The Transfiguration, Tents, Torah, and Psalm 43!

Greetings everyone!

Today I just wanted to talk about one passage in the New Testament that has confused me for some time. The passage I’m referring to is the Transfiguration of Jesus that occurred shortly after his visit to Caesarea Philippi. There are some really cool things going on in this passage when it is place back into its Jewish context, and I’ll attempt to share some of them. This story is found in Matthew 17 and Mark 9.

Now the Jewish people refer to the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible as the Tanakh. Their Bible is made up of 3 different sections. The Torah, or 1st five books of the Bible. The Nevi’im (Prophets), and the Ketuviim (Writings). Tanakh is a combination of the 3 parts. Ta (Torah) Na (Neviim) Kh (Ketuviim). The ancient Jewish Rabbis (Sages) taught that when the Messiah comes, all 3 parts of the Tanakh will testify to him. It is fascinating that God pulls Hebrew phrases from all 3 sections of Tanakh during this story (In Matthew 17:5). God says, “This is my Son (Psalm 2:7, Ketuvim), Whom I love/delight in (Isaiah 42:1, Neviim), Listen to Him (Deuteronomy 18:15, Torah)!” Before I came to Israel, I never understood the significance of the statement God makes here. He pulls phrases from all 3 sections of the Hebrew Bible to announce Jesus as the Messiah, and show that all 3 sections of the Hebrew Bible are testifying to him as Messiah.

Another thing that is interesting in the story of the Transfiguration is Peter’s desire to build tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah. There is an interesting passage in Rabbinic literature that has helped me better understand this aspect of the story. There is a fascinating Midrash (Rabbinic Commentary) on Psalm 43 that helps us understand the Transfiguration story. The Midrash on Psalm 43 is the only time (to my knowledge) where Moses and Elijah are lumped together in a manner similar to that in Matthew 17 and Mark 9.

In the Midrash to Psalm 43 the Rabbis speak of how the Israelites were oppressed in Egypt and God sent two redeemers to save his people from oppression. The scriptures speak of this in Psalm 105:26, “He sent Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen.” The Rabbis look at Psalm 43:3, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me,” and say that when the next generation is oppressed they will need two redeemers similar to Moses and Aaron, who redeemed the previous generation. In the Midrash to Psalm 43 the Rabbis teach that these two redeemers will come in the form of light and truth. The Rabbis taught that he light will be the Prophet Elijah of the house of Aaron of which it is written, “”The seven lamps shall give light in front of the candlestick.” The Rabbis taught that the truth will be the Messiah, the Son of David, as it is written, “The Lord hath sworn truth unto David; He will not turn from it; of the fruit of the body will I set upon thy throne (Psalm 132:11).

The scriptures teach of one redeemer in Malachi 4:5 where it says, “I will send the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day comes.” The second redeemer is spoken of in Isaiah 42:1, where it says, “Behold my servant whom I uphold (Isaiah 42:1). In Psalm 43 it teaches that when the redeemers come in the form of truth and light, they will “bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell (literally, the place where the tents are).” Thus the Rabbis believe that when there is oppression, Moses and Elijah are needed, and the Messiah will show up and lead people to the holy mountain and the dwelling places (or places of tents; Psalm 43:3).

So we see during the transfiguration story that Jesus is transformed and Moses and Elijah show up. So the 2 redeemers (Messiah and Elijah) are together for the first time here, as taught in Rabbinic literature. We have the truth and the light together. And right after this Peter, who knew Psalm 43 (probably by memory) wants to build tents. He sees that the truth and light are together, and as it states in Psalm 43 they are on a holy mountain and need dwelling places. So what does Peter want to do? Build dwelling places!

I just found this to be a fascinating parallel to Rabbinic literature, and it really helps me to understand why Peter wanted to build tents. I have always been completely baffled by his desire to build tents, but now I feel like I understand this story a little better. Hopefully I was able to articulate this story in a way that was clear. Thanks to Ray Vanderlaan, who was the first person to point this parallel out to me. Also thanks to the Yale Judaica Series for translating all of the Midrashim into English, b/c my Hebrew is not yet to the point where I can read Midrash that well. Hopefully one day I will be able to!