Seeing the, Glory, Hearing the Son: The Function of the Wilderness Theophany Narratives in Luke 9:28-36

Seeing the, Glory, Hearing the Son: The Function of the Wilderness Theophany Narratives in Luke 9:28-36 DAVID M. MILLER Briercrest College and Seminary Caronport, SK SOH OSO, Canada Ti-rn MOUNTAIN, cloud, and heavenly voice of Luke s transfiguration account are widely regarded as stage pieces, designed to recall biblical theophany narratives associated with Mount Sinai and to set up a comparison demonstrating Jesus supe riority to Moses. From this christological perspective, Jesus appears as the new and greater prophet like Moses who liberates his followers through a new exodus) The transfiguration reveals Jesus true and lasting glory, which contrasts with Moses merely external glory.2 Even the concluding irnperative Hear him! becomes a statement about the authority of Jesus teaching, which surpasses the authority of Moses and Elijah.3 Although the transfiguration undoubtedly makes a statement about Jesus identity, concentrating exclusively on Jesus and Moses is too constraining, for the intertextual web is spun between events as well as people. Instead of dwelling only Jindlich Mánek, The New Exodus in the Books of Luke, NovT2 (195$) 8-23, esp. 20-21; Susan R Gatiett, Exodus from Bondage: Luke 9:31 and Acts 12:1-24, CBQ 52 (1990) 656-80. Cf. Sharon H. Ringe, Luke 9:28-36: The Beginning of an Exodus, $emeia 28 (1983) 83-99. 2Hejns SchOrmann, DasLukasevangelium, vol. 1, Kommentarzu Kap. 1, 1 9, 50 (HTKNT 3/i; 4th ed.; Freiburg: Herder, 1990) 556-57. George B. Caird, The Transfiguration, &pflm 67(1955 56) 291-94, here 292; Joseph A. fitzmyer, The Gospel according to Luke: Introduction, Thanslation, and Notes (2 vols.; AB 28, 28A; Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1981, 1985) 1:803; John Paul Heil, The Transfiguration ofjesus: Narrative Meaning andfunction ofmark9:2-8, Matt 17:1-8 andluke 9:28-36(AnBib 144; Rome: Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 2000) 272. 498

WILDERNESS THEOPHANY NARRATIVES IN LUKE 9:28-36 499 500 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY 72, 2010 on similarities between Moses and Jesus, Luke wraps the entire transfiguration in a series of allusions to the wilderness theophany narratives associated with Mount Sinai. Determining the function of this theophany imagery requires tracing the threads, noticing connecting links, and testing the various strands for strength, all the while resisting the temptation to impose coherence where it does not exist or to reject verbal parallels prematurely because they do not fit a preconceived pattern. The sheer number of verbal parallels between the transfiguration and passages in Jewish Scripture makes it difficult to discern a unified pattern if indeed there is one. As George B. Caird observed, Every detail of the story is surrounded by so great a wealth of association that explanations can be multiplied without depart ing from the bounds of probability. 4 I make no claim here to exhaust the signifi cance of the transfiguration. Instead, I will argue that echoes of the wilderness theophany tradition in the transfiguration reflect a way of reading Scripture that is common to other Second Temple Jewish writers, attentive to narrative cues within Scripture and rooted in the Sinaitic covenant described in Exodus 19 24. These echoes of Sinai shape the audience s perception of Jesus as one who must be heard and expose what is at stake for those who are summoned to respond. Just as hearing and obeying the words of God mediated by Moses were at the center of the Sinaitic covenant ceremony, so in the transfiguration hearing the Son now forms the basis for God s covenant relationship with the people. The main emphasis in Luke 9:28-36 is not that Jesus is the prophet like Moses, or even that Jesus is superior to Moses and Elijah, but that Jesus, the chosen Son, must, like Moses, be heard. I. Evidence for the Wilderness Theophany Tradition in Mark and Luke A. Mark 9:2-10 According to Bruce D. Chilton, it is beyond reasonable doubt that the theo phany in Exodus 24 forms the primary biblical background for the transfiguration in Luke s Marcan source.6 In both passages (1) three named people accompany the primary figure; (2) there is an ascent up a mountain; (3) a cloud covers the Caird, Transfiguration, 291. 5This is not to suggest that the transfiguration alludes only to wilderness theophany narratives. As John Nolland (Luke 9:21-18:34 [WBC 353; Dallas: Word, 1993] 490-97) demonstrates, the transfiguration also links back to Jesus baptism and forward to the passion, resurrection, and ascen sion narratives. Hellenistic readers may also have been reminded of Greek epiphany stories. See Candida R. Moss, The Transfiguration: An Exercise in Markan Accommodation, Biblical Inter pretation 12 (2004) 69-89. t3rnce D. Chilton, The Transfiguration: Domimcal Assurance and Apostolic Vision, NTS 27(1980)115-24, here 122. mountain; (4) a time period of six days is mentioned; and (5) the participants hear someone speaking from the cloud. 7 The parallels look impressive, but on closer inspection what is distinctive about them proves more apparent than real. First, and most obvious, the claim that Jesus companions (Peter, James, and John) parallel Moses companions (Aaron, Nadab, and Abthu) disregards the presence of the seventy elders as well as Joshua, a fourth named figure who makes an appearance along with Moses in Exod 24:13, and again in the LXX of 24:15.8 Second, the remaining similarities between the two passages have nothing to do with Moses companions. Although the seventythree individuals go up to worship God (24:1, 9), they are required to worship from afar (v. 1). The mountain (which is never mentioned in connection with the elders ascent), the cloud, and the six days are all associated with Moses and Joshua s subsequent journey up the mountain while the elders wait below.9 Third, the order of events is different in Mark and Exodus. In Exodus 24, the cloud covers the mountain for six days, whereas in Mark there is at least a six-day period before the cloud appears. In Exodus 24, Moses and Joshua ascend the mountain at the beginning of six days; in Mark, Jesus and his companions ascend the mountain after six days. Mark, of course, was not required to follow Exodus 24 slavishly, yet the differences between the two passages raise questions about the existence of an intended parallel between them. Although Mark may have been thinldng of the description of Moses ascent in the last section of Exodus 24, the hasty con clusion that Exodus 24 is primarily or exclusively in view has obscured potential links with other related theophany narratives. Once the six days and three com panions are removed from the comparison, the remaining elements a mountain ascent, a cloud, and divine speech are not unique to this particular theophany. 1 See Ulrich Mauser, Christ in the Wilderness: The WIlderness Theme in the Second Gospel and Its Basis in the Biblical Tradition (SBT 39; London: SCM, 1963)111-14; John A. Ziesler, The Transfiguration Story and the Markan Soteriology, Expflm 81(1970) 263-68, here 265-67; Richard T. France, The Gospel ofmark: A Commentary on the Greek Text (MGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdrnans, 2002) 348. See Markus Ohler, Die Verklämng (Mk 9:1-8): Die Anlcunft der Herrschaft Goftes aufder Erde, NovT38 (1996) 197-217, here 203; John C. Poirier, Jewish and Christian Tradition in the Transfiguration, RB 111 (2004) 516-30, here 518. Pace Heil (Transfiguration, 29, 134-36), it is most likely that the pronoun a&roiç ( them ) in Mark 9:7 includes the disciples, who are the closest antecedent (9:6), and that the cloud over shadows everyone on the mountain. In Mark, but not Exodus24, this includes the three named com panions of the primaiy figure. See Robert H. Gundry, Mark: A Commentary on HisApologyfor the Cross (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993) 460-61. See Gundry, Marlç 475-76, For alternative explanations ofthe precise reference to six days, see Foster R. McCurley, And after Six Days (Mark 9:2): A Semitic Literary Device, JBL 93 (1974) 67-81, here 67; and Poirier, Transfiguration, 518-20, This does not mean that the background for the transfiguration must be sought elsewhere

