If you are in a waiting season today, find encouragement from Rahab’s example. May we all hold on to unwavering faith in the waiting. God will strengthen us as we wait, and our faith will grow as we fully trust in him.

“Why are there so many quotations and allusions to earlier Scriptures in the Scriptures?” This question gets asked regularly about my research on the Bible’s use of the Bible. New Testament authors cite and allude to Scripture often. It is extensive and pervasive. But Scripture’s use of Scripture isn’t confined to the New Testament. The prophets of Israel and Judah and the psalmists had been reusing the Torah for centuries before the days of Jesus. This isn’t something they invented—the use of the Torah in the Torah is already ancient by the days of the prophets and psalmists. The Torah makes the case for a culture of studying Scripture. A culture, in the broad sense I’m using the word, is a prevailing set of attitudes, values, and mores within a given social context. The reuse of earlier Scripture is part of the progressive revelation of God’s redemptive story throughout Scripture, and Deuteronomy is a key to explaining this biblical phenomenon. The Torah makes the case for a culture of studying Scripture. Deuteronomy calls for a culture of studying God’s Word, and this kind of culture gives rise to biblical authors presenting new teachings based on earlier Scripture. Let’s consider the culture of contemplating Scripture in Deuteronomy, a culture that includes families, public figures (prophets, priests, and kings), and gatherings of the people as a whole. Those who love Yahweh must study and submit to his Word. Families Deuteronomy 6 reframes the first two of the Ten Commandments—have no other gods and don’t worship images—in the context of the family. These two commands emphasize that Yahweh alone is God and that Yahweh-lovers obey his instruction. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. There shall not be for you other gods besides me. (5:6‒7, LEB) You shall not make for yourself a divine image. . . . I, Yahweh your God am . . . showing loyal love of those who love me and of those who keep my commandments. (vv. 8–10, LEB) The first command in verse 6 identifies Yahweh as the redeemer of his people. The image command in verse 10 refers to “those who love [Yahweh]” as “those who keep [his] commandments.” Yahweh-lovers obey Yahweh’s will. A careful reader notices how Moses in Deuteronomy 6 merged the first two commandments and applied them to families. Hear, Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is unique. And you shall love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your might. And these words that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. And you shall recite them to your children, and you shall talk about them at the time of your living in your house and at the time of your going on the road and at the time of your lying down and at the time of your rising up. (6:4‒7, LEB, emphasis added) Moses envisioned family life as dominated by teaching Yahweh’s commands. Whenever and wherever the older and younger generations are together, there’s a single focus: Teach Yahweh’s commands. This is what Yahweh-lovers do. The blended allusion to the first two commands in the great command to love Yahweh in Deuteronomy 6 infuses daily life with conversations about Scripture. Time with the next generation should constantly concern obeying Yahweh’s will. Public Figures Yahweh makes a provision for the public life of his people to be guided by prophets, priests, and kings. Studying and teaching Scripture ideally characterize these figures. Prophets weren’t innovative. They spoke Yahweh’s will as it’s revealed in the Torah and in reality—the Word of God and the acts of God. The people were warned against false prophets who taught anything that didn’t accord with the Torah (13:1‒5; 18:20) or with reality (18:21‒22). True prophets spoke in accord with reality because what they say comes to pass (v. 18). Kings should’ve been leaders who studied Scripture daily (17:18‒19). Deuteronomy doesn’t separate faith from civil service. Rulers were expected to be Scripture scholars. The outcomes of this everyday focus include humility and faithfulness to Yahweh’s will (v. 20). Priests from among the tribe of Levi were responsible for temple worship because they were called to bear the burden of Yahweh’s holiness. This responsibility included an instructional component (Lev. 10:10–11). They along with the Levites were responsible for teaching Yahweh’s will to Israel (Deut. 33:10). Whatever else they did, the public figures Yahweh selected to lead his people were called to study and teach Scripture. Gatherings Deuteronomy pictures assembled Israel as confronted with Yahweh’s teachings. Moses laid plans for monuments inscribed with Scripture that were to be read out to God’s people (27:1‒10; cf. 11:29‒32). The people were warned that the Levites should keep a written copy of the Torah before Yahweh’s glory in the sanctuary. Scripture served as a witness against the people’s expected rebellion (31:25‒26). The Torah was to be read aloud into their ears (v. 28). As well as having Scripture as a written testimony, the people gathered for additional Scripture reading. At least once every seven years, the entire nation assembled to hear the reading of God’s Word (vv. 10‒11). This included men, women, children, and foreigners living among them. Everyone needed to hear Scripture. The public reading would lead to fearing Yahweh and obeying his will (v. 12). Public Scripture reading was to recur across the generations (v. 13). Scripture Study As a Way of Life The Torah expects Scripture study to permeate all of life. Family life, public offices, and the gathered society of Israel have something in common: Everyone studies Scripture. The purpose isn’t to get it out of the way at weekly gatherings and during private devotions for a few minutes in the morning. Deuteronomy envisions Scripture permeating the life of God’s people. Biblical authors studied Scripture vigorously. The quotations and allusions running through the Bible suggest that biblical authors delighted in God’s Word. No one was more committed to studying Scripture than its authors. No one was more committed to studying Scripture than its authors. A commitment to earlier Scripture turns ordinary literary values upside down. Authors of the Bible didn’t prize originality. They cherished the unoriginality of saying, “As it is written.” They never tire of allusive instruction. The biblical authors model the need to cultivate a culture of Scripture study. They show us the need to interpret the Bible by the Bible. This must become a way of life in all we do.

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An intaglio ring with an unusual depiction of Diana has been acquired by the British Museum. The dark red gemstone is engraved with what at first glance looks like a little Cupid about to draw his arrow of love from the quiver on his back and shoot it into a person, but upon closer inspection the figure is wearing short chiton and there’s a hunting dog at their feet. That identifies the deity as Diana Venatrix, the huntress, about to draw her arrow of death and shoot it into a deer. The oval gemstone, believed to be a carnelian, is set in an elaborate gold ring. The stone is complete and undamaged, and while the gold has been crushed and bent, the ring is still mostly complete minus a few small broken pieces. The ring is made of three beaded gold wires mounted in a triangle cross-section (two on the bottom, one between them on top). The three strands flatten at the shoulder and the two outer strands curve around the bezel. The triangular gaps on the sides of the bezel are filled with fine beaded gold wires in small spirals and smaller discs. The ring was discovered by a metal detectorist in the village of Sedgeford, near Hunstanton in Norfolk in 2022 and declared treasure. The British Museum acquired it for its permanent collection in September 2024. It is not yet on display. Diana the Huntress, armed with bow and accompanied by either a dog or a stag, was a popular iconographic type in Roman art. The sculptural type was widespread, and derivations of it appeared on coins and gemstones. The British Museum has three other intaglios with Diana Venatrix and hound: two carnelian intaglios from the Snettisham jeweler’s hoard, and one chalcedony pendant from the Thetford Hoard. The Snettisham examples are far more coarsely engraved; really just a few slashes suggesting the figure drawing an arrow and hound. A longer, lither Diana Venatrix with hound engraved on chalcedony and mounted in gold setting is part of the late-Roman Thetford Treasure, a hoard of fine jewelry and silver tableware, also found in Norfolk. The Thetford pendant and the Sedgeford ring are close enough parallels in the motif, engraving and the cable/beading effect of their gold surrounds that they could conceivably have been made in the same workshop. They certainly date to the same period, the second half of the 4th century. The ring was likely commissioned by the wearer, not purchased retail, and the wearer was almost certainly an elite woman (several of the coins with Diana Venatrix on the reverse have wives and mothers of emperors on the obverse) who used it as a signet ring to sign her correspondence and legal documents. See for example the Diana Venatrix intaglio found at the Caerleon Fortress Baths in Wales which has the owner’s initials carved into it.

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