Texts in Conversation
1 Clement and Barnabas retell the golden calf story from Exodus 32 to opposite ends. In Barnabas, Israel loses the covenant when Moses breaks the tablets, while in 1 Clement, Moses offering his life for the people is a model for those dividing Corinth.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Exodus 32:31
Septuagint
30 And Moses returned to the Lord and said, “I beg you, O Lord, this people has sinned a great sin, and they have made gods of gold for themselves. 31 And now, if you are going to forgive them their sin, forgive! But if not, wipe me out of your book that you have written!” 32 And the Lord said to Moses, “If someone has sinned, I will wipe them out of my book. 33 But you, go on, go down and lead this people into the territory about which I told you. Look, my angel will go ahead of you; and on the day I visit, I will bring their sin upon them.” 34 And the Lord struck the people concerning the production of the calf, which Aaron had made.
Barnabas 4:8
Epistle of Barnabas
Early Christian
7 It belongs to us; but they lost it forever in this way when Moses had just received it. For Scripture says: ‘And Moses was on the mountain fasting forty days and forty nights, and he received the covenant from the Lord—tablets of stone written by the finger of the hand of the Lord.’ 8 But they lost it by turning to idols. For the Lord says: ‘Moses, Moses, come down quickly, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted unlawfully.’ And Moses understood and threw down the two tablets from his hands; and their covenant was shattered, so that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed in our hearts in the hope that arises from faith in Him.
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 53:4
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
2 When Moses went up into the mountain and had spent forty days and forty nights in fasting and humiliation, God said to him; “Moses, Moses, come down, quickly from here, for My people whom you led forth from the land of Egypt have done iniquity: they have transgressed quickly out of the way which you commanded them: they have made for themselves molten images.” 3 And the Lord said to him; “I have spoken to you once and twice saying, I have seen this people, and behold it is stiff-necked. Let Me destroy them utterly, and I will blot out their name from under heaven, and I will make of you a nation great and wonderful and numerous more than this.” 4 And Moses said; “No, not so, Lord! Forgive this people their sin, or blot me also out of the book of the living.”
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Notes and References
“... Clement can make a direct application of the OT to the church because for him Israel merges into the church (see Church as Israel) The contrast of his situation and his use of the OT with Barnabas may be seen in the different ways they treated the incident in which Moses broke the tablets of the Ten Commandments (Ex 32:7–19; Deut 9:12–17). 1 Clement 53 refers to the incident in order to prepare for the appeal to the troublemakers at Corinth to depart for the good of the congregation by recalling Moses’ willingness to be killed himself in order that the people may be spared. Barnabas 4.6-8 sees in the incident the breaking of the covenant between God and Israel so that the covenant of Jesus might be given to Christians. ...”
Martin, Ralph P.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments
(p. 1197) InterVarsity Press, 1997
* 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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