Vol. 67 AT ed ON THE THIRD DAY, ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES Prac te s THE WARS OF JUDGES AS CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURE Pei COE am Na KOt Sa Tiere a eMac) Aenea ened ISSN 0034- REFORMED THEOLOGICAL TaTHE - REFORMED THEOLOGICAL REVIEW ‘THE REV PROFESSOR ALLAN M HARMAN, BA, BD, MLitt, ThM, ThD, ‘ThD hon (ACT), Melbourne. ‘THE MOST REV PETER F JENSEN, MA, BD, DPhil, Sydney. 7 "ASSISTANT EDITORS ‘THE REV G R GOSWELL, BSc(Med), BD, MTh, PhD, Melbourne, DR B S ROSNER, BA, ThM, PhD, Sydney: DRPH KERN, BS, MA, MDis, PRD, Sydney. __ ASSOCIATE EDITORS: |THE REV CANON S BARTON BABBAGE, MA, PhD, ThD, Syd. ‘THE REV WJ DUMBRELL, MA, BD, MTh, THD, Sydney. ‘THE RTREV D WB ROBINSON, MA, ThD, Sydney he ‘All articles and reviews in RTR are subject to peer review prior to publication, ‘Contributors enjoy reasonable liberty inthe exposition ofthe Christian Faith “The Editors are not responsible for every opinion that may be expressed, ISSUED APRIL, AUGUST, DECEMBER. ‘Comminications and Subscriptions should be forwarded to: ‘The Editors, P 0 Box 635, Doncaster, Victoria 3108 Australia ‘Annual Subscription (Calendar Year): ‘Australia $AU21.00 (GST inclusive)» [New Zealand, South East Asia $AU24.00 ‘Other Countries: $AU30.00 Post Free THE REFORMED THEOLOGICAL REVIEW Vol. 67 APRIL, 2008 No. 1 On the Third Day, According to the Scriptures’ ‘The Nicene Creed says that ‘on the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures’, Millions of Christians affirm this about Jesus, and have done so for centuries. But what does it mean? The reference is | Corinthians 15:4b. Here the easy answers finish. For this text is the subject of difficulty for scholars and thoughtful Christians alike. The difficulty lies in the referent of ‘according to the Scriptures’. To which Seriptures is Paul referring? It is a question which despite its difficulty has received relatively little holarly attention. The commentaries on I Corinthians and Luke are foreed say something, but have added little for many years. This dearth of material ld be understandable if a convincing consensus had been reached, but reality is that there is no real consensus, and no suggestions without jculty. Thus an article such as this seems overdue, especially since no one attempted an exhaustive survey of the relevant Old Testament data. Gordon Fee notes five approaches regarding ‘according to the Scriptures" 1 Corinthians 15:4b: (a) that it modifies “on the third day’, and not ‘he was "; (b) that Paul means something other than the Old Testament, when he s of the ‘Scriptures’ - perhaps early Christian passion and resurrection ives or Testimony Books containing Old Testament citations; (c) that jects popular Jewish belief that corruption set in only after the third day, the original project on this subject (more extensive than this article, but weaker points), follow the links at www chrstianintro.net. Thanks to my supervisors Shead and Michael Raiter. jvirtue of Luke 24:46-47.On the Third Day, According to the Scriptures raised on the third day to fulfil Psalms 16:9-11 (LXX) that ‘not suffer ‘corruption’; (d) that it modifies only the verb ‘he ‘does not modify the phrase ‘on the third day’; and (e) that it “he was raised’ and ‘on the third day’? fa) and (¢), both positions raise the question as to which Old ptures speak of the ‘third day’, the major question for the (b), in Matthew and Luke, Jesus himself sees his resurrection day written in the Old Testament Scriptures (Matt 16:21, 17:23, uke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7, especially 24:46), by which he must mean estament. So there is still the difficulty of which Old Testament attest to a third day resurrection. th day, he would have ‘seen decay’ (Ps 16:9). But this view cannot ‘why Jesus had to rise precisely on the third day. We need to say ding (d), Bruce Metzger provides the alternative translation: ‘and ‘was raised in accordance with Scriptures, on the third day”, so “on the third day’ is not connected with the Old Testament Scriptures. ‘this is inconsistent with 1 Corinthians 15:3 where ‘according to the clearly modifies the entire preceding phrase. Further, we have dy mentioned passages where Jesus sees his third day resurrection sted in the Scriptures. Thus Metzger’s translation becomes unlikely Corinthians 15:4b, since his construction is aimed to avoid a teaching ‘elsewhere anyway. Further still, if we can find a stream of Old tradition that lends weight to positions (a) or (c), we should set *s proposal as unnecessary. ‘then to those who find Old Testament support for the assertion The First Epistle to the Corinthians (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, ‘P27. Postion (c) is expounded by D. Hill, ‘On the Third Day’, ExpTim 78 266-67. “A Suggestion Conceming the Meaning of | Gor xv. 40", Journal of ‘Studies 8 (1957): 118-119. Metzger, together with 8. McCasland, “The ‘of “On the Third Day", JBL 48 (1929): 134-135, do not find any ‘day’ resurrection of the Christ in the OT Scriptures. Metzger, Reformed Theological Review 67:1 (April, 2008) 3 that Christ was raised on the third day, many look for a sole Scripture. The ‘most popular is Hosea 6:2': ‘After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence’. However the people at tis point are Israel, and not the Christ. So in isolation from the completed (Old Testament canon, itis not clear how the Messiah might be in view in this Passage. Jonah 1:17 has claims if we are looking for a sole Scripture, being the only candidate cited in the New Testament. Nevertheless, C. F. Evans dismisses Jonah 1:17 on the basis that the three-day sojourn of Jonah is probably a late addition, and because Matthew’s use of the story is ‘ad hoe’ (Matt 12:40).* Other scholars suggest 2 Kings 20:5 as the singular verse in mind (the promise of healing to Hezekiah, ‘on the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord’).” But this and the Jonah reference (in isolation from the Old Testament canon) are less convincing than Hosea 6:2, since both occur in historical narratives, rather than in predictive prophecy. As such, the human authors do not look to be predicting a future event at all, much less the resurrection of the Messiah. Also against those who support a ‘one verse” only position is that the word ‘Scriptures’ in | Corinthians 15:4b is plural many Scriptures appear to be in Paul’s mind. It is Karl Lehmann who has the most persuasive approach. He sees a pattern of divine action on the third day in such passages as Exodus 19:11, 16 (cf. also Gen 22:4; 2 Kgs 20:5, 8; Esth 5:1; Hos 6:2), and argues that this pattern is the substance of Paul’s thinking in I Corinthians 15:4b. However, * For example, C. Senft and S. Kistemaker. See Thiselton, The First Epistle 1o the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000), p. 1195, for details. Examples Of this position in the English language include C. H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures (London: Nisbet and Co., 1952), pp. 77, 103, 3. Wijngaards, “Death and Resurrection in Covenantal Context (Hos. vi. 2)', VT 17 (1967): pp. 226-38, C. F. Evans, Resurrection and the New Testament (London: SCM Press, 1970), pp. 47-50, B. Lindars, New Testament Apologetic (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961), pp. 60-66, G. Delling, “jyépa’, TDNT 2: 949, G. Delling, “pets”, TDNT, 8:216-225, ’ “The “Son of Man” Passion Sayings in the Gospel Tradition’, ZNW’ 40 (0969): pp. 1-8. * Evans, Resurrection, p. 49. Dodd, According to the Scriptures, p. 71, is also dismissive of Jonah 1:17. Fee, First Epistle, p. 727. AK. Lehmann, Auferweckt am dritten Tag nach der Schrift (2nd ed.; Freiberg: Herder, 1969), pp. 176-181, 262-90. See also Thiselton, First Bpisile, p. 1197