'Praying at all times in the Spirit... in all perseverance' (6:18) coheres with the OT pattern of unceasing, regular prayer exemplified by Daniel's thrice-daily petition. The connection is to a devotional topos rather than a specific text, so a faint echo.

When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his room toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.


The summons to constant 'prayer and requests... at all times' (6:18) resonates with the Psalmist's plea that prayer rise continually like incense. Thematic coherence with perpetual supplication supports a low-confidence, contested echo.

Let my prayer be set before you like incense; the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice.


Paul's request that 'utterance may be given me in opening my mouth' to make known the mystery with boldness (6:19) echoes the prophetic call in which God opens the prophet's mouth to speak his word. The mouth-opening / divinely given speech motif coheres with prophetic commissioning, though no single verse is quoted.

But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: He who hears, let him hear; and he who forbears, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house.


The closing benediction 'Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith... Grace be with all' (6:23-24) stands in the stream of the Aaronic blessing's peace-and-grace formula. The contact is to a liturgical convention rather than a quotation, so a faint, contested echo.

‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’


The salutation 'Grace to you, and peace' may carry the cadence of the Aaronic blessing, whose climax is shalom ('peace'). Volume is faint and the formula is Paul's standard epistolary opening, so coherence with the Numbers benediction is real but diffuse; availability of the priestly blessing in Second-Temple liturgy supports a soft echo, not a citation.


'Saints' (hagioi) for the addressed community draws on the OT designation of God's holy/set-apart people (qedoshim), used of the assembly and the heavenly host in psalmody and Daniel. Recurrence across the LXX is high but the term is so naturalized in Paul that any single referent is weak; marked contested.

a very awesome God in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him?


'Servants of Jesus Christ' echoes the OT honorific 'servant of the LORD' borne by Moses, Joshua, and the prophets, now transferred to Christ as the divine master. Coherence with Paul's self-designation elsewhere is strong, but volume here is thin and the title is conventional; faint figural transfer.

Now after the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,


'He who began a good work in you will complete it' rests on the OT confidence that God finishes what he starts: LXX Ps 137:8 'the LORD will accomplish/perfect (epitelesei) on my behalf... do not forsake the works of your hands.' The shared verb-idea of God perfecting his own work, plus the appeal to divine faithfulness, gives real coherence; volume is moderate, so allusion rather than quotation.

Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me; your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever. Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.


'The day of Jesus Christ' (also 1:10) christologizes the prophetic 'day of the LORD,' a fixed eschatological topos in Joel, Amos, and Zephaniah. Recurrence of the motif across the prophets and its centrality to Paul's eschatology give strong coherence; the transfer of YHWH's day to Christ is the load-bearing figural move.

The sun will be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of Yahweh comes.


Supplementary witness to the 'day of the LORD' background behind 'the day of Jesus Christ.' Lower than Joel/Amos because the verbal contact is generic; included for recurrence of the motif.

The great day of Yahweh is near. It is near, and hurries greatly, the voice of the day of Yahweh. The mighty man cries there bitterly.


Paul's longing 'in the tender mercies (splanchna) of Christ Jesus' draws on OT compassion language (rachamim/oiktirmoi) characteristically predicated of God. The affective vocabulary coheres with the divine-mercy tradition, but the Greek splanchna is not the usual LXX term, so the echo is faint.

Yahweh is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.


'Filled with the fruits of righteousness' draws on the wisdom/prophetic image where righteousness yields fruit: 'the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.' Coherence with the agricultural righteousness-fruit metaphor is strong and recurrent across wisdom and prophets; volume moderate.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.


Amos's rhetorical 'you have turned... the fruit of righteousness into wormwood' is a candidate source for the precise phrase 'fruit of righteousness.' The exact word-pair appears here, raising volume, but the contexts differ sharply (judgment vs. blessing), weakening coherence; offered as a contested verbal parallel.

Do horses run on the rocky crags? Does one plow there with oxen? But you have turned justice into poison, and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness;


The vineyard song where God looks for 'righteousness' as fruit stands behind the broader prophetic expectation of righteous fruit. Thematic coherence is good but verbal contact is indirect; faint echo supporting the fruit-of-righteousness cluster.

For the vineyard of Yahweh of Armies is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but, behold, oppression; for righteousness, but, behold, a cry of distress.


'Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of steadfast love' supplies the same sowing/reaping-of-righteousness logic. Recurrence within the prophetic fruit-of-righteousness motif justifies inclusion at low confidence.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness. Break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek Yahweh, until he comes and rains righteousness on you.


'Sincere and without offense to the day of Christ' pairs the day-of-the-LORD motif with purity/refining language reminiscent of Malachi's refiner who purifies until offerings are presented in righteousness. The contact is thematic, not verbal; faint.

“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap; and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer to Yahweh offerings in righteousness.


'The things which happened to me have turned out rather to the progress of the gospel' resonates figurally with Joseph's 'you meant evil... but God meant it for good,' the paradigm of imprisonment turned to providential benefit. Coherence with Paul's providential reading of his chains is suggestive; verbal contact is absent, so this is a contested typological echo.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save many people alive.


'This will turn out to my salvation' reproduces LXX Job 13:16 verbatim ('touto moi apobesetai eis soterian'). The exact wording, the shared situation of a righteous sufferer confident of vindication before God, and Job's surrounding 'I will not be put to shame' all yield maximal volume and coherence; this is the chapter's one near-citation.

This also shall be my salvation, that a godless man shall not come before him.


'My earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be put to shame' echoes the recurrent psalmic confidence 'in you I trust, let me not be put to shame' (LXX Ps 24:2-3,20). The shame/hope-in-God vocabulary is dense in the Psalter and coheres tightly with Paul's vindication theme; allusion to the topos rather than one verse.

My God, I have trusted in you. Don’t let me be shamed. Don’t let my enemies triumph over me. Yes, no one who waits for you shall be shamed. They shall be shamed who deal treacherously without cause.


The Servant's 'I shall not be put to shame... I have set my face like flint' supplies the suffering-yet-unashamed confidence behind Paul's 'I will in no way be disappointed (shamed)... with all boldness.' Coherence with the vindicated-Servant pattern is strong; verbal contact (shame + boldness) is moderate.

For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed.


'Christ will be magnified (megalynthesetai) in my body' echoes the psalmic call to magnify the LORD (LXX Ps 33:4 'megalynate ton kyrion'); Ps 34 also supplies the adjacent 'those who look to him are radiant, never put to shame.' The shared verb of magnifying and the linked shame motif give good coherence; christological transfer of God's magnification to Christ is the figural pivot.

Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let us exalt his name together.


'You are my servant... in whom I will be glorified' undergirds the idea that God/Christ is glorified-magnified in his servant's body and life-or-death faithfulness. Thematic coherence with the Servant being the locus of glorification is good, but verbal contact is faint.

and he said to me, “You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”


Paul's desire 'to depart and be with Christ' may faintly draw on the OT hope of being taken to be with God, paradigmatically Enoch who 'was not, for God took him,' and the psalmic 'you will receive me to glory' (Ps 73:24). The contact is conceptual; low and contested.

Enoch walked with God, and he was not found, for God took him.


'In nothing frightened by the adversaries' resonates with the psalmist's fearlessness before foes ('though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear'). The shared courage-before-enemies posture coheres with Paul's exhortation; verbal contact is generic, so a faint echo.

Yahweh is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? Yahweh is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.


Paul's call to do nothing through conceit and to count others better than oneself coheres with the wisdom warning 'Be not wise in your own eyes,' a recurrent sapiential theme of self-abasement. Volume is faint (no shared vocabulary in WEB) and the thought is a commonplace, so this is a contested low-confidence echo of the humility tradition rather than a pointed allusion.

Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.


