The recourse to parallel texts that can shed light on the meaning of a particular passage is one of the ways by which certain biblical difficulties have been resolved (Augustine). At the same time, parallel texts, understood as resonances of a given text have been regarded as by products of a fruitful dialogue between the "ruminant" soul and the Word of God in Scriptures (Guy the Carthusian). The first approach sounds scholarly and more akin to what serious students do now when they use Bible Concordances, or Dictionaries and Encyclopedias of the Bible. And it is in a way "scholarly"; the passage from Augustine that we used to exemplify such an approach comes after all from the De doctrina christiana, the saint's manual on the proper explanation of the Scriptures.
The latter sounds less scholarly, and, considering the way it is described, would seem to be more spiritually satisfying than the other one. In this approach, the reader lovingly grasps the bible passage with the mind and turns it over and over in his heart, allowing it to call forth from the hidden corners of the memory other passages akin to itself, drawing them out into the light of the mind's gaze by sheer force of similarity -- whether by words or by theme -- in order to present to the heart and the mind a rich banquet to feast on.
We have mentioned in a previous article that this method is quite natural to the mind. There are still some who call it the "free association of ideas" except that in the case of Guy (and even Augustine in his less scholarly meditations) the "ideas" are drawn from the Scriptures itself. We have also mentioned that textual resonances deriving from the lectio divina itself are derived from some sort of similarity that is objectively based on the text that is being considered. Does a particular word echo other places in the Scriptures that give it a particular nuance (The word "Blessed" in the beatitudes of Matthew, and the same word as it is used in a psalm like Ps. 128, for example.)? Is a passage or its theme taken up in another part of Scriptures and developed more fully there (E.g., the way some verses from the Servant Songs of Isaiah is used in Matthew.)? Or does a passage reply to the concerns raised by an earlier passage (Cf. James 2:23 compared with Rom. 4:3 and Gal. 3:6)? Textual parallels, even when they are seen as "textual resonances" must be understood as instances where the one Word of God is echoed forth in the many human words of Scriptures. Their Ultimate ground is God's Revelation unfolded in history, captured in the memory of a people and "canonized" in writing. In other words, the search for parallel texts and textual resonances must begin with Scriptures itself, and not with any preconceived idea, no matter how noble it may be. This brings us to another point..
The Liturgy of the Church
The approach that Guy the Carthusian describes as the second rung of the Scala claustralium is not possible apart from a regular contact with the liturgy. The Fathers of the Church and monks like Guy worked on "textual connections " that were either discovered from a direct analysis of the Scriptures or supplied from the liturgy of the Church. And one who would like to follow the spirit of the lectio NOW as described by Guy the Carthusian cannot do so unless he or she has a memory that has been formed by the Church who continually proffers the Bread of God's Word to her children.
The Liturgy -- and here I am pointing out the Catholic Church's liturgy since it is the only one I know -- is a rich source of "textual connections." Scholars have for a long time now understood that many biblical parallels pointed out by the Church Fathers in their books, letters and expositions come from the Liturgy they participated in during their times. What they pointed out, the Church of succeeding ages used as the basis for the choice of readings that their members are to listen to on Dominical gatherings. In fact, the present Liturgy of the Church -- specifically, the Liturgy of the Word -- is a product of several centuries of meditation on and exposition of the Word of Scriptures. Therefore, when a reader of Scriptures who is at the same time a regular Church-goer, grasps a biblical passage in the manner described by Guy the Carthusian, what he or she has at his/her disposal are not only the favorite passages that he or she has memorized, but also the "textual connections" he/she has grasped while participating in the liturgy. Let me loosen this up with a concrete example..
The Saying on Divorce
Mark 10:1-12 presents Jesus being tested by the Pharisees on a question about divorce. Students of the Bible know that during the time of Jesus the Pharisees were divided on the question of divorce. The story as presented in Gospel instructs the Christian community what position to take: marriage is indissoluble because, as the Lord says: "What God has joined, let no man put asunder (10:9)." Textual resonances are evident in the text. In 10:4, the Pharisees allude to Deut. 24:1 (until 4) giving support to the practise of divorce:
If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. [NIV]
If one would notice, this particular law already presupposes a case where divorce and remarriage have occured. Furthermore, the case alluded to can reflect either a situation where the Israelites have begun practising the customs of their Canaanite (if Pre-exilic) or even Babylonian neighbors (if Exilic). The intent of the Law is to limit the cases where remarriages are made, supposing that the divorced woman has already married someone else and wishes to return to the former husband. The point is, that the Pharisees were using a text that to Jesus did not reflect the original intent of the Law. The original intent was that the male and the female "become one flesh" (Gen. 2:24). In 10:6-8, Jesus alludes to two texts of the Genesis story, Gen. 1:27 and Gen. 2:24 to cement his position. Later, in a private dialogue with his disciples, Jesus alludes to Deut. 24:1-4, explaining to them that both the man and the woman caught in the situation described in the passage are -- in his eyes -- guilty of adultery. The strict understanding of Jesus of the phrase "that the two become ONE flesh" is echoed in two other parallel texts:
In Matthew 5:32, the saying about divorce is found in the Sermon On The Mount, and phrased as Jesus' declaration of the true meaning of the Law:
5:31 "It has been said, `Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.[NIV]
Notice that here, Jesus contrasts what has become a customary practice with the attitude to divorce that he brings: an attitude which is also grounded in Deut. 24:1, but representing a more restricted interpretation of it.
The other parallel is in Luke 16:18, in a statement that has no apparent connections with the ones that precede or follow it:
"Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
In this passage, there are no qualifications made. And following as it does Luke 16:17 -- a statement declaring the stability of God's Law -- we are made to understand that marriage, as understood by Jesus, is indissoluble. The difference in emphasis between the passage in Matthew and the passage in Luke reflects perhaps the historical situations of the communities to which the Gospels were addressed. This notwithstanding, we are presented with a teaching on marriage and divorce that departs from what has been -- during those times -- construed as customary and acceptable.
...and the Genesis Story
No one can expect the ordinary reader to get the above resonances from just one reading of Mark 10:1-12. The Liturgy, however, -- and especially in the way it pairs a Gospel reading with one from the Old Testament -- helps the lectio practitioner to see the connection between Jesus' attitude and the theology behind Gen. 2:24. The twenty-seventh Sunday of the Year (B Cycle) gives both as readings and as an occassion for the preacher of the Word to give an instruction on marriage -- an instruction which,it is hoped, would help strengthen the association made between the text of Jesus' pronouncement regarding marriage (Mk. 10:9) and Gen. 2:24:"...and the two shall become one flesh".
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