loader 1997 examines the various stances toward the Law found in the four canonical gospels, as well as in Q, Thomas, and some noncanonical gospels and fragments, also arguing for an initial stance of Law observance. Crossley 2004, a book on Mark’s dating, contains a major section on discussing attitudes toward Torah in the synoptic gospels and Acts, mounting a case for Torah observance and that this indicates early dating, especially of Mark to before the 40s CE. Repschinski 2009 follows Loader’s method but reaches a different conclusion on Luke-Acts. Loader 2011 relates the issues of attitude toward the Law to theories of the gospels’ sources and development.

• Banks, Robert. Jesus and the Law in the Synoptic Tradition. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 28. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1975.

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  A thematic discussion of debates and controversies with a focus on Jesus’s own attitude and authority in relation to the Law as reflected in the gospels.

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• Crossley, James G. The Date of Mark’s Gospel: Insights from the Law in Earliest Christianity. Journal for the Study of the New Testament Supplement Series 266. London: T&T Clark, 2004.

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  Crossley’s argument for an early date of Mark is based on his assessment of Mark as reflecting Torah observance, an argument he makes in dialogue with previous scholarship in relation to all the significant texts. He also has sections on Matthew, Luke, and Acts.

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• Dautzenberg, Gerhard. “Gesetzeskritik und Gesetzesgehorsam in der Jesustradition.” In Das Gesetz im Neuen Testament. Edited by Karl Kertelge, 46–70. Quaestiones Disputatae 108. Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 1986.

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  Approaches the issue of the attitude of Jesus toward the Law on the basis of reading Paul to discern what he apparently assumes, and then discusses the traditions in Mark, Q, Matthew, and Luke, concluding that the earliest stages of the Jesus tradition give no indication of rejection of the Law, not even partially.

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• Hübner, Hans. Das Gesetz in der synoptischen Tradition: Studien zur These einer progressiven Qumranisierung und Judaisierung innerhalb der synoptischen Tradition. 2d ed. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986.

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  First published in 1973, this book focuses on Matthew 5:17–20, the Matthean antitheses, and the themes of Sabbath and purity in the gospels. Matthew’s Jesus, Hübner argues, abrogates the Law by fulfilling it, while at the same time re-Judaizing and watering down material critical of the Law such as Mark 7. See Dautzenberg 1986.

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• Loader, William R. G. Jesus’ Attitude towards the Law: A Study of the Gospels. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 97. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1997.

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  An analysis of all four gospels and Acts, and also Q, Thomas, and other noncanonical gospels. It offers a sequential analysis of the four gospels, providing thereby a full coverage and consideration of each element in its context as it might have been understood by its first hearers.

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• Loader, William R. G. “Attitudes to Judaism and the Law and Synoptic Relations.” In New Studies in the Synoptic Problem: Oxford Conference, April 2008. Edited by P. Foster, A. Gregory, J. S. Kloppenborg, and J. Verheyden, 347–369. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 239. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2011.

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  Reviews attitudes toward the Law in the Synoptic Gospels and examines in what ways these cast light on the interrelationship between them.

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• Repschinski, Boris. Nicht aufzulösen, sondern zu erfüllen: Das jüdische Gesetz in den synoptischen Jesuserzählungen. Forschung zur Bibel 120. Würzburg, Germany: Echter Verlag, 2009.

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  An analysis of attitudes toward the Law in Matthew, Mark, and Luke-Acts, also employing sequential analysis, including of Acts, reaching conclusions similar to Loader 1997, cited under Bibliographies, on Matthew and Mark but arguing for greater discontinuity in Luke-Acts.

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• Vouga, François. Jésus et la loi selon la tradition synoptique. Le Monde de la Bible 17. Geneva, Switzerland: Labor et Fides, 1988.

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  Approaches the issue through examination of the Matthean antitheses and the controversy stories and their development in response to ongoing conflict.

