"Upon the Tree": Deut 21:22-23 in the New Testament

Author(s): Max Wilcox

Source: Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 96, No. 1 (Mar., 1977), pp. 85-99
Published by: Society of Biblical Literature
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3265329
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JBL 96/1 (1977) 85-99

"UPON THE TREE" - DEUT 21:22-23

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
MAX WILCOX
THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF NORTH WALES, BANGOR, WALES

N the NT the word v'Xov,"tree, wood, timber," has two special ranges of
meaning. The one, reflected in passages such as Gal 3:13; Acts 5:30; 10:39;
13:29; 1 Pet 2:24, echoes or appears to echo that found in Deut 21:22-23
(LXX)' and comes to be a standing equivalent for "cross";the other, confined
in the NT to Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19, refersto the "treeof life," recalling Gen 2:9b;
3:22, 24 (and also passages found in certain of the apocalyptic books).2 These
two rather different uses are linked in early patristic literature to identify the
cross of Jesus with the "tree of life," as is well enough known.3 Thus Justin
devotes a whole chapter of his Dialogue to the matter and gives the OT
passages in question a major role as testimonia:
... Learn also that He whom the Scriptures show us as about to come again in glory after
being crucified had the type of the tree of life, which it was said was planted in paradise. .."4

The Epistle of Barnabas takes up the same theme and in a very interesting
passage asserts that it was necessaryfor Jesus to suffer "upon a tree"($eft ycip
{va crr t vAov TrdOi).5In (Pseudo ?)-Tertullian, Adv. ludaeos 10 it is argued
that Deut 21:23 is not a proof that Jesus was "cursed,"but only that he was
subjected to such a death (i.e., "upon a tree") in order that what was predicted
by the prophets(!) "as destined to come upon him"might be fulfilled: i.e., Deut
21:23 is treated as a testimonium to the death of Jesus.6

'The text of Deut 21:22-23 (LXX) is as follows:

22 'EIv 6 yvr7rTaLtIv TLvL CdpapTia KpLpa Oa'droTv,
K ov
dov,Kaai l KpedL
Kplaialr av'rov rlrfv'Xov.
23 ov KOLt1O47f0fTal rJaO
oala aTVroV gTri TOV fv'ov,
dXXd Tacfir Oadi/eTc avro ev rTf rjlipa EKEIt),
6TL KeKa7TaOpaolVO<' VtlrOO6eov rar KpetfAd`pevo; 7iri
fvhov. Kal ov Pir yAavelTre TrV yrv tv KvpLos
6 Oe6 aov o660iWv aoO iv KX4fp).
The question whether it is, in fact, the LXX which underlies the examples cited from the NT is
discussed below.
2 E.g., I Enoch 24:4; 25:1-6; T. Levi 18:11; 4 Ezra 8:52; 1QH 8:5.
3 Cf. J. Schneider, "Xylon," TWNT 5 (1954) 36-40.
4 Dialogue 86:1, cited here from the translation by A. Lukyn Williams (Justin Martyr: the

Dialogue with Trypho [London: SPCK, 1930] 182).

5 Barn. 5:13. We do not accept the view of B. Lindars (New Testament Apologetic [London:
SCM, 1961] 234 n. 2) that the phrase here means no more than "be crucified." The emphasis is
clearly upon the word "tree,"as appears also from Barn. 8:1,5; 11:6(citing Ps 1:3-6;cf. also Justin,
Dialogue 86:4); 12:1, 7.
6 Adv. lud. 10:5. The authenticity of Adv. Iud. chaps. 10-14 is disputed, but nevertheless
similar statements also occur in Adv. Marcionem.

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86 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

The clearest NT example of the application of Deut 21:22-23 to the

crucifixion of Jesus is in Gal 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
law, having become a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursedbe everyone who
hangs upon a tree.' "This passage has been the subject of a number of valuable
studies, one of the more interesting of which is that by B. Lindars.7But he, like
some previous writers,8sees its use in Galatians 3 as a reflection of early Jewish
polemic against acceptance of a Crucified One as Messiah. However, Deut
21:22-23 does not seem to have been taken by scholars as a NT testimonium,
whereas Paul's explicit use of the formula OTt yiyparrat ("for it is written")
to introduce a quotation from it would seem to point in that direction.
Further, the fact that it appears in allusions in four other passages in the NT9
and may also be reflected in a number of others (as we hope to indicate later)
suggests that its role in the development and interpretation of the passion
tradition may have been a rather more significant one than is usually thought.
Our aim, then, is to investigate the passages in the NT where Deut 21:22-23
appears, in order to assess how far its role in the NT may reflect use by the
primitive church of "tree-testimonia,"and to discern the extent to which such
use may in turn cohere with the emergent Jewish interpretativetraditions on
the same theme.

I
Let us begin with Gal 3:13. The text is as follows:

XpLar6Ts' rjtS:?7yDoaaev EK Tr7j KardparS Tov vdolov

Yev(J1eCVo v7Jrep 77pJiV KardTpa, TrtLycypa7rTOtt,
'ETrLKaTrdpaotTs Trac d KpEtditePOS- c7rt evAXov.
Otto Michel rightly noted that the quotation here of Deut 21:23 did not
coincide with the LXX and so ascribed its form to use of another text of the
OT.O0His reason seems to have been that Paul uses rtlKatrdparoS, not
7 New Testament Apologetic, 232-37. Cf. also A. T. Hanson, Studies in Paul's Techniqueand
Theology (London: SPCK, 1974) 6, 45-51, 155, 197. Hanson seeks to link the citation of Deut
21:23 in Gal 3:13 with Col 2:14-15 by way of the (tradition preservedin) Tg. Ps.-Jonathan of Num
25:1-5. He finds it "tempting"to think that Paul knew of this targum "or the tradition that lay
behind it," but in any case he claims that there is clear evidence that Num 25:1-5 and Deut 21:23
"were connected in rabbinic tradition" (p. 6). Further support for this view might be drawn from
Tg. Neofiti of Num 25:1-5, esp. v. 4, where the Israelites who committed idolatry are to be killed
and hung upon the stake/cross (n:7X). Note that Tg. Ps.-Jonathan has not "stake"/"cross," but
"tree"(KD'p).However, both targums see the "hanging"as following the execution. The same link
between Deut 21:23 and Num 25:4 appears in Sifre Num. ?131, on Num 25:4 (ed. H. S. Horovitz,
Corpus tannaiticum, 3.3.1 [Leipzig: Fock, 1917] 172), but here it is not clear whether crucifixion is
meant, or not. It may be death by "hanging,"as J. M. Baumgarten ("Does tlh in the Temple Scroll
refer to CrucifixionT' JBL 91 [1972] 476) contends.
8 Cf. H. Vollmer, Die alttestamentlichen Citate bei Paulus (Freiburg i. B./Leipzig: Mohr,
1895) 50.
9 Viz., Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; 1 Pet 2:24.
10Paulus und seine Bible (BFCT 2 /18; Gutersloh: Mohn, 1929; reprinted, Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1972) 65, 75. Cf. H. Vollmer, Die alttestamentlichen Citate,
29.