'The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself' supplies a Second-Temple Jewish backdrop for Paul's 'in humility each counting others better than himself.' Availability and coherence are strong (Sirach's humility ethic was widely read), but the verbal overlap is thematic rather than lexical, marking this a faint contested echo.

The greater you are, humble yourself the more, And you will find favor before the Lord.


Christ 'existing in the form of God' (en morphe theou) evokes humanity made in the image/likeness of God, the foundational image-of-God text, setting up the Adam/Christ contrast that runs through the hymn. Coherence is high with Pauline image-of-God theology (cf. 2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15), though 'form' is not the LXX 'image,' so this remains an allusion of medium volume.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”


That Christ 'didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped' is widely read as an inverse of Adam and Eve's grasping to 'be like God' at the serpent's prompting. The Adam-Christ antithesis (humility undoing the primal grasp) gives high coherence with Pauline theology; the allusion is conceptual rather than verbal, hence medium confidence and a recognized scholarly debate.

for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”


'Emptied himself, taking the form of a servant' echoes the Suffering Servant who 'poured out his soul to death' and was 'numbered with the transgressors,' the Servant's self-emptying obedience unto death. Volume is strong given the servant/slave (doulos) language plus the death motif, and recurrence is high since the hymn climaxes in an explicit Isaiah citation (45:23), grounding availability and coherence.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


The downward arc 'he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death' sets up the Servant who, though abased, 'shall be exalted and lifted up,' which v.9 then fulfills. The pairing of the Servant's humiliation here and exaltation in 2:9 mirrors Isa 52:13's own movement, giving strong coherence and recurrence within the hymn.

Behold, my servant shall deal wisely, he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.


'Becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross' resonates with the Servant 'cut off out of the land of the living,' the violent, undeserved death of the righteous sufferer. The echo strengthens the broader Isa 53 matrix already active in the hymn, though the specific 'death' wording is generic, keeping confidence medium.

He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?


The righteous one condemned 'to a shameful death' who tests God's claim coheres with Christ's obedient death on the cross and subsequent vindication. Wisdom 2-5 was available and shares the suffering-then-vindicated righteous pattern, but lexical overlap with Philippians is thin, so this is a faint contested echo.

With outrage and torture let us put him to the test, That we may learn his gentleness, And may prove his patience under wrong. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; For he will be visited according to his words.


'That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue should confess' is a direct citation of 'to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear,' a monotheistic oracle of universal homage. Volume is maximal (near-verbatim of the LXX with knee-bow and tongue-confess parallelism), and Paul redeploys the same text in Rom 14:11, giving high recurrence; the staggering move is applying YHWH's exclusive worship to Jesus.

I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.


'Therefore God also highly exalted him' answers Isa 52:13's promise that the Servant 'shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high.' The Greek hyperhypsoo intensifies the LXX's verbs of exaltation, and the Servant frame from 2:7-8 makes this the climactic vindication, yielding strong coherence and volume.


The confession 'Jesus Christ is Lord' draws its monotheistic force from the surrounding oracle ('there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Savior'), the very context of the quoted 45:23. Including the immediate co-text strengthens availability and coherence, supporting the bold identification of Jesus with the one Lord.

Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me.


'The name which is above every name' evokes the divine Name revealed to Moses, the ineffable Tetragrammaton/'I AM,' which bowing and confession honor. Coherence is high since the bestowed 'name' that draws universal worship is best read as the divine Name (kyrios = YHWH), though Exodus is not verbally cited, so confidence is medium and the precise referent is debated.

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.


The cosmic scope 'those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth' resonates with Deutero-Isaiah's Creator who 'formed the earth' and rules all spheres, the universal-sovereignty context of the cited oracle. The three-tier cosmos language is conventional, so this is a faint contested echo bolstering the 45:23 citation's totality.

For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: “I am Yahweh; and there is no other.


'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' echoes 'Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling,' the posture of reverent obedience before God's enthroned king. The phobos kai tromos pairing is a recurrent LXX idiom Paul favors (1 Cor 2:3; 2 Cor 7:15; Eph 6:5), giving coherence; the Psalm 2 royal context coheres with the Lordship theme of 2:9-11, supporting medium confidence.

Serve Yahweh with fear, and rejoice with trembling.


'It is God who works in you both to will and to work' faintly recalls Isaiah's confession 'we have... wrought no deliverance in the earth' apart from God, the theme that salvation is God's effective working, not human achievement. The conceptual overlap (God as the one who works salvation) is thin verbally, so this is a low-confidence contested echo.

We have been with child. We have been in pain. We gave birth, it seems, only to wind. We have not worked any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.


'Do all things without murmurings' evokes Israel's wilderness murmuring against the LORD over manna, the paradigmatic rebellion of God's people. The gongysmos word-group is the LXX term for these episodes, and Paul casts the Philippians as a wilderness generation to be unlike, giving coherence and recurrence across the Exodus-Numbers complex.

and in the morning, then you shall see Yahweh’s glory; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.” Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of […]


The congregation that 'murmured against Moses and against Aaron' and was condemned to die in the wilderness models the grumbling Paul forbids, sharpening the contrast with becoming 'blameless children of God.' Recurrence of the murmuring motif (Num 14, 16, 17) and shared gongysmos vocabulary support a medium-confidence allusion.

All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness!


Aaron's rod episode aims to 'make to cease... the murmurings... against me,' reinforcing the wilderness grumbling background of 2:14. The echo is part of the cumulative Numbers murmuring matrix rather than a discrete allusion, hence low confidence.

It shall happen, that the rod of the man whom I shall choose shall bud. I will make the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you, cease from me.”


'Children of God without defect in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation' lifts the Song of Moses' indictment of Israel as 'a perverse and crooked generation,' but inverts it: the church are now the faithful children. Volume is high (skolios kai diestrammenos plus 'children/not his children' from the same verse), and the Song of Moses is a recurrent NT source, giving strong availability and coherence.

They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation.


'You are seen as lights in the world' draws on the eschatological promise that 'those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament,' the luminous vindication of the faithful at the end. Coherence is high with Paul's 'day of Christ' framing in v.16, and the shining-luminary imagery (phosteres) gives strong volume for an allusion.

Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.


Within the same Song of Moses, God's complaint about 'a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faith' reinforces the 32:5 quotation and the 'children of God' contrast. The echo deepens the Deuteronomy 32 backdrop already active, so it is a low-confidence supporting echo.

He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.


'That I didn't run in vain nor labor in vain' resonates with the Servant's lament 'I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing,' the worry of fruitless toil later vindicated by God. The 'in vain' (eis kenon / kenos) labor motif and the Servant context (already active in the hymn) give a faint coherent echo, kept low for thin verbal overlap.

But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to me is with Yahweh, and my reward with my God.”


'If I am poured out on the sacrifice and service of your faith' draws on the cultic drink offering (spende) poured out beside the sacrifice, casting Paul's possible martyrdom as a libation. The spendomai imagery is precise to the tamid libation legislation, and 'sacrifice and service' (thysia, leitourgia) is sacrificial vocabulary, giving medium-to-strong coherence.

Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for the one lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to Yahweh in the holy place.


The daily burnt offering's prescribed drink offering of wine poured out supplies the same libation image behind Paul's 'poured out.' Together with Num 28:7 this gives recurrence within the sacrificial-libation tradition, supporting a medium-confidence allusion to the drink offering rite.

and with the one lamb a tenth part of an ephah of fine flour mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil, and the fourth part of a hin of wine for a drink offering.


Epaphroditus 'risking his life' (paraboleusamenos te psyche) near to death for the work of Christ faintly recalls the proverb 'skin for skin, all that a man has will he give for his life,' the valuation of life staked in service. The overlap is thematic (life imperiled for a higher cause), not lexical, so this is a faint contested echo.

Satan answered Yahweh, and said, “Skin for skin. Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face.” Yahweh said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand. Only spare his life.”


