[kisstheson]

Originally Posted by OBW

I think KTS said "quoted or alluded to." So a mention of something without direct quotation is included in this. I have no idea what those allusions are.

KTS. Can you supply some hint as to what they include on those few books that do not seem to be quoted?

Yes, dear brother OBW, you are correct, I did say "quoted or alluded to". Just to clarify matters, here is the relevant portion from my original post (Post # 117) (new emphasis added by me):

"In the back of the Greek New Testament, Fourth Revised Edition, published by the United Bible Societies (i.e. the so-called USB4 version of the Greek New Testament), there are two tables. One lists all the passages from the Old Testament quoted by the New Testament. The other lists all the passages from the Old Testament for which there are allusions or parallels in the New Testament.

What I found out is that Song of Songs is the ONLY book in the Old Testament which is not quoted or alluded to by the authors of the New Testament!"

According to the table at the back of USB4 which lists all the OT quotations which appear in the NT, I count 15 OT books which are not quoted in the NT (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah). I am not sure how this list reconciles with the list of 8 OT books discussed in the link provided by dear brother Igzy - perhaps the discrepancies are due to the differences between the Greek Septuagint text and the Hebrew Masoretic text.

Anyway, there is a second table in the back of the USB4 which lists all the "Allusions and Verbal Parallels" of OT verses found in the NT. Since this is an "Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels", this list is quite a bit longer than the list of direct OT quotations. Obviously, in the NT there are lot more allusions to OT verses and parallels with OT verses than there are direct quotations from the OT. When I examine this "Index of Allusions and Parallels", the only book missing from this list is Song of Songs. The other 14 books which were not directly quoted in the NT have at least one "Allusion or Verbal Parallel".

To give a specific example, let's examine an entry for the book of Esther since dear brother Igzy brought up Esther. The "Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels" indicates some kind of similarity between Esther 7:2 and Mark 6:23. Here are those two verses from the NASB:

"And the king said to Esther on the second day also as they drank their wine at the banquet, 'What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of the kingdom it shall be done.'" (Esther 7:2)

"And he swore to her, 'Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you; up to half of my kingdom.'" (Mark 6:23)

Certainly a clear example of a "Verbal Parallel". Here is another example, this time from the book of Obadiah. The "Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels" indicates some kind of similarity between Obadiah 21 and Revelation 11:15. Here are those two verses from the NASB:

"The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the kingdom will be the LORD's." (Obadiah 21)

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, 'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.'" (Revelation 11:15)

I am not sure if this counts as an "allusion" or as a "verbal parallel", but I can see a parallel here. I hope these two examples help clarify what qualifies an OT verse to be included in the "Index of Allusions and Verbal Parallels". I still find it very shocking that Song of Songs is the only OT book which does not show up in this Index. Neither Jesus nor His apostles made any noticeable allusions to Song of Songs!