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" - DEUT 21:22-23 87

KeKaTapajtEvo0 ot the LXX (or KeKarTrpayivoS, AF), and that this is

reminiscent of Aquila and Theodotion, who read: KardTpa OeoV Kpefr,dAeVO .
The reading cTrrKaTdparoS, however, may be due to assimilation, intentional
or otherwise, of this quotation to the words of Gal 3:10, Er7ltKaTdpaTroTtrr 69
OLt l iE Tt pi/tfpI
OVKi/.lpEVEt TdraLV TOLS'yeYpaA/LEv T0V VOIpOV TOVWroLtuoo
avtd, quoting Deut 27:26 (albeit in a form diverging at several points from the
LXX). On the other hand, as Gert Jeremias has observed, the quotation in Gal
3:13 agrees with the LXX against the MT (and, we might add, against all other
known Greek versions) in the "addition" of Eirl v'ov "upon a tree," after
KpE/apIEvo.l11 The omission of vr7wOeov6, "by God," in Gal 3:13b is more
serious. The presence of these words in the LXX looks like an explicit
' 8 "a hanged man
interpretationof the ambiguous Hebrew text, D'l,n n,pt,
is a curse of God" (so also Aquila, Theodotion: Kardpa Oeov3Kptcid`evUosE).
The additional words make it clear that for the LXX the meaning is "everyone
hung upon a tree is accursed by God." It is frequently argued that Paul has
omitted the phrase "by God" here deliberately in order to avoid speaking
expressly of the divine curse.12His point, however, is that Christ became (for
our sake) "a curse" (Kardpa) absolutely: thus he puts no reference to God
either in the first part of Gal 3:13 or in the quotation itself. If, on the contrary,
he has in fact excised the words "by God" from the quotation in order to adapt
it the better to the earlier part of the verse ("havingbecome a curse - KaTapa
-for us"), we may well wonder about the persuasiveness of his argument.
Symmachus, however, makes the whole far more explicit, reading 'TL6tC T?r7v
f3Xaaucri.tjiav TOV0ovo cKpedauOo, "for he was hanged because of blasphemy
of God." This interpretation coincides strikingly with that of Tg. Onqelos,
~t2x" '1 D-:p n:M ,V'ns, "for because he sinned before the Lord was he
hanged."'3 The same view of the matter appears in m. Sanh. 6:4 ("because he
=
'blessed' 'cursed' the Name . ."). Tg. Ps.-J. Deut 21:22a likewise looks to
blasphemy in that it representsthe guilty party as having been stoned and then
hanged / hung up upon the tree.14 In these Jewish traditions, however, the
"hanging(up) on the tree" is not the means of execution: it is the corpse that is
so treated after execution. The exegetical point at issue is whether :r,^8 nri,p
means "cursingGod" or "beingcursed by God." Symmachus and Tg. Onqelos
lean to the former view, the LXX to the latter, while Aquila and Theodotion
translate literally and carry over the ambiguity from the Hebrew to the Greek.
Tg. Pseudo-Jonathan has: "It is a disgrace before God to hang a man unless
his own sins led to it" (m,r 1 ,'nn ^7.
,-= 1: :Nv.
t:yt1 :r,ip n 1 But
5').15
Tg. Neofiti is rathernearerto Paul and the LXX: "Accursedbefore the Lord is

" Der Lehrer der Gerechtigkeit (SUNT 2; G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963) 133-
34.
12So G. Jeremias, Lehrer, 133.
13Cf. Sifre Deut. ?221 (eds. H. S. Horovitz and L. Finkelstein,
Corpus tannaiticum 3.3.2
[Berlin: Gesellschaft zur Forderung der Wissenschaft des Judentums, 1939] 254.
14. . . and he be sentenced to stoning, and thereafter (Q'7: n'zi) they hang him on the tree
(C-, ;)
15Cf. b. Sanh. 46b, 47a.

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88 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

everyone who is hanged" (,:t' S : 4,' Drp tp ).16 It is thus clear that Deut
21:22-23 has been the subject of much debate from an early period, a debate
reflected also in the Tannaitic midrashim and elsewhere,17and that its textual
history is far from simple.
In this connection two additional pieces of evidence have become available
more recently, viz., 4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8 and 11QTemple 64:6-13. We shall look
at each of them in turn.
4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8, first published in 1956 by J. Allegro,18 contains a
reference in line 7 to someone ("the Lion of Wrath"?)"who used to hang (or
hangs) men up alive" (:r,n D't:vN,n' rit). In the next line (line 8) it makes
further mention of "the one hung alive on [the] tree" (y[;[] ; ?t n~ n ':),
although we should note in passing that the detail of this line is far from
certain.19Nevertheless, the expressions "to hang (men) up alive" and "to hang
alive upon (the) tree" seem rather like references to execution by crucifixion,
although that is not absolutely certain. They do, however, recall Deut 21:22-
23 - albeit somewhat allusively - and the insertion of the word "alive"(D:n /
,n) is no doubt intended to distinguish the deeds in question from the practice
of hanging up the corpse of the executed person after death, as described in
Deut 21:22-23 and illustrated elsewhere in the OT.20That is, 4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8
envisages the hanging up not of a corpse, but of a living person. In a detailed
discussion of this passage Gert Jeremias points to the fact that both 4QpNah
3-4 i 8 and the LXX of Deut 21:23 speak of "the one hung ... upon the tree,"
whereas the MT reads simply "the one hung. . ." (,,1n).2' He thus argues that
the link attested by the LXX, Paul (Gal 3:13), and Acts 5:30; 10:39 between
Kpep.adILevoS and Erri v'Xov in Deut 21:23 is now found in Hebrew also.22
Unfortunately for this argument, the present state of 4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8 is such
that it is hard to say with certainty more than that it seems to envisage
crucifixion and that this would fit the context at Gal 3:13, etc. To what extent
the term in 4QpNah 3-4 i 8 "the one hung alive upon the tree" constitutes
evidence for a variant form of the text of Deut 21:23 is quite another matter;
certainly the facts do not seem to require it.
The case is somewhat different with the material from the so-called
Temple Scroll. Yigael Yadin, who is editing the document, published the
relevant portion of it, 64:6-13, in 1971.23The passage, which followed on a
16E.g., t:^ = "cursed" (Pe'ilptc. of m1,) and "T 5: + Pe'il ptc of :' = rrda d KpePaJLdivo;.
17Thus, Hexapla 0' has obeli at 7rad and n-riv'hov.
18 "Further Light on the History of the Qumran Sect," JBL 85 (1956) 89-95, esp. pp. 89-93 and