WILDERNESS THEOPHANY NARRATIVES in LUKE 9:28-36 501 502 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY 72, 2010 For example, all three elements form part of the initial theophany on Mount Sinai recorded in Exodus 19 20. (1) In both Mark 9 and Exodus 19, a divine rev elation is located in proximity to a mountain.12 Although the primary theophany occurs on Mount Sinai while all the people apparently including Moses remain below, Moses does make several trips up and down the mountain in Exodus 19.13 (2) In both passages, a cloud descends on the mountain. 4 (3) And in both passages, but not in Exod 24:9-18, the divine speech from the cloud is identified as a voice (puvt). 5 All three elements also reappear in Exodus 34: (1) Moses ascends Mount Sinai (v. 4); (2) Thwh descends in a cloud (v. 5) and (3) proclaims the divine name to Moses from within the cloud (v. 5). In addition, Moses shining face (v. 29) may be evoked by the description of Jesus transfiguration (Mark 9:2), despite the absence of a verbal parallel. 6 And the disciples fear (Mark 9:6), which Mark links more closely to their reaction to Jesus appearance than do the other evangelists, mayrecall how Aaron and the elders were afraid to come near Moses when they saw his face (Exod 34:30). An allusion to Exodus 34 is supported further by the appearance of Moses and Elijah. Whatever the reason for their appearance at the transfiguration, it is surely significant that both Moses and Elijah had theophany experiences on a mountain, and that Elijah s experience in 1 Kings 19 resembles Moses experience in Exodus 34,18 (pace Poirier, Transfiguration, 521). As we will see, there are other distinctive echoes of the wilder ness theophany tradition that point to Exodus as the primary source for the imagery. 2Mark 9:2 par. Matt 17:1; Luke 9:28; cf. Exod 19:2-3; Deut 5:4, 22-23. Exodus 19:2-3, 14,20-21,24-25. In the Gospels, the transfiguration occurs with the viewers on the mountain. The reference to the mountain may thus have more in common with one of the other theophany narratives in Exodus, such as Moses ascent up the mountain in Exodus 24 or 34. Still, the mountain is a prominent feature ofthe initial theophany at Mount Sinai as well as the trans figuration. Exodus 19:9, 13, 16; Mark 9:6-7. Exodus 19:19 (cf. Mark 9:7 par. Luke 9:35; Mart 17:5; Exod 19:5; 20:18; and the plural in 19:13, 16); the cloud is mentioned in Exod 19:16. Here one might point to the influence of both passages, since Exod 24:18 and Mark 9:7, but not Exodus 19, specify that the audible sound came from the cloud (x [Aaou] tfc vepéxic). On the other hand, apart from Exod 19:16-19 and the Gospel transfiguration accounts, a divine voice (qavi) and cloud (vaqukr1) appear together in the same contextonly in Num 9:20, and perhaps Ezek 1:28. In neither passage is there a reference to a mountain, See Angela Standhartinger, Jesus, Elija und Mose auf dem Berg: Traditions geschichtlicheoberlegungen zur Verklanmgsgeschichte (Iv& 9,2-8), BZ47 (2003) 66-85, here 81: Die Verbindung von Wolke und Stimme hat, biblisch gesehen vor allem in der Dekalogverkundi gung thren Oa 16 See France, Mark 348. See Mauser, Wilderness, 113. Elijah s experience in 1 Kings 19 echoes Exod 34:1-8; the still small voice (1 Kgs 19:11-13) stands in counterpoint to the thunder and lightning on Mount Sinai (Exod 19:16). See Dale C. Mark s transfiguration account contains two other verbal parallels relevant to our investigation, which at first seem unrelated: (1) As most scholars recognize, the divine command, This is my Son... listen to him [àkoere airoi3] (Mark 9:7) recalls Deut 18:15, where Moses instructs the people to listen (a&roii àicoiaea0e) to the prophet whom God will raise up. (2) Less often mentioned presumably because a rationale for the allusion is more difficult to find is that only one biblical theophany narrative shares with the transfiguration the rare verb éirtaxtálw ( cover ), which is used to describe the overshadowing cloud. Accord ing to Exod 40:35, when the cloud envelops the tent of meeting after its com pletion, Moses is not able to enter because the cloud covered [itenciaav] it. 19 3. Luke 9:28-36 Luke shares with Mark almost all the verbal parallels with the wilderness theophany narratives mentioned so far, including the mountain, the overshadow ing cloud, and the voice that speaks from the cloud. But there are also differences, one of which is the change from after six days in Mark to about eight days in Luke 9:28, Evidently Luke did not notice an allusion to Exod 24:16, if that is what Mark intended.20 Several additional redactional changes, however, enhance the theophany-like quality of the passage: 1. Deut 18:15. Luke 9:35 reverses the order of Mark s àko1e-re airoo to airov àkol5eee, which aligns the phrase more closely with Deut 18:15. Given the direct quotation from Deut 18:15 in Acts 3:22, an intentional allusion to this pas sage in Luke s transfiguration account can hardly be doubted.. 2. The ascent up the mountain. Mark s statement that Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up [àvappet airotcj to a high mountain Allison, Jr., The New Moses: A Matthean flpology (Minneapolis: fortress, 1993)41; Standhartinger, Verklanmgsgeschichte, 74. 19 Elsewhere in the LXX, the verb bttmudcw occurs only in Pss 90:4; 139:8; Prov 18:11. The verbal parallel is mentioned but not explained by McCurley, Literary Device, 75-76; and Morna D. Hooker, The Gospel according to Saint Mark (BNTC; London: A. & C. Black, 1991)218. Cf. Ohier ( Verklarung, 210 n. 38), who allows dab éiuaictáltv wohl bewuot den Sprachgebrauch der LXX auffiimmt. It is tempting to see behind Peter s suggestion to build three booths (rpeic mcrivdc) an allusion to the tabernacle (lj aicqv) of Exod 40:34-35, but it is perhaps better to leave Peter s com ment undetenuined. Regardless of the motive for Peter s suggestion, Mark s explanatory comment in 9:6 shows it tube misguided (so Heil, Transfiguration, 115-27). 20 Barbara E. Reid, The Transfiguration: A Source- and Redaction-Critical Study ofluke 9:28-36 (CahRB 32; Paris: Gabalda, 1993) 100-102, for explanations of Luke s eight days. Whether it came from a special source, as Reid argues, eight days is most likely a general desig nation for a period of about a week. See frederick W. Danker, Jesus and the New Age: A Commen tary on St. Luke s Gospel (2nd ed.; Philadelphia: fortress, 1988) 198.