Paul's imperative 'rejoice in the LORD' verbally echoes the Psalter's recurrent summons 'Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous' (Ps 32:11). The phrase 'in the Lord/in YHWH' as the ground of joy is a Septuagintal idiom; Paul gives it eschatological force in Christ. Recurrence across the Psalms strengthens the resonance.

Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!


'Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous' (LXX Ps 32:1) supplies the liturgical pattern Paul reuses. The collocation of 'rejoice' with the divine name as object of joy is distinctively Psalmic and coheres with Philippians' larger joy motif.

Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright.


'Be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God' (Joel 2:23) is a prophetic instance of the same idiom Paul deploys. Faint and one of many possible Septuagintal sources, so marked contested.

“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in Yahweh, your God; for he gives you the former rain in just measure, and he causes the rain to come down for you, the former rain and the latter rain, as before.


Paul's pejorative 'the dogs' inverts the Torah's exclusion of the 'dog' (cult prostitute's wage) from the sanctuary; the unclean outsider epithet is reapplied to Judaizing opponents in a deliberate reversal. Coherence with the circumcision polemic that follows supports the link, though the metaphor is widespread.

You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a male prostitute, into the house of Yahweh your God for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God.


Isaiah's 'dumb dogs' / 'greedy dogs' for faithless watchmen of Israel provides the prophetic stock for Paul's insult against false teachers within the covenant community. The transfer of 'dog' from Gentile to errant Israelite leader matches Paul's polemical reversal.

His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can’t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.


'We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit' draws on the promise that the LORD will 'circumcise your heart' so you love him. Paul claims this interior, Spirit-wrought circumcision as the believers' true identity over against physical 'mutilation.' High volume and strong coherence with the surrounding argument.

Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.


'Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, remove the foreskin of your hearts' is the prophetic locus for heart-circumcision that Paul presupposes when he denies 'confidence in the flesh.' The contrast between fleshly and heart circumcision is exactly Paul's antithesis here.

Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


Jeremiah threatens to punish those 'circumcised in the flesh' yet 'uncircumcised in heart,' leveling Israel with the nations. Paul's relativizing of fleshly circumcision and elevation of inward worship coheres with this oracle.

Behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that I will punish all those who are circumcised in uncircumcision: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.


The covenant curse turns on the 'uncircumcised heart' being humbled; the trope of heart-circumcision as the true requirement undergirds Paul's claim that Spirit-worship, not flesh, marks the covenant people.

I also walked contrary to them, and brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity;


Ezekiel bars the 'uncircumcised in heart and flesh' from the sanctuary; Paul reworks the temple-purity logic so that true 'worship' belongs to those circumcised in spirit. Fainter and one of a cluster, so marked contested.

Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the children of Israel.


'Circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn' is a further Deuteronomic source for the heart-circumcision motif Paul invokes against 'confidence in the flesh.' Recurrence across Deuteronomy and Jeremiah strengthens the whole cluster.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.


Isaiah's warning that the 'uncircumcised and unclean' shall no more enter Zion supplies background for Paul's reversal of who constitutes the holy, worshiping community. Faint.

Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion; put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into you the uncircumcised and the unclean.


'Circumcised the eighth day' directly invokes the Abrahamic covenant statute that every male be circumcised at eight days old. Paul cites his impeccable conformity to this Torah marker as the leading item of fleshly 'confidence' he renounces. High volume and verbal precision.

He who is eight days old will be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he who is born in the house, or bought with money from any foreigner who is not of your seed.


The legal restatement 'on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised' reinforces the same eighth-day statute Paul claims. A secondary witness to the precept behind his pedigree.

In the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.


'Of the tribe of Benjamin' points to Rachel's son Benjamin, named at Genesis 35:18; Paul's tribal claim asserts descent from a fully Israelite, non-proselyte lineage. Identity-marker allusion rather than verbal quotation.

As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.


'Of the stock of Israel' evokes the renaming of Jacob as Israel, the patronym of the chosen people Paul claims as his birthright. Faint background to the ethnic boast.

He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”


'As to zeal, persecuting the church' casts Paul in the line of Phinehas, whose 'zeal' (LXX zelos) for God by violent action averted wrath and won a covenant of priesthood. Paul reads his pre-Christian persecuting as this paradigmatic zeal, now reassessed as loss. Strong thematic coherence; 'zeal' is the operative catchword.

“Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy.


Elijah's 'I have been very zealous for the LORD' supplies the second exemplar of biblical zeal that frames Paul's self-description as a zealot-persecutor. The Phinehas–Elijah zeal tradition was a live Second-Temple ideal, available to Paul.

He said, “I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of Armies; for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and slain your prophets with the sword. I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”


Mattathias's deathbed roll names 'Phinehas our father, because he was zealous with great zeal,' the proximate Second-Temple charter for the violent-zeal ideal Paul embodied as persecutor. Availability within the deuterocanon and thematic fit are strong; included as a Maccabean development of the zeal motif.

Phinehas our father, for that he was zealous exceedingly, obtained the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.


Mattathias acts 'as Phinehas did,' showing 'zeal for the law' expressed in killing apostates — precisely the persecuting zeal Paul claims and renounces. Faint, supplementary to 1 Macc 2:54.

And he was zealous for the law, even as Phinehas did to Zimri the son of Salu.


The Psalter reckons Phinehas's intervention to him 'as righteousness' forever; Paul's pairing of zealous persecution with 'righteousness in the law, blameless' may trade on this Phinehas-righteousness link. Faint and contested.

Then Phinehas stood up, and executed judgment, so the plague was stopped. That was credited to him for righteousness, for all generations to come.


'That I may know him' and the renunciation of every fleshly ground of boasting answers Jeremiah's oracle: let no one boast in wisdom, might, or riches, but only that 'he understands and knows me, the LORD.' Paul transmutes covenant 'knowledge of God' into 'the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.' Strong coherence and Pauline recurrence (cf. 1 Cor 1:31).

Thus says Yahweh, Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, don’t let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says Yahweh.


'Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD... on the third day he will raise us up' links 'knowing' God to resurrection — exactly Paul's sequence of 'know him and the power of his resurrection.' The verbal pairing of knowledge and rising is distinctive.

After two days he will revive us. On the third day he will raise us up, and we will live before him. Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain that waters the earth.”


'The righteousness which is from God by faith,' set against the law's righteousness, restates Paul's governing text 'the righteous shall live by faith' (cf. Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11). The faith/law antithesis here is the same justification doctrine Habakkuk anchors.

Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous will live by his faith.


Righteousness 'from God by faith' rather than 'of my own from the law' is the Abrahamic credo 'he believed the LORD, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,' Paul's standard proof that righteousness is faith-reckoned, not works-earned. High coherence with Pauline usage.

He believed in Yahweh; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.


'This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from me, says the LORD' is a Septuagintal source for a 'righteousness from God' that is gift, not achievement — Paul's exact phrase. Verbal overlap with 'righteousness from God' supports the echo.

No weapon that is formed against you will prevail; and you will condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness which is of me,” says Yahweh.


'If by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead' depends on Daniel's promise that 'many who sleep in the dust shall awake,' the principal OT text for bodily resurrection. Paul's hope of out-resurrection presupposes this Danielic apocalyptic frame. High availability and coherence.

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.


'Your dead shall live; the dwellers in the dust shall awake and sing' is the prophetic companion to Daniel 12 for resurrection hope, undergirding Paul's 'resurrection from the dead.' Recurrence of the resurrection motif strengthens the link.

Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.


The martyrs' confidence that 'the King of the world will raise us up to an everlasting renewal of life' is the Second-Temple development of resurrection hope Paul shares. Faint and supplementary to Daniel, so contested.

And when he was at the last gasp, he said, You, miscreant, do release us out of this present life, but the King of the world shall raise up us, who have died for his laws, to an eternal renewal of life.