pl. 1. See further J. M. Allegro, Qumrdn Cave 4: 1(4Q158-4Q186)(DJD 5; Oxford: Clarendon,

1968) 37-42 (= 4Q169).
19The words y'n '; are restored from traces of the letters only, while the last word in line 8,
taken usually as K[71'] is cut off in the middle by a gap in the MS. The expression "to hang (up)
alive" has also been noted in Sifre Deut ?221, on Deut 21:22 (ed. Horovitz-Finkelstein, p. 254) in
the meaning "crucifixion." Cf. J. M. Baumgarten, "Does tlh in the Temple Scroll," 478.
20
Notably in Josh 8:29; 10:26.
21 Lehrer, 131-135, esp. p. 133.
22Ibid.
23"Pesher Nahum (4QpNahum) Reconsidered," IEJ 21 (1971) 1-12 and pl. 1.

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" - DEUT 21:22-23 89

reference to Deut 21:21, looked very much like a midrash on the next verses,
Deut 21:22-23. We begin by citing Yadin's text in full:24

': vacat (end of Deut 21:21) 6

lnv: nyl nittyl 4131 niy vn D 'yr Inv:N t tK -i1Trm 7
'vny rltt v'9 l DNy DW
On i'9 5y no'l
nnIri vl4rnnmnl 8
rl nl nmstn vn
^ ,n'
t^ mrr
rn ': yrynlH t nn 9
n:n 5Krn l
?y IlmN D:; mnn 1 n nwl iny nK 5p'1 Dm'wm Tin 10
': K1UnD1'
rmi n l:n1n m :nn
rvYn y n= l7n tm0 nill 11
41=8 iUv rn1T2Kinn< Kt4n K15 ryV Vy 4tn 01=W41 mrm1K '71?nD 12
n:mm^: \i-n 13

6 ... If
7 a man has informed against his people and has delivered his people up to a foreign
nation and has done evil to his people,
8 you shall hang him on the tree and he shall die. On the evidence of two witnesses and on
the evidence of three witnesses,
9 he shall be put to death, and they shall hang him on the tree. If a man has committed a
crime punishable by death, has run away unto
10 the midst of the Gentiles, and has cursed his people and the children of Israel, you shall
hang him also on the tree
I and he shall die; and you shall not leave their bodies upon the tree in the night but you
shall bury them the same day, for
12 the hanged upon the tree are accursed by God and men, and you shall not defile the land
which I
13 give you for an inheritance ....25

It is clear enough that the passage is concerned to give a definite

interpretation of Deut 21:22-23 and to do this it introduces explanatory
elements into the very text of that passage; it also makes certain other vital
changes in it, the most significant being the inversion of the order of the
"hanging" and the "dying," so that the text now comes to refer not to the
hanging up of a corpse after execution, but to a mode of execution by
"hanging upon the tree." Yadin claimed that it offered evidence that the
sectaries regarded "death by hanging alive" (i.e., crucifixion) as a valid
punishment for certain offenses (e.g., treason). But apart from this
interpretation, which is in any case disputed, the material is valuable in other
ways.26First, it shows us a text of Deut 21:23 which is nearer to that found in
Gal 3:13b (and the LXX) at certain points, notably in the inclusion of the
words "upon the tree" after rin, "hanged man" (11QTemple 64:12),
ryy' y'V n Dtur: Dm1' '1ipn ":. This would confirm Michel's view that we
should look for an alternative (Greek?) text of Deut 21:23 behind Gal 3:13.
Next, the form Dt1: t "ipo, "those accursed of God," for r:'rm n'p' of the
MT, "a curse of God," and the addition of D't:l, "and(of) men," resulting in
"those accursed of God and men," look like midrashic developments, albeit
very early ones, and no doubt serve to highlight the difficulty which early
24Ibid., 6.
25
Ibid., 8.
26 See, e.g., the reply by J. M. Baumgarten (n. 7 above).

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90 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

Jewish exegetes found with the text of Deut 21:22-23.27Further, whereas

elsewhere in Jewish literature (apart from the possible exception of 4QpNah
3-4 i 7-8) Deut 21:22-23 is understood as referring to the hanging up of a
criminal's corpse after execution (thus: "11 y y Ins nrnl nrnlm),here the
hanging is seen as the means of execution: ". . you shall hang him... on the
tree and he shall die" (11QTemple 64:8, 10-11).28To put it another way,
whereas even in 4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8 crucifixion - though probably intended -
is not obviously conceived of as a Jewish practice, the passage from the
Temple Scroll does rather seem like an attempt to justify its use for certain
crimes at least on the basis of Deut 21:22-23. Hitherto this interpretation of
Deut 21:22-23 has been known to us outside the NT, so far as the present
writer knows, only from the Peshitta to Deut 21:22. This text in the Peshitta
runs as follows:
we'n havyyibgabra' haldp dina' demauwtda
wenezdeqap'al qayisd' wenettaqtal . ..
and if a man be guilty on account of a sin worthy of death, and be hung upon a (the) tree and
be put to death . .."

