Judaism’s interpretations tended to be dismissed as inaccurate or partial, and the Jewish refusal to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah was often characterized as stubbornness. Christian authors argued that the texts were so clear in pointing to Jesus that any other interpretation had to be grounded in deliberate ignorance or ill will. Some of the Fathers of the Church spoke of the Jews as the “guardians” or “librarians” of the Sacred Books, but also as tragically flawed in their reading of them. St. Augustine wrote:

The Jew carries the book from which the Christian takes his faith. They have become our librarians, like slaves who carry books behind their masters; the slaves gain no profit by their carrying, but the masters profit by their reading (Commentaries on the Psalms 56:9).

For much of Christian history, we have tended to disparage Jewish ways of reading and interpreting the Bible. At the same time, we have taken recourse to Jewish sources to understand the meaning of the Hebrew correctly. Christianity both needed Judaism to properly understand the first portion of its Bible, but also often distanced itself from Judaism and Jewish interpreters. It was always an ambivalent relationship, like everything else in the connection between the two faiths.

The slow, gradual change that took place in Christian approaches to Judaism, especially in the wake of Vatican II’s 1965 declaration Nostra Aetate, was accompanied by a renewed conversation about the Bible between Jews and Christians. Christians began to study and discover Jewish interpretive sources with a new kind of curiosity, and interfaith conversations began to expose Christians to great Jewish interpreters of the past, such as Rashi, Maimonides, the traditions of midrash, and the ancient Aramaic interpretive translations called targums. For most Christians, this was entirely new and novel. There was a whole rich world of insights that many Christians were learning about for the first time, from those who knew and understood Hebrew and Aramaic most intimately.

In 2001, the Pontifical Biblical Commission (or PBC, the body of experts who advise the Pope on Biblical issues) published a remarkable new document called The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible. The fruit of several years of study and discussion by the PBC, it explored a number of topics that drew upon, and reinforced, decades of constructive Jewish-Christian dialogue:

• The Sacred Scriptures of the Jewish people are a fundamental part of the Christian Bible;
• How fundamental themes in the Jewish Scriptures have been received in Christianity;
• Christological interpretations of the Jewish Scriptures;
• The place of the Jews in the New Testament;
• The value of Jewish Biblical interpretation for Christians;
• Pastoral orientations for the life of the Church

The document acknowledges that Christianity is necessarily grounded in the Jewish Scriptures, but that this relationship is both intimate and complex. The New Testament acknowledges and presumes the Old Testament and, in various ways, portrays Jesus as fulfilling or completing it. Any Bible edition that indicates Biblical parallels and citations makes it clear that each page of the New Testament is a tapestry of Old Testament allusions; the New Testament literally could not exist without the Old. Those “Scriptures of Israel” continue to have authority for us, as part of God’s revealed Word; they have not been abrogated or rendered obsolete.

And yet the Christian Old Testament is not completely identical to the Jewish Scriptures, in either content or design. Even we Christians do not agree among ourselves: Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians vary in terms of which books they include as inspired and canonical!

In light of a long history of Christian interpretations that have portrayed the Jewish people as fundamentally opposed to Christianity, the 2001 document also attempts to contextualize (and thus “de-fang”) portions of the New Testament which might seem to portray Jewish people in general in a negative light. It reminds us that ancient Judaism was pluralistic, made up of various different schools of thought or ways of understanding Judaism; there was never a single monolithic Judaism, and we certainly see a variety of different Jewish “parties” and stances in the New Testament.

The document addresses texts involving the group we perhaps hear the most about, the Pharisees:

The Gospels frequently present the Pharisees as hypocritical and heartless legalists … In all probability, the presentation of the Pharisees in the Gospels was influenced in part by subsequent polemics between Christians and Jews. At the time of Jesus, there were no doubt Pharisees who taught an ethic worthy of approval (#67).

That reassessment of the Pharisees continues today, including a Jewish-Christian colloquium held at the Gregorian University in Rome in 2019, where leading scholars presented a much more nuanced and thoughtful approach. Discussions among Jewish and Christian scholars have helped us to better understand that period and its religious and social dynamics.

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the PBC document was the positive way in which it spoke about the importance of Jewish interpretive methods and the value they could have for Christians. It points out that those approaches are typical of the teaching of Jesus and St. Paul, and already embedded in much of the New Testament. And, while it acknowledges that Judaism and Christianity have different starting-points, and will often disagree, it nevertheless invites Christians to delve into the riches of Jewish interpretations, as a source from which they can gain important insights:

Christians can, and ought to, admit that the Jewish reading of the Bible is a possible one, in continuity with the Jewish Sacred Scriptures from the Second Temple period, a reading analogous to the Christian reading which developed in parallel fashion. Both readings are bound up with the vision of their respective faiths, of which the readings are the result and expression. Consequently, they often cannot be reconciled. On the practical level of exegesis, Christians can, nonetheless, learn much from Jewish exegesis practised for more than two thousand years, and, in fact, they have learned much in the course of history. For their part, it is to be hoped that Jews themselves can derive profit from Christian exegetical research (#22).