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Matthew

Debate continues both about the relation of the author and his community to Judaism and about the author’s attitude toward the Law. Did they still see themselves as within the fold of Judaism and its competing allegiances (see Konradt 2006 and Loader 1997, cited under the Gospels) or had they abandoned the synagogue or been expelled from its community (see Strecker 1988)? There is no debate about Jesus’s authority, but did it replace the Law’s authority, as argued in Deines 2004 (see also Banks 1975, cited under the Gospels) or uphold it with authoritative interpretation by Jesus without abrogating any part, as in different ways Snodgrass 1996 and Konradt 2006 propose (see also Vouga 1988, Loader 1997, and Repschinski 2009, cited under the Gospels) or with some abrogation, as Barth 1982 and (to a limited degree) Foster 2004 argue (see also Hübner 1986, cited under the Gospels)? Sim 1998 sets Matthew’s understanding of the Law in contrast to Paul’s, arguing that Matthew is directly reacting against Pauline Christianity in this regard. The Jewish scholar Sigal underlines Matthew’s thorough Jewishness in interpreting the Law (Sigal 2007). Does “fulfill” in 5:17 mean fulfill and replace or fulfill and uphold? If uphold, then most see a distinctive emphasis on compassion, which creates a hierarchy of values of greater and lesser commandments (5:18).

• Barth, Gerhard. “Matthew’s Understanding of the Law.” In Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew. 2d ed. Edited by Günther Bornkamm, Gerhard Barth, and Heinz Joachim Held, 58–164. London: SCM, 1982.

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  While arguing that Matthew presents Jesus as true interpreter of the Law against the double front of lax believers and Jewish critics, Barth sees Matthew’s Jesus abrogating some parts of Torah (e.g., retaliation). German: “Das Gesetzesverständnis des Evangelisten Matthäus,” in Überlieferung und Auslegung im Matthäusevangelium, 6th ed., edited by Günther Bornkamm, Gerhard Barth, and Heinz Joachim Held, pp. 54–154 (Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1970).

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• Deines, Roland. Die Gerechtigkeit der Tora im Reich des Messias: Mt 5,13–20 als Schlüsseltext der matthäischen Theologie. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 177. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.

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  Argues that according to Matthew, the Law of Jesus the Messiah has replaced the Law of Moses as authoritative.

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• Foster, Paul. Community, Law and Mission in Matthew’s Gospel. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, 2d ser., 177. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 2004.

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  Argues that the author did not advocate rejection of the Law but promoted Jesus as a higher authority expounding a higher righteousness, which ultimately leads to the marginalization of the Law.

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• Konradt, Matthias. “Die vollkommene Erfüllung der Tora und der Konflikt mit den Pharisäern im Matthäusevangelium.” In Das Gesetz im frühen Judentum und im Neuen Testament: Festschrift für Christoph Burchard zum 75. Geburtstag. Edited by Dieter Sänger and Matthias Konradt, 129–152. Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 57. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006.

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  Argues that the issue in Matthew is not tension or contradiction between the authority of Jesus and that of Torah but between Jesus’s interpretation of the latter and that of the scribes and Pharisees, reflecting conflicts that embroiled Matthew’s community as it struggled for leaderships within emerging post-70 CE Judaism.

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• Sigal, Phillip. The Halakhah of Jesus of Nazareth according to the Gospel of Matthew, 2d ed. Studies in Biblical Literature 18. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007.

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  First published 1986, this work of a Jewish scholar, working primarily with Matthew, explains Jesus’s interpretation of the Law as fitting within the parameters of Jewish interpretation of his time.

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• Sim, David C. The Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism: The History and Social Setting of the Matthean Community. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998.

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  As part of his argument that Matthew and his community remained within the fold of Judaism, Sim sees Matthew’s strict adherence to Torah as a reaction against the liberalizing tendencies evident in the Christianity of the Gentiles, especially with Pauline Christianity.

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• Snodgrass, Klyne R. “Matthew and the Law.” In Treasures Old and New: Recent Contributions to Matthean Studies. Edited by David R. Bauer and Mark Allan Powell, 111–118. Symposium 1. Atlanta: Scholars, 1996.