WILDERNESS THEOPHANYNARRATWES N LUKE 9:28-36 503 504 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72, 2010 apart, by themselves (Mark 9:2) is reworded in Luke to emphasize Jesus own ascent: taking along Peter, John, and James, he went up to the mountain [àvé3r1 tic rà ôpocj (Luke 9:28). The same expression is used repeatedly in the LXX to describe Moses ascent up Mount Sinai notably in Exod 19:3, when the Israelites first arrive at the mountain.21 The same phrase is used of Moses and Joshua s ascent in Exod 24:13 and of Moses ascent alone in 24:18. It appears again in Exod 34:4 and Deut 10:3, when Moses returns up the mountain with two newly cut tablets and is granted a vision of God s glory. The phrase is seldom used elsewhere in the LXX in relation to anyone else.22 Luke, then, has linked Jesus ascent up the mount of transfiguration with an activity typical of Moses. 3. Glory. One of the most striking distinctives of Luke s account is the double reference to glory in 9:31-33. Matthew and Mark focus on Jesus transfigured appearance, mentioning only that his conversation partners, Moses and Elijah, appear; Luke adds that they appear in glory (év M) and that Peter and his com panions also see his [Jesus ] glory (óeav airtou). Most scholars conclude that Luke presents Jesus glory as a preview of the heavenly glory, now shared by Moses and Elijah, which Jesus obtains after his suffering and death and they are correct. Immediately before the transfiguration (9:26), Jesus had predicted the coming of the Son of Man in his glory (öó a&rofi).23 In Luke 24:26, the res urrected Jesus explains that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and to enter his glory [oav a1rrofi]. Peter s speech in Acts 3:13 and Stephen s vision in Acts 7:55 confirm that the resurrected Jesus, now exalted in heaven, has already entered into glory. 24 But the heavenly glory experienced by Moses, Elijah, and Jesus is more precisely God s own glory (Acts 7:55); it is the glory of the Lord (ôoa icvp(ou) that shone around the shepherds at Jesus birth (Luke 2:9), which is associated by extension with anything belonging to God s realm. In the LXX, &Sa icupiou takes on a technical meaning as the translation for mv 772D, the glory ofyhwh, which is used to express God s presence or self-manifestation 21 Whereas the MT says Moses went up to God (T% T 711 rt1laj), the LXX is more circumspect: And Moses went up to the mountain of God (Kin Mwuaic àvi3q dc rô öpoc ro0 OeoO). The mention of law in Isa 2:3 and Mb 4:3 recalls Moses ascent of Sinai. The remaining occurrences of the phrase are as follows: the people are forbidden to ascend (Exod 19:12; cf. Deut 5:5); ascending the hill country (Num 13:17; Deut 1:24, 41); Moses ascends Mount Nebo (Num 27:12; Deut 32:49); ascending Mount Zion (Ps 23:3 [Eng. 24:3]; 1 Macc 4:37; 5:54); Isa 37:24; 4Kgdms 19:23. 23 Cf. Mark 8:38; Matt 16:27; also Luke 21:27 (par. Mark 13:26; Matt 24:30). 24 Acts 3:13 most likely refers to the glorification of Jesus that resulted from his resurrection rather than from the healing miracle. See C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on theacts of theapostles (2 vols.; ICC; Edinburgh: Clark, 1994, 1998) 1:195. at Sinai, and in the tabernacle after its consecration.25 Thus, although Luke is pri marily interested in Jesus own future glory, the biblical connotations of the word still resound in his transfiguration account.26 4 Jesus appearance Mark s description of the transfigured Jesus concen trates on the whiteness of Jesus gannents (9 2-3), Luke refers to a change m Jesus face and, in so domg, introduces a minor verbal parallel with Exod 34 29 Accord ing to the LXX, the appearance of the skin of his [Moses ] face [roil xpoawnou nuroil] was glorified [&óoaarat], when he descended Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets Luke states that the form of his [Jesus ] face [too itpoawitov auroo] was changed (9 29) The reference to his glory (&av ciuroil) (9 32) suggests further that Luke saw in Jesus glorious appearance a parallel with the glorified face of Moses.27 5. Fear on entering the cloud. Mark mentions that the disciples are afraid after they see Elijah and Moses conversing with Jesus; Luke mentions the disci ples fear after the cloud came, adding and they were afraid as they entered the cloud (9:34). This recalls Moses entry into the cloud as he climbs the mountain in Exod 24:1828 though there is no mention there of fear. Fear is a typical response 25 See Gerhard Kittel, óóct, TDNT 2:232-37, 242-55, here 244; H. Hegermann, 6a, EDNT 1:344-47, here 345. Significantly, in the first biblical reference to the phrase, which occurs before the Israelites arrive at Sinai, the glory ofyhwh [mm 71D/5óa. lcup(ou] appears in the cloud [p37/v vpéa0] outside the camp in the wilderness (Exod 16:10; of. the description ofthe cloud in Exod 33:7-11). for the association with Sinai, see Exod 24:16 and Deut 5:24, and the discussion below. Every pentateuchal occurrence of the glory of Yhwh after Exod 40:34-35 is associated with the tabernacle. Occurrences elsewhere in the LXX often recall the wilderness theophanies in some way (of. Isa 4:2-6; 1 Kgs 8:10-il; 2 ChrS:13-14; 7:1-3; 2 Macc 2:7-8). 26 See Fitzmyer, Luke, 1:794; David?. Moessner, Lord ofthe Banquet: The Literary and Theo logical Significance ofthe Lukan Travel Narrative (Minneapolis: fortress, 1989) 61. 27 Since the phrase too npoathnou aoroo is common, it is the other similarities with Exodus 34 that suggest a deliberate echo. See SchOrmann, Lukasevangetium, 1:556; I. Howard Marshall, The Gospel ofluke: A Commentary on the Greek Text (NIGTC; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978) 383. Heil (Transfiguration, 79, 92) objects that Moses glorification occurs after his meeting with God, white Jesus occurs before his meeting with Moses and Elijah; but this is to confuse the role of Moses and Elijah with God s role. Reid (Transfiguration, 105) regards the parallel as abstruse, but Luke s expression may be understood as a simplification of the LXX s convoluted expression il ôwtc too xpthscsroc mu npoathnou a&roi3 ( the appearance of the skin of his face ) by omitting y,pthia ( skin ) and changing &jitc ( appearance ) to elóoc ( form ), a term applied by Luke to Jesus in 3:22. This is more likely than the suggestion of Moessner (Lord, 61) that si6oç in 9:29 and ôóa in 9:32 recall the description of the form of the glory of the Lord (ai&c r]c a6ç icvplou) in Exod 24:17 (cf. 24:10). 28 Compare v tcj) diadxodiv airrooc etc lily veptaiv ( as they entered the cloud ) (Luke 9:34) and dtaiixoev Mwuatic dc to 1jéov rljc veq)aflc ( Moses entered the middle of the cloud ) (Exod

