NT Text:
OT Source(s):
Source: No public domain commentary confirmation available
Reference Type: Echo
Connection Method(s): Redemptive-Historical Progression + Analogy
Significance: Paul draws on a well-known tradition concerning the killing of the OT prophets, which by NT times had become a stereotyped expression referring to Israel's historic rejection of God's messengers. This tradition appears frequently in Jesus' teaching (Matthew 5:12; 23:29-37; Luke 4:24; 6:23; 11:47-51; 13:33-34) and in the preaching of the early apostles (Acts 7:52), as well as contemporary Jewish literature (Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah; Pesiq. Rab. 27 [129a]). Paul uses this tradition to highlight the similarity between the persecutions currently experienced by the Thessalonian church, the Judean church, himself, and the persecutions constantly endured by God's righteous prophets. Paul places the rejection of the gospel within the larger framework of Israel's history of rejecting God's messengers—this is not anti-Semitism but rather prophetic critique from within, as Paul himself is Jewish (Romans 11:1) and sees himself standing in the prophetic tradition. The opposition to the gospel is thus not something new but the continuation of a tragic pattern that the prophets themselves experienced and condemned.