Jesu exodus

Mose-, Sinai- och Exodusmotiv i Luk 9:28–36

Abstract

In the Gospel of Luke’s depiction of Jesus’ transfiguration in Luke 9:28–36, it is not difficult to hear echoes from the Moses, Sinai, and Exodus motifs in the Pen- tateuch. At the same time, I have noticed that several commentaries are ambiva- lent towards the possible presence of such motifs in the narrative. In this essay I chart the echoes I perceive from the Sinai and Exodus motifs in the Transfigura- tion account in the Gospel of Luke, and discuss how these motifs could add a further dimension to the reading of the Gospel. In my investigation I use the sev- en criteria for testing claims about the presence and meaning of scriptural echoes from Richard B. Hays’ Echoes of Scripture in the letters of Paul (1989), together with an augment of the criterion of volume from Kenneth Duncan Litwak’s Ech- oes of Scripture in Luke-Acts: Telling the History of God’s People Intertextually (2005). After an introduction, I deal with Luke 9:28–36 with regard to syntax and context. The results of this analysis form a basis for a study of the intertextual relationship between Luke 9:28–36 and the proposed intertexts Exod 24:15–18; Exod 34:29–35; Exod 40:34–35 and Deut 18:15–19, based on the criteria of Hays and Litwak. Finally, I investigate the term ἔξοδος in Luke 9:31 and the possibility that Jesus is depicted as a new Moses in Luke 9:28–36. In conclusion I maintain that echoes from the Moses, Sinai, and Exodus motifs really are present, and that Luke uses those echoes to provide an interpretive frame for the events on the Mount of Transfiguration and depict Jesus as the promised prophet like Moses, and also to illuminate and deepen the meaning of Jesus’ exodus in Luke 9:31.