Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament • 2. Reihe Herausgeber/Editor Jörg Frey Mitherausgeber / Associate Editors Friedrich Avemarie • Judith Gundry-Volf Martin Hengel • Otfried Hofius • Hans-Josef Klauck 173 ARTI BUS John Lierman The New Testament Moses Christian Perceptions of Moses and Israel in the Setting of Jewish Religion Mohr Siebeck JOHN LIERMAN, born 1965; 1994 M.Div. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois; 1997 M. A. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois; 2003 Ph.D., Cambridge University; currently Adjunct Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary Southwest and Adjunct Professor of Bible Studies, Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, Ariziona. ISBN3-16-148202-6 ISSN 0340-9570 (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe) Die Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliographie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de. © 2004 by Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, Germany This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that permitted by copyright law) without the publisher's written permission. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. The book was printed by Druckpartner Rübelmann GmbH in Hemsbach on non-aging paper and bound by Buchbinderei Schaumann in Darmstadt. Printed in Germany. For Mom and Dad Preface This book is a significantly revised and rewritten version of a dissertation accepted by the Faculty of Divinity and the Board of Graduate Studies of Cambridge University in 2002 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Thanks are in order first of all to my Doktorvater, Professor William Horbury, to whom I express the most profound and heartfelt gratitude for the skillful supervision, inexhaustible patience, and unflagging encourage- ment he gave me while the thesis that underlies this book was in prepara- tion. His thorough acquaintance with source material and his scholarly acumen in fields of study so far flung that among persons of merely great erudition they lie in entirely separate areas of expertise were an inspiration to me throughout my enjoyable time under his supervision. For numerous thoughtful comments and suggestions over the whole of the thesis I am also deeply grateful to Professor Christopher Rowland, Dr. Andrew Chester, and Professor Martin Hengel. Dr. Peter Head provided helpful criticism of selected portions as well. Their kind assistance greatly aided the revision of the study to its present form. For helping to meet not only my own financial needs, but also those of Corpus Christi College and Cambridge University, I owe a debt of thanks to many. I am grateful to the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals of the Universities of the United Kingdom for a three-year Overseas Research Students Award, to the Cambridge Overseas Trust for the award of a three-year Bursary, and to the Master and the Tutor for Advanced Stu- dents of Corpus Christi College for the award of a Purvis Scholarship. The Tutor for Advanced Students at my matriculation was Dr. Paul Hewett, to whom I am grateful not only for the financial support he was instrumental in providing, but also for inviting me to matriculate at a college which pro- vides such a supportive environment in which to do postgraduate research. Special thanks in this respect go also to the Master Professor Haroon Ahmed, the Warden of Leckhampton Dr. Chris Howe, and the Graduate Secretary Mrs. Margaret Cathie. Also, when my studies were interrupted by a lengthy period of illness Dr. C. J. B. Brookes, then the Tutor for Advanced Students at Corpus, saw that I was provided College Hardship funding. I remain grateful to Dr. Allan C. Carlson and Dr. Harold O. J. Brown of The Howard Center for Family, Religion and Society for taking me on as an Associate of the Center on Religion and Society, and to Dr. Steven Dilsaver for providing a one-year stipend for that position. I am Vili Preface grateful to the Trustees of the Crosse Fund and to the Managers of the Theological Studies Fund of the University of Cambridge for awarding me further support in the latter part of my research. Mr. Paul Riddington generously paid for private medical care for tendonitis, brought on in the line of (research) duty. My parents have provided for many needs as they have arisen and, as usual for parents, have received only a fraction of the thanks they deserve. Two other patrons who wish to remain anonymous also have my sincere thanks. I have benefited from the support and assistance of many friends and colleagues in ways that are sometimes hard to quantify. Professor Horbury and his wife Katharine provided me with months of gracious hospitality in their home during the