“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Pet 1:10-11).

Abner Chou presents a pattern for discussion that makes evident that the OT prophets recognized the big picture in that, according to Chou, they applied the perspectives of their predecessors to contemporary events with the future in view.[1] Paying particular attention to various uses within the book of Daniel, the Aramaic word for “mystery” signifies something that was kept secret and later revealed,[2] and similarly, Paul’s use of the term “mystery” in Ephesians 3:6 underscores that Christ is the fulfillment of something that was previously unknown.[3] The arguments proposed by other scholars as R.E. Brown and Sigurd Grindheim corroborate Chou’s position concerning prophetic inspiration.

I agree with Chou’s conclusion that the OT prophets did not “write better than they knew,” but rather, they wrote “better than we give them credit for.”[4] Chou presents a convincing pattern in Scripture entailing how OT prophets stressed pertinent and relevant elements of prior texts with future application in mind and points to the intertextuality of Isaiah’s historic perspective (Isa 42:6-7; 49:5), in relation to Hosea’s use of the Exodus (Hos 11:1), to point to a new Exodus with a new David and hence foreshadowing the coming Messiah. Moreover, Micah proclaims that the Messiah will lead the people in a new Exodus much like Hosea’s understanding of a new Exodus and a new David.[5] “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth” (Mic 5:4, ESV).[6] Isaiah not only writes of his present situation, but the prophet demonstrates that he must also have in mind the future by revealing how the present signals the coming Messiah who would not only deliver Israel but the whole world (Isa 7:14).[7]  

 Chou’s position corresponds with the concept of dual authorship with divine meanings expressed in the human authors’ own words. Echoing Chou’s position, Elliott Johnson asserts that the human authors of Scripture fully knew and expressed the divine meaning, concluding, “God did not exceed the intention of the human author.”[8] “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Pet 1:10-11). Yet, in his discussion of 1 Peter, Johnson does acknowledge that the prophets were subject to a kind of ignorance but not of Scripture or of God’s larger redemptive plan.

Scholars have wrestled with the implications of dual authorship and Scripture, because dual authorship implies that any given passage may have multiple meanings; however, in order to maintain the definitive nature of interpretation, Protestant hermeneutics, in particular, affirm the rule of one meaning with multiple applications.[9] Chou concludes that the worldview and hermeneutics reflected by the OT prophets in their writings signify a broader vision, as well as a future application. Consequently, Chou states that hermeneutics should go in that direction, as the prophets themselves desired that their readers go in that direction.[10] God’s spokesmen prophesied the undeserved favor which we would receive, yet they did not understand the entirety of what they were writing (cf Dan 12:8), certainly not the identity of the Messiah or precise time of His appearance, though OT prophets did foretell the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow.

[1] Abner L. Chou, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers: Learning to Interpret Scripture from the Apostles and Prophets (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2018), 101.

[2] R.E. Brown, The Semitic background of the term “mystery” in the New Testament (Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press, 1968), 7.

[3] Sigurd Grindheim, “What the OT prophets did not know: the mystery of the church in Eph 3,2-13,” Biblica 84, no 4 (2003): 533.

[4] Chou, 119.

[5] Ibid., 109.

[6] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the English Standard Version.

[7] Chou, 117.

[8] Elliott Johnson, “Dual authorship and the single intended meaning of scripture,” Bibliotheca sacra 143, no 571 (July-September 1986): 219.

[9] Ibid., 218.

[10] Chou, 120.

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