WILDERNESS THEOPHANY NARRATIVES IN LUKE 9:28-36 505 506 THE CATHOLIC BiBLICAL QUARTERLY 72, 2010 to the appearance of a heavenly being, but it may also redirect attention to the initial theophany narrative of Exodus 19 20, where those who saw the voice, the flashes and the voice of the trumpet, and the smoking mountain (Exod 20:18 LXX) responded with fear.29 In sum, Luke appears to have recognized many of the similarities between the transfiguration and the wilderness theophany narratives that were present already in his Marcan source; he reworded several of them to make the connections more obvious.30 The ascent up the mountain, the cloud, the glory, the divine speech from the cloud, and the entry into the cloud are reminiscent of the theophanies in Exodus 19 20; 24; and 34. Luke alludes also to the description of Moses face in Exodus 34; the reference to the disciples fear may recall the response to the initial Sinai theophany in Exodus 20. He retains also the verbal link with Exod 40:34-35 and strengthens the echo of Deut 18:15. The overall effect is a heightened corre spondence between the transfiguration and the wilderness theophanies. II. Reading the Wilderness Theophany Narratives through Deuteronomy 18:15 We have, then, a seemingly bewildering collection of verbal parallels to a variety of different theophany narratives. Before turning to examine the function of the imagery in Luke, it is worth considering whether there are grounds for this combination of verbal parallels in the LXX.3 The following review of the plot of the Book of Exodus and of Second Temple Jewish discussion will demonstrate that the theophany passages in Exodus make up one of the book s central themes, that they are all connected in Exodus to the Sinai theophany recorded in chaps. 19 20, and that other ancient readers noticed the connections. We will see also that the promise of a prophet like Moses in Deut 18:15 is related in its own context to the initial Sinai theophany in a way that foregrounds Moses role as covenant mediator. 24:18). The verb tic4xoat ( enter ) does not occur together with vrpaki ( cloud ) anywhere else in the LXX. See Fitzmyer, Luke, 1:802; Heil, Thansfiguration, 136, 267. 29 Exodus 20:18, 20; cf. Deut 5:5; Nolland, Luke, 501. Even if, as Reid (Transfiguration, 146) argues, Luke 9:28-36 is more complex than a simple reworking of the Marcan source by Luke, the evangelist is responsible for the final form of the text 311 assume that Luke s close familiarity with Scripture came from reading the LXX (see Fitzmyer, Luke, 1:113-25), and therefore quotations in the following discussion ofexodus are from the Greek text unless otherwise noted. Although the LXX of Exodus sometimes differs markedly from the MT, the basic themes and plot structure remain the same. No attention is paid here to source-critical questions, as these would not have occurred to Luke or his earliest readers. A. The Wilderness Theophany Narratives in Exodus After the Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai, God initiates the covenant by demanding the people s obedience and promising God s own faithfulness: And now, if you hear my voice and keep my covenant, you will be to me a special people from all the nations. For the whole earth is mine. And you will be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation. (Exod 19:5-6) The people s affirmative response we will do and we will hear (19:8 LXX) is followed by God s descent on Mount Sinai (19:9). Though the term glory does not actually figure in Exodus 19 20, the description of the initial Sinai theophany voices and lightuings and dark cloud, the voice of a trumpet (19:16), and the mountain that is smoking like the smoke of a furnace because God had descended on it in fire (19:1 8) was no doubt understood as the glory of the Lord. The parallel account in Deut 5:24 and the more detailed description of the glory of the Lord as a burning fire in Exod 24:17 make this clear.32 During the theophany, God declares the Ten Commandments in the hearing of all the people (see Exod 19:9; 20:1). The peoplerespond with fear and ask Moses to speak on God s behalf. The scene ends with Moses entering the darkness where God was (Exod 20:2 1). following three chapters of legal material (Exod 20:22 24:2), presumably delivered to Moses while he is on the mountain,34 Moses relates to the people what God told him. Their response, and the subsequent ceremony (24:4-8), ratifies the covenant to the repeated refrain we will do and we will hear (24:3, 7). This refrain ties the ceremony to the people s initial response five chapters earlier (19:8 LXX) before the Sinai theophany began.35 With the public ceremony complete, Aaron, Nadab, Abthu, and the seventy elders go up to worship God (24:9-11). Six days afler the glory of God and the cloud settle on the mountain, Moses is sum moned up the mountain again, remaining there forty days and forty nights 32 Exodus 33:12 34:10 is another passage that describes God s gloty without using the term: Although Moses request, Show me your glory (33:18; cf. 33:19 LXX; 33:22), is surely granted, the term itself does not appear in 34: 1-10. u The singular voice (pwvlj) in Exod 20:18 LXX indicates that the divine voice speaks in intelligible language. Deuteronomy 5:4-5, 22-23 maintains simultaneously that the Lord speaks with Moses audience face to face (5:4) and that Moses acts as intermediary (5:5), but more directly identifies the singular great voice (?Vn 1p/puvu1 iia yáaq) with the voice of God (5:22-23). See John I. Durham, Exodus (WBC 3; Waco: Word, 1987) 283. See Durham, Exodus, 342. Apart from Exod 20:21, the text offers no cues to assist the reader in relating,the Book of the Covenant (20:22 23:33) to the surrounding narrative. When the narrative resumes in Exod 24:1, Moses is once again at the foot of the mountain. Unlike the MT, Exod 23:22 LXX reiterates the necessity of hearing and doing, and also repeats the promise of Exod 19:6 that God will choose them as a royal priesthood and a holy nation.