We now have independent confirmation of the existence of a variant textual

tradition of Deut 21:22 coinciding with the Peshitta at this point and
indicating (a) that it is no longer necessary to view the Peshitta form as due to
christianizing influence, in view of the early date given to the Temple Scroll,29
and (b) that the form in Acts 5:30; 10:39, ". .. put (him) to death by hanging
(him) upon a tree,"30may well reflect the same variant OT textual tradition.
An alternative explanation of these facts would be that Deut 21:22-23, which
did not originally refer to crucifixion, has been the subject of an early
midrashic interpretation to accommodate it to such a context. In this case
1lQTemple 64:6-13; Acts 5:30; 10:39; the Peshitta of Deut 21:22-23 (and
possibly also 4QpNah 3-4 i 7-8) would echo that interpretative tradition. The
fact that it seems to be absent from rabbinic sources need not tell against this,
but may be due to other factors.31

II
We now turn to Acts 5:30; 10:39. Both passages occur in speeches
27There is the added problem in IlQTemple 64:12 of how to reconcile the plural ',5pn,
"accursed,"with the singular, ,'n, "the one hung ..." Has the whole the meaning: "'a curse of
God' (MT) refers to 'the accursed of God and men,'" thus constituting a midrash on the words of
the Scripture?
28See also I QTemple 64:8.
29 Yadin refers it to a
period at least as early as the confrontation between Demetrius III and
Alexander Jannaeus (see "Pesher Nahum," 9, esp. n. 30).
30 We should
perhaps add Acts 2:23b, 7rpooarrrfavrmE adiXare, "nailed up and slew." Note
that Trpoarr7jyvvuL is found in the NT only in this verse and that this "crucifixion-killing"
statement is also followed by a stereotyped confessional statement about the resurrection("whom
God raised .. .", v. 24a). In this case, however, it is in the aidvaravae-form. Note too that it - like
Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29 - occurs in a speech, here attributed to Peter. It seems hard to see these
facts as coincidence.
31
Apart from possible apologetic motives, the earliest Jewish traditional sources look at Deut

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" - DEUT 21:22-23 91

attributed to Peter and, moreover, in close contiguity with a stereotyped

confessional statement about the Resurrection.32We may set them out for
convenience as follows:

Acts 5:30 Acts 10:39

O 06
Oet 7Tr arEpV pvlixv
TV
Iy/ELpev'Ir77oov,
6v vUiets6cEXectpiaaa6O (39) 6v Kai dvaeXav,
KpeCidaavre E7rlt vXov. Kpe.doaav' e TrVi
fvAov.
(40) rTOVTOV 066S9
7y76Lptev v rT
TrpiT rj/tEp KTX.

We have already argued in another place that these passages probably indicate
the utilization of a Greek version of Deut 21:22 other than the LXX.33Further
support for that view comes from this, that not only do the words for "kill"in
Acts 5:30; 10:39 differ from that in the LXX (which has dwroOdvj), but their
forms also seem to presuppose a basically different Hebrew original. The
LXX reading Kai cTroOdvo, "and he die," corresponds to the Hebr. nitni,
whereas Acts 5:30 6ieetLpioaaOe, "(whom) you put to death," and 10:39
dveXav, "(whom also) they killed," argue for a Hebrew original of the form
". .. and he be put to death"/"and you put (him) to death."34But this is much
nearer to the MT nnmr, "and he be put to death," which Aquila and
Symmachus correcly represent by Kal OavarTw0O (so also the Peshitta
wenettaqtal).35 Next, the words Kpedouavraes nir fvvXov are introduced
without explanation, although their link with Deut 21:22-23 is apparent. That
is, the readers of Acts (or Peter's hypothetical audience) are assumed to be
familiar with that link. Thus, when a furtherallusion to Deut 21:23 appears in
Acts 13:29 in yet another speech (this time attributed to Paul at Pisidian
Antioch), we may feel assured that the writer of Acts or at least his basic
tradition(s) could take for granted a familiarity with the christological use of
Deut 21:22-23 on the part of those for whom the book was intended or
amongst whom it arose. In all three cases (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29) the words
occur in close proximity to material of a "kerygmatic"- or as we should
prefer to say - "confessional" nature. We shall now explore this further by
examining Acts 13:29.
21:22-23 from the standpoint of law, i.e., halakah, not from that of haggadah.
32 Cf. also Acts 2:23b and the comments in n. 30
above.
33 The Semitisms
of Acts (Oxford: Clarendon, 1965) 34-35.
34 The form with the 2d pers.
pl. is nearer to that in 1IQTemple 64:8 (cf. also lines 10b-13,
where 2d pers. pi. forms are also found with other verbs).
35So also Tg. Onqelos and Tg. Neofiti. Note that the Peshitta
reading is an Ettaphal, "and he
be put to death." It is, of course, possible to see the LXX reading aroOdv77as a passive of sense for
the verb cdrroKTEiVW(cf. M. Wilcox, Semitisms, 35); but it is nevertheless surprisingthat the LXX
translators were not more precise, if that was really what they intended.

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92 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

Acts 13:28-30
28 KaL /I?76rE/tlaV atTLap O9aVa'TOV
EVptOPTE9
77T77aVPTO
HtXaToP di'at pcEO7jat aP'T o'P (D: L'vads, a'ai'pE-utv)
29 w-aaii 7ravPa 7rwept aV'TroVyEypaA,iEva
E'X
68E E'T
KaOe-XO'PTES-ird
Tro M %Xv'Xov 0Ovav cL /Iv?J/7ELOv.
- rr7ELPEVaV'TOwE'K JEKPWPV.
30 6 & O'eo
(31 6sga'cf0j
0? e v'pas' rrXd'ov9 KTX.)
Once again a reference to "the(!) tree" (v. 29b) is linked immediately with a
resurrection-statement ("but God raised him from the dead"), while in all
three cases (Acts 5:30; 10:40; 13:30) such statements occur in the 1y7cpetv-
form, which appears to be less obviously Lucan than the dvturad vat-form.36
Here, however, there are other details present which seem like hints that the
whole section, vv. 28-30, has Deut 21:22-23 in view, if it is not, in fact, a kind of
midrash upon that passage. We set them out for comparison:

Acts 13:28-30 Deut 21:22-23

28a a&(Tav Oavcaaov, 22a MT nin-tmmyr:
"cause worthy of death" LXX KpL/.ta &aVaTrov
28b d'vatpc-Otvatav'Toi', MT nniml; so Aq. Sym.
"(for) him to be put But
KaL OavaTrwO?,-.-
to death" (cf. Acts LXX Ka't 7roOeiv7
5:30; 10:39). "and he die"
29b KaOC-XOVPTCE-a7iro TO 23a MT ryn-7V lr~zl 74i- tO,
5eiXov, "when they had "his corpse
taken (him) down from shall not remain on
the tree . . the tree overnight .
LXX 0v' KOL/I?7O2faT7atTo'
29b 6107Kavds19/.v7JA/LEtov, uoilAa av'To E7r'LT0OV
"they laid (him) in Pv'Xov(cf. also Josh
a grave" 8:29; esp. in the LXX).37
23b "but you shall surely
bury him the same day"

