4Q374: A Discourse on the Sinai Tradition: The Deification of Moses and Early Christology

Author(s): Crispin Fletcher-Louis

Source: Dead Sea Discoveries, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Dec., 1996), pp. 236-252
Published by: BRILL
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4201568 .
Accessed: 18/12/2014 13:06

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Dead Sea Discoveries.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374: A DISCOURSE ON THE SINAI TRADITION:
TH DEIFICATIONOF MOSES AND
EARLY CHRISTOLOGY

CRISPINFLETCHER-LOUIS
Oxford

In the volume edited by D. Dimant and U. Rappaportto commem-

orate 40 years of Qumranresearch,Carol Newsom transcribed,trans-
lated and offered a preliminarycommentaryon a collection of Cave 4
fragments from the text designated 4Q374 (Moses ApocryphonA).'
She "firstexamined4Q374 in the hope thatit mightproveto be an addi-
tional copy of the Psalms of Joshua."2Though she was disappointed,
she concluded that the text was a "Discourseon the Exodus/Conquest
tradition."Though there is certainlya wider setting in the Exodus nar-
rative, it is our contention that the primaryfocus is on the events at
Sinai. From the paucity of fragments,it is impossible to speculateon
the content of the whole text; however, the largest extant may be an
extremely importantwitness to the belief in the divinizationof Moses
at Sinai. This has bearing on an importanthistory-of-religionsdebate
and New TestamentChristology.
First, let us review Newsom's readingof the majorfragment(frg. 2
col. 2) which she translatesas follows:
1 togetherand... [
2 And nations were lifted up in anger [
3 by their deeds and by the pollutionof the acts of.[
4 And [you] wil have neitherremnantnor survivor,but for their
descendants... [
5 And he made a plantingfor [u]s, his chosen, in the land which
is the most desirableof all the lands... [

I C.A. Newsom, "4Q374:A Discourseon the Exodus/Conquest Tradition,"The Dead

Sea Scrolls: Forty Years of Research (eds. D. Dimant and U. Rappaport;Leiden:E.J.
Brill, 1992) 40-52.
2 Ibid., 40.

C E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1996 Dead Sea Discoveries3, 3

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 237

6 [And] he made him as God to the mighty ones and a cause of

reeli[ng] to Pharaoh... [
7 [<And>] they melted and their hearts trembledand th[ei]r in-
ward parts dissolved. [But] he had compassionupon..[
8 And when he caused his face to shine upon them for healing,
they strengthened[their]hearts again, and knowledge[
9 And though no one had known you, they melted and tre[m]-
bled. They staggered at the s[ound of
10 []to them [ ] for deliverance.... []
The lines which are our primaryconcern are those of 6 onward, for
which we give her transcription:

J= i-irmL -7nmro"I-m b. omn'tOr~l] 6.

I=: a,-,551dtntnp =,i mnt-wunmmuno] 7.
h9n -ab[t3M'7-rr= itiom,f Lns mmTrmr 8.
>AP mn wtir ur 10 5 1 9.
.I1 , I rIM*[1 lo.
h W[]My wv,n
Newsom correctlynotes that in line 7 we have language typical of the
effect of the divine warrioron humanity.She also perceives that the
restorativeeffect suggests not that the theophanyis directedat Israel's
enemies,thewicked,butat Israelherself,therighteous.However,Newsom
also assumes that the narrativeis set in the Exodus/Conquestnarrative
as a whole. Thus, there is posed her first problem:to find an OT prece-
dent in the Exodus/conquesttraditionfor such behaviouron the part of
the Israelites.3
Newsom takes God to be the subject of the theophanicbehaviour,
even though in the extant text God is not mentioned as the explicit
subject in lines 7ff. The third person plural she takes to refer to the
Israelites.However, when she comes to line 9, she recognises this is
problematicand changes the referents: 'This line presents a puzzle.
The first five words are apparentlyto be translated"and no one had
known you and/but(?) they melted and trembled."4Newsom thinks
there are two options for the identityof the second person suffix to the
verb.
1. Either Israel, in which case "they" are "the peoples of Canaan

3 She notes the vague parallelsin Exod. 14, Josh. 24, Neh. 9, Josh. 7:4.
' "A Discourseon the Exodus/ConquestTradition,"47.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
238 CRISPINFLETCHER-LOUIS

who experienced fear when the Israelites entered the land (see
Exod. 15:14-16);Deut. 2:25; Josh. 2:9-11, 24; etc.)."'5
2. Or it refers to God. Newsom then recognises that though this is
possible it requiresa suddenchange from God as thirdto second
person.Obviously it is then difficultto take "they"to be a refer-
ence to Israel, since it is not obvious how the Israelites can be
thoughtto have not known God.
Thus, she is forced to take the reference to the Canaanites,who
had not known Israel. Since Newsom has taken lines 6-8 as a refer-
ence to the Theophanic effect on the Israelites, this then requires a
change in the third person referent. Newsom thus supplements and
reads lines 8-9 as follows: "andknowledge [of their (= Israel's) deliv-
erancereachedthe nations,j and thoughnone of them had known you,
they melted and trembled...," for which she compares Ps. 18:44-46.
This is imaginative,but dependenton readingwhat is not in the text.
In Ps. 18:4446, it is Israel who had not known the nations, which is
not quite the same as the nations not knowing Israel.
Clearly Newsom's interpretationis less than ideal in its referential
inconsistency. It is further problematicbecause it ignores the more
immediatecontext of line 6 where the theophanicdescriptionbegins.
That, as we shall see, holds the clue to the interpretation
of the whole.