Interpretation WILDERNESS THEOPHANY NARRATWES in LUKE 9:28-36 507 508 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72, 2010 (24:12-18) as he receives instructions about building the tabernacle, sacrifices, and priestly service (Exodus 25 31). In the next narrative sequence, the disastrous worship of the golden calf nearly ruins the reason for building the tabernacle in the first place. As a result of Moses intercession, God agrees not to harm the people (32:14) but refuses to accompany them, lest I consume you on the way (33:3). Not satisfied, Moses pleads for God to go with them. God s consent is sealed by a revelation of divine glory on the mountain (33:17 34:10). Forty days and forty nights later, Moses reappears with the Ten Commandments in hand (34:29). This time the Israelites respond to Moses with fear because his face was glorified [&ôóaatat] (34:29-30). The remaining five chapters in Exodus narrate the construction of the taber nacle as God had commanded, and the book concludes with its consecration: the cloud covered the tent of witness, and the tent was filled with the glory of the Lord (40:34). Henceforth, the people moved as God led them whenever the cloud ascended from the tent (40:36; cf. vv. 37-38). The coming of the overshadowing cloud and the glory of the Lord to the tent forms a fitting conclusion to chaps. 19 40, for it confirms God s presence with the people along their journey and com pletes a transition of the divine presence from Mount Sinai to the tabernacle.36 Thus, all the theophany narratives in the second half of Exodus are related to the initial theophany of chap. 19 and to God s covenant choice of the Israelites as a royal priesthood and a holy nation (19:6). B. The Wilderness Theophany Narratives in Second Temple Jewish Literature A few early Jewish writers notice the theme of the transition of God s pres ence from Sinai to sanctuary that, as we have seen, unites the theophanies in Exo dusand focuses attention on the initial experience at Sinai. Josephus explains that the tabernacle s purpose was to be the location for God s presence among the peo ple, in order that when we move to another place we may take it with us and no longer have need of the ascent to Sinai, but that He Himself, frequenting the Tent, may be present at our prayers (A.J. 3.5.8 100). As in Exodus, a detailed descrip tion of the tabernacle and the priestly vestments is followed by a manifestation of God s presence in the cloud through which God demonstrated that He was pleased with the work of the Hebrews and that... He was a guest and,dwelt in thistemple (A.J. 3.8.5 202; cf. Exod 40:34-38). A similar movement occurs. in Ben Sira, where wisdom, identified with the law of Moses (24:23), describes how she was enthroned in a pillar of cloud (24:4) before she made her dwelling in Jacob (24:8). Wisdom eventually settles in Jerusalem (24:10), but the reference]to a holy tent unmistakably recalls the coming ofthe cloud on the wilderness tabernadle in Exod 40:34-38. Even when the movement from Sinai to the tabernacle is not in view, Second Temple literature frequently highlights the relationship between the initial Sinai theophany and Moses forty-day sojourn on Mount Sinai. Josephus s omission, rearrangement, and combination of the biblical raw material results in a stream lined narrative, comprising only one three-day trip up the mountain during the ini tial Sinai theophany before the giving of the Ten Commandments (A.J. 3.5.1-2 75-82), and a single forty-day stay on the mountain. This allows him to pass over the golden calf incident in silence, but it also eliminates any references to the covenant ratification ceremony in Exod 24:1-8, the meal in 24:9-11, or Moses entry into the cloud in 24:12-18. Readers move directly from Moses ascent up the mountain after the public proclamation of the Decalogue (A.i 3.5.4-7 89-95) to his return with the written commands inscribed on the two tablets (A.i 3.5.8 99-10l). Associating Moses entry into the thick darkness where God was (Exod 20 21) with his ascent up Mount Sinai in Exod 24 12 1$ is, m fact, common Like Josephus, Pseudo-Phito rewrites Exodus in a way that presents Moses forty-day stay on the mountain as the immediate sequel to the initial Sinai theophany (L.A.B. 11:15); he also associates Moses glorious face (12:1) with this first experience on the mountam Jubitees identifies the ratification of the Smai covenant pnmanly with the events described in. Exod 24:1-8, but although Jubitees never describes the initial Sinai theophany, James C. VanderKam has plausibly suggested that the author of Jubitees believedthat the theophany of Exodus 19 20 occurred on the same day as the covenant ratification ceremony of Exod 24:1 8.40 Verbal parallels 36 for the importance of the theme of God s presence in Exodus, see especially Durham, &o thls, xxi-xxiii. The theme is more emphatic in the MT because the Hebrew text, unlike the LXX, explicitly mentions God s desire to dwell with the people in Exod 25:8; 29:45-46. for the transition from the mountain to the sanctuary, see Terence E. Fretheim, The Pentateuch (Interpreting Biblical Texts; Nashville: Abingdon, 1996) 108. See Frank Polak, Theophany and Mediator: The Unfolding of a Theme in the Book of Exodus, in Studies in the Book of Exodus: Redaction Reception fed. Marc Vervenne; BETL 126; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1996) 113-48. 38 Unless otherwise noted, quotations of Josephus, Antiquities books 1 4, are from Louis H. Feldman, Judean Antiquities 1 4 (Ftavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary 3; Leiden: Brill, 2000); quotations of the Apocrypha are from the NRSV and quotations of the Pseudepigrapha are from 0Th On the echoes of Exodus, see James K. Aitken, Sanctus Matthaeus, magister sapientiae, summa cum laude, in Intertextuat Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honor ofatexandera. Di Lella fed. Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp; CBQMS 38; Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association, 2005) 264-79, here 276-78. James C. VanderKam, Covenant and Pentecost, Calvin Theological Journal 37 (2002) 23 9-54, here 242; see also idem, The Book ofjubilees (Guides to Apoctypha and Pseudepigrapha; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001) 27, 125.

WILDERNESS THEOPHANY NARRATWES IN LUXE 9:28-36 509 510 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72, 2010 indicate that 4QApoctyphon Pentateuch B (4Q377) also identifies Exod 20:21 with Exod 24:12-18. After a description of the Sinai theophany and the assembly s fear ful response, 4Q377 mentions that they stood at a distance, which echoes Exod 20:2 1, and that Moses, the man of God, was with God in the cloud and the cloud covered him, which recalls the description of the cloud in Exod 24:15l8.41 Early Jewish readers of Exodus frequently emphasize the centrality of the initial events at Sinai in other ways as well. The importance ofthe Sinai theophany for Philo is confirmed by his repeated references to the statement about seeing the voice in Exod 20:18, and by his claim that the entire law is summed up in the Decalogue (Mos. 2.213; Decal. 46-47, 175; Migr. 47; Spec. 3.125). In Liber Anti quitatum Biblicarum several passages refer back to the burning mountains, earth quakes, and the folded up heavens that, according to Pseudo-Philo, occurred before God established the Law of his eternal covenant at Sinai.42 4 Ezra also mentions cosmic distress at the Sinai theophany in connection with the giving of the law and, significantly, mentions glory in connection with this event: You bent down the heavens and shook the earth, and moved the world, and caused the depths to tremble, and troubled the times. Your glory passed through the four gates of fire and earthquake and wind and ice, to give the law to the descendants of Jacob, and your commandment to the posterity of Israel. (4 Ezra 3:18-19) 4Q377 2 ii.9 states similarly that the assembly responded in fear before the glory of God (m7l md) and the wonderful sounds (7D] flj7 1p).43 Both Pseudo-Philo and Jubitees repeatedly identify the initial Sinai theophany as the time when God established the covenant with the people and gave them the law (Jub. 1:1-5; 6:11, 17; L.A.B. 11:5; 23:10-11; 32:7-8; cf. 30:1). Perhaps Compare frij i? Vfl?32 ( and they stood at a distance ) (4Q377 2 ii. 10) and pwn ( and the people stood at a distance ) (Exod 20:2 1); as well as fl 7X i rn17k] tv t 1WJ7D 31TT V 77 DD ( Moses, the man of God, was with God in the cloud and the cloud covered him ) (4Q377 2 ii. 10-11) and fl;t Z1t 0D ( and the cloud covered the mountain ) (Exod 24:15); KY1 p171 JT12 rttz ( and Moses entered the cloud ) (Exod 24:18). See James C. VanderKam and Monica Brady, 4Q377, in Qumran Cave 4.XXVHL Misceltanea, Part 2 (cdi Eileen Schuller et al.; DJD 28; Oxford: Clarendon, 2001) 205-17, here 215-16. Cf. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, which dates the giv ing of the Decalogue on the sixth day of the month (Tg. Ps-i Exod 19:16), and the ascent up the mountain in Exod 24:1 on the seventh day (Tg. P5.-i Exod 24:1). Philo juxtaposes the divine voice at Sinai with the written Decalogue that Moses received on the mountain (Decal. 32-50; cf. Mos. 2.213; Spec. 3.125; Q.E. 2.49), but there is not enough evidence to determine how he understood the relationship between Exod 20:21 and 24:12-18. 42See LA.3. 11:5, 6, 14 for the initial description, and 15:6; 23:10; 32:7; 44:6 for later sum maries of the same event. Glory is mentioned in connection with the initial Sinai theophany also in the Targumim. See Tg. Neof Exod 19:20; Exod 20:21; Tg. Onq. Exod 20:18; and Tg. Ps.-J. Exod 20:21. For the importance of the covenant theme in Jubitees, see VanderKam, Jubitees, 120-26. For the theme in Liber Antiquitatum Bthticarum, see Bruce Norman Fisk, Do You Not Remember? because Josephus depicts Moses working on a compilation of the laws after the completion of the tabernacle, or in the interests of simplifying his account, Josephus postpones a public ratification of the Jewish constitution (itoatrela) until Moses final address to the people at the Jordan just prior to his death (A.J. 3.8.8 212-13; 3.8.10 222; 4.8.44 302; 4.8.5 309-10; cf. Deut 29:2 30:20). But one of Josephus s primary aims in the Antiquities is to demonstrate the superiority of the Jewish way of life,45 so it is significant that even though Josephus does not depict the Sinai theophany as the beginning of a covenant, he suggests that the purpose of Moses experiences on Mount Sinai is to begin the process of formu lating the constitution on which that way of life is based.46 C. The Covenant Mediator in the Wilderness Theophanies and in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 Although it is not itself a theophany narrative, the surrounding context of Deut 18:15 explicitly refers back to the covenant initiated at the Sinai theophany:47 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your broth ers; you shall hear him. 6According to all that you requested of the Lord your God at Choreb on the day of the assembly, saying: We shall not any more hear the voice of the Lord our God, and again see this great fire and we shall not die. (Deut l8:l5l6) Moses promise that God will raise up another prophet is grounded in the peo ple s earlier request in Deut 5:5, 22-33 for a covenant mediator. The command to hear him (18:15, 19) repeats the fundamental requirement of the covenant to hear and obey God s voice.49 In Deuteronomy this requirement is expressed in Scripture, Story and Exegesis in the Rewritten Bible of Pseudo-Phito (JSPSup 37; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001) 45-50. Steve Mason, Should Any Wish to Enquire Further (Ant, 1.25): The Aim and Audience of Josephus s Judean Antiquities/Lfe, in Understanding Josephus: Seven Perspectives (ed. Steve Mason; JSPSup 32; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1998) 64-103, here 80-87. After the first trip before the giving of the Decalogue, Moses explains to the people that God prescribed... a well-ordered constitution [srnxlreiac Kba).LovJ (A.J. 3.5.3 84); after the sec ond, he announces that during these days He had advised him in what manner they would be happy in their form ofgovernment [itoxttevbieotj (3.5.8 99). Paul Spilsbury ( God and Israel in Josephus: A Patron Client Relationship, in Understanding Josephus [ed. Masonj, 172-9 1) has shown that Josephus did not abandon a covenantal framework but presented it in terms of a patron client rela tionship. See Moessner, Lord, 77 n. 82. 4tQuotation from Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright, eds., A New English Translation of the Septugaint and the Other Greek Translations Traditionally Included under That Title (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007). for the combination of hearing and doing, see Deut 5:1; 6:3-6; cf. 5:27; 7:12.

WILDERNESS TI{EOPHANYNARRATWES IN LUKE 9:28-36 511 512 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72, 2010 the Shema (6:4); in Exodus 19 it forms the basis of the covenant. In both Deuteron omy and Exodus, God s voice and the voice of the covenant mediator are closely connected. After God exhorts the people through Moses to hear my voice (Exod 19:5), and the people respond by affirming we will do and we will hear (19:8), God explains the surprising purpose in addressing Moses in the hearing ofthe peo ple: I am coming to you in a pillar of cloud, so that the people may hear me speak ing to you and believe you forever (19:9). Then, in v. 19, the LXX states that Moses was speaking, and God answered him with a voice. The fearful response of the people and their request for Moses to speak on God s behalf thus fulfill God s purpose in addressing them directly (Exod 20:18-21). The instructions about transferring leadership to Joshua in Num 2 7:20 LXX would have suggested to later readers that Moses lasting share in God s glory is connected to the need for the people to listen to him: You shall place some of your glory [óoqcj upon him that the sons of Israel may hear him [ELGUK0I)rwrnv a&tou]. The covenantal implications of Deut 18:15-19 are seldom mentioned directly,5 but early Jewish writers do comment frequently on the role that Exodus 19 20 assigns to Moses as covenant mediator. The vivid description of the Sinai theophany in 4Q377, which is preceded by an exhortation to hear (2 ii.3) and a curse on anyone who fails to guard or do the commands spoken by Moses (2 ii.4-5), encourages obedience to the Mosaic law. It also exalts Moses, who, in contrast to the people, is covered by the cloud and who, as an angel, speaks what comes from God s mouth.5 Moses role as lawgiver and prophetic mediator is especially prominent in Philo ofalexandria.52 Josephus also stresses the importance of hear ing in connection with the Sinai theophany (A.i 3.5.4 89-90) and explains that God s coming to the camp is intended to confirm Moses as the mediator of the laws (3.5.3 85-88). In L.A.B. 11, God first proclaims that Moses will give a light to the world and illumine their dwelling places (11.1), and then adds that he will enlighten my people, for I have given an everlasting Law into your hands (11.2). 5 4QTest 5-8 quotes Deut 18:18-19; the Samaritan Pentateuch appends Deut 18:18-19 after Exod 20:21; 4QReworked Pentateuch (4Q158) frg. 6 lines 6-9, which is similar to the Samaritan Pentateuch of Exod 20:19-2 1, shows that this tradition is ancient. Other texts that refer to Deut 18:15-19 include Philo Spec. 1.65; 1QS 9.11. Cf. Josephus AJ. 4.7.2 165; 4.8.46 311; 1 Macc 14:41; Sir 46:1. For further discussion, see David M. Miller, Luke s Conception of Prophets Con sidered in the Context of Second Temple Literature (Ph.D. diss., McMaster University, 2004; avail able from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, Ml) 53-74. Cf. ima r DJ ( and he spoke as an angel from his mouth ) (2 ii. 11). On this ren dering of the clause, see VanderKam and Brady, 4Q377, 216. The repeated references to Moses both before and after the description of the theophany confirm that Moses is the primaty subject in this text. See Daniel K. Falk, Moses, Texts of, in Encytopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (ed. Lawrence Schiffinan and James C. VanderKam; 2 vols.; Leiden: Brill, 2000) 1:577-81, here 581. 