That the writer or his tradition has in view the interpretation of Scripture in
terms of the passion events is plain enough from v. 29a. Yet examination of the
"parallels"set out above would indicate that they do not derive from the LXX
version of Deut 21:22-23. We need not be surprised at this, since it is precisely
in Paul's speech at Pisidian Antioch that we have the strongest case for
36 Cf. M. Wilcox, Semitisms 167.
37Thus Josh 8:29 (LXX), KauLTOY 3f3acnkaa rfrq raFaip4Ls&fjaa &'ri CV'XoV6L6v'U/oU, Kai 4PvTr'L
0i.ov', v it
-roi3 rpar. KcL t
iTa. U5KOoI OUro vj'Xov avv&?Tat,e-'17aoiq KcaLKaOIELAXoaY alaT-otY
r6
aiard TO-
00) /LO 0Xv'Xov KaOL IpptaIcsVaVTOY-0eiL; TrO fd0pov,KTX. Cf. also Josh 10:26(esp. LXX). It is
interesting that Josh 8:34 MT (= 9:7 LXX) explicitly refers to the "blessing"and the "curse"in the
same words in Hebrew and in Greek as appear in Deut 21:23; 27:11-26. See below, p. 000, in
connection with Gal 3:13.

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" -DEUT 21:22-23 93

suspectingthe presenceof originallyAramaicmaterialbehindthe Greek.38

Twofactsin particularsuggestthat Deut21:22-23wasone of the OTpassages
regardedhere as having been fulfilled in the Passion. First, the baldly-
introducedreferenceto "the tree" in Acts 13:29. Secondly, the words
jirlfC6eav alrtav Oavarov, "no capital charge"(Acts 13:28a;cf. Deut 21:22a),
appearas an all-but-stereotyped
phrasein thepassionaccountsin Luke,John,
and Acts, and whereasActs 13:28a(airiav Oavdrov)differsfrom the LXX,
Luke 24:20b (Kpi(MaOavrTov) seems to reflect the LXX form.39
Wethusfind indicationsthat behindthispassagein Acts 13:28-30(asalso,
indeed, behind Acts 5:30; 10:39)there lies an early Christianexegetical
traditionwhich interpretedDeut 21:22-23of the crucifixionand burialof
Jesus,and saw himas the one aboutwhomit waswritten.Butif so, we ought
to find signs of it elsewherein the NT also.
In 1 Pet 2:24a coupleof phrasesfromDeut 21:23- this timein its LXX
form - are used for interpretingIsa 53:12as appliedto Jesus:
6s rTja. dapra r
ias iv avOrT dvrv)eyKev,
"whohimselfbore our sins"(cf. Isa 53:12);40
Ev Tr( aoCraTL aVTOV
7rtI TOrfXov,
"in'his body' 'upon the tree'"(cf. Deut 21:23).
Why so? Precisely,we submit,becauseonce again, as in Acts 13:28-30,the
writeris speakingnot merelyof Jesus'death, but of his guiltlessness.The
assertionof his innocence,expressedin Acts 13:28by the phrase#rj6e,uiav
aLTLav Oa'vdrov, is representedin 1 Pet 2:22 by the words drawn from Isa 53:9,
6o d/.tapriav OK ETroir7aEv o0v6 epeOrl dX6os iv Tr orCJucTiar avrov, "who
committedno sin, nor was guile found in his mouth... ." For the LXX
readingdvo,i.av in Isa 53:9 the text has ratherda,apTtav:i.e., "sin"for
"lawlessness."He committedno sin - much less "a sin worthy of death"
(Deut 21:22a).The motifof guiltlessnessalso appears,as is wellknown,in the
threefoldaffirmationby Pilatethathe "findsnojust causeof death"in Jesus:
so Luke23:4, 14,22 (cf. John 18:38;19:4,6), andespeciallyLuke23:22ov6)v
aiTto Oapvdrov (cf. also the words ascribed to Herod, Luke 23:15b, otiiv
dfLOvOavdaTov).This motif may be polemical, to argue that although Jesus
did nothingworthyof the death-penalty,he wasneverthelesstreatedlike the
guiltymanof Deut21:22-23,thattext beingunderstoodto referto crucifixion.
Thus, either he was wronglycrucified,41or his crucifixiontook place in
38 M. Wilcox, Semitisms, 161-64, 181-83, and also 21-24, 49-51, 118-21.
39Cf. Luke 23:4, 14, 15b, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6. The same underlies the account of
thought
the penitent robber in Luke 23:40-41. Here too, in v. 40b the word KpallTLt (cf. Deut 21:22 LXX) is
found, in the phrase "under the same judgment" (i.e., the death penalty). The use of the verb
Kpe,daPvvLt in Luke 23:39 may thus reflect not so much Lucan style as the influence of Deut
21:22-23. But if so, it would seem that it is the LXX-form which is in mind in this case (Luke 23:39-
41).
40 Note that the LXX reads dvoiaet, not dvrveyKEv; the change is probably intended to show
that the prophecy has now been fulfilled.
41An alternative way of looking at it would be to see Jesus' death as having taken place "in
error"or "out of ignorance"on the part of those who had him executed (cf. Acts 3:17; 13:27;1 Cor
2:8).

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94 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

accordance with Deut 21:22-23 as a fulfilment of Scripture. How we see the

matter depends to some extent on whether we are looking at Deut 21:22-23
from the standpoint of halakah or of haggadah.
Deut 21:22-23 has left other marks on the gospel tradition. Thus John
19:31 shows "the Jews" as anxious not to leave the bodies (rd aow'cu ra: cf.
Deut 21:23 in the LXX) on the cross "on the Sabbath" for that day was "a high
day." We may recall in passing the comment of the Sifre on Deut 21:23,
"neither on the Sabbath nor on festival days" (D'ta 0n,2: 01 n3t,, t,).42 In
John 19:31a the words iva ,tt) Etiv/derrt TOVaravpoOV rT aotara strikingly
recall the text of Deut 21:23a, "his body / corpse shall not remain overnight
upon the tree" ('yym-'y lnr: pn : S'); "upon the cross' is thus equivalent to
"upon the tree." However, even if we allow for the interpretative substitution
of aravpovi for :v'Xov, the words of John 19:31 do not coincide with the
LXX.43 It looks as though the link with Deut 21:22-23 is somehow already
built in within the passion tradition and affords a means of finding Scriptural
roots for both crucifixion and burial.
We now ask why and how such a development should have taken place,
even given the possible currency at the time of texts and/ or interpretations of
Deut 21:22-23 akin to that found in the Temple Scroll. The importance of this
question lies in the fact that it serves to raise the whole problem of how the
primitive church came to use the OT to document its creed and of the basis
upon which the OT passages in question came to be selected. To answer this,
we return once again to Galatians 3 and consider the wider context within
which Deut 21:23 is cited there.

