use in Gal 3:13 with application to Christ who was hung "upon the

tree" as the bearer of the curse.

 

C. Paul's NT Warrant for Citing Deut 21:22-23

It has already been argued that the basis upon which Paul used

the OT, though undoubtedly influenced by Jewish exegetical tech-

niques, was hermeneutically controlled by his belief that the OT

finds its realization and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the

exegete is obliged to give proper consideration to the contexts of

both the OT text cited and the NT citation to determine Paul's sanc-

tion for quoting scripture as he does. Consideration of both the text

and covenantal context of Deut 21:22-23 provides the "curse" / "re-

moval of curse" motif around which Paul's argument builds and

terminates in Gal 3:13. It is now necessary to find Paul's authoriza-

tion for citing Deut 21:22-23 with application to Christ by examin-

ing the counterpart of the OT text, Gal 3:13-14.

 

1. Gal 3:13-14: Contextual Considerations

The "blessing" motif is introduced by Paul's citation of Gen 15:6

in 3:8 to prepare for the "cursing" motif of 3:10ff. Still, Paul must

now explain two problems: (1) How can Gentiles receive the bless-

ing promised to Abraham apart from becoming his sons by circumci-

sion? (2) If the law no longer blesses, how is there any hope for

Jews, who being subjected to the law, reside under its curse? The col-

location of Deut 21:23 and Deut 27:26 points the way to resolution of

both. Paul contends that both the blessing extended to Gentiles and

the removal of the law's curse are resolved in the single act of

Christ: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a

curse for us . . . in order that the blessing of Abraham might be given

in Christ to the Gentiles." Of the two problems Paul poses, he ad-

dresses the second first.

(a.) Christ Redeems by Vicarious Curse Bearing. There is no

doubt that the kata<ra from which Christ has redeemed h[ma?j is

the curse of Deut 27:26. Yet, the act of Christ did not destroy the

curse of the law itself, for it still hangs heavily upon all who are

nomists (3:10).⁷⁴ Rather, Christ's act is described by e]cagora<zw

("redeem"), used in both 3:13 and 4:5. Both texts speak of Christ's

"buying free" subjects of the law. In 4:5,⁷⁵ e]cagora<zw depicts the

 

⁷⁴ Cf. John Bligh, Galatians: A Discussion of St. Paul's Epistle (London: St. Paul

Publications, 1969) 265.

⁷⁵ See Daniel R. Schwartz, "Two Pauline Allusions to the Redemptive Mechanism

of the Crucifixion," JBL 102 (1983) 260-62, who states, "Now one might note a serious

problem regarding 4:4-5: while it states that God redeemed the Jews by sending forth

His son, it does not state how this redeemed them" (p. 260). He disregards Paul's

explanation in 3:13 and contends that the problem is resolved by Paul’s use of

e]caposte<llw in 4:4 and links it, through the LXX, with Hlw (piel) in Leviticus 14

CANEDAY: DEUT 21:22-23 IN GAL 3:13                           203

transaction in Christ that liberates tou>j u[po> no<mon from slavery

or minority (mixed metaphors) unto ui[oqesi<a ("sonship") and

e]leuqeri<a. ("freedom, 5:1).⁷⁶ However, in 3:13 e]cagora<zw de-

scribes the act of Christ's releasing “us” from the effects of the

law's curse by interposing himself in our place as he became u[pe<r

h[mw?n kata<ra.. Riesenfeld appropriately points out that Xristo>j

. . . geno<menoj kata<ra is probably an instance of abstractum pro

concreto: "curse” = “bearer of the curse.”⁷⁷ The expression u[pe<r

h[mw?n, by itself, need not mean any more than “on our behalf.”⁷⁸ Yet,

“in our place” is appropriate in view of the OT imagery to which

Paul appeals.⁷⁹ So 3:13 portrays Jesus in his death as vicariously

taking upon himself the curse of the violated covenant to release

his people from the law's curse.⁸⁰

(b.) The Referent of  h[mei?j. Bruce and other scholars contend

that h[mei?j; is an inclusive group of Jewish and Gentile Christians,

for Paul's argument excludes the possibility that only Jews were re-

deemed from the law's curse.⁸¹ Bruce argues this on the basis that

ei]j ta> e@qnh (v. 14) suggests benefits extended to the Gentiles and

that ta> pa<nta is inclusive language (v. 22).⁸² Westerholm suggests

that Paul's language is “an unconscious generalization.”⁸³ However,

though scholars generally think that Paul indiscriminately

employs pronouns in Galatians 3-4,⁸⁴ the progression of his argument

makes better sense if they are distinguished.⁸⁵ In Gal 3:10-4:7, Paul

employs the first person when life under the law is in view and the

 

and 16 where impurity or sin is transferred to a live bird or the scapegoat and sent

forth from the camp into the desert (p. 261).