The Location at Sinai

Thereis in fact ample evidence that this text was concernedwith the
revelation at Sinai. In the parallel column of fragment2, a column
which is in far worse condition,we have the single word zO at line 8.
Fragment4 providesone or two words from threelines of text. Line 2
reads Wrvirn m'rt0[ which Newsom translates"..... for fine gold and
he made [it....." '6 This could well be a referenceto Moses' pulvens-
ing the golden calf which the Israeliteshad set up as an idol (Exod.
32:20; Deut. 9:21). Lines 2-3 of frg. 7 read
hD1 r ....

iIbid., 47.
6 Comparethe use of 1'I'DIfor fine gold in Job 22:24.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 239

which Newsom translates

a mediatorfor your people
clouds and above

As Newsom recognises, the designation"mediator,intermediary,mag-

istrate"remindsus of the role of Moses, in for example Exod. 20:18-
20. Though the term is not applied to Moses in the Hebrew Bible it
obviously characterisesMoses' role in the OT. (It may well underlie
the ,w.oitouof Gal. 3:19 which arguablyshouldbe taken as a reference
to Moses.' See also the role of Moses in the Testament of Moses
(TMos) 11:16-19 and his self-designation as "arbitertestamenti"in
TMos 1:14). Frag.9 line 2 refersto "the lamentthathe sang."Newsom
thinks of Joshua's mourningon the death of Moses (cf. 4Q378; Bib.
Ant. 19:16-20:2,Deut. 34:8). However,line 3 "whenYahweh spoke to
him," is, as Newsom notes, almost identical to the wording of Deut.
4:10 which describes the assembly at Sinai. We could well compare
Moses' lamentationover the fate of Israel (Exod. 32:11f., 32).
Admittedly,one piece of the jigsaw which properlybelongs outside
of the Sinai narrative,though not very far away, is Moses' struggle
with Pharaoh to which allusion is made in line 6. "... he made him
as God to the mighty ones and a cause of reeling to Pharaoh.. ." is
an explicit midrashon Exod. 7:1: CTuinD'R ['lfln"which has been
expandedwith the words "rrirrn 3m ' s.o t
However, we suggest that this midrashhas utilised a scripturalref-
erence to the effective deificationof Moses and appliedit afresh to the
Sinai episode. The strongestindicationthat this is the case is the word-
ing of line 8: ...... mrrtt m rwr1r." Though the idea of God shin-
ing his light on mortals is a common one,9 the specific idea of God
causing someone else's face to shine has in view the shining face of
Moses in Exod. 34:29-35. Before we pay attentionto the details of the
text, we thereforepropose that the whole of lines 6-10 have Moses as
the primary subject with the third person suffixes referencing the
Israeliteswho are subjectedto the theophaniceffect of his presence.At

7For the mediatoras Moses see e.g. N.T. Wright,Climax of the Covenant(Edin-
burgh:T. & T. Clark, 1991) 161-2, 169.
J The Dead Sea text also adds a ' to D'N(). This is best explainedas an assimi-
lation to Exod. 4:16, where Moses is made 01'rr7 for Aaron. Though it might be
thoughtto qualify the degree of "deification,"it is less problematicthan, for example
the D in IQSb 4:25.
9 See e.g. 4Q511 frg. 2 i 4.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
240 CRISPINFLETCHER-LOUIS

a cursoryreading,this makes for a smootherinterpretationwhich can

be justified and illuminatedby an examinationof similar Moses tradi-
tions from the period and the patternof anthropologyand soteriology
we find in the rest of the scrolls.

The TransformedHumanityin the Dead Sea Scrolls'0

As is well known, there are numeroustexts among the DSS which
speak of the communityof the sect sharingthat of the angels." They
evidently experienceda merging of heaven and earth. That is undis-
puted. However, it has been questioned to what extent this actually
leads to the transformationof the righteous.Until recent publications
of Cave 4 manuscripts,the most explicit statementthat a humanbeing
could become divine or angelic was providedby lQSb 4:25 where the
priest is said to be DIM 1Ktk. The force of the D is uncertain,and it
is not clear to what extent the eschatologyof IQSb was realisedin the
community.
The language of ascent, transformation,and community with the
angels in the Hodayothhas been interpretedas signifying the creation
of a transcendent, glorified humanity. Certainly in IQH 15:17 the
psalmist has moved away from the realm of flesh, .10=.2 In 1990,
M. Smith argued that a Cave 4 text (4Q491) edited by M. Baillet in
DJD 7, which may have been partof the War Scroll is best understood
as describingthe ascent to heaven and deificationof its author.'3The
traditionof interpretationwhich sees in this type of materialthe effec-
tive angelization of the elect,'4 now has concrete confirmationfrom

'? Newsom, "A Discourse on the Exodus/ConquestTradition,"40-41, considersthe

use of the Tetragrammaton in this text to be an argumentagainst Qumranauthorship.
While the question of Qumranauthorshipremainsuncertain,the fact that the text is
found in the caves suggests the communitywas sympatheticto its contents.
" E.g. in 4Q181 frg. 2; IQH 3:19ff.; IQH 6:10-14, 26; 1QHfrg. 10 6-7; 1QHfrg. 2;
IQS 11:6-8;4Q511 frg. 2 i 8; frg. 8:9; frg. 10 11-12; IQSb 1:3-5.
12 Cf. Jub. 31:14 (below). See E. Branderburger, Fleisch und Geist, Paulus und die
dualistische Weisheit (WMANT 29; Neukirchen:Neukirchenerverlag,1968) 1034,
withstandingthe objections of H. Lichtenberger,Studienzum Menschenbildin Texten
der Qumrangemeinde (SUNT 15; G6ttingen:Vandenhock& Ruprecht,1980) 224-27.
13 In Archaeologyand Historyin the Dead Sea Scrolls. TheNew YorkConferencein
Memoryof Y. Yadin(ed. L.H. Schiffman;JSPS 8; Sheffield:JSOT, 1990) 181-8. Cf.
4Q427 7 i and ii. Though we are sympatheticto Smith's reading,on the basis of the
languagein the text itself "deification"is not appropriatein this instance.
'4 E.g. J.H. Charlesworth,"The Portrayalof the Righteousas an Angel," Ideal Fig-

