Texts in Conversation
Matthew 17 describes a bright cloud that covered those present at the transfiguration of Jesus, using unique Greek language also found in the Septuagint translation of Exodus 40, where the cloud covered the tabernacle and prevented Moses from entering.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Exodus 40:35
Septuagint
29 And he put the altar of the burnt offerings by the doors of the tabernacle. 30 31 32 33 And he set up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar; and Moses accomplished all the works. 34 And the cloud covered the tabernacle of witness, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it, and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. 36 And when the cloud went up from the tabernacle, the children of Israel prepared to depart with their baggage. 37 And if the cloud did not go up, they did not prepare to depart, till the day when the cloud went up. 38 For a cloud was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night before all Israel, in all their journeyings.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 17:5
New Testament
2 And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3 Then Moses and Elijah also appeared before them, talking with him. 4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Do not be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, all they saw was Jesus alone.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Heavenly dwellings for the heavenly three is thus a good interpretive option, especially since in the Matthean version of the transfiguration Peter’s suggestion is not the result of somnolent confusion (as in Luke 9:32–33) or raw fear (as in Mark 9:6). The story does not imply Peter’s suggestion is categorically wrong. Rather, the heavenly voice suggests that it is ill-timed; before Jesus enters into ultimate glory, he must go the way of the cross. The cloud concerns the eschaton as well. The voice comes from a “bright cloud” which “overshadowed them” (ἰδοὺ νεφέλη φωτεινὴ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτούς, presumably Jesus, Moses and Elijah). This is most likely an allusion to Exodus 40:35, the only verse in the LXX which contains both νεφέλη and ἐπισκιάζω ... Davies and Allison note that the description of the cloud as “bright” (φωτεινός) makes a reference to the Shekinah “unmistakable.” ..."
Leroy A. Huizenga, The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel of Matthew (Leiden: Brill, 2009), 232.
* 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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