Comment
The text of the Bible is not only the product of historical circumstances. It has excercised significant influence in the history. It has been interpreted for thousands of years. Some of the interpretations have withstood the test of time, and are still considered foundational and inspiring. Some interpretations would today be perceived actually as misinterpretations. Nevertheless, this whole process of interpretation, reinterpretation and recontextualization is an important source for the evaluation of the text. It also leads to sef-critical understanding of one's own exegetical endeavour. As interpreters today, we do not start from the scratch. Similarly, we are not the last ones in the line, to provide the ultimate interpreation.
The reading for this section is from the textbook of Hayes and Holladay. It is devoted to the canonical criticism. As the authors of the assigned chapter rightly recognize, the canonical criticism (or, as B. S. Childs preferred to call it, "canonical approach") places emphasis on the interpretation of the Bible in the given community, typically the church (and also in the synagogue, for the comparison). Hayes and Holladay, again insightfully, realize, that this approach is also interested in the final form of the text (and so is close to the narrative criticism and synchronic reading, see the section III. BIBLICAL TEXT AS LITERATURE above). And as they note, it is also theological approach, which will be given room in the following section.
For the reception of the Old Testament in the New Testament compare the section Loci citati vel allegati in Nestle-Aland edition of the Greek text of the New Testament.
For the early reception in the church check relevant biblical commentaries (recently more and more attention is paid to the history of interpretation). Specialized commentary series for Christian interpretation is Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture.
You can search for specialized articles on your specific biblical text, like that of Klaas Smelik.
