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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 17

1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James, and led them privately up a high mountain.⁠ 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. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Do not tell anyone about the vision until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” 10 The disciples asked him, “Why then do the experts in the law say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does indeed come first and will restore all things.⁠ 12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist. 14 When they came to the crowd, a man came to him, knelt before him, 15 and said, “Lord, have mercy on my son because he has seizures and suffers terribly, for he often falls into the fire and into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they were not able to heal him.” 17 Jesus answered, “You unbelieving and perverse generation! How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I endure you? Bring him here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of him, and the boy was healed from that moment. 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” 20 He told them, “It was because of your little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.” 21 When they gathered together in Galilee, Jesus told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. 22 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed. 23 After they arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 24 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes—from their sons or from foreigners?” 25 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. 26 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four-drachma coin. Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Exodus 40:35 and Matthew 17:5

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

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.

Passages

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.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Exodus

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.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

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.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Exodus 40:35 and Matthew 17:5

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