Texts in Conversation
In 2 Corinthians 13, Paul quotes Deuteronomy 19 to emphasize that an accusation requires two or three witnesses, showing how later interpreters adapted the legal traditions from the Torah to address disputes within their communities.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Deuteronomy 19:15
Septuagint
13 Your eye shall not spare him; so you will purge innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with you. 14 You shall not move the landmarks of your neighbor, which your fathers set in the inheritance, in which you have obtained a share in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit. 15 One witness shall not stand to testify against a man for any iniquity, or for any fault, or for any sin which he may commit; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, shall every word be established. 16 And if an unjust witness rise up against a man, alleging iniquity against him; 17 then the two men between whom the controversy is will stand before the Lord, and before the priests, and before the judges, who may be in those days.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
2 Corinthians 13:1
New Testament
1 This is the third time I am coming to visit you. By the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter will be established. 2 I said before when I was present the second time and now, though absent, I say again to those who sinned previously and to all the rest, that if I come again, I will not spare anyone, 3 since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak toward you but is powerful among you. 4 For indeed he was crucified by reason of weakness, but he lives because of God’s power. For we also are weak in him, but we will live together with him, because of God’s power toward you. 5 Put yourselves to the test to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you—unless, indeed, you fail the test!
Date: 55–57 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In addition to Matt 18:15-20, we find Deuteronomy 19:13 alluded to in 2 Corinthians 13:1, where Paul tells the Corinthians that any charges they make against one another 'must be sustained by the evidence of two or three witnesses.' And in 1 Timothy 5:19 there is this: 'Never accept any accusation against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.' Once again, then, Matthew appears to stand within a tradition. That is, Matthew 18:15-20 not only takes up a Jewish tradition based upon Leviticus 19:17-18, it also is in harmony with the application of Deuteronomy 19:15 found in 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19 ..."
Dale C. Allison, Scriptural Allusions in the New Testament: Light from the Dead Sea Scrolls (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2019), 28.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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