Given Christianity’s longstanding approach to Jewish interpretation, this was a remarkable statement, and reflected how 40 years of Jewish-Christian dialogue had led the Church to view Judaism’s ways of reading the Bible from a new angle. The increased availability of Jewish commentaries translated into modern languages means that those resources are now available to a wider audience than ever before.

A quarter-century ago, the Pontifical Biblical Commission opened new avenues of study and understanding between Christians and Jews with this ground-breaking document. While honestly acknowledging the theological disagreements that distinguish Judaism and Christianity, the PBC also acknowledged the many ways Christianity has always drawn upon Jewish thought, and highlighted the ways in which genuine dialogue can be enriching for both sides. It stressed the foundational relationship of our two faiths—rooted in a shared body of Scripture — and it invited Christians to become more familiar with the Old Testament, both as the first two-thirds of our Bible and as the threads from which the New Testament is woven.

To give one example of the way this dialogue has benefited Christians, the revised and expanded Lectionary for Mass that emerged after Vatican II provides us with a much richer selection of Old Testament texts than was offered in earlier centuries, when only about 1 per cent was read on Sundays and feast days. Now, for most of the liturgical year, the First Reading on Sunday is drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures, and we have almost quadrupled the amount of the Old Testament we hear. As the PBC document reminds us,

The Jewish Sacred Scriptures constitute an essential part of the Christian Bible … Without the Old Testament, the New Testament would be an incomprehensible book, a plant deprived of its roots and destined to dry up and wither (#84).

The Old Testament can never be viewed as “optional.”

This is not to deny that there are real challenges for many Christian readers of the Old Testament. There are portions which strike us because of their violent language and imagery. We need to grapple with those passages prayerfully, sensitively, and with guidance from knowledgeable scholars. Even modern geopolitics can intrude into our reading of the Old Testament: we need to carefully distinguish the repeated references to “Israel,” the ancient ancestors of today’s Jewish people, from “Israel,”the modern Middle Eastern state established in 1948 and possibly today’s Jewish people as a whole. The names are identical, of course, and people’s opinions about modern Israel and the actions of its government can sometimes make them very uncomfortable when they read passages that speak about ancient Israel. Some have suggested omitting those passages in public reading, or substituting other terms for “Israel,” to avoid confusion. Either way, grasping the historical and social context of Biblical passages – the authors would have only known the ancient, covenant people – is vital to prevent misunderstandings.

As Holy Week approaches, that Jewish context is absolutely essential if we want to steer clear of the kinds of anti-Jewish attitudes and preaching that have often marred our history. Canada’s Catholic bishops have given clear guidelines to this effect, which I will quote at length:

As we read or meditate on the Passion accounts during Holy Week, we must be careful that we do not unwittingly or unwillingly carry away or transmit anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic impressions…. Before reading these accounts (especially according to John) it would be well for us to recall that when the evangelist refers to “the Jews,” we know he is not saying that all Jews, either of Jesus’ time or our time, are responsible for his death. Pilate, along with some members of the Sanhedrin, cannot avoid their responsibility, but as Christians we must remember: “Christ, out of infinite love, freely underwent suffering and death because of the sins of all people, so that all might attain salvation. It is the duty of the Church, therefore, in its preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God’s universal love and the source of all grace” (Vatican Council II, Declaration on the Relations of the Church to Non-Christian Religions #4). All who are called to preach the Word of God or to transmit it by the spoken or written word are asked to guard against the possibility of transmitting prejudice or false interpretations of Scripture as we celebrate these important Feasts. (Ordo: Pastoral Notes for the Liturgical Calendar, 2023, p. 79.)

During Holy Week especially, we want to be attentive to our minds and hearts, and reject old clichés and stereotypes that view Jewish people in negative and hurtful ways. At a time when antisemitic violence and rhetoric are at shockingly high levels, we want to stand in solidarity with our Jewish sisters and brothers, remembering the now-famous words of Pope St. John Paul II 40 years ago, at the Great Synagogue of Rome: “With Judaism, we have a relationship which we do not have with any other religion. You are our dearly beloved brothers, and, in a certain way, it could be said that you are our elder brothers.” Or, as he said on another occasion: “Whoever meets Jesus Christ meets Judaism.” In the Old Testament, we find an important bridge between our two communities.

For many of us, the Old Testament still remains relatively unexplored—it can feel quite daunting to venture into. However, our Jewish sisters and brothers have been reading, praying with, and meditating on those texts for more than 2000 years. Their learning and reflections can be precious guides to us in discovering the books that nourished Jesus and the early Church. Even when Jews and Christians arrive at different conclusions (which we often will!), today we are engaged in a genuine conversation, rather than an argument, and our ears and hearts are open to what our conversation partners have to offer us. As we mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible this year, we can rejoice in how far our dialogue has led us in our relationship with the Jewish people, “to whom the Lord our God spoke first,” as we pray in our Good Friday Solemn Intercessions. We can also pray that the energy and momentum of that relationship will continue to guide us forward, in ways that can inspire our world and model what is possible.

Dr. Murray Watson is a Catholic Biblical scholar who works as part of a Catholic school board north of Toronto, and has been involved in Jewish-Christian relations for more than 25 years.