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The Otherworld and This World in 2 Cor 12:1–10 in Light of Early Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition

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The Otherworld and This World in 2 Cor 12:1–10 in Light of Early Jewish Apocalyptic Tradition THE OTHERWORLD AND THIS WORLD IN 2 COR 12:1–10 IN LIGHT OF EARLY JEWISH APOCALYPTIC TRADITION Albert Hogeterp Among the Pauline letters, 2 Cor 12:1–10 provides one of the most visionary intimations about personal experiences with the ‘otherworld’,1 being the third heaven (v. 2) or Paradise (v. 4), as well as that which keeps the apostle from being too elated about these revelations (v. 7). Paul mentions an abundance of visions and revelations of the Lord (2 Cor 12:1; cf. 2 Cor 12:7), but he singles out one visionary experience of ‘a man in Christ fourteen years ago’, πρὸ ἐτῶν δεκατεσσάρων (2 Cor 12:2). This explicit chronological indication makes it possible to date the visionary experience related in 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 around 41 or 42 C.E., since the composition of Second Corinthians is usually dated to 55/56 C.E.2 The vision of 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 should therefore be situated in the time of Paul’s early mission in Syria and Cilicia (cf. Gal 1:21), a period described as ‘the missing years’ in biographical discus- sions of Paul’s missionary life.3 The way Paul phrases the visionary experience and the obstacle to exaltation raises several questions. Why does Paul speak in the third person singular about his own visions and revelations? What is 1 In view of comparison with 2 Cor 12:6–7, it is generally agreed that the rapture to the third heaven (2 Cor 12:2), to Paradise (2 Cor 12:4), stands for Paul’s visionary experience. See V.P. Furnish, II Corinthians (AB 32A; Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984), 524; R.P. Martin, 2 Corinthians (WBC 40; Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1986), 398; J.D.G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle(London: T&T Clark – Continuum, 1998), 108 n. 33: “Most assume that Paul is testifying to his own experience here (cf. 12.7a)”; M.E. Thrall, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians 2: Commentary on II Corinthians VIII–XIII (ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2000), 778. On the formulation of this visionary experience and its third person singular voice, see section 1 below. 2 See R. Bieringer, “Der 2. Korintherbrief in den neuesten Kommentaren,” ETL 67 (1991): 107–30 at 125–8; U. Schnelle, Einleitung in das Neue Testament (UTB 1830; 2nd ed., Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996), 97–9. 3 J. Murphy-O’Connor, Paul. A Critical Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 95–101. Cf. M. Hengel and A.M. Schwemer, Paulus zwischen Damaskus und Antiochien: die unbekannten Jahre des Apostels (WUNT 108; Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 1998). 210 albert hogeterp unutterable about the things heard in the rapture to the third heaven? How could the second half of the passage about the restraints which keep the apostle from being too elated (2 Cor 12:6–10) be under- stood? In other words, why does Paul phrase revelation the way he does it in this passage? In other passages of his Letters, Paul is all the more versatile about revelations concerning, for instance, the expected coming of the Lord (1 Thess 4:13–18) and resurrection of the dead (1 Cor 15). Visions and revelations as uttered by Paul about the final age have been described in terms of an apocalyptic perspective which is various respects indebted to Jewish apocalypticism.4 The visionary experience of 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 could generally be classified as an ‘otherworldly journey’, albeit in very terse form. This essay reconsid- ers Paul’s formulation in this passage in light of the larger context of the letter and of Jewish apocalyptic literature contemporary to Paul, in search of the meaning of the very restrained terms. 1. Paul’s Relation to the ‘Otherworld’ The immediate context from which Paul starts to speak of visions and revelations of the Lord are the introductory words ‘I must boast; there is nothing to be gained by it’ (2 Cor 12:1a, RSV). This introduction also connects with the preceding chapter in which Paul has gone at length to counter the boastful mission of his opponents with boasting from the conviction that it is foolish and worldly (2 Cor 11:12–33). This context and rhetorical situation5 merits further attention, in order to evaluate the setting in which Paul goes on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 4 See e.g. M.C. de Boer, The Defeat of Death. Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthi- ans 15 and Romans 5 (JSNTSup 22; Sheffield: Academic Press, 1988); idem, “Paul and Jewish Apocalyptic Eschatology,” in Apocalyptic and the New Testament (ed. J. Mar- cus and ML. Soards; JSNTSup 24; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1989), 169–90; idem, “Paul and Apocalyptic Eschatology,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism1 The Origins of Apocalypticism in Judaism and Christianity (ed. J.J. Collins; New York: Continuum, 1998), 345–83; J.J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to Jewish Apocalyptic Literature (The Biblical Resource Series; 2nd ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1998), 264–8. 5 L.F. Bitzer, “The Rhetorical Situation,” Philosophy and Rhetoric 1 (1968): 1–14 has distinguished exigence, audience and constraints against persuasion as three factors in the ‘rhetorical situation’ of a communication..
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