preparation of this book, chiefly asking in return only that I chop down a number of trees in their back garden, something I would have relished doing anyway. Dr. David Chapman was an encoura- ging friend and fellow researcher at the thesis stage, and he and his wife Tasha lavished delicious meals on me regularly, as if feeding me was some sort of privilege. Marko Jauhiainen gave me the computer on which nearly all my writing has been done since my own met its demise, and the rest of the Tyndale House community also provided camaraderie and support in all kinds of ways, especially the Warden, Dr. Bruce Winter, who undertook selfless and thoughtful pastoral care, the librarian Dr. Elizabeth Magba, research fellows Dr. David Instone-Brewer and Dr. Peter Williams, and the administrator, Mrs. Fiona Craig. For the work done in Phoenix, Jason and Jennifer Schumann gave me the use of their office and the freedom of their house, including the pantry and the refrigerator. A great many people seem to have fed me while I wrote this book. Not all can be named here, but I think warmly of each one. I am grateful to Dr. Kris Burroughs for her (painfully) insightful com- ments on style, and for volunteering, as the last deadline neared, to share in the unrelenting tedium of indexing. Miss Helen Dalgleish ferreted out many "strange sentences!" and malapropisms throughout the whole of this study. No doubt a residue of errors persists, and responsibility for it, as well as for any persisting errors of fact or interpretation, can be laid at my door. Phoenix, Arizona John Lierman 28 September 2003 ad maiorem Dei gloriam Table of Contents Preface VII Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Scope and Method 1 1.1.1 Focus 1 1.1.2 Arrangement 2 1.1.3 Sources 4 1.2 Need and Prospects for This Study 9 1.3 Recent Study of Moses in the New Testament 10 1.4 Recent Study of Moses in Ancient Jewish and Graeco-Roman Writings . 22 1.4.1 The Alexandrians: Artapanus, Aristobulus, and Ezekiel Tragicus ... 22 1.4.2 The Alexandrians: Philo 23 1.4.3 The Palestinians: Josephus and Pseudo-Philo 25 1.4.4 Qumran 26 1.4.5 The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha 26 1.4.6 Rabbinic and Other Jewish Literature 27 1.4.7 Study of Moses in Greek and Roman Writings 27 1.5 Plan 29 Chapter 2 Moses as Prophet 2.1 Introduction 32 2.2 Moses as Prophet in the Old Testament 32 2.3 Moses as Prophet in Writings of the Second Temple Period 34 2.3.1 Jubilees 34 2.3.2 Ben Sira 34 2.3.3 Wisdom of Solomon 36 2.3.4 Aristobulus 36 2.3.5 The Exagoge 36 2.3.6 Views of Moses as Prophet Attested by Non-Jews 37 2.3.7 The Assumption of Moses 38 Excursus: The Scope of Moses' Prophetic Mission in the Assumption of Moses 39 and Jewish Thought of the First Century 2.3.8 Moses as Prophet in Other Biblical Pseudepigrapha 43 2.3.9 Philo 43 2.3.10 Josephus 45 2.4 Moses as Prophet in Samaritan Literature 45 2.5 Moses as Prophet in the Targums 46 2.6 Moses as Prophet in Rabbinic Literature 48 2.7 Moses as Prophet in the New Testament 49 X Table of Contents 2.7.1 Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 8:5-6; 9:15, 19; and 12:21, 24 49 2.7.2 Acts 3:21-26 51 2.7.3 Acts 7:20-39 52 2.7.3.1 Miracles as Prophetic Authentication in Second Temple 52 Judaism 2.7.3.2 Miracles as Prophetic Authentication in the New Testament... 53 2.7.3.3 The "Wonders and Signs" of Moses 55 2.7.3.4 "Signs" as Specifically the Authenticating Miracles of Prophets 56 2.7.3.5 Conclusion 62 2.8 Conclusion 63 Chapter 3 Moses as Priest and Apostle 3.1 Introduction 65 3.2 The Priesthood of Moses 66 3.2.1 The Bible and Biblical Tradition 66 3.2.2 Graeco-Roman Writers 67 3.2.3 Philo 67 3.2.4 Josephus 68 3.2.5 Pseudo-Philo 68 3.2.6 Samaritan Literature 69 3.2.7 Rabbinic Literature 70 3 .3 The Apostleship of Moses 71 3.3.1 The Biblical Background 71 3.3.2 Literature of Second Temple Judaism 71 3.3.3 Samaritan Literature 71 3.3.4 Rabbinic Literature 72 3.4 The Priesthood and Apostleship of Moses in Hebrews 3:1-6 73 3.5 Conclusion 76 Chapter 4 Moses as King 4.1 Introduction 79 4.2 Moses as King in Biblical Traditions 79 4.2.1 Exodus 4:20 79 4.2.2 Deuteronomy 33:5 80 4.2.2.1 The Masoretic Tradition 80 4.2.2.2 Targums 81 4.2.2.3 Greek Translations 82 4.2.2.4 Conclusion 83 4.2.3 Deuteronomy 18:15 84 4.2.3.1 Prophets as Kings 84 4.2.3.2 A Prophet-King in Deuteronomy 18:15 85 4.2.3.2.1 Jewish Traditions of a Mosaic Prophet-King 86 4.2.3.2.2 Samaritan Traditions of a Mosaic Prophet-King 88 4.2.3.2.3 Conclusion 89 4.3 Moses as King in Second Temple Period Literature 90 4.3.1 The Exagoge of Ezekiel the Tragedian 90 4.3.1.1 Divine Moses or Royal Moses? 91 Table of Contents XI 4.3.1.2 The Ascent of Moses 94 4.3.1.3 Divinity and Divinization 97 4.3.1.3.1 Criteria for Ascription ofDivinity: R.