52 See Post. 143-44; Her 14-19; Mut. 125-29; Somn. 1.143; and Mos. 2; cf. Ass. Mos. 1:14. finally, in a short encomium rich with biblical allusion, Ben Sira draws on the description of Moses glorified face (Exod 34:29-3 0, 35) before mentioning his role in receiving commandments for the people (Sir 45:3). The statement He allowed him to hear his voice (45:5a) echoes the command to listen in Exod 19:5, but applies it to Moses task as mediator after the giving of the Ten Command ments. For Ben Sira, Moses experience as mediator takes place when God led him into the dark cloud (Sir 45:5b; cf. Exod 20:2 1) and gave him the command ments face to face... so that he might teach Jacob the covenant, and Israel his decrees (Sir 45:5; cf. Exod 33:11; Num 12:8; Deut 4:1). D. Conclusion There is therefore strong evidence that ancient readers noticed the connections between the theophany narratives in Exodus and recognized their relationship to the first Sinai theophany. The connection between Moses entrance into God s presence in Exodus 20 and Moses ascent up Sinai in Exodus 24is especially close. Early Jewish writers also associated the initial Sinai theophany with God s covenant with Israel. The role of Moses as covenant mediator is connected with the Sinai theophany in the biblical text and widely acknowledged in later Jewish literature. The combination ofverbal parallels between the transfiguration accounts and different passages in Exodus resembles the piling up of allusions in Ben Sirs and increases the lilceithood that the evangelists were also aware of these connections. Both the text of Exodus and early Jewish reflections on the wilderness theophanies suggest that the theophany imagery in the transfiguration account would have recalled the theophany in which God initiated the covenant with the Israelites at Sinai. If the allusion to Deut 18:15 at the transfiguration s climax was heard with an awareness of its context in Deuteronomy, it would focus attention on the covenant s fundamental demand to listen to God and the covenant mediator. It remains to demonstrate that Luke was, in fact, interested in the covenantal signif icance of the theophany imagery and, finally, to consider its function in Luke s narrative. III. The Function of the Theophany Imagery in Luke-Acts A. Hearing Jesus as Covenant Language Commentators often regard the transfiguration s concluding imperative as evidence that Luke identified Jesus with a christological title such as the prophet like Moses or the chosen Son, or they restrict the application of the imperative to Jesus prior comments concerning his own death and the requirements of disci

WILDERNESS THEOPHANYNARRATWES IN LUKE 9:28-36 513 514 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72, 2010 pleship (9:21-27). Whatever their other merits, these suggestions consistently overlook that within Luke-Acts, the command to hear Jesus is no unique moun taintop imperative; it is one of the author s central themes.54 Jesus public ministry is characterized by crowds ofpeople who come in order to hear (àxrn)w) him, but we learn soon enough that not all those who come per ceive correctly.55 At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus contrasts the fate of those who hear and do with that of those who hear and fail to do (Luke 6:47, 49 par. Matt 7:24, 26).56 The interpretation of the parable of the sower explores this distinction further. Those who hear and fail to do are represented by the first three soils, who hear but do not believe or endure and are not saved (8:12-14). By contrast, the seed sown in the good earth represents those who hear the word and hold it fast in a noble and good heart, and bear fruit with endurance (v. 15). After the insistence on a believing and fruitful response to what is heard (vv. 11-15), one might expect an exhortation to watch how you obey instead of watch how you hear a few verses later (v. I But although hear ing and doing are often combined to show what true perception entails, the verb àkrn)w can stand by itself for both audition and an obedient, believing response.58 The next pericope (8:19-21) clarifies that the hearing Jesus calls for goes beyond simple audition and reveals that Jesus true family consists of those who hear [àko1ovreç] and do the word of God (8:21; diff. Mark 3:35; Matt 12:50). After the transfiguration, this same idea continues: It is not only Jesus mother who will be blessed (11:28) but also those like Martha s sister Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearkening [icouevj to his word (1 0:39) who hear lol àkolovrec] the word of God and keep it. Jesus then defines the word of God in relation to himself: E.g., Joel B. Green, The Gospel ofluke (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 384; Hans Conzelmann, The Theology ofst. Luke (trans. Geoffrey Buswell; New York: Harper & Row, 1961) 57; Marshall, Luke, 38$. for an excellent discussion of the theme with a view to its impact on Luke s authorial audience, see John A. Darr, Watch How You Listen (Lk. 8.18): Jesus and the Rhetoric of Per ception in Luke-Acts, in The New Literary Criticism and the New Testament (ed. Elizabeth Struthers Malbon and Edgar V. McKnight; JSNTSup 109; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994) 87-107. See also Paul S. Minear, Jesus Audiences, according to Luke, NovT 16 (1974) 81-109. Nei ther of these studies, however, stresses the covenantal significance of hearing. For those who come to hear Jesus, see Luke 5:1; 5:15 (duff. Mark 1:45); 6:1 $ (cliff. Mark 3:8); 15:1; 21:38; cf. Luke 7:3 (duff. Mats 8:6); 7:22 (par. Mats 11:4); 19:48 (duff. Mark 11:18). Cf. Minear ( Audiences, $9), who distinguishes between disciples who hear and obey and the crowds who come to hear but have not yet made a decision to respond. 56 Cf. Luke 7:1 (duff. Mats 7:28). That is, one might expect BXneia n&ç intakoiere instead of BXiraie nthç àkoete. Cf. Luke 8:10 and the example of Lydia in Acts 16:14. 58 See Johannes P. Louw and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon ofthe New Testament Based on Semantic Domains (2nd ed.; New York: United Bible Societies, 1989) 131.56, 36.14. The queen of the South will rise at the judgement with the people of this generation and will condemn them because she came from the ends ofthe earth to hear [àxoiiqaj the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here, (11:31 par. Mats 12:42) The necessity of hearing Jesus is thus combined with an emphasis on the exalted position of the messenger. This emphasis first appears after the c1imacti statement at the transfiguration that identifies Jesus not as a new Moses or a prophet like Moses but as God s chosen Son (Luke 9:35). The Son is uniquely qualified for his role as messenger because, as Luke (10:22 par. Mart 11:27) explains, no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Thus Jesus can declare: The one who hears you hears me.. and the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me (Luke 10:16; duff. Mart 10:40; cf. Luke 10:24 par. Mart 13:17). The undercurrent of coming judgment for those who refuse to hear continues in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, which concludes with Abraham s verdict: If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead (Luke 16:31; cf. 16:29). In Acts 3:22-23, Peter quotes Deut 18:15 in order to show that hearing Jesus determines whether one will share in the covenant blessings promised to Abraham. Those who do not listen, says Peter, will be destroyed from the people. Stephen s much longer speech includes the same idea: Moses, who predicted that God would raise up a prophet like me, received living oracles to give to us, but our ancestors were unwilling to obey him (7:37-39). Stephen insists that the failure to obey Moses was no iso lated incident. It typified Israel s response to all the prophets, culminating in the murder of the one whom Moses and the prophets predicted (7:51-52). Although many of those who hear the word as it is proclaimed in Acts by Jesus follow ers do respond positively (4:4),60 the final speech of the book concludes with a quotation from Isa 6:9-10 lamenting the people s failure to hear, followed by the comment: this salvation of God has been sent to the gentiles, and they will hear! (Acts 28:26-28). The repetition of hearing and doing, the positive portrayal of those who hear, and the threat ofjudgment on those who do not, signal that hearing Jesus is covenant language. This covenantal framework is put together gradually over two volumes, and the transfiguration is one of Luke s main building blocks. Jesus emphasizes the importance of hearing and doing his words, and the transfiguration offers divine confirmation that he is the one to whom people must listen. For read In the same way, the quotation ofdeut 18:15 inacts 3:22 supports Peter s identification of Jesus as the Messiah (3:20) and the servant of God (3:26). Cf. Acts 8:6; 10:22, 44; 13:7, 44,48; 14:9; 15:7; 16:14; 18:8; 19:10.