III
Galatians 3 opens by taking "the Galatians" to task for having been
"bewitched" and reminds them that before their very eyes Jesus Christ has
been "depicted" (rrpoeypadrl) as "crucified" (&aravpcliPvos). The verb
rrpoypdaetv, here rendered"to depict, portray before (someone)" has in Rom
15:4 its other force of "to write beforehand." If we recall that verbs with the
prefix rrpo-also appear elsewhere in this chapter, and more particularlyin the
next few verses (Gal 3:8), we may find that meaning suitable here also.44 Be
that as it may, Jesus' role as "the Crucified" - whether in church tradition or
in Scripturalinterpretation -is set out as the heading for the chapter. There is
no further reference to the crucifixion until v. 13.
Meantime, w. 2-5 begin by posing the question whether the Galatians
received the Spirit "by works of Torah" (et spywv v6dtov) or "by hearing
through faith"(ef alKOr^ rtraUEoE),and close by asking: "Does he who supplies
the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or

42?218 (Horovitz-Finkelstein p. 251).

43The LXX reads:ov KOLnrlOtaoeTart TOaoi^a av'ro3veri ov'hov.
44A. T. Hanson (Studies in Paul's Technique,46) notes the same phenomenon and asserts: "It
was essentially the same gospel; the era of faith and grace was present with Abraham, though not
in its fullness."

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" DEUT 21:22-23 95

by hearing with faith?" (RSV). Paul next appeals to Gen 15:6, 'Apppaict
TriTrevaeV Tv ef
OE, KaL eioyia107 avr7 (etL9
bLKatLOUvvrV,"Abraham believed
God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness"(v. 6). The word riaTrevauev
here enables him to pick up the phrase IK 7ria-rew from Hab 2:4 which he
subsequently cites in v. l1 b, d 6iLKatoSK riauTrew r4ueraf L ("the righteous man
shall live from/ by faith"). He is now able to give a "pesher":those who are "IK
"
rTTlreiWare "sons of Abraham" (cf. v. 7). The link-words between Gen 15:6
and Hab 2:4 are iaroTevaev / (iK) rtiarecw and (ei9) 6oKacoUvvvr
v / (d)
&KatO9. The term "sons of Abraham"is important, for it in turn picks up the
usual Jewish interpretation of '[yT, "thy seed" (Gen 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 22:18;
24:7) as "thy sons" (in the targums [']:), i.e., "thy descendants," not "thy
son." When the targums do, in fact, use "thy son" (':n) in the Abraham-
sections (e.g., Gen 22:2, 16) the reference is to Isaac, where there is mention of
the promise. Perhaps we ought to recall in passing that the Palestinian
targums portray Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22 as "the righteous ones."45
Vv. 8-9 in Galatians 3 take the matter a stage further:
8 Now Scripture, having seen beforehand (7rpoi'ovaa) that God would justify (6tKatoz) the
Gentiles (ra 0v7i7)
by faith ((K Trioreo), proclaimed the good news of this in advance (rpo-
evrvyyeXiaaro) to Abraham in the promise: 'In thee shall all the Gentiles be blessed'
('EvevXoyr77Ouoov7atLiv ao rravra Td dTvh7).
9 So then those who are 'of faith' (EK7rtuTEwr)are blessed with faithful/believing Abraham
(aUV TO) 7rtoTC 'A/paapi).

At first sight the OT reference in Gal 3:8c looks like a mixed quotation based
on Gen 12:3b; 18:18 (LXX); and 22:18. This view would receive indirect
support from the fact that a somewhat similar quotation (also based on Gen
12:3b; 22:18; etc., so it seems) appears in Acts 3:25b in a speech ascribed to
Peter. But let us look at the question more closely and set out the relevant
passages from Genesis:
Gen 12:3b(LXX) (iv)evXoyri74aoovrat4v aoL rrnciat
aI vXai r}r Tg7S779.
Gen 18:18(LXX) ...v.evXoyrl7OaovTaL iv avTcr) draVTa
ird 0Ovrl7T7 7n7
Gen 22:18(LXX) fvevhoyVr6r4aovrat iv rT a rrpluatartaov
rrdtr a rd Tvr1(r779 y7S [see MSS L, M etc.])
(Acts 3:25b) Kal EVTr aoripliarTi oov ievXhoyrj04oovTat
iradaa al trarptatl r77 77y9.

Whatever the origin of the form in Acts 3:25b, the real difference between it
and that found in Gal 3:8c is the emphasis placed in it on rT aUripuarTi aov; the
text in Galatians, on the contrary, stresses 4v aoi: it is concerned in the verse
not with Abraham's son so much as with Abraham himself. We suggest that if

45 In an
interesting block of haggadic material in Gen 22:10 (Tg. Ps.-Jonathan, Tg. Neofiti
(mg.), Frg. Tg. (Cod. Paris 110). "The angels on high" refer to Abraham and Isaac here as "the
only two righteous in the world."

