Grant Macaskill, “Israel’s Scriptures in Early Jewish Literature,” in Israel’s Scriptures in Early Christian Writings: The Use of the Old Testament in the New, edited by Matthias Henze and David Lincicum (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2023), 133.
Any New Testament scholars who seek to make use of works typically categorized as “early Jewish writings” need to disabuse themselves of naïveté around the provenance of these works. It is too easy to cite texts without adequate awareness of where they might be located – temporally, geographically, and transmissionally – and to reinforce scholarly myths and generalizations about early Judaism and its thought. When we approach the writings more carefully, we can begin to identify factors relevant at a granular level to the study of the New Testament in relation to Israel’s Scriptures. The New Testament reflects both the cohesion and the diversity of early Judaism in ways shaped by cultural and geographical influences.
The Amateur Exegete 