WILDERNESS THEOPHANYNARRATWES in LUKE 9:28-36 515 516 THE CATHOLIC BIBLICAL QUARTERLY I 72,2010 ers of Luke s Gospel, the mountain, the cloud, and Jesus transfigured face would do more than the heavenly voice in conveying why listening to Jesus is necessary. These are threads connecting the Mount of Transfiguration to the establishment of the covenant at Mount Sinai. In this context, it is not simply the voice of God that Luke s readers would hear; it is the voice of God who spoke at Sinai now establishing the terms of the covenant around Jesus. B. The Sinai Covenant and the Nature ofhearing Jesus Scholarly reluctance to associate the transfiguration with the Sinai covenant points to a failure to perceive connecting links between the transfiguration and Exodus 19 20. But it also reflects the fact that, with the exception of the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:20), Luke always applies the term covenant to the Abrahamic covenant (Luke 1:72; Acts 3:25; 7:8).61 Although Luke combines the Davidic and Abrahamic covenants together into one 62 and sees their fulfill ment in the community of Jesus followers, scholars tend to assume that Luke did not integrate the events at Sinai into his conception of covenant.63 To the extent that echoes of the Sinai covenant in the transfiguration are acknowledged, they are normally viewed as contrasting with the new covenant brought by Jesus. For exam ple, the requirement to hear and respond to the law of Moses is thought to be replaced by the new Torah of Jesus teaching or by the message of salvation to which one must respond in faith.64 To be sure, the importance of faith is anticipated in Luke s depiction of Mary, who is blessed for believing what was spoken to her (1:45), and in the inter pretation of the parable of the sower, where Luke unlike Mark and Matthew 61 With most recent commentators, I accept the longer reading of Luke 22:19-20. See Fitzmyer, Luke, 2:1387-88. 62Robert L Brawley, For Blessing All Families of the Earth: Covenant Traditions in Luke- Acts, Currents in Theology and Mission 22 (1995) 18-26, here 20. See also Robert F, O Toole, Acts 2:30 and the Davidic Covenant of Pentecost, JBL 102 (1983) 245-58, here 257. 63 See Francois Bovon, Luke the Theologian: f(fty-five Years ofresearch (1950 2005) (2nd rev. ad.; Waco: Baylor University Press, 2006) 119; O Toole, Pentecost, 257. See C. F. Evans, The Central Section of St. Luke s Gospel, in Studies in the Gospels: Essays in Memory ofr, H. Lighfoot (ed. D. E. Nineham Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1955) 37-53, here 51; Robert F. O Toole, The Parallels between Jesus and Moses, BTB 20(1990) 22-29, here 24-25, 28; Reid, Transfiguration, 118; Francois Bovon, Luke 1: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke 1:1 9:50 (trans. Christine M. Thomas; Hermeneia Minneapolis: Fortress, 2002) 380. Moessner (Lord, 68-69) recognizes the covenantal significance of listening to Jesus, but argues that as with the wilderness generation in Deuteronomy no one hears Jesus until after his atoning death, when the people are given a second chance to be saved through faith in his name. However, (1) the theme of hearing is introduced well before the transfiguration and remains consistent through Luke and Acts, and (2) Luke 8:21; 10:16, 24, 39 imply that some individuals already during Jesus ministry exercise proper perception. mentions the faith of those who hear (8: 12-13). In Acts, responsive heating is consistently paired with faith, and salvation through faith in Jesus is contrasted with the way of the law (13:38-39; 15:10_11).65 Criticism of the law, however, is at most implicit in Luke s GospelP Instead of replacing Moses, Jesus commends obedience (10:28; duff. Mark 12:34), and Luke implies that those who truly hear Moses will also listen to Jesus (16:29-31; cf. Acts 7:51-53). Instead of distinguish ing the Mosaic covenant from the covenant with Abraham, the reference to the Abrahamic covenant immediately after the quotation from Deut 18:15 in Acts 3 suggests rather that Luke, like other Second Temple Jews, held the two together.67 Indeed, Luke indicates that the purpose of both covenants is identical. According to Luke 1:74, the holy covenant promised to Abraham would result in the free dom to worship (Aarpei)atv) without fear ; according to Acts 7:7, the purpose of the exodus from Egypt was to worship (Xatpei)ciouatv) God. That the people turned instead to worship (XaTpel)Etv) the host of heaven at Sinai (7:42) was the tragic result of their unwillingness to be obedient to Moses (7:39).68 The replacement Of Moses by Jesus is therefore not in view in Luke s transfiguration; the point is rather the necessity of hearing the Son. Suggesting that the voice from the cloud refers to the message of salvation, as expressed in Acts, also overlooks the immediate context, which clarifies what it is that believers should hear when they listen to the Son. The other allusions to the wilderness theophany narratives make almost inevitable a comparison between Jesus impending exodus (o&c; Luke 9:31), which in this context refers prima rily to his departure from earth,69 and the Israelites departure from Egypt. The 65 For hearing and faith, see Acts 2:22,37, and 44; 3:22-23 and 4:4; 8:6, 12; 10:43-44; 13:7-8, 48; 14:9; 15:7; 18:8; 19:10, 18; cf. 16:14. Craig L. Blomberg ( The Law in Luke-Acts, JSNT 22 [1984] 53-80, here 70) correctly emphasizes the salvation-historical appropriateness of law keeping in Luke s Gospel, but his search for anticipations in Luke of the viewpoint ofacts results in an unduly negative portrayal of the law in Luke s first volume. 67 See, e.g., VanderKam, Jubilees, 123: In Jubilees, a single and eternal covenant joins the Lord and his chosen in a special relationship. See John Kilgallen, The Stephen Speech: A Literary and Redactional Study ofacts 7,2-53 (AnBib 67; Rome: Biblical Institute, 1976) 44, 87. Note also that the covenant of circumcision given to Abraham (Acts 7:8) is related to the promise in v. 7 that the people will come out and will worship RarpeaouatvJ me in this place. Acts 7:17 connects the fulfillment of this covenant prom ise with Moses. See Barrett, Acts, 1:338. 69 That is, it refers to his death, resurrection, and ascension when he enters his glory. See Garrett, Exodus, 656-80; Reid, Transfiguration, 126. The view that Jesus o6oc most naturally includes his long journey to Jerusalem CRinge, Exodus, 83-99; Moessner, Lord, 57-63) is unlikely because (1) the word Io&c is used in the LXX for the actual departure from Egypt rather than for the wilderness wandering (Exod 19:1; Num 33:38; Pss 104:38 [Eng. 105:38]; 113:1 [Eng. 114:1]), and (2) Jesus exit (Io&c) corresponds to his entrance (ctao&c), which, according to Acts 13:24, refers to the beginning of Jesus public ministry.