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96 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

Gal 3:8c is in fact a mixed quotation, that mixing is deliberate. That is, it
represents a form of Gen 12:3b in which the words 7rndac alcfvhai rri y/ris
have been interpreted by way of the phrases 7rvrTa rd gOVr7
(r4TS7~y/) drawn
from the near parallels in Gen 18:18 (LXX); 22:18;46and possibly 26:4.
Joachim Jeremias has noted here an application of Hillel's sixth rule.47Thus,
in an extension of the midrash, "those who are 'of faith"' (otl KniarUreT, v. 9;
cf. Hab 2:4) = "Abraham's sons" (i.e., his "seed") are blessed "with faith-
ful/believing Abraham." The argument is now interruptedby vv. 10-12 which
return to the theme "from works of Torah" and now introduce the motif of
"the curse" (vv. 10, 13a). V. 14 provides the connection between this second
argument and the Abraham-motif, which is then taken up once again in v. 16.
Several questions present themselves here. (1) Given that v. 13-14 form
the actual link between the sequence on Abraham and that on the "curse"of
the Torah, what can possibly have been the element of thought which enabled
Paul to bring the two together?(2) How is Paul able to produce the pesher in v.
16, identifying the "seed" of Abraham with Christ (cf. also v. 19b), especially
when he has previously argued in v. 6-7 that the term was not to be construed
as a singular but as a plural (= "sons of Abraham") ? (3) How does all of this
relate to what follows in the rest of the chapter?
First, let us cite the text of Gal 3:13-14 in full:
13 XpLaroT rjIdu^ :Cryd6paaev EK rrTg KarTpaw roTVvOtov
yev'6otevo V7rripj,UjcOvKarTapa, Ort yTyparrrat,
'E7TLKardparoS dw 6 KpelidLcvoS rTTi {v'Xov,
vr r4evXoyia rov 'AjfpaaitdyivrTratt
14 'va ei rTd O'
'v'IraovoXptLar, Iva rT'v ETrawyyeXhav roVTHvevtliaroS
XdPtcoltev6ai rl TrrtarewTES.
The opposition KaTrdpa - ev'Aoyia ("curse" - "blessing") is familiar enough
from Deuteronomy, where it is a recurrent theme. This is especially so in
certain passages of it, among them Deut 27:11-26; and it may be worth
recalling that the last verse of that section (Deut 27:26) is, in fact, cited by Paul
in Gal 3:10, as we have seen above.48 The particular twist given here in Gal
3:14, "the blessing of Abraham," may well reflect, however, that portion of
Deut 21:23 which follows the part cited from it in Gal 3:13 and refersexplicitly
to the promise of the gift of the land, viz., Kat ov' Jrt ItLavtETE Tr)v yr/v, 7v
KV'LO 60 e6S aovO iS6OaGv aot iv KXrjp(C.49That is, Deut 21:22-23 actually
recalls the promise made to Abraham in Gen 12:6;24:7;etc. Next, the specific
form of words in Gal 3:14 speaks of this blessing coming upon "the Gentiles"
46Note that the better MS support in Gen 22:18 is for the absence of t71S yrl;.
47"Paulus als Hillelit," Neotestamentica et Semitica: Studies in Honour of Matthew Black
(eds. E. E. Ellis and M. Wilcox; Edinburgh: Clark, 1969) 88-94, esp. pp. 93-94. He also refers (p.
94) to a possible use of Hillel's seventh rule in Gal 3:17.
41 See p. 87 above.
49 Note the change of number within the LXX form of these words. The singular form is read

by the MT and Tg. Onqelos; the plural form by Tg. Ps.-Jonathan and Tg. Neofiti. Note further
that for (iv) KhrpoW of the LXX, Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion read KXrlpoVOltav.

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" DEUT 21:22-23 97

(rd 90vr/);it thus sees the promise in terms akin to those in which it is presented
in Gal 3:8, where the quotation of Gen 12:3b has been re-interpreted in the
light of Gen 18:18 (LXX); 22:18; 26:4. Further, that blessing is to come to the
Gentiles dv 'Iroov^Xpto r: i.e., in place of the Evaoi (v. 8b; cf. Gen 12:3)or the
iv Tr oarep/laTi uov (v. 16; cf. Gen 22:18; 18:18; 24:7; 26:4) we now have an
additional deras, viz., ei 'IraovoXptUTor,"in Jesus Christ." It thus anticipates
the pesher in v. 16b (cf. v. 19), where "the seed" is given its full force as a
singular and explicitly identified with Jesus.50 Finally, in v. 18a the word
KX77povotLa,"inheritance,"occurs, possibly reflecting the same thought in the
unquoted portion of Deut 21 :23b (Ev'KXAjpC).51(Incidentally, if this analysis is
correct, it gives further evidence that Deut 21:22-23 is quoted here, not from
the LXX, but possibly from an alternative Greek version of the OT, if not, in
fact, from a Hebrew or Aramaic original.)52Thus we have so far argued that
the reference to Deut 21:22-23 links with the citation from Gen 12:3 (18:18;
22:18) by way of the common element of the promise of "the Land," and that
its appearance in Gal 3:13 does not exhaust its influence on this section: that,
in fact, it forms the basis of a midrashic interpretation of the promise to
Abraham. Put another way, Gen 12:3 has been interpreted by Gen 22:18
and/or Gen 18:18 (LXX), and then further by Deut 21:22-23.
Secondly, we have the pesher in Gal 3:16. Given that Paul interprets Gen
12:3 in Gal 3:8 by means of Gen 22:18 (18:18), to facilitate the transitions (a) 6v
aoi/ev T) oTrrpPIaTLr oov and (b) rrdoat atl 4vXa rTj9 yrj; / raiTra rd T'vr7,
how is he able to make the further step of identifying "the seed of Abraham"
with "Christ"?We have already noted that the Jewish traditional sources
interpret the term "the seed (of Abraham)" to refer to "Abraham'ssons," i.e.,
the people of Israel.53If, however, the term is not taken as a collective, and if
its full grammatical force as a singular is pressed instead, then it rightfully
means Isaac and/or Ishmael. The choice between these two is neatly settled in
Scripture and in rathermore detail in the Palestinian targums:Isaac is the true
son, Ishmael is the son of Isaac's mother's servant-girl.54Traces of this type of
discussion appear later in Galatians, not only in the classic passage, Gal 4:21-
32, but probably also in this chapter at 3:7, where inheritance is said to take
effect through the "son" (el 6E vdl6, Ka[tKrX7pov6d.O6tadOeoV. . .). This view is
reinforced by Gal 4:28, viAels 6&, d6eX(oL, KaTa 'IaaK E7raryyeXta9 TErKva
CrUT.But Paul does not rest content with identifying Abraham's "seed"with
Isaac; he goes on to draw out a further meaning, "Christ."Does the clue to this
pesher lie in the link-word v'Xov(y), found in both Deut 21:23 (cf. Gal 3:13)
and Gen 22:6a, 7b, 9? In Genesis 22 it is found in the plural fv'Xa('y%) for the

50This
point is also made by N. A. Dahl ("The Atonement - An Adequate Reward for the
Akedah? (Ro 8: 32)," Neotestamentica et Semitica, 15-29, esp. p. 24.
51Cf. also Gal 3:29b; 4:7.
52 Thus this text
agrees with Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion against the LXX in reading
KXr7povopliav. See n. 49 above.
53See
p. 95 above.
54Thus, e.g., Tg. Ps.-Jonathan Gen 22:1 contains a longish piece of haggadah dealing with the
matter in the form of a dispute between Isaac and Ishmael.