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 241

4Q511 fragment35 which says that "God shall sanctify (some) of the
holy as an everlasting sanctuaryfor himself, and purity shall endure
among the cleansed. They shall be "1n-lDnl WIS ip- D r'mT
151nn 'knmD", lines 3-4.*1 In fact as long ago as 1972, J.T. Milik
claimed a fragment of 4QAmramacould clearly be read saying that
Aaron would be called Rt 1jtt.l6
Jubilees was popularamongst the sectarians.At 31:14 Jubilees has
a blessing of Levi and his descendantsthat they may drawnear to God
"fromall flesh to serve in his sanctuaryas the angels of the presence
and the holy ones." They also cherished the Enochic corpus. In the
Animal Apocalypse from the first half of the second century BCE
Moses is transformedfrom a sheep to a man at the time of the build-
ing of the tabemacle, 89:36; that is, at Sinai. In this apocalypticalle-
gory, as indeed elsewhere in apocalypticliterature,angels are anthro-
pomorhic and humans zoomorphic.Moses' transformationis thus an
angelization.'7In IlQMelch Melchizedek is called vrl. Commenta-
tors have emphasisedthe transcendent,angelic natureof this redeemer,
but there is no reason to reject identificationwith the King-Priestof
Genesis 14 at the same time. It thus seems that the Qumransectarians
were happy to consider themselvesand their heroes as angelomorphic
or divine in some sense.
This is incidentally in harmony with the statement in Josephus's
Ant. 15:372 that Herod the Great "held (the Essenes) in honour"and
had "a higher opinion of them than was consistent with their mortal
nature (g?6v tt fppovGv?aX'a-'cotq Ka?a div Ovqriiv fpatv)."8 The lan-
guage at this point is similar to that used when Josephus relates the
death of Herod Agrippa I after his arrogantclaim to divinity (Ant.
19:345, cf. Acts 12). The crowds exclaimed "henceforthwe agree that
you are more than mortalin your being (toiVvteiev Kpetrtova aEOvTidV

ures in AncientJudaism(ed. G.W.E. Nicklesburg;Septuagintand CognateStudies 12;

Chico: ScholarsPress, 1982) 135-51.
15The translationof G. Verrnes,The Dead Sea Scrolls in English (London:Penguin,
3rd ed., 1987), and Bilhah Nitzan (in QumranPrayer and Religious Poetry [Leiden/
New York/IK61n: Brill, 1994] 242): "priests, a righteous people, his host, servants,
angels of his glory" is eminentlypreferableto that of Baillet "ministresdes anges de
Sa gloire," who is followed by Andre Caquot in "Le Service des Anges," RevQ 13
(1988) 424: "ceux qui servent Ses anges glorieux."
16 "4Q visions de 'Amramet une citationd'Origene,"RB 79 (1972) 94.
17 4QEnc4.Cf. angelizationof Noah in EthiopicEnoch 89:1, which seems, however,
to have been absent from Qumrancopies of Enoch.
Is In context, this is relatedto theirmanticand propheticgifting; cf. Ant. 17:34548.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
242 CRISPIN FLETCHER-LOUIS

It is
OgoXoyo-iZtev)."
4PnOeoCK worth rememberingthat in his descrip-
tion of the Essenes Josephus says that "after God they hold most in
awe the name of the lawgiver, any blasphemerof whom is punished
with death."'9

The Divine Moses in ContemporaryJudaism

It is well known that in the second Temple period Philo deified
Moses. He gives him the title ebo;,and associateshim closely with the
Logos, the pre-eminentintermediarybeing between God and Man.20
Specifically, in a numberof cases Philo makes use of Exod. 7:1 as a
proof text for such a view of the lawgiver.2'In one of these, De Sac-
rificiis Abelis et Caini 8-10, he explicitlyjoins togetherExod. 7:1 with
the Sinai ascent,22as we suggest does 4Q374. In another, De Vita
Mosis 1:155-158, Exod. 7:1 and Sinai are implicitly understoodas
foundationalfor a fuller expositionof Moses' identityas god and king.
In addition, traditions in Josephus and several other Jewish texts
written in Greek with strong Hellenistic content (Artapanus,Ezekiel's
Exagogue)have been adducedas evidence for a divine Moses.23Yet it
is normal to conclude that Philo's exalted view of Moses is possible
because "he had drunk deeply from the well of Hellenism."24 This is
the conclusion of Bariy Blackburn's1991 study. Before him the thor-
oughgoing examinationof these authorsby Carl Holladay had argued
that no such Hellenistic deificationof Moses took place in Jewish au-
thors,except perhapswith importantqualificationsin the case of Philo.2'
Earlier scholarshiphad understoodthese traditionsas manifestations
of a HellenisticJewish adoptionof Greco-Romanekio; &vnpideas.

' War 2:145, cf. 152.

2 See esp. De Vita Mosis 1:155-8.
21 De Sacra 9; Leg. All. 1:40; Quod Deteris 161-2; Migr. Abr. 84; MutationeNomi-
num 19; De Somniis 2:188.
1 He quotes DeUL5:31 and Exod. 7:1 whilst discussing the fact that Moses was
assumed at death without a known grave. For this later assumptiontraditionin Pales-
tinian Judaism,see Ant. 4:326.
13 E.g. D.L. Tiede, The CharismaticFigure as Miracle Worker(SBLDS 1; Missoula:
ScholarsPress, 1972) 101-240.
24 So e.g. B. Blackbum,TheiosAner and the MarkanMiracle Traditions:A Critique
of the Theios Aner Conceptas an InterpretativeBackgroundof the Miracle Traditions
used by Mark (WUNT 2.40; Tubingen:Mohr-Siebeck,1991) 68. Cf. J.J. Collins OTP
2:895.
2- C. Holladay, Theios Aner in Hellenistic-Judaism: A Critiqueof the Use of This
Categoryin New TestamentChristology(SBLDS 40; Missoula:ScholarsPress, 1977).

