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Recasting Moses

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Recasting Moses 4. The memory of Moses in Paul’s autobiographical references: The figures of Moses in the letters of Paul 4.1. Introduction In recent years, a significant scholarly debate has taken place concerning Paul’s use of the figure of Moses. Whereas some scholars such as Peter Jones and Carol Stockhausen have claimed that Paul sees himself specifically as a “second Moses”,247 others such as Peter Oakes have asserted that Moses does not play any major role in Paul’s letter, “Moses, as a figure, is not as important as we might expect, despite being intimately identified with the law”.248 The discussion has primarily taken place in relation to only one of Paul’s letters, namely 2 Corinthians. In this chapter, I seek to contribute to the debate by examining Paul’s use of the figure of Moses in all his undisputed letters. On the face of it, the figure of Moses seems to turn up at rare intervals only in Paul’s letters. Paul just refers to Moses explicitly nine times in his letters, five times in the Corinthian correspondence and four in the letter to the Romans.249 In addition, he merely seems to allude to Moses only a few times.250 In contrast to Philo and Josephus, Paul nowhere presents a com- prehensive view of Moses. His use of Moses is provisional and sometimes even contradictory. Because of the multiplicity of meanings, I shall there- fore speak of the figures of Moses in the letters of Paul rather than a single figure. Actually, his use of Moses even seems to change within the Corinthian correspondence. Thus I shall argue that in 1 Corinthians Paul casts himself in a role as being on a par with Moses, whereas later in the correspondence, he asserts his superiority over Moses probably due to a shift in the situation within the Corinthian congregation. In the letter to the Romans, Paul uses the figure of Moses in chapters 9–11, in which he is concerned with the salvation of the Jews and the attitude to the Jews of the Gentile Christians. Moses is here acknowledged as God’s prophet who reveals important aspects of the history of salvation, and in his concern for his kinsmen Paul again presents himself after the model of Moses. In con- trast to Gal 3:19f., where Moses symbolizes the negative aspects of the law, 247 P. Jones, The Apostle Paul. A Second Moses According to II Corinthians 2:14–4:7 (Unpublished PhD Dissertation, Princeton University Seminary 1973), 374–378; and C.K. Stockhausen, Moses’ Veil and the Glory of the New Covenant. The Exegetical Substructure of II Cor. 3,1–4,6, AnBib 116, Rome 1989, 169–175. Already in the 6th century, the presbyter Eustratius Constantinopolitanus labelled Paul a “second Moses” (De Statu Animarum post Mortem 141). 248 P. Oakes, Moses in Paul, in: T. Römer (ed.), La Construction de la Figure de Moïse. The Construction of the Figure of Moses, Supplement à Transeuphratène 13, Paris 2007, 249–261 (249). 249 For comparison, Paul refers to Abraham twelve times, five times in Rom 4:1–13 and seven times in the letter to the Galatians (six times in 3:6–18 and one in 4:22). 250 Though Paul does not mention Moses’ name in his letter to the Galatians, most interpreters find that the μεσίτης in Gal 3:19 is a reference to Moses. In this chapter, I shall mainly focus on Paul’s use of Moses in Romans and in the Corinthian correspondence. For Paul’s use of Moses in the Galatians, see, however, the excursus in 4.3.5. 90 The memory of Moses in Paul’s autobiographical references the positive functions of the law are here predominant in accordance with the chapters’ overall positive view of Moses. In spite of Paul’s infrequent use of Moses, I shall argue that Moses as a figure is actually quite important, but not as a theological figure. In view of the fact that Paul rarely turns to the figure of Moses, it is quite striking that the figure so often turns up precisely in relation to Paul’s autobiographical remarks. While for Paul other Biblical figures such as Adam and Abraham had major roles to play theologically,251 the figure of Moses instead seems to have played a major role in the autobiographical portions of Paul’s letters. Far from being digressions, Paul’s autobiographical remarks constitute a centre in his letters. The epistolary form was recognized in ancient critical theory as being especially effective for embodying and displaying character.252 As Michael Trapp has emphasized, “the letter form itself [scil. is] always potentially […] (auto)biographical”.253 Rather than examine the relationship between the figure of Moses and