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98 JOURNAL OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE

wood of the burnt-offering and, more specifically, in 22:6 Abraham is

depicted as taking the wood and loading it onto Isaac his son. Genesis Rabba
comments on this, "like one who carries his cross (i:m1')upon his shoulder."55
A moment later Abraham is shown building an altar and setting out the wood
upon it; he then binds Isaac and puts him "upon the altar, on top of the wood"
(LXX: 67riTr Ovataar4TpLovinradv T(rV vXwov,22:9). In the NT model, in the
fulness of time another comes to the place of sacrifice, carrying his
"wood"/"cross" (cf. John 19:17),56and is put upon it (cf. esp. 1 Pet 2:24, the
grammatically difficult irt rTd vhXov).57We thus argue that behind the present
context in Galatians 3 there is an earlier midrashic link between Gen 22:6-9
and Deut 21:22-23 by way of the common termyy (stv'ov, o'lp). That this has
external confirmation we may see from (Ps.)-Tertullian, Adv. ludaeos 10:6,
... Isaac, when led by his father as a victim, and himself bearing his own "wood," was even at
that period pointing to Christ's death; conceded, as he was, as a victim by the Father;
carrying, as he did, the "wood" of his own passion.58

Nor is this the only place in Paul's writings where the Isaac of Genesis 22 is
identified as Jesus. We may cite, for example, Rom 8:32, which alludes to Gen
22:16 - once again in a form deviating from the LXX - 6 ye roivi6tov vioV
OVKiCckTaro, dxAd a vrrp r77/,lvndv7wWr'ap6o8Ke?'
v aTr6v, KTX. (LXX: OVK
r
(euiaaro TOVvlov avroV TOv dyaTrrTroiv): "he who did not spare his own son,
but handed him over for the sake of us all. .. ." May we perhaps dare to see
one further reflection of Genesis 22 in Gal 4:6, "Butbecause you are sons, God
sent forth his son's spirit into our hearts, crying out, Abba Father!" ('APP/3d d
Harrfp; also Rom 8:15). This is not the place to go into a detailed study of this
passage, but we may recall the address of the obedient Isaac of the Akedah to
his father, as given in the Palestinian targums of Gen 22:6, 10, n:K.The spirit
of God's son cries out in our hearts - as did faithful Isaac of old - "(My)
Father!" Or to put it another way: ". . . because you are sons, God sent his
son's spirit into our heart that by his spirit we too might cry out to him - like
Isaac to Abraham - 'Abba,' i.e., 'My Father."' It remains for us to draw
together our conclusions.
We have seen that the roots of later patristic use of "tree"-testimoniafor
portraying the death of Jesus run back into the NT itself and point to the
existence of a midrashic treatment of Deut 21:22-23 in the period in which the
NT writings were beginning to emerge. In all but one of the passages discussed

55Gen. Rab. 56:4. Cf. D. Lerch, Isaaks Opferung christlich gedeutet (BHT 12; Tubingen:
Mohr, 1950) 19-20.
56Note how John 19:17 is in a section related to 19:31, which picks up Deut 21:23 in the motif
of the removal of the bodies from the cross before nightfall, and then is followed in turn by the
story of the burial.
57Cf. E. G. Selwyn, The First Epistle ofSt. Peter (2d ed.; London: Macmillan, 1947) 180b-81a.
58"Itaque inprimis Isaac, cum a patre hostia duceretur lingnumque ipse sibi portans, Christi
exitum iam tunc denotabat in uictimam concessi a patre et lignum passionis baiulantis" (CChr,
ser. lat.; Turnhout: Brepols, 1954), 2. 1376. The translation given is that of S. Thelwall (Ante-
Nicene Christian Library, 18; Edinburgh: Clark, 1870) 236. Cf. also Adv. Marcionem 3.18.2.

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 WILCOX: "UPON THE TREE" -DEUT 21:22-23 99

(i.e., all except 1 Pet 2:24) the underlying text-form of Deut 21:22-23 was not
that of the LXX as we know it. Thus, in the three examples cited from speeches
in Acts that text seemed to presuppose a Hebrew original at variance with the
LXX (and, indeed, with the MT too), but akin to the tradition of
interpretation now known to us from the so-called Temple-Scroll. This
suggested that the cases in Acts, far from being Lucan developments based
upon his assumed knowledge and use of the LXX, derived from traditional
material preserved by him in those speeches. Paul likewise in Galatians 3
seemed to be using a non-LXX form of Deut 21:22-23, although his use of Gen
12:3 and 22:18, hinging on the forms Iv aoi, Iv Tr arrp/iarTaov, arrpaauLv,
might suggest that it was neverthelessin Greek. It was argued that Deut 21:22-
23 found its way into that context as a midrashic interpretation of Gen 22:6a,
7b, 9, and subsequently of Gen 12:3; 18:18;etc. Our argument would provide
striking support for N. A. Dahl's claim that Gal 3:13a-14 is a fragment of
Jewish-Christian midrash taken over by Paul.59 We differ from Dahl in
finding the link between Genesis 22 (the Akedah) and Deut 21:22-23 not in the
motif of "the ram caught in the thicket"so much as in the common term "tree"
or "wood."
It is, therefore, argued that the NT use of Deut 21:22-23 and the "tree"-
motif involved formed part of an early Jewish-Christianmidrashic exposition
of the Akedah and was employed for the purpose of facilitating the
application of the role of Isaac to Jesus. In this context it became another of
the passages from the OT in which the death and burial of Jesus were regarded
as portrayed and prefigured.
Finally, we may note two procedural points. First, the christological use of
the OT in the NT is to be seen against the background of an active discussion
of Scripture in the contemporary Jewish schools and forms part of that
debate. Secondly, in examining OT quotations and allusions in the NT we
must treat all deviations from known textual traditions seriously and not be
content to pass them off as due to the frailties of memory or mere casualness.
Even wherethey do not seem to reflect a hitherto unknown textual tradition of
the OT, they may well point to the existence and use of an exegetical tradition.

59"The Atonement," 23. We thus concur with the findings of Geza Vermes (Scripture and
Tradition in Judaism [SPB 4; Leiden: Brill, 1961] 219-27) on the role of the Akedah in the
substructure of NT thought.

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