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  Emphasizing a positive attitude toward the Law interpreted in accordance with the prophetic values of love and justice.

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• Strecker, Georg. The Sermon on the Mount: An Exegetical Commentary. Translated by O. C. Dean Jr. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988.

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  An exposition that reads 5:17–20 as indicating Jesus’ supremacy over the Law from a perspective where belonging to Judaism lay well in the past. German: Die Bergpredigt: Ein exegetischer Kommentar (Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1984).

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Mark

While the word “νόμος” does not occur in Mark, the issue surfaces in controversies in 2:1–3:6 and 7:1–23, as well as in the positive citing of summaries of the Law and of the Decalogue commandments. Does Mark’s Jesus abrogate the Law of Sabbath, divorce, and purity (see Hübner 1986, cited under the Gospels); continue to uphold the Law (see Crossley 2010, cited under General Overviews, and Crossley 2004, cited under the Gospels); or set only the largely cultic aspects aside, as argued by Berger 1972 and Sariola 1990 (see also Loader 1997, cited under the Gospels)? Or has the issue of Law ceased to be of interest to Mark (see Vouga 1988, cited under the Gospels)? Dunn 1990 provides a collection of previously published works on the theme. Mark 7:1–23 is one of the most contested passages in assessing Mark’s approach to the Law, as reflected in Lindars 1988, Loader 1998, and Crossley 2009.

• Berger, Klaus. Die Gesetzesauslegung Jesu: Ihr historischer Hintergrund im Judentum und im Alten Testament. Vol. 1, Markus und Parallelen. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum Alten und Neuen Testament 40. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Germany: Neukirchener Verlag, 1972.

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  Provides a detailed study of selected passages, the great commandments (12:28–34), the rich man (10:17–22), the “Corban” dispute (7:8–13), and divorce (10:2–12), arguing that Mark’s stance reflects what he claims is a form of Hellenistic Judaism that had rejected the ritual law and held only to the ethical.

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• Crossley, James. “Mark 7.1–23: Revisiting the Question of ‘All Foods Clean.’” In The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes, 8–20. London: T&T Clark, 2009.

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  Argues that Mark’s comment that Jesus declared all foods clean meant that he declared that clean food could not be contaminated by unwashed hands, not that he declared unclean food clean.

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• Dunn, James D. G. Jesus, Paul and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians. London: SPCK, 1990.

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  This collection includes studies of the key passages in 2:1–3:6 and 7:1–23, arguing that Mark understands the latter as setting food laws aside.

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• Lindars, Barnabas. “‘All Foods Clean’: Thoughts on Jesus and the Law.” In Law and Religion: Essays on the Place of the Law in Israel and Early Christianity. Edited by Barnabas Lindars, 61–71. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 1988.

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  Argues that while Mark sees Jesus in 7:15 as abrogating food laws, the saying should be seen as having its origin with Jesus as a provocative comment not intended to do so, and so never playing a role elsewhere where the issue of food was in dispute.

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• Loader, William. “Mark 7:1–23 and the Historical Jesus.” Colloquium 30.2 (1998): 123–151.

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  Argues that an originally inclusive antithesis (not so much this . . . as that) has become in Mark’s tradition an exclusive antithesis (not this at all . . . but that) relating to all food, illustrated by what happens to it in digestion. Mark thus implies that food laws never had validity.

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• Sariola, Heikki. Markus und das Gesetz: Eine redaktionskritische Untersuchung. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae: Dissertationes Humanarum Litterarum 56. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1990.

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  Argues that while the Law is not central for Mark, for whom Jesus is the authority, Mark’s Jesus interprets the will of God on the basis of an understanding of God’s will in creation and concern for human beings, affirming the ethical commandments, setting the internal and moral in contrast to the external and cultic.

