Texts in Conversation
Philo describes the divine Word, or Logos, as a mediator standing between God and humanity, acting as both ambassador and advocate, ensuring order is maintained. 1 Timothy uses similar language to describe Jesus as the mediator between God and humans.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Philo, Who is the Heir of Divine Things 205
Classical
But on minds that are ill-disposed and produce no knowledge, it pours out a whole body of punishments, bringing on them the most pitiable destruction of the deluge. And the Father who created the universe has given his archangelic and most ancient Word a pre-eminent gift: to stand on the border between the two and separate what has been created from the Creator. And this same Word is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race, which is exposed to affliction and misery; and is also the ambassador, sent by the Ruler of all, to the subject race. And the Word rejoices in the gift, and, exulting in it, announces it and boasts of it, saying, "And I stood in the midst, between the Lord and You;" being neither uncreated like God nor created like you, but in the middle between these two extremes, a hostage, as it were, to both parties: a hostage to the Creator, as a pledge and security that the whole race would never break away and revolt entirely, choosing disorder rather than order; and to the creature, to lead it to hold a confident hope that the merciful God would not overlook his own work. For I will proclaim news of peace to the creation from the one who has resolved to put an end to wars, God, who is always the guardian of peace.
Date: 20–50 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
1 Timothy 2:5
New Testament
1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, 2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time.
Date: 90–100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The LXX in Job 9:33 had used the term to bemoan the absence of someone to officiate between man and God. Anthony Hanson unconvincingly posits Job 9:33 as the main background here (“The Mediator: 1 Timothy 2:5-6,” in Studies in the Pastoral Epistles [London: S.P.C.K., 1968] 56-64). Philo had made considerable use of µεσίτης and cognates in his voluminous speculations about the existence of various cosmic and angelic intermediaries between God and human beings. The Mithra cult and other Greco-Roman religions also made liberal use of the term in their various mediatorial theologies. See also T. Dan 6:2 concerning angelic mediators which might have influenced Paul himself in Gal 3:19-20. The term is predicated elsewhere of Christ (Heb 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) but with reference specifically to priestly sacrifice and thus not at issue in 1 Tim 2:5-6 ..."
Peter Dunstan Brown, “The Use of Ransom Language in 1 Timothy 2:1–7 and Titus 2:11–14” (PhD diss., The Catholic University of America, 2014), 100.
* 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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