   ⁷⁶ Cf. Friedrich Buchsel, "a]gora<zw, e]cagora<zw," TDNT 1.126-27.

   ⁷⁷ Harald Riesenfeld, "u[pe<r," TDNT 8.509. Cf. Herman Ridderbos, "The Earliest

Confession of the Atonement in Paul," Reconciliation and Hope, 80.

   ⁷⁸ Cf. Fung, Galatians, 148.

   ⁷⁹ Cf. Zerwick, Biblical Greek §91; M. J. Harris, NIDNTT 3.1197.

   ⁸⁰ Cf. Ibid. Contrast Morna D. Hooker, "Interchange in Christ," JTS 22 (1971) 349-

61, whose scheme cannot adequately explain Paul's language in Gal 3:13. See also

James D. G. Dunn, "Paul's Understanding of the Death of Jesus," Reconciliation and

Hope, 123-41, who, like Hooker, attempts to interpret Jesus' death in terms of

representation only, without substitution. But contrast Ridderbos, "The Earliest

Confession," Reconciliation and Hope, 79ff.

   ⁸¹ Bruce, Galatians, 166-67.

   ⁸² Ibid. Cf. George Howard, Paul: Crisis in Galatia (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1979) 59; E. P. Sanders, Paul, the Law and the Jewish People

(Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1983) 68f, 72, 81; Franz Musser, Der Galaterbrief

(HTKNT; Freiburg: Herder, 1977) 231-34, 268-70; Fung, Galatians, 148-49.

   ⁸³ Westerholm, Israel's Law and the Church's Faith, 194-95.

   ⁸⁴ See Raisanen, Paul and the Law, 18-23, with a sufficient bibliography.

Raisanen points out that when Paul depicts the human dilemma outside Christ, he occasionally appears to include the Gentiles and the Jews together as subjects of the law.

    ⁸⁵ Yet, it must also be kept in mind that underlying Paul's salvation-historical

argument is his typological use of Israel's plight as representative of humanity's

plight placed in contrast to the faithfulness of the New Israel. Cf. T. L. Donaldson,

'Curse of the Law' and the Inclusion of the Gentiles: Galatians 3:13-14," NTS 32

(1986) 105-6.

204                              TRINITY JOURNAL

 

second person when the gentile Galatians' own situation is

discussed.⁸⁶

It is true, as Bruce points out, that ei]j ta> e@qnh (v. 14) indicates

that the Gentiles are beneficiaries of Christ's becoming a curse for

the h[mei?j. Yet, the blessing extended to the Gentiles is one step re-

moved from Christ's bearing the curse of the law;⁸⁷ his bearing the

law's curse redeemed (e]cagora<zw) the h[mei?j (i.e. toi?j u[po> no<mou,

4:5) from the curse of the law, "in order that" (i!na, v. 14) the bless-

ing may extend to the Gentiles. The natural reading suggests that

the divine transaction of redeeming Jewish believers out from under

the curse of the law was a precondition to bestowing the blessing of

Abraham upon the Gentiles.⁵⁸

(c.) Deut 21:22-23 Cited. Lindars astutely observes that the

apostle conforms his citation of Deut 21:23 to match the string of

curses in Deut 27:15-26, so the factual statement ("everyone is ac-

cursed who hangs") becomes an anathema ("cursed is everyone who

hangs").⁸⁹ Paul's modification of the LXX kekatarame<noj to

e]pikata<ratoj; suggests more than mere assimilation. It reflects his

redemptive-historical understanding of the law as a covenant of

demands with sanctions; Paul reads the law as a cohesive covenant.

As such, its various and diverse parts together anticipated fulfill-

ment in Christ. Paul, not as a rabbi bound only to the middoth, but

as a Christian whose perspective is transformed by Christ's coming,

interprets Deut 21:22-23 not so much in the light of Deut 27:26

(gezerah shawah), but sees the two together through the optic of

fulfillment in Christ. The two texts, though isolated from one an-

other in the context of the law, converge in Christ. So, the simple

affirmation of the LXX is recast in the form of a sanction.

