P. Derek Overfield PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

We have already offered some comment
on the relationship between the Introductory Formulae
in 4:8 and 5:14;
it now remains for us to examine
the citations that these Formulae introduce, particularly
in light of the suggestion made by M. McNamara
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noted above. Although it is not possible to be
specific at this pOint it would seem unlikely that
both 4:8 and 5:14 could have once formed part of the
same hymn, at least not in the form in which both
citations now stand.
The words of 5:14 form a
metrical triplet 76 which is not the precise form of
4:8; the citation in 5:14 has all the appearances
of a baptismal hym.l1., whereas the ci ta-tion in 4: 8 ho.s
nothing wi thin it -that ""ould suggest baptism.
'I'here
is aJ..so a difference in the style of lang-uag-e emi:J.ioY26
in the t,t10 citations: 5: 14 contains language th2.t is
quite possibly associated with the paschal celebrations·
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of the Early Church
whereas the language of 4:8 is
that of exaltation. .""6,. further point is that although
5:14 is not a direct citation of any known scripture,
it does represent the general sense'of several OT
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passages
whereas 4:8 is, to all intents and purposes,
a direct citation of a psalm text and it is not like.iy,
though by no means impossible, that an early Christian
hYITill would contain both direct scriptural quotations
and references so indirect as those of 5:14.
Finally, we would point out that as 4:8 is 'scriptural'
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