Paul’s theology, I shall therefore explore Paul’s autobiographical use of the figure of Moses. I do not agree that Paul is attempting to picture himself as the fulfilment of the Jewish expectation for a “second Moses” based on Deut 18:18, such as Jones has argued.254 There is no such expectation or fulfilment language in Paul’s use of Moses.255 The figure of Moses rather plays a crucial role as a figure of memory for Paul’s self-characterization. The figure, I claim, is used in his letters as a means of exerting pressure for particular courses of action. In addition, Paul applies the figure to himself in 1 Corinthians in order to support his redefinition of the categories of leadership and authority; later in the Corinthian correspondence his aim is to defend his authority; and finally in Romans 9–11 it is to strenghten his authority and get the Roman Christians’ support. 4.2. Moses and the Corinthian correspondence 4.2.1. Previous research on Paul’s use of the figure of Moses in the Corinthian correspondence While much has been said about Paul’s use of the figure of Moses in 2 Corinthians, his use of Moses in 1 Corinthians has been more unfairly treated. Commentators seem to confine themselves to a few brief remarks concerning Paul’s phrase “into Moses” in 1 Cor 10:2, which is often taken as 251 Adam is important for Paul’s anthropology and Christology, and Abraham for Paul’s soteriology – as has also been pointed out by Oakes, Moses in Paul, 2007, 249. 252 Perhaps this explains why ancient biographies sometimes appear in the fictional context of a letter. 253 Trapp, Biography in Letters, 2006, 347. 254 Jones, The Apostle Paul. A Second Moses According to II Corinthians 2:14–4:7, 1973, 374–378. See also his article, The Apostle Paul. Second Moses to the New Covenant Community, in: J.W. Montgomery (ed.), God’s Inerrant Word, Minneapolis 1974, 219–241. 255 Compare S.J. Hafemann, Paul, Moses, and the History of Israel. The Letter/Spirit Contrast and the Argument from Scripture in 2 Corinthians 3, WUNT 81, Tuebingen 1995, 102 n. 32. Moses and the Corinthian correspondence 91 reflecting the Jewish belief that the later redeemer (the Messiah) would be as the former redeemer (Moses).256 However, as Rudolf Schnackenburg argued long ago such a comparison is not really introduced into this text.257 The passage through the Red Sea is to be viewed as more than a mere figure for Christian baptism; rather, it is considered as an event that united the Israelites with Moses and as a paradigm of Christian redemption.258 While most comments on 1 Cor 10:2 examine the close relationship between Moses as Israel’s deliverer and Christ as that of the Corinthians, to my knowledge no one has discussed the possibility that in alluding to Moses Paul also implicitly points out a parallel between himself and Moses. I shall claim, however, that Paul presents himself as a figure parallel to Moses both in 1 Cor 10:2 and in other places in 1 Corinthians.259 With regard to Paul’s use of the figure of Moses in 2 Corinthians, the scholarly field has been substantially improved in recent years through the works of Carol K. Stockhausen, Linda Belleville and Scott J. Hafemann.260 They all seek to explain the picture of Moses in 2 Corinthians 3 on other grounds than in Dieter Georgi’s influential study, in which he claimed that Paul’s picture of Moses was essentially created by other Jewish missionaries who took Moses as the focal point of their own proclamation.261 However, since there is no evidence of any such groups operating in the early Christian communities, it seems better to explain the picture of Moses on other grounds. In contrast to Georgi, Stockhausen sees Paul’s picture of Moses as his own interpretation in which he depends on a complex of Septuagint texts from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel by using the methods of gezera shawa (catchword-linkage), qal wa-homer (arguing from a lesser case to 256 See e.g. C.K. Barrett, A Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, London 21994, 221; and W. Schrage, Der Erste Brief an die Korinther (1 Kor 6,12–11,16). 2. Teilband, EKK 7/2, Neukirchen 1995, 391. 257 R. Schnackenburg, Baptism in the Thought of St. Paul. A Study in Pauline Theology. Transl. by G.R. Beasley-Murray, Oxford 1964, 93. As Schnackenburg explains in his preface, the English translation is a “drastically revised new edition” of his id., Das Heilsgeschehen bei der Taufe nach dem Apostel Paulus. Eine Studie zur Paulinischen Theologie, MThS 1, Munich 1950. The passage which I refer to is missing in the German edition, cf.
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