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 243

However,we proposethat,on the contrary,where HellenisticJewish

authorssuch as Philo deify Moses, they are not only rootedin the bib-
lical text (e.g. Exod. 7:1), but are also reusing and inculturatinga fun-
damentallyJewish traditionwhich, since at least the second century
BCE, conceived of Moses in angelomorphic/divineterms.
RegardingPhilo's midrashon Moses' apotheosis in De Vita Mosis
1:155-158, Wayne A. Meeks has arguedthat here Philo shares a tra-
dition with that found in the core of the homily of TanhB 4:51-2.26
Both combine the ascent up Mount Sinai with deification based on
Exod. 7:1. There are varioustexts in Philo which draw on the "stand-
ing" imagery of the biblical text, as a posturesymbolisingdivinity.27
Firm support for our proposal is provided by two second century
BCE texts, Sirach and the Animal Apocalypse.We have alreadynoted
the allegoricalangelizationof Moses in the later. The Greek of Sirach
45:2-3 says God "made(Moses) as glorious as the holy ones (&ytcov)."
The Geniza text has DE: . So the Greek clearly understoodthe He-
brew as a reference to an angelic, and in that sense divine, state of
existence.28
There are three other texts which supportour contention;Artapanus,
Ezekiel's Exagogue and the Testamentof Moses. The first of these is
particularlyimportantbecause it too suggests a common connection
between Sinai and Exod. 7:1.
Artapanus29 has a curious combinationof fierce nationalisticpride
and willingness to use Hellenistic language and categories of thought
to communicatehis message.-ISo for example Moses is euhemeristi-
cally identifiedwith Musaeus,the teacherof Orpheus(9.27.3-4). From
the Egyptian priests, Moses is "worthy of godlike honour," and is
called Hermes (9.27.6). It is not entirely clear whetherMoses is happy

26 W.A. Meeks "Moses as God and King,"Religions in Antiquity,Essays in Memory

of Erwin Ramsdell Goodenough (ed. J. Neusner, NumenSup 14; Leiden: E.J. Brill,
1968) 353-59.
21 Sacr. Abelis et Caini 8:10; De post Caini 27ff.; Conf. 96; Somn. 1:157-58, 241,
245; 2:222-3; Mut 54, 87; De Deo 1:7. These texts variously use of Deut. 5:31; Exod.
17:6; 24:10.
I In MS B at 45:2b this is associatedwith ascent "=r=."
29 Second to thirdcenturyBCE.
I On the basis of the referenceto Moses foundingthe cults of other gods (9.27.4),
it is sometimes alleged that Artapanus is far removed from mainstream (Deuter-
onomistic) Jewish faith. However, the passage in question could in fact be merely a
peculiarinterpretationof DeuL 32:8, cf. M. Mach, Entwicklungsstadien des jiidischen
Engelglaubensin vorrabbinischerZeit (TSAJ 34; Tubingen:Mohr-Siebeck,1992) 177,
258.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
244 CRISPINFLETCHER-LOUIS

with this ascription of divinity, though nothing suggests otherwise.

There is one passage where, in the opinion of the author Moses may
be viewed as divine.
Moses has been put in prisonby Pharaohfor his attemptto lead the
Israelitesout of Egypt.
23 But when night came, all the doors of the prison opened of themselves, and
some of the guardsdied, while otherswere relaxed by sleep and theirweapons
were broken.
24 Moses came out and went to the royal chambers.He found the doors open and
went in. There, since the guardswere relaxed,he woke the king. The latterwas
astonishedat what had happenedand bade Moses say the name of the god who
had sent him, mocking him.
25 But he bent forwardand pronouncedit into his ear. When the king heardit, he
fell down speechless but revived when taken hold of by Moses.
26 He wrote the name on a tablet and sealed it, but one of the.priestswho dispar-
aged what was written on the tablet died with a convulsion.3

Otto Weinrichwas of the opinionthat this escape from prisonwas for-

mally modelled on a OE'oqamvi'p traditionexemplifiedby the self-release
from prison by the divine-manDionysus.32In that case his releasevin-
dicates his divinity to the Thebanking Pentheus.33Carl Holladay has
respondedby arguingthat Moses' release is entirely dependenton the
one Jewish God. Moses' release is not automatic.-'Holladaypointsout
that this scene comes in a section where God has been centrestage in
the action, and this he believes negates a divine Moses in this text.
However, Holladay has not convinced everyone, and we can supply
new data which confirmsthe view of Weinrich.
First, the position in the narrativeactually suggests the reverse of
Holladay's point. This section of Artapanusretells the early chapters
of Exodus, and this haggadah comes at exactly the point we would
expect the referenceto Moses being made "as god to Pharaoh"(Exod.
7:1).3 Artapanusdoes not recordthose words but this little scene could
well act as an imaginativeexplicationof them. Secondly, this is not in

