Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012)
Article: God Of Abraham, God Of The Living: Jesus’ Use Of Exodus 3:6 In Mark 12:26–27
Author: David B. Sloan

WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012) p. 85

God Of Abraham, God Of The Living:
Jesus’ Use Of Exodus 3:6 In Mark 12:26–27

David B. Sloan

David B. Sloan is a Ph.D. candidate in Theological Studies (New Testament concentration) at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill.

I. Introduction

It is often thought that the authors of the NT place meanings on OT texts that are foreign to those texts and that therefore modern interpreters should not reproduce the hermeneutics of the NT authors.1 One text that has been taken to support this claim is Mark 12:18–27, where Jesus argues against the Sadducees that Exod 3:6 (“I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob”)2 teaches the resurrection of the dead.3 So Peter Enns says, “To understand

WTJ 74:1 (Spring 2012) p. 86

Exod 3:6 as demonstrating that ‘the dead rise’ (Luke 20:37), as Jesus does, violates our hermeneutical sensibilities, and we should not pretend otherwise.”4 This article will investigate Jesus’ use of Exod 3:6 in Mark 12:26–27 to determine if this is the case. After analyzing the context of Jesus’ argument in Mark, we will explore the two most common understandings of the text: (1) that the argument is based on the tense of εἰμί and (2) that progressive revelation adds a meaning to Exod 3:6 that was not initially there. Then we will consider the possibility that Moses had an afterlife belief, and finally we will investigate other views of Jesus’ line of argumentation. This study will demonstrate that Mark presents Jesus’ use of Scripture here as normative, that the interpretation of Exod 3:6 does not “go beyond what is written” in the OT text (cf. 1 Cor 4:6), and that by following Jesus’ hermeneutic our own understanding of the OT will be improved.

II. The Context Of Jesus’ Argument In Mark

Studies of Jesus’ use of Exod 3:6 often neglect to consider the broader context in which Jesus’ argument occurs. Mark 11:1–13:37 forms a unit that focuses o...