Some common discourse styles used in the Quran and the Bible:
(Biblical turns of phrase in the Qur’an) When the examples are examined, it is seen that the Quran adapts the discourses from the New Testament to a greater extent than from the Old Testament.
- The Quran uses the discourses found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament in a sense closer to the context in the New Testament. The expression in Anbiya 104, “We roll up the heavens as if we were rolling up scrolls of written paper,” has a universal eschatological connotation, as in the book of Revelation in the New Testament.
Some of these examples may well have arisen from commonalities in Semitic languages rather than a commonality through the Bible. However, when all the examples are examined together, (1) the Quran (even the Meccan surahs) uses the discourses in the Bible, (2) the expressions in the Quran + we can reach three conclusions: the majority of them originate from the New Testament, not the Old Testament. (3) The Quran generally uses these expressions with meanings different from the meanings they have in their original contexts.
- Although the “circumcision of the hearts” mentioned in Nisa 155 is also used in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the context of “murder of the prophets” is only found in Acts 7:51-53 in the New Testament. For this reason, the statement in the Quran points to the New Testament as the source of the discourse.
Also, verse 155 of Nisa is very close to Acts 7:51-53. In both places, the statement that the hearts of the Jews are uncircumcised is emphasized along with their being prophet killers and disobedience. “killing the prophets and saying, ‘Our hearts are covered’..” [Nisa 155]
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