31 PraeparatioEvangelica9:27:23-26.Cf. Clement,Stromata1:23-29.
32 "Gebet und Wunder,"GenethliatonWilhelmSmid (ed. F. Focke et al.; Tilbingen
Beitriigezur Altertumswissenschaft 5; Stuttgart:W. Kohlhammer,1929) 298-309.
33 Euripides,Bacchae 509f., cf. Philostratus,Vita Apollonii 7:38; 8:30.
34 Theios Aner in Hellenistic-Judaism, 236, cf. generally 199-232.
35 9.27.2 starts with Exod. 1:8-14. Exod. 2:12, 15, 18, 21 are picked up in 9.27.18,
19; Exod. 3:2-3 in 27.9.21; Exod. 5:1 in 27.9.22. In 27.9.23-26, we have the prison
escape, and in 27.9.27-37, the narrativecontinueswith materialfrom Exod. 7:12-16:36.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 245

fact a topos without parallelin Jewish literature.In the History of the

Rechabites,a text admittedlylater than Artapanus,we read of how the
Rechabitesof Jeremiah35 were put in prison by the wicked successor
to Josiah. They are miraculouslyfreed from the prison and whisked
away to the Isles of the Blessed (chapter 10). Earlier in the text, we
are told that they are "earthlyangels"(7:10-11), the Jewish equivalent
of the Hellenistic Oeoi av5pE. This topos may well thus have assumed
a particularlyexalted status for its heroes, as the Dionysus tradition
indicates.
Thirdly, whilst there is certainly dependencyon YHWH, the way
that dependence is expressed suggests transformation.Moses is able
to pronounce the divine Name which has a theophaniceffect on its
hearer.The use of the Divine Name is widely associatedin Jewish tra-
Moses is
dition with the possession of a transformed,angelic identity.36
also described as the messenger of his God.
Besides the haggadic basis in Exod. 7:1 Artapanusis importantfor
us in that it offers a close parallelto the "fear and trembling-restora-
tion" pattem in 4Q374. In line 7 they, that is the Israelites,experience
the typical fear and tremblingat the presenceof the divine. He, that is
Moses, then has compassionon them which leads to their heartsbeing
strengthenedagain, line 7-8. Similarlyin ArtapanusMoses' use of the
Name brings Pharaohto the floor speechless, but when Moses gives
him his hand he is revived." Superficiallythen, for a non-Jewishreader
this haggadahportraysMoses as a 0Io avmp;however, the points of
contact with Jewish ideas are too strongto leave us in any doubt here
Artapanushas taken over his native ideology.
In Ezekiel's Exagogue38we have evidence of the early widespread
influence of the throne-theophany traditionand merkabahmysticism.39
In lines 68-89 Moses sees in a dreaman enormousthroneon Sinai on
which sits a noble man (qx5 yEvvaiov). Moses approaches the throne,
assumes the occupant's position, and is given his sceptre and crown.

31 See J.F. Fossum, The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord: Samaritanand
Jewish Conceptsof the Intermediationand the Origin of Grosticism(TiUbingen: Mohr,
1985) and C.R.A. Morray-Jones,"Transformational Mysticismin the Apocalyptic-Mer-
kabahTradition,"JJS 43 (1992) 1-31.
3 It is not the use of the Name which revives, but Moses' hand itself, providingfur-
ther corroborationof Moses' divinity at this point
3I Second or thirdcenturyBCE.
39 See P.W. Van der Horst,"Moses's ThroneVision in Ezekiel the Dramatist,"JJS
34 (1983) 23-29; "Some Notes on Exagogueof Ezekiel,"Mnemosyne37 (1984) 364-5.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
246 CRISPIN FLETCHER-LOUIS

As Moses beholds the world below him, the stars file past falling at
his feet. Moses has a perfect view of "thingsbelow and things above
God's realm: things present, past, and future...." This summarycor-
respondsimpressivelywith that used of esoteric speculationin m. Hag.
2:1.4?Deification is implicit in a numberof respects.4'Occupancyof
the throne of God is a privilege which later traditionwould assume
meanta sharingin God's glory and a threatto monotheisticfaith.42The
use of the sceptre43 and crown" symbolising universal reign,45may all
be associatedwith divinizationor angelomorphictransformation. Moses
is able to count the heavenly host, an ability otherwise indicative of
superhuman,divine status.46
The thirdtext which substantiatesthe claim for an importantdivine/
angelomorphicMoses traditionis the Testamentof Moses. This is a
Palestiniantext, in its final form dating from the turn of the eras. In
1:14, Moses is said to be pre-existent.In chapter 11:16-17, the law-
giver is describedas "worthyof the Lord, manifoldand incomprehen-
sible, Lord of the Word, faithful in all things, the divine prophetfor
the whole earth, the perfect teacher in the world."'7Indeed he is so
closely identified with the "sacred spirit"that J. Tromp has recently
commentedthat the association "is so strong that one could speak of
near identity.""Finally, in 11:17, Moses is called the "magusnuntius."
This could be translated "great messenger," though the underlying
Greek (and/orHebrew) would have been TyEkXo (1tt). The original
may thereforehave thoughtof Moses as the "GreatAngel."
Finally, there are a numberof texts where Josephusexhibits knowl-
edge of a divine or angelic view of Moses within his Jewish heritage.

10 And 3 Enoch 10:5; 11:3.

41 Van der Horst, "Moses's Throne Vision," 25 & "Some Notes," 365-9, pace
H. Jacobson, The Exagogue of Ezekiel (Cambridge: CUP, 1983) 272-78.
42 See b. Hag 14a; b. Sanh 38b.

