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Question 4
When Bercot broadens “quoting” to include allusions/references, he gives examples he believes come from Wisdom of Solomon (“gates of Hades”), Sirach (“by his word all things hold together,” “quick to listen, slow to answer”), and 2 Maccabees (Hebrews 11’s tortured martyrs); what would change in your view of Jesus and the apostles if they were intentionally drawing language and examples from these books?
Another way to ask: If Jesus and the apostles were purposely using words and stories from books like Wisdom, Sirach, and 2 Maccabees, how would that affect your view of them? Would it change how you view those books?

Direct Answer If Jesus and the apostles were intentionally drawing from these books, it would suggest the Apocrypha functioned as familiar, respected Scripture-like material in their world, and that the New Testament is more interconnected with it than many Protestants assume. It would also reframe “never quoted” as an inaccurate claim once allusions and references are considered.

Support from Transcript:

  • He explains the dispute hinges on definitions of “quoted”: he used “direct quotations preceded by… ‘It is written,’” but others count “indirect quotations or allusions.”
  • He says if we broaden the definition, “it’s not correct to say that the New Testament writers don’t quote from the books of the Apocrypha.”
  • Example: Matthew 16:18 “gates of Hades” is, he says, “a direct quotation from the Wisdom of Solomon… the only place in the Old Testament where that phrase is used.”
  • Example: Colossians 1:17 “In Him, all things hold together” parallels Sirach: “By his word, all things hold together.”
  • Example: James 1:19 parallels Sirach 5:11.
  • Hebrews 11’s tortured faithful, he argues, aligns with 2 Maccabees’ story of seven brothers; “early Christians universally understood Hebrews 11” that way.
Discussion Follow-ups How would this affect your confidence that the early church’s Bible was the Septuagint collection Bercot assumes? Would it change how you read NT phrases that may be “borrowed language”?

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