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Luke-Acts

Debate continues about whether the Lukan author considers the Law to still be in force for both Jewish and Gentile believers, aside from divinely mandated exceptions like circumcision and table fellowship, as Jervell 1972 argues. Klinghardt 1988 also emphasizes that wealth accounted for attacks on the Pharisees but treats the Temple as dispensable on the basis of alleged Jewish traditions that did the same. Fitzmyer 1989, whose author produced major commentaries on both Luke and Acts, concurs with Jervell (see also Loader 1997, cited under the Gospels). In contrast, Conzelmann 1960 saw Luke treating the coming of Jesus as having ushered in a new era that superseded that of the Law and the Prophets, at least from the time of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 onward. Conzelmann is followed in this by Salo 1991 (see also Hübner 1986 and Vouga 1988, cited under the Gospels). Blomberg 1984 sees Luke composing his work to show that already in his ministry Jesus set the Law aside. Wilson 1983 argues that we should take seriously the possibility that the Lukan author was inconsistent. A more recent treatment, Marguerat 2009, argues that Luke was sensitive to Roman respect for ancient tradition and so sought to explain the Jesus movement in a way that was not seen as conflicting with such values. Luke 16:16–17 is a key passage, which, like the Matthean reworking of the common Q material in 5:17–18, can be read in diverse ways, including as tradition to which Luke gives little weight (see Banks 1975, cited under the Gospels). While most agree that Luke’s strongly Gentile context is very different from Matthew’s Jewish one, so that Luke is more engaged with intramural Christian concerns in relation to the status of the Law, it is arguably still an issue that Luke has made some effort to address.

• Blomberg, Craig L. “The Law in Luke-Acts.” Journal for the Study of the New Testament 7.22 (1984): 53–80.

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  Treats Luke sequentially so that Blomberg sees the message of typological fulfillment in Luke’s early chapters as preparing the reader for the ultimate setting aside of the Law, both written and oral, by Jesus in the controversy stories.

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• Conzelmann, Hans. The Theology of St. Luke. Translated by Geoffrey Buswell. London: Faber & Faber, 1960.

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  A pioneering work that argues that Luke sees the Law as belonging to a past era, including the ministry of Jesus and the earliest days of the church up to Acts 15, and functions after that only in a prophetic role. German: Die Mitte der Zeit: Studien zur Theologie des Lukas (Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1954; 4th ed., 1962).

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• Fitzmyer, Joseph A. “The Jewish People and the Mosaic Law in Luke-Acts.” In Luke the Theologian: Aspects of His Teaching. By Joseph A. Fitzmyer, 175–202. London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1989.

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  Fitzmyer argues that for Luke the Law remains valid in all eras of salvation history and is central to Jesus’s depiction of the way to eternal life and to Luke’s concerns with poverty in Luke 16, which 16:17 serves to reinforce.

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• Jervell, Jacob. “The Law in Luke-Acts.” In Luke and the People of God: A New Look at Luke-Acts. By Jacob Jervell, 133–152. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1972.

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  Argues that the Law remains valid in the present, especially as the Church understands itself in relation to Jewish Christianity not as a new Israel but as the people of God in continuity with Israel. Luke defends the faith against accusations that it disparages either the Law or the Temple.

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• Klinghardt, Matthias. Gesetz und Volk Gottes: Das lukanische Verständnis des Gesetzes nach Herkunft, Funktion und seinem Ort in der Geschichte des Urchristentums. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 32. Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck, 1988.

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  Sees Luke in close contact with Judaism, affirming the Law and attacking Pharisaic leaders for abuse of wealth and ethnocentricity.

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• Marguerat, Daniel. “Paul and the Torah in the Acts of the Apostles.” In The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes, 98–117. London: T&T Clark, 2009.

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  This essay engages the tensions concerning the Law in Acts, especially its statements that the Law is not sufficient for salvation, and how one should understand this in relation to Luke’s stance toward the Law.

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• Salo, Kalervo. Luke’s Treatment of the Law: A Redaction-Critical Investigation. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae: Dissertationes Humanarum Litterarum 57. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1991.

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  Salo argues that Luke avoids portraying the Law negatively. It remains in force during the ministry of Jesus. With Conzelmann, he sees a turning point in Acts 15, where Gentiles are declared free from all but the requirements of the decree, and by implication Jews are encouraged to behave like Peter.

