A Survey of Selected Parenthetic Passages in the New Testament

Michael Onyedikachi Akpa, PhD

Abstract

1. Introduction

There are some passages in the New Testament that often pose challenges to interpreters. Most of the time, the greatest challenge faced by interpreters is that some of the passages in question often tend to interrupt the flow of discussion and/or arguments that precede or succeed them. As a result of the ambiguous nature of some of these passages, most interpreters identify them as interludes.

The problem with the designation, "interlude," is that it implies that such passages are not integral part of the narratives they appear to interrupt. Thus, just like in a concert where an interlude is played so that the major performers can rest, these passages are seen as just filling a gap until the main narratives resume. If this interpretive approach is taken, these passages lose their meaning and messages to a casual interpreter. However, by paying a closer attention to the significant positions which these passages occupy, a careful exegete is able to extract the message and meaning that would otherwise be lost.

Instead of seeing the category of passages in view as interludes, this paper proposes that these passages should be understood as parenthetic. This designation implies that through this literary device, the Bible writers interrupt their narration for a while in order to explain, clarify, or amplify a point that they were making before returning to the main flow of the argument. In this case, the parenthetic passages in the NT should be seen as playing significant roles in the narratives they tend to interrupt.