4 Cf. Ps. 45:6.

" Cf. esp. TanhB 4:51f. and traditions which use clothing and divine apparel gener-
ally to express transformation. See W.A. Meeks "Moses as God and King," 354-65.
'5 Cf. 3 Enoch 10:3.
4 Gen. 15:5; Ps. 147:4; Ahikar 116; 1 Enoch 93:14; Apoc. Abr.; 2 Enoch 40:2-3.
Horst, "Some Notes," 368.
47 See the discussion in K. Haacker and P. Schlifer, "Nachbiblische Traditionen vom

Tod des Mose"Josephus-Studien.Untersuchungenzu Josephus,dem antikenJudentun

und dem Neuen Testament.Otto Michel zum 70. Geburtstagegewidmet (G6ttingen:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1974) 158-9.
" J. Tromp,The Assumptionof Moses. A CriticalEditionwith Commentary(Leiden:
E.J. Brill, 1993) 251.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 247

In Ant. 2:322, Pharaoh's daughterin adopting Moses speaks of his

Foppi as being divine (cf. 2:224). This parallels the account of the
birth of the angelomorphicNoah in 1 Enoch 106 and anticipatesrab-
binic descriptionsof Moses' birth.49Secondly, in Ant. 3:180 Josephus
calls Moses a Eeitov&8vpa.Thirdly,in Ag. Ap. 2:279 the Egyptiansare
said to regardhim as an &vApa OalLaaov. Oriov,
iccl which reminds
us of Artapanuson the estimationof the Egyptianpriests.Fourthly,in
a statementwhich is stronglyreminiscentof Josephus's commentson
Herod the Great's view of Essene transcendenceof mortalnature,and
Herod AgrippaI's arrogationof divinity, Josephussays in Ant. 3:320
that Moses' legislation was believed to come from God and "caused
this man to be rankedhigher than his own (human)nature (bov avSpa
nenotilicesTS avTov "voccs icpE;ova vogi o-Oat)."
We submitthat later traditionsin which Moses is regardedas divine,
whether in the rabbis or Samaritanliterature,are rooted in a wide-
spread and essentially Jewish traditionof the second temple period."
This traditionfocused specifically on Moses' ascent up Sinai and the
wording of Exod. 7:1 and sometimesused the two in combination.

4Q374 and Moses' Transformationat Sinai

Clearly, there is ample evidence that 4Q374 can be read in the way
we suggest. Furthermore,considerationof details of the text confirm
the suitabilityof this reading.
I. Moses is said to be as ln*kf. That of course is language which
could readilyoverlapwith the angelic, as is amply attestedin the DSS.
patterncommon
It is thus not surprisingthat the judgement-restoration
to Artapanusand 4Q374 frg. 2 can be comparedto a wider angelo-
phonic topos. Typically, when a mortal encountersan angel, angelo-
morphic human, or God himself, they react with numinousfear and
trembling,falling to the ground, losing speech and other faculties. If
the mortalis worthy of the presence of God, this is then followed by
the divine being bringinghim back to normalconsciousness,by word
or deed, perhapsby the agency of another.5'The strengtheningaction

4' Exod. Rab. 1:20, 26; Deut Rab. 11:10;Tanhumaad Exod. 2:10; PirqeR. El. 48.
5 For the rabbis,in additionto those texts alreadynoted see Abot R. Nat A 1; Gen.
Rab. 68:12; Deut Rab. 11:4. For Samaritantraditions,see e.g. Fossum,Name of God
122ff., 131ff., 146.
"' Cf. e.g. Dan. 8:15-18; 10:4-11; 1 Enoch 14:15-15:2, 4 Ezra 10:29-33; 2 Enoch
1:6-8; Apoc. Abr. 10:1-5; Rev 1:17.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
248 CRISPIN FLETCHER-LOUIS

of a divine being is furthercharacteristicof this kind of experience.52

For a good example of a humanacting in the position of the angel and
himself being angelomorphic,we could comparethe Septuagint'saddi-
tion to Esther 5 (addition D) verses 7-11. There, when the king's ter-
rifying angelic appearancebrings Estherto the ground,she is restored
by the king's embrace and the touch of his sceptre.
2. A weakness in Newsom's readingis that she fails to realise that
alreadyin line 6 with the midrashicexpansionreferringto the mighty
ones and Pharaoh'sreeling, we have the divine warriorlanguage ap-
plied to Moses. This theophanictheme does not start in line 7. Phar-
aoh's reeling is closely paralleledby Artapanus.What then are we to
make of the 'i't? In the OT, these are human mighty ones, or
nobles, either those in Israel or her enemies.53Whilst it is possible that
they are the Egyptianarmy, this would necessitatean abruptchange in
what follows to the Israelitesat Sinai. The ms in line 8 requiresa con-
tinuity of third person referencefrom lines 7 onwards. Withoutsome
referenceto the Israelitesin what precedesline 7, the thirdpersonsuf-
fixes in lines 7ff. are left awarkedlywithoutantecedent.It seems safest
thereforeto assume that the D' are the Israelites at Sinai.-, Read
this way, Exod. 7:1 is used in line 6 as a peg on which the authormay
hang-by means of the expansion ibrr rD'rr'T tD-a Sinaitic "dei-
fication"of Moses. The Sinai event is probablythe author'sprimary
concern given what else is extant of the text, (esp. 2 ii 1-5), thoughit
is possible that in what followed after line 10, the Pharaonicepisode
in the second half of line 6 was picked-upand expanded.
3. As we have seen, a strongargumentfor this proposedreadingof
the text is the judgementthat in line 8 thereis a referenceto the shin-
ing face of Moses. In Exod. 34:29-35, when Aaron and all the Israel-
ites see Moses coming down the mountain,with the skin of his face
shining, they are afraid to approach him. Their reaction of fear is
thereforeripe for the kind of embellishmentwe have in 4Q374 2 ii 7.
However,at this point we encountera potentialproblem.In the Qum-