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• Wilson, S. G. Luke and the Law. Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series 50. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

  DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511555169Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Sees Luke setting Jesus above the Law, so that he goes beyond it and sometimes uses his authority to set it aside, but argues that the Law is of little interest to Luke, which explains Luke’s inconsistency in both declaring its continuing validity and showing it abrogated, especially in Acts.

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The Sayings Source “Q”

The hypothetical source of material common to Matthew and Luke, apart from material deriving from Mark, contains significant comment on the Law and its status, especially in the texts underlying Luke 16:16–17 and Matthew 5:17–18, and Luke 11:42 and Matthew 23:23. Early studies emphasized freedom from the old Law or contradictory statements (see Hübner 1986, cited under the Gospels), assuming for instance that the divorce logion must be seen as rejecting Torah. Kloppenborg 1990 provides a review of previous research. More recent treatments see greater coherence and an assumption of Law observance in Q within the flexible parameters of the time. Thus, Tuckett 1988 notes the fundamental significance of Luke 16:16–17, and Kosch 1989 depicts Q as reflecting authoritative interpretation of the Law by Jesus as Son of Man (see also Loader 1997, cited under the Gospels). Dettwiler 2009 provides an assessment of research thus far, concluding that Q is basically Law-observant with particular weight given to ethical values. While the extent of Q, and by some, even its existence, continues to be debated, a large body of scholars now agree on its main contents, as reflected in Robinson, et al. 2000. Gregory, et al. 2011 presents papers discussing synoptic relations, including the “Q” hypothesis, and in it Loader (see Loader 2011, cited under the Gospels) assesses the relevance of attitudes toward the Law for such reconstruction. Tiwald 2013 contains discussion of particular texts.

• Dettwiler, Andreas. “The Source Q and the Torah.” In The Torah in the New Testament: Papers Delivered at the Manchester-Lausanne Seminar of June 2008. Edited by Michael Tait and Peter Oakes, 32–64. London: T&T Clark, 2009.

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  Assessment of research thus far, concluding that, despite its fragmentary character, “Q” is strongly Jewish Christian and consistently affirming of Torah, which it interprets in a way that relativizes the ritual and gives precedence to relational-ethical values and to Jesus as Torah’s true interpreter.

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• Gregory, A., P. Foster, J. S. Kloppenborg, and J. Verheyden. New Studies in the Synoptic Problem: Oxford Conference, April 2008. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 239. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2011.

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  This collection includes a range of papers addressing conflicting views about the relations of the synoptic gospels, including the “Q” hypothesis. Within these, the different treatments of the gospels of controversies relating to Law play a significant role in measuring the plausibility of the different reconstructions.

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• Kloppenborg, John S. “Nomos and Ethos in Q.” In Gospel Origins and Christian Beginnings: In Honor of James M. Robinson. Edited by James E. Goehring, Hans D. Betz, Charles W. Hedrick, and Jack T. Sanders, 35–48. Sonoma, CA: Polebridge, 1990.

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  Kloppenborg suggests that Q subverts the distinction between pure and impure, reflecting Cynic values, thus effectively undermining the Law’s authority, putting emphasis on the ethical, and appealing not to the legal but to the epic traditions of Israel. He explains away Luke 11:42c and 16:17 as later glosses.

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• Kloppenborg, John S., ed. The Shape of Q: Signal Essays on the Sayings Gospel. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994.

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  A collection of earlier works on Q, including one by Rudolf Bultmann from 1913, arguing that Q depicts freedom from the Law.

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• Kosch, Daniel. Die eschatologische Tora des Menschensohnes: Untersuchungen zur Rezeption der Stellung Jesu zur Tora in Q. Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 12. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989.

  DOI: 10.13109/9783666539138Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »

  Argues for a positive stance toward the Law in Q with disputes not over the Law itself but rather its interpretation.

