Literal Interpretation in the Advent Narratives, Part Three--Fulfillment

In the previous post I suggested that the most hermeneutically amenable solution to the harmonization of Hosea 11:1 and Matthew 2:15 is to regard Matthew's use of Hosea as analogical in nature. As such, Matthew is not trying to "interpret" Hosea 11:1 so much as he is drawing a comparison between two events: Christ's emergence from Egypt is LIKE Israel's exodus from Egypt.

That the analogical usage of classic literature is common in everyday parlance can scarcely be denied. We do this all the time, often unwittingly (it is estimated that as many as 9000 idioms from Shakespeare are still used today, most of the time without any realization of that fact). This is not to suggest that we are interpreting these bits of classic literature in all of their context (or, even more bizarrely, that we are treating this classic literature as prophetic in nature). The Scripture writers did the same (see, e.g., Matt 27:46; John 2:17; arg. Acts 2:16ff).

The sticking point here is the fact that Matthew describes Hosea's words as fulfilled by Christ--and an analogical reference does not seem to us to qualify as fulfillment. Fulfillment in ordinary English usage means the realization of a prediction/promise/expectation. Historical statements cannot ordinarily be "fulfilled" by using them analogically. For instance, while we might growl the words "Bah, Humbug" to some maudlin sentimentality at Christmas time, we would not follow this up with the explanation, "This is to fulfill what was prophesied by Scrooge." Likewise, a chastened person might confess, "Woe is me," but we would never conclude that he is "fulfilling" Isaiah 6:5. We simply don't use the term fulfill this way.

But English usage is no gauge of usage in biblical Greek. And we find that the underlying Greek term for fulfillment (the pleroō word group) has a broad semantic range: its meaning includes the common idea of prophetic realization, but also the lesser idea of completion, and even the more basic idea of literal filling (e.g., a net filled with fish). With this in view, it seems plausible to insert the idea of analogical fulfillment into Matthew's usage:

• Matthew 2:17-18 does not complete a prediction made in Jeremiah 31 (if it does, it gets the details terribly wrong!). Instead, the point seems to be that the kind of grief experienced by the mothers in Ramah was "felt in full" by the mothers of Bethlehem (so Dyer, "Biblical Meaning of Fulfillment," p. 57).
• Matthew 2:15 likewise does not complete a prediction made in Hosea 11. Instead, Matthew compares two historical situations and points out that the Mary/Joseph/Jesus incident both resembles and improves on the Exodus, bringing to a climax the exodus motif that threads its way through the Scriptures (see Dyer, Silva, Moo).

Such explanations may not comport well with our narrow use of the term fulfill. But they do fit into the range of biblical usage, and are preferred for their care in preserving the received laws of language.

MAS