52 See Dan. 10:18; 4 Ezra 10:30; T. Dan. 6:5; Lk. 22:43-44; Apoc. Abr. 10:3, cf.
2 Tim. 4:17. Elsewhere,YHWH himself strengthens:Ps. 80:17; 89:21.
53 E.g. Ps. 76:6; 136:18; 2 Chron.23:20; Judg. 5:13; Nah. 3:18; Neh. 3:5; Jer. 14:3.
54 For this exalted view of the Israelitesat Sinai, it may be appropriateto compare
the rabbinichaggadah,which is assumedin John 10:34, accordingto which Israelites
themselves underwenta deificationat Sinai. Cf. e.g. Num. Rab. 16:24; Pesiq. R. 2:1;
TanhB 2:25ff.; 4:76f.; Exod. Rab. 32:1, 7; Pesiq. Rab. Kah. 4:4 Lev. Rab. 4:1; 11:13;
Deut Rab. 7:12.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 249

ran text we actuallyhave the reverse of the sequencein Exodus 34. In

4Q374, the people tremblein fear and are comfortedand strengthened
by the light of the face shiningupon them. In Exod. 34:30-31 it is the
shining face of Moses which causes the fear. Moses has to call to the
people in orderto dispel their fear. But our text is not the only exam-
ple of this alterationin the biblical account.In Josephus'saccount of
Moses' descent from Sinai in Ant 3:82-3, the fear of the Israelitesis
also dispelled by the radiantappearanceof Moses.55It is also possible
that the positive view of God's shining light in the Aaronic blessing
(Num. 6:24-6), a text which was dear to the Qumransectarians,'6has
influencedthe use of the motif in this Dead Sea text.
In one rabbinicmidrash,Moses' shiningface is used to explain why
he is divine. In Pesiq. Rab. Kah. pisqa' 32 on Deut. 33:1, 'VA iT*D
tn*w" is read as "Mosesthe man,God"andexplainedby referenceto
Exod. 34:30.5' Furthermore,in the scrolls there is evidence that ange-
lization and the face shining to give life and knowledge (cf. 4Q374 2
ii 8 end), were closely associated.In lQSb 4:25-26, we read how the
priest who has become 0mp JIM= CMzjtx' is to be "holy among
his people, and an [eternal]light [to illumine] the world with knowl-
edge and to enlighten the face of the congregation[with wisdom]."58
This is not at all surprisingsince angelomorphicor deified humansare
normallysaid to take on an imridescent appearance.
4. Line 9 as we saw is puzzling.What is meant by "and though no
one had knownyou, they meltedand trembled"?It may be thoughtthat
making Moses the subjectdoes little to solve this problem.However,
there is a recurrenttopos in angelic traditions, and those in which
human beings are transformed,accordingto which the heavenly being
is not recognisedby mere mortals.An illustrativeexample is the trans-
formationof David in Bib. Ant. 61:8-9. Here the biblical narrativeof
David's slaying of Goliath, 1 Sam. 17:55-58, is retold with imagina-
tive embellishments:
And David said to him, "Beforeyou die, open your eyes and see your slayer, the
one who has killed you." And the Philistinelooked and saw an angel and said,
"Not you alone have killed me, but also the one who is presentwith you, he
whose appearanceis not like the appearanceof a man.And then David cut off his

5' Josephushas introducedthis motif into his retellingof Exod. 19.

56 lQS 2:24; IQSb; 1IQBer 1-2 6f. See B. Nitzan, QumranPrayer and Religious
Poetry, 145-71.
-' Cf. MidrashTehillim 90.
-" Cf. IQH 4:5, 27; 4Q511 frg. 18:8, cf. frg. 35.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
250 CRlSPINFLETCHER-LOUIS

head.. Now the angel of the Lord had changed59David's appearance,and no one
recognisedhim And Saul saw David and asked him who he was, and therewas
no one who recognisedhim.'*

This phenomenoncan be understoodin the wider frameworkof the

difficulty ordinary humans have in understandingheavenly realities
which they encounter.
5. Read this way the referential inconsistency we noted in New-
som's reading is not finally removed. We still have a shift from the
thirdperson singularin lines 6-7, to a second personin line 8. This is
at least less complicatedthan Newsom's solution. It may of course be
that in the lost portionof the text there were words which made this
transitionsmooth. Alternatively,it is worth consideringthe possibility
that the fluidity between second and third person is itself indicativeof
the extent to which Moses has become mergedwith the divinity.Is it
Moses the Israelitesfail to recognise or is it YHWH?6'If Moses now
possesses somethingof the glory of the one God then in a sense it can
be said that they have missed the presenceof both.62

Moses as God and New TestamentChristology

In the three gospels, Matthew,Luke and John and numerousletters,
the New Testamentportrayalof Jesus makes much of the comparison
with Moses. In as much as early Christianitywas a varietyof second
Temple Judaismits Christologythus providesfurthercorroborationfor
our understandingof 4Q374. In turn, 4Q374 offers both general and
specific insight to the meaningof various New Testamentpassages.It
is commonin key texts such as the Sermonon the Mount,Matthew5-7,
Paul's New Covenant hermeneuticin 2 Cor. 3-4, to play off Jesus

" All the MSS have "raised,"which OTP editorDJ. Harrington amendsto "changed"
on the basis of a confusion of M/fM with rr. That may be, but it is an interesting
possibilityneverthelessthat"raised"was intendedas the expressionof a verticalmove-
ment correspondingto the ontologicaland facial change. We shouldcomparethe verti-
cal movementin ascent texts and the Qumrancommunity'sworshipset on the heavenly
heights.
60 Amongst other examples of this angelophanicrecognitionand receptiontheme cf.
Judg. 6:11-12; 13:15-19;Gen. 18-19; Bib. Ant 27:10, JosephusAnt 1:196-199;Phio
De Abr. 107-113;Test Ab. A 3-6; Luke 24:13-44; Tob. 5:4-12:22;Heb. 13:2;2 Enoch
72:3; Apoc. Zeph. 6; Test. Abr. 16; T. Is. 2:3; 1 Enoch 62:1; Gen. Rab. 8:10.
61 Comparethe readingof the longer text of the Jewish Orphicaofferedby M. La-
fargue in "The Jewish Orpheus,"Society of Biblical Literature1978 SeminarPapers
(ed. P. Achtemeier,vol. 2; Atlanta:ScholarsPress, 1978) 137-44.
62 For Moses as the image of God see Fossum,Name of God 93f. In Samaritanlit-
erature,the image is particularlyassociatedwith Adam and Moses' shiningface.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 4Q374 251

