OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES IN THE PASTORAL EPISTLES

Exactly how many such references are found in I and II Timothy and Titus is a matter of some controversy among scholars as well as what that says regarding the Pauline authorship of these works.

I will start with the comments by Hanson along with a brief recitation of the references he has located.

“Commentators have often remarked on the absence of interest in the OT in the Pastorals, and have even cited this as an indication of non-Pauline authorship. It is certainly true that the author uses the OT in a way very different from the way Paul uses it. He rarely employs it as a tool in argument, and does not often go direct to the text of Scripture as Paul does. But it is not accurate to say that he hardly ever uses the OT. On the contrary, it is possible to detect a number of references throughout the Pastorals, some of them playing an important part in his message.” We will proceed to look briefly at those passages in the Pastoral Epistles which allude back to the OT according to the listings of Hanson and/or Towner.

I Timothy 1:14-17 // Exodus 34:6

I Timothy 2:4-5 // Isaiah 45:21-22

I Timothy 1:8 // Malachi 1:11

I Timothy 2:13-15 // Genesis 2-3

I Timothy 3:15 // I Kings 8:13

I Timothy 5:18-19 // Deuteronomy 17:6; 25:4

I Timothy 6:1 // Isaiah 52:5

II Timothy 2:7 // Proverbs 2:6

II Timothy 2:19 // Isaiah 28:16

II Timothy 3:8 // Exodus 8:18-19

II Timothy 3:11 // Psalm 34:16-19

II Timothy 3:15 // Psalm 119:98

II Timothy 4:3-4 // Genesis 1:31; Genesis 9:3; Isaiah 19:14

II Timothy 4:16-18 // Psalm 22 and Proverbs 2:13

Titus 2:14 // Deuteronomy 4:20 and Psalm 130:8

Titus 3:5 // Deuteronomy 9:5

As a cautionary note, if you should look up any one of these paired passages and can't see any sort of resemblance between the the two (or more) listed parallels, keep in mind that many of the similarities are drawn using the early Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which happens to differ considerably on occasion from the Hebrew text on which most English translations are primarily based.

The author's seemingly heavy reliability on the Greek Scripture has been cited as a reason to deny authorship of the Pastorals to Paul. But this argument is nonsensical. He was writing to a Greek audience which generally was ignorant of the Hebrew language and was used to reading the Old Testament in translation. In addition, the Septuagint was in wide circulation during Paul's lifetime and so it can't be claimed as some scholars do that Paul was long gone before it was in common currency in the Greek-speaking world.

There is also the very real possibility that Paul, as elsewhere, employed secretaries to “polish up” his language and present his ideas in a more acceptable style which would be accepted better by the more literate of his audience.

These considerations go a long way toward defending against the common charge that Paul could not possibly have written these three letters.