The Servant 'set his face' and is vindicated by God who 'justifies' him; Paul's 'fellowship of his sufferings... conformed to his death' followed by resurrection vindication may echo the suffering-then-vindicated Servant pattern. Faint, figural.

For the Lord Yahweh will help me; therefore I have not been confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be disappointed. He is near who justifies me; who will bring charges against me? Let us stand up together: who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord Yahweh will help me; who is he who shall condemn me? Behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, the moth shall eat them up.


'Pursue righteousness, you who seek the LORD' offers a Septuagintal background of pressing/pursuing after a goal that resonates with Paul's 'I press on toward the goal.' Faint, athletic-pursuit imagery is widespread.

“Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek Yahweh: look to the rock you were cut from, and to the hold of the pit you were dug from.


'Seek peace and pursue it' supplies the verb of strenuous pursuit Paul reuses in 'I press on/pursue toward the goal.' One of several possible Septuagintal sources for the diolko motif, hence contested.

Depart from evil, and do good. seek peace, and pursue it.


'Whose glory is in their shame' reflects the prophetic reversal 'I will change their glory into shame' (Hos 4:7), where Israel's boast becomes its disgrace. Paul applies the same glory/shame inversion to the enemies of the cross.

As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame.


'You will be filled with shame instead of glory' is a prophetic glory-for-shame exchange that may stand behind Paul's 'their glory is in their shame.' Faint and one of a pair, so contested.

You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.


'Whose god is the belly' may echo the wilderness craving where Israel's 'lust' for food provokes judgment, a type of appetite-driven apostasy. Faint thematic figure of the rebellious 'belly.'

The mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, “Who will give us flesh to eat?


The 'greedy dogs' who 'cannot be satisfied' and seek their own gain anticipate Paul's belly-serving, earthly-minded enemies, tying this verse back to the 'dogs' polemic of 3:2. Faint.

Yes, the dogs are greedy, they can never have enough; and these are shepherds who can’t understand: they have all turned to their own way, each one to his gain, from every quarter.


The transformation of 'the body of our humiliation' into the likeness of Christ's 'body of glory' draws on Daniel's promise that the wise 'shall shine like the brightness of the firmament... like the stars forever.' Paul's glorified resurrection body realizes this astral glorification. Strong coherence with the resurrection hope of 3:11.

Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.


'By which he is able even to subject all things to himself' quotes the verbal substance of 'you have put all things under his feet' (Ps 8:6), Paul's standard text for Christ's universal subjection of all things (cf. 1 Cor 15:27). High volume and Pauline recurrence.

You make him ruler over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet:


Christ's power to 'subject all things to himself' also resonates with the enthronement oracle 'sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool,' the dominant NT subjection text paired with Ps 8. Recurrence in early Christian use supports the echo.

Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”


The heavenly 'citizenship' and expectation of a transforming Savior may faintly echo Zion-restoration oracles where the LORD comes to clothe and gather his people in glory. Faint and diffuse, so contested.

Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.


'Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you' supplies a glory-transformation backdrop for the bodies of the lowly being conformed to Christ's glory. Faint, supplementary to Daniel 12:3.

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and Yahweh’s glory is risen on you. For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will arise on you, and his glory shall be seen on you.


Paul's calling the Philippians his 'crown' (stephanos) echoes the prophetic image of a crown laid up as a memorial and reward in the temple, and more broadly the OT crown-of-glory motif (Isaiah 28:5; 62:3). Volume is faint and the metaphor is conventional, but coherence with the eschatological reward imagery available in the prophets supports a low-grade echo.

The crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in Yahweh’s temple.


'You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD' supplies the figural background for Paul's 'my joy and crown,' where a redeemed community is the eschatological adornment of its caretaker. Recurrence of the crown-of-glory image across Isaiah (28:5; 62:3) makes it available, though the volume here is low and the trope generic.

You shall also be a crown of beauty in the hand of Yahweh, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.


The exhortation to 'stand firm in the Lord' draws on the OT contrast between the stable righteous, planted and unmoved, and the chaff-like wicked. Coherence with the steadfastness motif (Psalm 1:3; 112:6) is real, but the volume is faint and 'stand firm' is too diffuse to anchor a single source, so this is a contested echo.

Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;


Paul's claim that his fellow workers' 'names are in the book of life' alludes directly to Moses' plea to be blotted out of 'the book you have written,' the founding OT text of the heavenly register. Volume is high (the explicit book-of-life image), availability is secure in the Torah, and coherence with Paul's confidence in the Philippians' salvation is strong.

Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written.”


'Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not enrolled among the righteous' provides the precise phrase 'book of life/living' that Paul reverses into a positive assurance. High volume on the shared lexeme, strong recurrence of the register motif across the Psalter and prophets, and thematic coherence with the contrast of the saved versus the lost.

Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.


Daniel's eschatological promise that 'everyone whose name is found written in the book' shall be delivered supplies the apocalyptic deliverance sense Paul gives the image. Availability in Second-Temple apocalyptic and coherence with the resurrection hope of Philippians 3 make this a strong contributor to Paul's 'book of life.'

“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who shall be found written in the book.


'A book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD' offers the motif of a heavenly ledger recording the faithful by name, coherent with Paul's naming of co-laborers whose names stand recorded. Volume is moderate (remembrance-book rather than 'book of life'), but recurrence within the register tradition supports the link.

Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.


'Are they not in your book?' adds another instance of the divine record motif, reinforcing the availability and recurrence of the heavenly-book tradition Paul invokes. Low volume and no shared 'life' lexeme make it a faint contributing echo rather than a primary source.

You number my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren’t they in your book?


'Rejoice in the LORD always' echoes the recurrent Psalter imperative 'Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous' (32:11; cf. 33:1; 97:12). Recurrence is strong across the Psalter and coherence with Paul's joy theme is high; volume is moderate because Paul universalizes 'always' beyond any single psalm.

Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart!


'Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous' supplies the same divine-object joy imperative that Paul doubles for emphasis. The Psalter's habitual call to rejoice in the LORD is available and coherent, though the volume of any single verse is moderate given the formula's diffusion.

Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous people! Give thanks to his holy Name.


'The Lord is at hand' (ho kyrios engys) most closely matches 'The LORD is near to all who call on him' (engys kyrios), grounding Paul's nearness claim and its link to prayer in v.6. High lexical volume on engys, coherence with the prayer/petition context, and availability in the LXX Psalter make this the strongest source for the phrase.

Yahweh is near to all those who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.


'The LORD is near to the brokenhearted' reinforces the 'Lord is near' motif with the same engys idiom, and Psalm 34 broadly underwrites Paul's confidence in deliverance. Recurrence of the nearness formula with Psalm 145 strengthens coherence, though volume per verse is moderate.

Yahweh is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.


'The day of the LORD is at hand/near' supplies the eschatological-imminence sense of 'The Lord is at hand,' if Paul means the Lord's coming rather than his presence. Availability in the prophetic day-of-the-Lord tradition and coherence with Philippians' Parousia hope (3:20) support this, though it competes with the Psalter nearness reading.

Be silent at the presence of the Lord Yahweh, for the day of Yahweh is at hand. For Yahweh has prepared a sacrifice. He has consecrated his guests.


'You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you' parallels Paul's 'peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts,' linking divine peace, the mind, and protective keeping. Coherence is strong on the guarding-peace-of-the-mind motif; volume is moderate because Paul does not quote the phrasing verbatim.

You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace, because he trusts in you.


'In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety' offers the OT pairing of divine peace with security from anxiety that underlies 'do not be anxious... and the peace of God will guard you.' Volume is low and the link thematic, so this is a contributing echo.

In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.


'Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you' parallels Paul's remedy for anxiety: hand your requests to God in prayer rather than carry them. Coherence with the anti-anxiety-through-petition logic is strong; volume is moderate since Paul shares the idea, not the wording.

Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.


'Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad' supplies a wisdom backdrop for Paul's 'in nothing be anxious.' Volume and verbal overlap are slight, but the heart-anxiety theme is available in the sapiential tradition, making this a faint echo.

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a kind word makes it glad.


Paul's virtue catalogue (true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, of good report) draws on the sapiential ideal of the pure heart and gracious speech that wins favor. Recurrence of these virtue terms in Proverbs and the wider Hellenistic-Jewish moral tradition supplies availability, but the volume of any one verse is low.

He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.


Wisdom's praise of the cardinal virtues ('she teaches self-control and prudence, justice and courage') models the Hellenistic-Jewish virtue list Paul adapts, especially the terms for 'just' and the framing of virtue (arete) itself, which Paul uses uniquely here. Coherence with the Wisdom tradition's moral catalogues makes this a plausible deuterocanonical source.

And if a man loves righteousness, The fruits of wisdom’s labor are virtues, For she teaches soberness and understanding, righteousness and courage; And there is nothing in life for men more profitable than these.


'So you will find favor and good repute (LXX: good things) in the sight of God and man' parallels Paul's 'whatever is of good report' and the appeal to public commendation. Volume is low and the link conceptual, but the good-repute motif is available in the sapiential tradition.

So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.


'The God of peace will be with you' continues the divine-peace motif of v.7 and resonates with Isaiah's promise that God keeps in peace those whose minds are fixed on him. Volume is faint here and the title 'God of peace' is Paul's own, so this is a low-grade continuation echo of the peace tradition.


Gideon's altar 'The LORD is peace' (YHWH-shalom) offers an OT antecedent for naming God by his peace, loosely behind Paul's 'the God of peace.' The volume is very low and the connection figural, but it documents the availability of associating God's name with shalom.

Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.


Agur's prayer 'give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful' supplies the wisdom ideal of contentment in either abundance or want that Paul claims to have learned (filled or hungry, abound or be in need). Coherence is strong on the sufficiency-in-any-state theme; volume is moderate since Paul reworks rather than cites.

Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me; lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?’ or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.


Sirach's counsel to master one's appetites and not be enslaved to want or excess models the disciplined self-sufficiency (autarkeia) Paul describes learning. Availability in the deuterocanonical wisdom tradition and coherence with the 'secret of contentment' make this a credible source for Paul's Stoic-tinged but scripturally rooted contentment.

Go not after your lusts; And refrain yourself from your appetites. If you give fully to your soul the delight of her desire, She will make you the laughing stock of your enemies. Make not merry in much luxury; Neither be tied to the expense thereof. Be not made a beggar by banqueting upon borrowing, When you have nothing in your purse.


Qoheleth's acceptance of one's lot, finding contentment in whatever portion God gives, parallels Paul's learning 'in whatever state I am, to be content.' Volume is low and verbal overlap slight, but the contentment-with-one's-portion theme is available in the sapiential tradition.

Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion. Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God.


'He gives power to the faint... they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength' grounds Paul's 'I can do all things through him who strengthens me,' where divine empowerment supplies endurance to the weak. Coherence with the strength-from-God-in-weakness theme is strong; volume is moderate because Paul states the principle without quoting.

He gives power to the weak. He increases the strength of him who has no might. Even the youths faint and get weary, and the young men utterly fall; But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.


'The God who equipped me with strength' (LXX: ho theos ho perizonnuon me dynamin) supplies the divine-empowerment idiom behind 'him who strengthens (endynamounti) me.' Recurrence of God-as-strengthener language across the Psalter (18:1, 32, 39) makes it available and coherent with Paul's claim, though volume per verse is moderate.

the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?


'I will strengthen you, I will help you' adds to the prophetic strengthening tradition Paul draws on for 'who strengthens me.' Volume is low for any single verse, but recurrence of the divine-strengthening promise in Isaiah reinforces availability and coherence.

Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.


'God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's' offers another instance of the LORD as the believer's enabling strength in adversity, coherent with Paul's confidence amid abundance and want. Volume is faint, so this functions as a corroborating echo within the divine-strength tradition.

Yahweh, the Lord, is my strength. He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and enables me to go in high places. For the music director, on my stringed instruments.


Paul calls the Philippians' gift 'a sweet-smelling fragrance, an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to God,' adopting the cultic formula 'a pleasing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD' from the sacrificial law. Volume is high on the pleasing-aroma + acceptable-sacrifice language, and coherence is strong as Paul recasts material aid as acceptable cultic offering.

You shall burn the whole ram on the altar: it is a burnt offering to Yahweh; it is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.


'The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma' of Noah's offering establishes the foundational 'pleasing aroma' (osme euodias) idiom Paul applies to the Philippians' gift. Availability in the Torah and recurrence of the formula in the sacrificial system make it coherent, though Exodus 29 supplies the fuller 'acceptable' phrasing.

Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake because the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike every living thing, as I have done.


'As a pleasing aroma I will accept you' applies the sacrifice formula to persons God receives, paralleling Paul's transfer of cultic acceptability from animal offerings to the gift and givers. Coherence with the figural extension of sacrificial acceptance is strong; volume is moderate as one instance of the recurring aroma motif.

As a pleasant aroma will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.


'A burnt offering, an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the LORD' is the prototypical instance of the formula Paul quotes, reinforcing availability and recurrence of the 'pleasing aroma' sacrificial language across the Levitical code. Volume is moderate; it corroborates Exodus 29 as the cultic backdrop.

but its innards and its legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall burn all of it on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.


'The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want' underwrites Paul's 'My God will supply every need of yours,' the assurance that God provides so the faithful lack nothing. Coherence with the divine-provision theme is strong; volume is moderate since Paul echoes the concept of no-lack rather than the shepherd image.

Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.


'Those who seek the LORD lack no good thing... the young lions suffer want, but those who fear the LORD lack nothing' closely parallels 'My God will supply every need of yours.' Recurrence of the no-lack-for-the-faithful promise (with v.18 already echoed above) strengthens coherence; volume is moderate.

Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.


'No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly' adds to the divine-provision tradition behind Paul's promise that God will supply every need. Volume is low and the link thematic, but recurrence reinforces availability of the God-withholds-no-good-thing motif.

For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.


Paul's doxology 'to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever, Amen' reproduces the eulogy-plus-'forever'-plus-'Amen' pattern that closes the books of the Psalter ('Blessed be the LORD... forever and ever. Amen and Amen'). Coherence with Jewish berakah doxology is strong; volume is moderate as a formal rather than verbal match.

Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen.


'Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen' supplies the glory-forever-Amen doxological form Paul uses. Volume is low and the form conventional, but the Psalter doxologies are available and coherent with Paul's closing ascription of glory.

Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen.


The closing benediction 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all' echoes the Aaronic blessing's structure of invoking God's grace and presence upon the people ('the LORD be gracious to you... the LORD be with you'). Volume is faint and the formula is a fixed Pauline close, but coherence with the priestly grace-and-presence benediction is real.

‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’


The epistolary blessing 'Grace to you and peace' channels the Aaronic benediction's pairing of divine favor and shalom (the LORD make his face shine... and give you peace). Volume is low and the formula is conventionally Pauline, but the coherence with the priestly grace/peace dyad and its availability in the Torah make it a plausible faint figural backdrop.

Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.’


The gospel 'bearing fruit and growing... in all the world' (v.6) replays the creation/Edenic mandate 'be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.' The paired participles fruit-bearing + increasing, set worldwide, deliberately recast the protological blessing as the spread of the word, a Genesis-creation coherence the hymn that follows will make explicit.

God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”


The post-flood renewal of the be-fruitful-and-multiply command (also 9:7) reinforces the Genesis fruitfulness lexeme behind v.6's worldwide growth of the gospel. Recurrence of the same blessing-formula in Genesis strengthens availability; lower volume than 1:28 since the wording is the same mandate repeated.

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.


The 'word of the truth of the gospel' that 'has come to you' and is fruitful in all the world echoes Isaiah's word that goes out from God's mouth and does not return empty but accomplishes and prospers, like rain making the earth bring forth and sprout. Coherence is strong: a divine word personified as agriculturally fruitful and unfailingly effective.

For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it grow and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.


Jeremiah's promise that the gathered remnant 'shall be fruitful and multiply' fuses the Genesis blessing with restoration hope; Colossians' worldwide fruitful word may stand in this prophetic stream of fruitfulness-as-restoration. Faint and overlapping with the Genesis echoes, hence contested.

I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply.


The motif of 'all the world' / earth filled (here with the fruitful word) faintly recalls Isaiah's eschatological 'the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea,' which also surfaces in the knowledge-language of v.9-10. Low volume, flagged contested.

They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.


The prayer to be 'filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding' (v.9) draws on the messianic endowment of Isaiah 11:2, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and knowledge. The triad wisdom/understanding/knowledge clusters in both texts, a coherent Spirit-given cognition of God's will.

The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.


Being 'filled with' wisdom and understanding (v.9) echoes Bezalel filled with the Spirit of God 'in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge' for the work of the sanctuary. The fullness-of-Spirit-wisdom idiom and the same three faculties make this a strong lexical parallel; availability in Exodus is secure.

and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship,


Solomon's prayer that Wisdom be sent to teach 'what is pleasing' to God and to guide him to 'walk' rightly parallels v.9-10's prayer for knowledge of God's will so as to 'walk worthily... pleasing him.' The walk/please/wisdom cluster is Wisdom-tradition coherent, though diffuse.

And with you is wisdom, which knows your works, And was present when you were making the world, And which understands what is pleasing in your eyes, And what is right according to your commandments. Send her forth out of the holy heavens, And from the throne of your glory bid her come, That being present with me she may toil with me, And that I may learn what is well-pleasing before you. For she knows all things and has understanding thereof, And in my […]


The 'inheritance of the saints in light' (v.12) faintly recalls Daniel's promise that the wise will 'rest and stand in your allotted inheritance at the end of days' and shine like the brightness of the firmament (12:3). The lot/inheritance of the holy ones in light is apocalyptic-coherent. Faint, contested.

But go you your way until the end; for you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot, at the end of the days.


'The inheritance of the saints in light' (v.12) resonates with Wisdom 5:5, where the righteous are numbered 'among the sons of God' and their 'lot is among the saints/holy ones.' Shared lot-among-the-holy-ones language gives modest coherence with Second-Temple beatific-portion expectation.

How was he counted among sons of God? And how is his lot among saints?


Being delivered 'out of the power of darkness' and translated into the kingdom (v.13) draws on Isaiah's people walking in darkness who see a great light and the dawning kingdom of the messianic son (9:6-7). Light/darkness reversal plus an established kingdom of a royal son cohere tightly.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.


'The kingdom of the Son of his love' (v.13) evokes the royal-adoption oracle 'You are my Son'; with v.15-18's firstborn language it situates Christ in the Davidic sonship of Psalm 2. Volume here is thematic (beloved royal son enthroned over a kingdom) rather than verbal.

I will tell of the decree. Yahweh said to me, “You are my son. Today I have become your father.


'The Son of his love' / the Beloved (v.13) carries the Aqedah resonance of Isaac, 'your son, your only son, whom you love,' a beloved-son figure offered up. Coherence with the redemption-through-death theme that immediately follows (v.14, v.20) strengthens the figural reading of the beloved son.

He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”


'Son of his love' (v.13) may faintly echo Isaiah's 'song of my beloved' for the vineyard; the LXX agapetos vocabulary links beloved-son and beloved-vineyard traditions. Low volume and contested against the stronger Psalm 2 / Genesis 22 candidates.

Let me sing for my well beloved a song of my beloved about his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fruitful hill.


'In whom we have our redemption' after being delivered out of the domain of darkness (v.13-14) replays the exodus pattern: God redeems (apolytrosis/lytrosis) Israel out of bondage with an outstretched arm. The deliverance-then-redemption sequence and transfer into God's kingdom map onto the exodus from Egypt's darkness.

Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:


'Our redemption, the forgiveness of sins' (v.14) resonates with Isaiah's 'I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, you are mine,' and 43:25's blotting out of transgressions. Redemption coupled with forgiveness is a second-exodus motif; volume modest, flagged contested.

But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.


The 'power of darkness' from which we are delivered (v.13) may glance at the plague of palpable darkness over Egypt that the exodus undoes, reinforcing the deliverance-from-darkness-into-kingdom exodus typology. Faint and contested.

Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.”


'The image of the invisible God' (v.15) directly invokes the creation of humanity in the image and likeness of God. Christ is presented as the true eikon in whom the protological image is realized, and the hymn's creation framing (v.16) confirms the Genesis 1 backdrop. High volume and coherence.

God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.


'Image of the invisible God' (v.15) and the fullness/glory motifs draw on Wisdom personified as 'a breath of the power of God,' 'a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty,' 'a spotless mirror... and an image (eikon) of his goodness.' The eikon-of-the-invisible-God predicate is a near-direct Wisdom borrowing.

For she is a breath of the power of God, And a clear effluence of the glory of the Almighty; Therefore can nothing defiled find entrance into her. For she is an effulgence from everlasting light, And an unspotted mirror of the working of God, And an image of his goodness.


'The firstborn of all creation' who is 'before all things' (v.15,17) recasts Wisdom, whom 'the LORD created/possessed as the beginning (arche) of his way, before his works of old.' The hymn maps Christ onto pre-existent Wisdom as the principle and firstfruit of creation; v.18 even calls him arche.

“Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old.


'For by/in him all things were created' and 'in him all things hold together' (v.16-17) draws on Wisdom present when God established the heavens, the deep, and the foundations, beside him as the agent/craftsman of creation. Wisdom-as-cosmic-mediator coherence is strong across the whole hymn.

When he established the heavens, I was there; when he set a circle on the surface of the deep, when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth; then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,


'The firstborn (prototokos) of all creation' (v.15) and 'firstborn from the dead' (v.18) draw on the Davidic oracle 'I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.' Firstborn as a title of supreme rank and primacy ('that he might be preeminent') matches Psalm 89's royal exaltation exactly.

I will also appoint him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.


'By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth' (v.16) is a deliberate restatement of 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,' with the merism heaven/earth and the verb create binding the hymn to Genesis 1. Christ is the agent through whom the Genesis creation comes to be.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.


'By him all things were created... all things have been created through him' (v.16) echoes 'By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.' Creation-by-the-word coherence supports the Logos/Wisdom agency Colossians ascribes to Christ.

By Yahweh’s word, the heavens were made; all their army by the breath of his mouth.


'In him all things hold together' (v.17) parallels Sirach's cosmological 'by his word all things hold together' (en logo autou sygkeitai ta panta), the sustaining of the cosmos by the divine word. The cohesion verb and the all-things object make this a strong Second-Temple sapiential parallel.

By reason of him his end has success, And by his word all things consist.


'In him all things hold together' (v.17) resonates with Wisdom's 'the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together (to synechon ta panta) knows every word.' Wisdom as the cosmic glue that fills and binds the universe undergirds the hymn's sustaining-Christ claim.

Because the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, And that which holds all things together has knowledge of every voice.


'He is before all things, and in him all things hold together' (v.17) echoes 'Wisdom reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and orders all things well.' Wisdom's pervasive cosmic ordering supports Christ's pre-eminence and sustaining role.

But she reaches from one end of the world to the other with full strength, And ordereth all things graciously.


'For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell' (v.19) faintly echoes the mountain that God 'desired for his dwelling,' where the LORD will dwell forever, transferring the chosen-dwelling motif onto Christ as the locus where God is pleased to dwell. Volume low; the eudokia/katoikein dwelling logic is the link.

Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.


'All the fullness was pleased to dwell in him' (v.19) draws on the glory (kabod) filling the temple so that it could not be contained, the divine presence taking up bodily dwelling. Christ becomes the new temple in whom the full divine presence indwells; the dwelling/fullness/glory cluster (cf. v.27) coheres.

so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for Yahweh’s glory filled Yahweh’s house.


'The fullness was pleased to dwell in him' (v.19) resonates with the LORD's choice of Zion: 'this is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.' The desire/pleasure-to-dwell verb aligns; faint and overlapping with the 1 Kings 8 temple-glory echo.

For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation. “This is my resting place forever. Here I will live, for I have desired it.


'To reconcile all things to himself... making peace through the blood of his cross' (v.20) reframes the Day of Atonement reconciliation accomplished by blood. The blood-effecting-reconciliation logic is Levitical; volume low because Colossians universalizes it cosmically rather than cultically.

for on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins you shall be clean before Yahweh.


'Making peace through the blood of his cross' (v.20) faintly recalls the Servant whose chastisement brought 'peace' (shalom) and whose wounds bring healing. The peace-through-suffering-death linkage is coherent; flagged contested given the diffuse wording.

But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.


To 'present you holy and without defect/blameless before him' (v.22) borrows the sacrificial standard that an offering must be 'without blemish (amomos) to be accepted.' Believers are presented as a perfected, unblemished cultic offering, the holiness/without-defect language taken directly from the sacrificial code.

Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted. It shall have no defect.


'Without defect and blameless' (v.22) echoes the Passover lamb requirement 'your lamb shall be without blemish.' The amomos qualifier and the presentation-before-God of an acceptable victim cohere with the paschal/sacrificial backdrop, reinforcing the blood-of-the-cross atonement just stated.

Your lamb shall be without defect, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats:


Being presented 'blameless' (amomos/teleios) before God (v.22) faintly recalls the covenant charge 'walk before me and be blameless.' The blameless-walk-before-God ideal coheres with v.10's 'walk worthily,' though the volume is low.

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty. Walk before me, and be blameless.


'The mystery (mysterion) which has been hidden for ages... but now has been revealed' (v.26) draws on Daniel's God 'who reveals mysteries' and 'made known what will be in the latter days.' The technical hidden-then-revealed mystery apocalyptic vocabulary derives from Daniel 2 (cf. 2:19,28,47).

but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:


'The mystery now revealed' (v.26) resonates with Daniel's 'he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him,' joining the revealed-mystery motif with the light/darkness imagery of v.12-13. Coherent but lower volume than Daniel 2:28.

he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.


The disclosure of a previously hidden divine plan now 'revealed to his saints' (v.26) faintly echoes 'the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret (sod) to his servants the prophets.' The hidden-counsel-now-disclosed prophetic motif is coherent though diffuse.

Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.


The mystery's content 'among the Gentiles' (v.27) resonates with the Servant given 'as a light to the nations' so salvation reaches the ends of the earth. The Gentile-inclusion-as-revealed-glory theme coheres with Colossians' worldwide gospel (v.6,23). Faint, contested.

yes, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”


'In all wisdom... that we may present every man perfect (teleios)' (v.28) resonates with Wisdom-tradition pedagogy that leads to maturity/perfection. The teaching-in-wisdom-toward-perfection aim coheres with the sapiential framing of the whole chapter; volume modest.

Wisdom is radiant and fades not away; And easily is she saw those who love her, And found of those who seek her. She forestalleth those who desire to know her, making herself first known. He that rises up early to seek her will have no toil, For he will find her sitting at his gates. For to think upon her is perfectness of understanding, And he that watches for her sake will quickly be free from care. Because she goes about, herself seeking those who are […]


The treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ closely tracks Proverbs 2, where one cries out for understanding and searches for it as for hidden treasures, and the LORD gives wisdom and knowledge. Volume is high (shared lexis: wisdom, knowledge, hidden, treasure) and the coherence with Paul's epistemology of revelation is strong.

Yes, if you call out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding; If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures: then you will understand the fear of Yahweh, and find the knowledge of God. For Yahweh gives wisdom. Out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.


The treasures of darkness and hidden riches given to Cyrus so that he may know the LORD supplies the motif of concealed treasure tied to knowledge of God, matching Paul's 'treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden' that yield the knowledge of God's mystery. Recurrence of the hidden-treasure-leading-to-knowledge pattern supports the echo.

I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel.


Daniel's hymn praises God who reveals deep and hidden things, gives wisdom and knowledge, and discloses mysteries; Paul's 'mystery of God' in whom are hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge draws on this apocalyptic vocabulary where mystery, revelation, wisdom, and knowledge cluster (Daniel 2:28-30, 47). The Second-Temple availability and shared mystery-language ground the link.

Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his. He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. I thank you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known […]


Ben Sira's saying that in the treasuries of wisdom are parables of knowledge offers a near-verbal Second-Temple parallel to 'treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.' Availability and shared sapiential idiom make this a plausible faint echo, though contested given the diffuse wisdom topos.

A parable of knowledge is in the treasures of wisdom; But godliness is an abomination to a sinner.


The messianic Spirit of wisdom and knowledge resting on the shoot of Jesse may stand behind Christ as the one in whom wisdom and knowledge are concentrated; the coherence with Paul's Christ-as-locus-of-wisdom is suggestive but the verbal volume is thin.

The Spirit of Yahweh will rest on him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of Yahweh.


The warning against being deluded by persuasiveness of speech recalls the seductress of Proverbs 7 who with much fair speech caused him to yield; the wisdom motif of smooth/persuasive words leading astray is shared. Faint and contested given the commonplace.

With persuasive words, she led him astray. With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.


'After the tradition of men' (and the precepts of men in v.22) echoes Isaiah's indictment that the people's fear of God is a commandment of men taught by rote, the locus classicus for human tradition supplanting God's word. Recurrence within the chapter (v.22) and coherence with the polemic against the 'philosophy' strengthen the allusion.

The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;

And the Lord has said, This people draw nigh to me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me: but in vain do they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men.


The customs of the peoples are vain/futile in Jeremiah 10 supplies the language of 'vain deceit' rooted in worthless human practice and false worship of created things, coherent with 'elements of the world' as enslaving cosmic powers. Volume is moderate via the LXX 'vain' vocabulary.

For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.


Being 'rooted and built up' and 'established' draws on the planted-tree imagery of the righteous in Psalm 1 (and Jeremiah 17:8), a stock figure for stability through walking rightly. Coherence with 'walk in him' supports a faint echo.

He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.


The man planted by water whose roots reach the stream parallels Paul's horticultural metaphor 'rooted... abounding,' reinforcing the OT trope of the rooted and fruitful righteous. Faint and contested.

For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, who spreads out its roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.


That 'the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily' in Christ recasts the OT theme of God choosing to dwell on the mountain/sanctuary where the LORD will abide forever; Christ becomes the true locus of divine indwelling. The figural transfer of dwelling-glory is coherent though verbally faint.

Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.


The temple vision where the whole earth is full of the LORD's glory underlies the language of divine 'fullness' now resident bodily in Christ; the fullness/glory motif coheres with Colossians 1:19 and the indwelling theme. Contested and diffuse.

In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew. One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”


Circumcision 'not made with hands' in 'the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh' draws directly on Deuteronomy's promise that the LORD will circumcise the heart so you will love him and live, the foundational text for an internal, divinely-wrought circumcision. Volume, coherence, and recurrence in the heart-circumcision tradition are all strong.

Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.


The command to circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskin of the heart provides the prophetic call to true (inward) circumcision over against fleshly circumcision, exactly the antithesis Paul presses. Strong coherence with v.11's contrast between hand-made and Christ's circumcision.

Circumcise yourselves to Yahweh, and take away the foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go out like fire, and burn so that no one can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.