against Moses. In respect of status and identity Jesus can be thought

of as divine in these texts whilst Moses is not. That is now called into
question.
Perhapsthe most significantpassage is the synoptic transfiguration
account.63Throughoutthe New Testament, the resurrectedJesus is
given a theophanicfunctionin a very general way comparableto the
bestowal of theophanic prerogativeson Moses. But in the transfigu-
ration narrativewe have a close parallelin that both here and 4Q374
putativedivinity is revealedduringearthy lives.
I say putativebecause the questionof the ontology of the Christol-
ogy revealed in the transfigurationstory is far from resolved. It used
to be thoughtthat if this in any way presenteda divine Jesus that was
the productof a Hellenization;a eeio4 'a'mp Christology.H.C. Kee in
a seminal article argued that we should understandthe transfigura-
tion not as a Hellenisticepiphanybut an apocalypticvision, therebyre-
moving the divine element.64Certainlya setting in Jewish apocalyptic
makes most sense of its form and content.However several years ear-
lier, W. Gerberhad noted the parallelsto the Enoch/Metatrontradition
in which a mortalexperiencesangelizationto the point of becoming a
"Lesser YHWH."'65 That traditionincludes the much later (Medieval)
GedulatMoshe in which Exod. 7:1 is connected to Sinai and Moses'
deification.' A setting in the matrixof Jewish mystical and apocalyp-
tic traditionsmay in fact give Jesus divinity here, in however an atten-
uated sense.67
Though the Enoch-Metatrontradition may well be importantthe
Moses/Sinai traditionseems more prominent.There are over a half a
dozen close points of correspondencewith the Sinai ascent." Jesus

'3 "The Transfiguration in Mark:Epiphanyor ApocalypticVision," Understanding

the Sacred Text (ed. J. Reumann;Valley Forge JudsonPress, 1972) 135-52.
" H.C. Kee, "Die Metamorphose Jesu, Mk. 9, 2f. par,"ThZ 23 (1967) 385-95.
'3 Especially section 28. For the translatedtext, see M. Gaster,Studiesand Textsin
Folklore, Magic, Medieval Romance,Hebrew Apocryphaand SamaritanArchaeology
(London:Maggs Bros., 3 vols., 1925-8) vol. 1, 124-43.
66 For an explorationof the form criticalconnectionswith the traditionsin which the
righteousattain angelic status or identitysee M. Mach, "ChristusMutans.Zur Bedeu-
tung der 'VerklarungJesu' im Wechselvon judischerMessianitAtzur neutestamendiche
Christologie,"MessiahandChristosStudiesin theJewishOriginsof Christianity:Presented
to David Flusser on the occasion of his Seventy-fifthBirthday(TSAJ 32; eds. Ithmar
Gruenwald,Shaul Shaked & GedaliahuG. Stroumsa;Tubingen:Mohr, 1992) 177-98.
67 See J. Jeremias,"M sr;," TDNT4:869 n. 228; B. Blackburn,TheiosAner 118-
119.
" Cf. 4Q374 frg. 7 line 3.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
252 CRISPm FLETCHER-LOUIS

goes up the mountainafter six/eight days, just as Moses ascends Mt.

Sinai and receives the Torahafter six days (cf. Exod. 24:16). He takes
with him threeclose companionsjust as Moses took Aaron,Nadab and
Abihu (Exod. 24). The majorityof the people of Israel waited at the
foot of the mountain.So too Jesus leaves the other disciples and the
crowds, to whom he retums after the transfiguration(Mark 9:14 and
parallels). On Mount Sinai, God appearsin a cloud, Exod. 24:16-17,
just as God speaks to Jesus from a cloud.69Both Moses and Jesus are
the only humans to enter the cloud. In Mark's account when Jesus
returnsthe crowds seeing him 4Oa4f0cav cai icpOaTptovT?; Tacma-
(ovToaxiTov(Mark9:14). Allusion to the shining face of Moses as he
meets the Israelite seems likely.70Especially in Luke's version the
words aixtoi acol)vtE (Luke 9:35; cf. Matt. 17:5 // Mark 9:7) may well
allude to the command to listen to the prophet like Moses of Deut.
18:15-16.
Now it may be objectedthata Moses Christologyis excludedby the
appearanceof Moses himself along with Elijah on the Mountain.But
that is to ask too much rigidity of the typology. If Moses could be
VMnK,then, for the gospel writers,so could Jesus, who was regarded
by the New Testamentas at the very least a new Moses.

Conclusion
As a concludingsummarywe have seen that 4Q374 is best under-
stood as focused on Sinai. Fragment2 in particulardescribesthe theo-
phanic effect which Moses' deified identityhas on his fellow Israelites.
This makes good sense in the context of known DSS traditions in
which a humanbeing experiencesangelomorphictransformation(/dei-
fication). Read this way, the problems posed by Carol Newsom are
greatly eased. Furthermore,hereby4Q374 fragment2 providesimpor-
tant data for a Jewish Moses tradition.What has been judged a pecu-
liarity of a stronglyHellenizedJudaism,may in fact be representedin
"mainstream" PalestinianJewish thought.In turn,this importanthistory-
of-religions reappraisalsheds light on the origin and shape of Christian
beliefs about Jesus.

I9 So e.g. J. Marcus,The Way of the Lord: ChristologicalExegesis of the Old Tes-

tament in the Gospel of Mark (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992) 82-3.
70 Cf. Acts 3:22; 7:37.

This content downloaded from 146.189.194.69 on Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:06:59 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions