Jesus and the Old Testament in the Early Christian Tradition

The early Christian movement emerged within the complex religious and cultural landscape of Second Temple Judaism, where the Hebrew Scriptures—the Old Testament in Christian terminology—played a central and authoritative role. For the early followers of Jesus, these sacred texts were not merely historical documents or legal codes but the living testimony of God's covenantal dealings with Israel. From the outset, the early Christians were engaged in a profound hermeneutical endeavor: to inte...