The Word of Life and the Simultaneous Presence of Scriptural Allusions: Resonances of Phil 2:12–18 with Deuteronomy, Deutero-Isaiah, and Daniel

Abstract

In recent scholarship on Philippians, there is renewed interest in Paul’s use of Israel’s Scriptures. While the separate textual interactions between Phil 2:12–18 and its evoked texts have been explored in detail by McAuley and others, this article attends to the simultaneous presence of the allusions to Deuteronomy, Deutero-Isaiah, and Daniel as a contribution to a coherent overall pragmatics, which does not, however, reduce the allusive force of scriptural passages. Attention to the composite nature of Paul’s scriptural intertext discovers the motif of the word of God as a central concern of the evoked texts, which has implications for the interpretation of the word of life in Phil 2:16.

Keywords

• echoes of Scripture
• composite intertextuality
• word of God
• gospel vocation
• Deuteronomy
• Daniel