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• Robinson, James M., Paul Hoffmann, and S. Kloppenborg, eds. The Critical Edition of Q: Synopsis Including the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Mark and Thomas with English, German, and French Translations of Q and Thomas. Hermeneia. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2000.

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  A reconstruction of “Q” based on agreement among a large number of scholars, but by no means a universal consensus.

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• Tiwald, Markus, ed. Kein Jota wird vergehen. Das Gesetzesverständnis der Logienquelle vor dem Hintergrund frühjüdischer Theologie. BWANT 200. Stuttgart: Verlag W. Kohlhammer, 2013.

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  A collection of studies on Q and Torah, including Paul Foster on Matthew’s use of “Jewish” traditions from Q, Dieter Roth on Q 6,47–49, and Christoph Heil on Q 9,57–60.

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• Tuckett, Christopher M. “Q, the Law and Judaism.” In Law and Religion: Essays on the Place of the Law in Israel and Early Christianity. Edited by Barnabas Lindars, 90–101. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke, 1988.

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  Sees Luke 16:16 as originally intending the Law’s demise but now in the light of Luke 16:17 affirming its continuing validity, in accordance with a generally conservative stance toward the Law in “Q” as remaining in force.

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John

Differences in assessment of the place of Law in the fourth gospel depend to a large degree on how one assesses its alleged use of halachic argument and whether one takes into account its clear statements about replacing the Temple and cult.

The Historical Jesus

All reconstructions of the historical Jesus must deal to some extent with the attitude of Jesus toward the Law. There has been a significant shift from emphases in the so-called second quest for the historical Jesus, associated especially with Ernst Käsemann and Günther Bornkamm in the 1950s, which highlighted Jesus’s dissimilarity to Judaism as a criterion of authenticity, and the later depictions of the third quest, which either marginalized Jesus’s Jewishness in favor of portraying him as a Cynic-like sage or emphasized it as the core of his approach to eschatology and Torah. In many reconstructions, the attitude of Jesus toward Torah is handled only incidentally, reflecting a possible reading of the historical situation that the Law was rarely an issue, perhaps because observance was assumed. Two subsections contain a selection of Historical Jesus Reconstructions and works dealing specifically with Jesus and the Law.

Paul

Consideration of Paul’s attitude toward the Law needs to take into account the broader issue of Paul’s understanding of Judaism. Especially since the pioneering work of Sanders, a change has come about in the way people understand the Judaism of Paul’s day. Recognition is widespread that the view that saw Judaism as an arid, legalistic system designed to require people to earn favor from God by their own merit and so carry about on their shoulders an impossible burden was a distortion. While Sanders’s counter thesis, that Judaism was predominantly a religion of grace, where God initiated the covenant relationship and humans responded by living in covenant according to the Law, has needed further refinement, it has changed the way most see the Judaism of Paul’s day. The result is much more coherent with how Jewish scholars also view their tradition. There are two subsections here, Paul and the Law and Paul and the New Perspective, the first dealing specifically with the role of the Law in Paul’s writings, and the second providing a list of major works dealing with the new perspective.

Other New Testament Writings

The Law, understood as the writings of the Pentateuch or as a body of both moral and ritual provisions, informs, directly or indirectly, most New Testament writings. It is present, wherever Temple and cult feature, whether literally or metaphorically. Thus, cultic notions of the heavenly realm underlie Hebrews and Revelation, as they do most references to the holy. Notions of ritual purity in relation to the holy or used metaphorically of moral purity underlie language of sanctification and “the saints” and much of the ethical instruction. Decalogue prohibitions are widely reflected in the writings. It is beyond the scope of this article to identify all such references to the Law, many of which are minor and incidental, so that the researcher is directed to detailed commentaries in each instance where discussion and bibliographies can be found. Beside the gospels and Acts and Pauline literature, the issue of the Law’s status mostly plays a less significant role. In Hebrews, it features significantly, especially in the contrast between the new and the old, where the old, as in John, includes the cultic law. In James, we have positive reference to the Law. In Jude, reference to the Law expands to include pseudepigraphic writings.