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In the Exagoge, a retelling of the Exodus as a Greek tragedy, Moses dreams that a noble figure gives him a crown and scepter and leaves his throne for him. This may represent the incorporation of later traditions such as from Daniel.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Daniel 7:13
Hebrew Bible
11 “Then I kept on watching because of the arrogant words of the horn that was speaking. I was watching until the beast was killed and its body destroyed and thrown into the flaming fire. 12 As for the rest of the beasts, their ruling authority had already been removed, though they were permitted to go on living for a time and a season. 13 “I was watching in the night visions, And with the clouds of the sky, one like a son of man was approaching. He went up to the Ancient of Days and was escorted before him. 14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty. All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him. His authority is eternal and will not pass away. His kingdom will not be destroyed.
Exagoge 74
Ezekiel the Tragedian
Pseudepigrapha, Wisdom and Poetry
68 In my dream I saw on the summit of Mount Sinai 69 a great throne that reached up to the vault of heaven. 70 On it sat a man of noble appearance, 71 wearing a royal crown, and holding in his left hand 72 a great scepter. With his right hand he 73 beckoned to me, and I stood before the throne. 74 Then he handed me the scepter and the crown 75 and told me to sit on the royal throne, 76 and he himself left it. From there I looked out 77 over the whole circle of the earth, and below 78 the earth itself, and high above the heavens. 79 Then a host of stars fell at my feet, 80 and I counted them 81 as they passed by me like an army in ranks. 82 Then I woke from my sleep in terror.
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Notes and References
“... With respect to the present study, the most salient feature of the account is the transfer of distinctive celestial attributes, including the attribute of the divine seat, to the second power. Notably, the first power appears to execute the transferal when he orders the new guardian to take the seat he previously occupied. The enthroned celestial figure then vacates his heavenly seat and hands his royal attributes to the son of Amram. This extra-biblical Mosaic account therefore provides a unique opportunity to behold the transferal of the attributes from the first power to the second. While in other accounts we are often privy only to the final outcome of such transferals, here in the Exagoge we are able to witness the entire process. [...] As in Daniel 7 and the Similitudes, in the Exagoge the second power receives the attribute of the celestial seat. Some scholars also establish a connection between Moses’ acquisition of the divine seat in the Exagoge and the enthronement of the Son of Man in Daniel and the Similitudes. Analyzing these similarities, Howard Jacobson points out that in “Daniel 7:9ff the divine being sits on his throne in great splendor and then ‘one like a man comes with the clouds of heaven.’ Like Moses in Ezekiel, the man approaches the throne and is given sovereignty, glory and kingly power.” Christopher Rowland and Christopher Morray-Jones draw attention to another set of parallels, this time with the Son of Man traditions found in the Book of the Similitudes, noting that “in Ezekiel the Tragedian God places Moses on a throne with a crown on his head and a sceptre in his hand. In the Similitudes of Enoch the Son of Man or Elect One sits on the throne of glory (e.g. 1 Enoch 69:29). Elsewhere in the text the throne is occupied by God.” ...”
Orlov, Andrei
The Glory of the Invisible God: Two Powers in Heaven Traditions and Early Christology
(pp. 29-30) T&T Clark, 2019
* 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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