Texts in Conversation
In 1 Peter, Jesus is described as exalted at God’s side with angels and powers in submission, echoing Psalm 8 where humanity is crowned with honor and given rule over creation. Early Christian interpretation combined this psalm with others to portray universal authority as now fulfilled.
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Psalm 8:6
Hebrew Bible
4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them? 5 You made them a little less than the heavenly beings. You crowned mankind with honor and majesty. 6 you appoint them to rule over your creation; you have placed everything under their authority, 7 including all the sheep and cattle, as well as the wild animals, 8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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1 Peter 3:22
New Testament
20 after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water. 21 And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you—not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.
Date: 60-65 C.E. (If authentic), 80-90 C.E. (If anonymous) (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The Old Testament text most quoted or alluded to in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1. Use of this verse goes back to Jesus himself, as recorded in the gospels. It is quoted by Peter in Acts and in his epistle; it is echoed by Stephen; and it is used extensively in Hebrews. Paul makes reference to Psalm 110 four times (as discussed below). Bauckham suggests that by itself this Psalm does not necessarily mean that “my Lord” has to be seated on the divine throne. It could simply mean that the Messiah is given a position of honour beside the divine throne. However, early Christology frequently combined Psalm 110:1 with Psalm 8:6. In other words, the early Christians saw Jesus placed “on the divine throne itself, exercising God’s own rule over all things”. Bauckham points out that though Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted text in the New Testament, “in the whole of the literature of Second Temple Judaism, there is only one probable allusion to the verse … it had no importance for them”. Ciampa and Rosner also claim that “a messianic interpretation of Psalm 8 and Psalm 110 is not evident in the Jewish literature”. Seeing Jesus on the heavenly throne is a significant pointer to how the earliest Christians viewed Jesus, beginning from Peter
at Pentecost ..."
Gibb, Ian
Paul and the Psalms: Paul's Hermeneutic and Worldview
(pp. 108-110) University of Glasgow, 2017
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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