Circumcise the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stiff-necked supplies the same heart-circumcision idiom; its recurrence alongside Deut 30:6 and Jer 4:4 confirms a stable tradition standing behind Paul's spiritualized circumcision.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.


Ezekiel's denunciation of the uncircumcised in heart and flesh entering the sanctuary supplies the paired heart/flesh circumcision categories Paul deploys ('uncircumcision of your flesh', v.13). The shared dual idiom supports the echo, though it is less verbally direct.

in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood, and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations. You have not performed the duty of my holy things; but you have set performers of my duty in my sanctuary for yourselves. Thus says the Lord Yahweh, No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and […]


The institution of circumcision in the flesh as the covenant sign is the background Paul transcends with 'circumcision not made with hands'; the polemical contrast presupposes the Abrahamic rite. Coherence is high but it is presupposed background rather than a quoted echo.

You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin. It will be a token of the covenant between me and you.


Being 'made alive together with him' while dead in trespasses resonates with Ezekiel's vision of God opening graves and putting his Spirit in the dead so they live; the death-to-life raising motif coheres with vv.12-13's burial-and-resurrection. Faint and contested.

Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it […]


God 'wiping out the handwriting' and forgiving all trespasses echoes Isaiah's 'I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,' the divine erasure of the record of sin. The blotting-out vocabulary and forgiveness theme give moderate volume and strong coherence.

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.


The plea to blot out my transgressions according to your mercy supplies the same image of erasing the written debt of sin that stands against the sinner. Coherent but diffuse, hence a faint echo.

Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.


The disarming and public shaming of the powers while bearing sin to the cross may draw on the Servant who was numbered with transgressors yet divided the spoil with the strong, a victory-through-suffering pattern. The triumph-out-of-humiliation coherence is real but the verbal link is thin and contested.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.


The peg/nail fastened in a sure place that is then cut down and the burden hung on it falls, in Isaiah 22, offers a faint backdrop to 'nailing it to the cross'; the imagery of fastening a burden to a peg coheres loosely. Highly contested.

I will lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder. He will open, and no one will shut. He will shut, and no one will open. I will fasten him like a nail in a sure place. He will be for a throne of glory to his father’s house. They will hang on him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, every small vessel, from the cups even to all the pitchers. “In that day,” says Yahweh of Armies, “the nail that was fastened in a sure […]


The divine-warrior subduing kings and going before to break gates and bars underlies Christ disarming the principalities and triumphing over them; the YHWH-as-victor motif coheres with the cosmic-conquest reading. Faint, contested verbal volume.

Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: “I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron.


The Song of the Sea celebrating the LORD as warrior who shatters the enemy in triumph supplies the archetype of God's public victory parade over hostile powers that Paul reapplies to the cross ('made a show of them openly, triumphing'). Coherent but figural and faint.

Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea. His chosen captains are sunk in the Red […]


The ascending victor who 'led captivity captive' and received gifts among rebellious men supplies the OT triumphal-procession image behind Christ leading the disarmed powers in open shame. Moderate coherence with the Pauline conquest theme and recurrence of this Psalm in Pauline triumph language.

You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.


The triad 'a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day' closely matches Hosea's 'her feasts, her new moons, and her sabbaths' (the calendar God will cause to cease). High verbal volume in the same ordered list and coherence with Paul relativizing the festal calendar make this the primary source.

I will also cause all her celebrations to cease: her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her solemn assemblies.


The prince's obligation at 'the feasts, the new moons, and the sabbaths' lists the same three calendrical categories Paul names, confirming a stock OT triad of appointed times. Recurrence across Hosea, Ezekiel, and Chronicles strengthens the allusion.

It shall be the prince’s part to give the burnt offerings, and the meal offerings, and the drink offerings, in the feasts, and on the new moons, and on the Sabbaths, in all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meal offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel.


Offerings on 'the sabbaths, the new moons, and the set feasts' gives the same three-term cultic calendar, part of the recurring biblical formula that Paul's 'feast, new moon, sabbath' draws on. Moderate volume via the fixed triad.

and to offer all burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before Yahweh;


The festal legislation prescribing offerings for the daily, sabbath, new-moon, and appointed-feast cycle, together with their associated food and drink offerings, undergirds Paul's pairing of 'eating, or drinking' with 'feast, new moon, sabbath.' The food-and-drink plus calendar coherence supports the allusion.

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.’ You shall tell them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to Yahweh: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at […]


That these observances are 'a shadow of the things to come' but the body is Christ's draws on the type/copy logic; while the wording 'shadow' (Exodus 25:40's pattern tradition) is the better backdrop, the prophetic theme of the present cult as provisional resonates faintly. Contested.

Yahweh’s glory went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city.


The command to make the tabernacle after the pattern shown on the mountain founds the OT copy/shadow-versus-true-reality schema that Paul invokes with 'a shadow of the things to come, but the body is Christ's.' Coherence with the type/antitype theology is strong though the lexical contact is indirect.

See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.


The dietary laws governing clean/unclean 'eating' stand behind the food-judgments Paul forbids others to impose; the broader Levitical kashrut backdrop coheres with 'judge you in eating, or in drinking.' Faint, presupposed background.

Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the living things which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud among the animals, that you may eat. “‘Nevertheless these you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those who part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn’t have a parted hoof, he is […]


The 'worshiping of the angels' and 'dwelling in the things which he has not seen' may engage the apocalyptic vision world of myriads of angelic attendants around the throne (Daniel 7), against which Paul polemicizes excessive angel-veneration. Coherence with the visionary milieu, but the link is faint and contested.

A fiery stream issued and came out from before him: thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.


The visionary 'dwelling in the things which he has not seen' evokes merkavah/throne-vision speculation such as Ezekiel's chariot vision that fed Second-Temple angelology; Paul critiques those who enter such visions and so worship angels. Faint, contested.

I looked, and behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with flashing lightning, and a brightness around it, and out of its midst as it were glowing metal, out of the midst of the fire. Out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures. This was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Everyone had four faces, and each one of them had four wings. Their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the […]


Enoch's heavenly ascent and vision of angelic hosts before the throne typifies the visionary, angel-focused piety Paul opposes ('worshiping of the angels... things which he has not seen'). Pseudepigraphal availability warrants noting the milieu, but the link is general and contested.

[source text not in the World English Bible]


'According to the precepts and doctrines of men' renders Isaiah's 'their fear of me is a commandment of men taught by rote' (LXX: teaching the precepts/doctrines of men), the same phrase Jesus cites; the regulations 'don't handle, taste, touch' are these merely human precepts. High verbal volume and recurrence (cf. v.8) make this a near-quotation.

The Lord said, “Because this people draws near with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but they have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught;


The prohibition 'don't handle, nor taste, nor touch' may parody Eve's expansion of God's command, 'you shall not eat... neither shall you touch it,' as an example of human regulation about handling/touching forbidden things. The touch-taboo verbal overlap is suggestive but contested.

but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”


The Levitical command not to eat or 'touch' the carcasses of unclean animals supplies a concrete backdrop to the handle/taste/touch regulations Paul cites as perishable human ordinances about food. Faint, presupposed cultic background.

Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean to you.


'Touch no unclean thing' offers a purity-touch idiom standing behind the ascetic 'do not touch' rule Paul deflates as mere 'severity to the body.' Coherent with the food/purity theme but verbally faint and contested.

Depart, depart, go out from there, touch no unclean thing! Go out of the midst of her! Cleanse yourselves, you who bear the vessels of Yahweh.


"Where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God" verbally echoes the LXX of Ps 110:1 ("Sit at my right hand"), the most-cited OT verse in the NT. High volume of distinctive language (right hand, seated, exaltation) and strong recurrence make the session at God's right hand the dominant figure for the exalted Christ. Coherence with Colossians' cosmic Christology is exact.

Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”