 

   ⁸⁶ See Moo, "Law," 81. Cf. also Douglas R. de Lacey, "The Sabbath/Sunday

Question and the Law in the Pauline Corpus," From Sabbath to Lord's Day, (ed. D.

A. Carson; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982) 165-66 (on 3:23-4:7); Andrew J. Bandstra,

The Law and the Elements of the World: An Exegetical Study in Aspects of Paul's

Teaching (Kampen: Kok, 1964) 59-60 (on 4:3); Bligh, Galatians, 235 (who interest-

ingly finds in this segment of Galatians a reproduction of Paul's speech on the

Antioch incident); Betz, Galatians, 148-78. Ct. also D. W. B. Robinson, "The

Distinction between Jewish and Gentile Believers in Galatia," ABR 13 (1965) 29-48.

   ⁸⁷ Cf. Donaldson, "The 'Curse of the Law' ," 94.

   ⁸⁸ Hays, The Faith of Jesus Christ, 116-21, who convincingly shows concerning

3:13-14 and 4:3-6, that "The pattern is the same in both cases: Christ's action enables

the Jews to receive redemption, the Gentiles to receive blessing/adoption, and Jews

and Gentiles alike to receive the Spirit. Furthermore, in both cases the formulation

moves from an initial division between 'us' and 'them' towards a final inclusive 'we'

that makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and in both cases this movement

is associated with the gift of the Spirit" (p. 117).

   ⁸⁹ Lindars, New Testament Apologetic, 232. Yet, he fails to show any significance

to his observation. Instead, he attributes this change not only to assimilation to the

preceding quotation of Deut 27:26, but he states, "It is also possible that it accurately

represents the sharpened form in which this text was already being used by the

enemies of the Church" (pp. 232-33).

CANEDAY: DEUT 21:22-23 IN GAL 3:13                                       205

 

 

Paul's appeal to Deut 21:22-23 is not to speak to the manner⁹⁰ of

Christ's death, for clearly the OT text does not address the means

by which the criminal is to be executed. The apostle finds in this

text a prophetic anticipation of Christ, not in his being suspended

alive upon the cross, but in his relation to the law as the final and

superior one who, "hung upon the tree," bears the curse of the law on

behalf of Israel, and effects an epochal change in salvation

history. His manner suggests that he expects his use of Deut 21:22-

23 with 27:26 is perspicuous and gives credibility to his argument

concerning the law.

(d.) Messianic "Blessing" Spills over to the Gentiles. Paul's

question raised by 3:8 (How can Gentiles receive the blessing

promised to Abraham apart from becoming his sons by circumci-

sion?) is answered in 3:14. Verse 14 specifies the purpose for which

Christ became the substitutionary bearer of the law's curse for

those dwelling under the law. It does so with two i!na. clauses, the

second of which is arguably subordinate to the former (d. NASB,

NIV).⁹¹ Both clauses express salvation-historical realities to be

realized at Messiah's coming: (1) the blessing of the Gentiles, and

(2) the arrival of the Spirit (d. 3:2-5; 4:6). Both effects mentioned

in 3:14 are dependent upon the redemption of believing Jews from

the curse of the law.⁹²

When Christ was hung "upon the tree," he replaced unfaithful

Israel as he became the bearer of the law's curse. The propitious ef-

fect of his hanging "upon the tree" greatly transcends the effects of

those of old, who by bearing the law's curse, with temporary bene-

fits, turned away God's vengeance in cases of plagues upon Israel in

specific breaches of the covenant (cf. Num 25:4; 2 Sam 21:6ff). His

curse bearing is far-superior, for he did not merely bear the curse on

behalf of believing Jews and remove it from them, leaving them un-

der the law's jurisdiction. He "redeemed" them out from under the

law's curse by replacing the law (cf. 3:19, 22-25; 4:5ff). Therefore,

his curse bearing, which has salvation-historical ramifications, is

described in terms of Israel's law. So when Paul speaks specifically

of the benefits of Christ's death poured out upon the Gentiles, he

does not employ the language of "redemption from the curse of the

law." Instead, the blessing of Abraham spills out upon the Gentiles,

because Israel’s redemption from the law's curse opens the fountain

of God's blessing beyond the bounds of ethnic Israel. In Christ the

 

   ⁹⁰ Wilcox: ("'Upon the Tree'," 89-90, 93-94) fails to recognize the warrant for

Paul's citation of Deut 21:22-23 and unduly pursues the possibility of an alternate

explanation that, though the OT text did not "originally refer to crucifixion, it has

been the subject of an early midrashic interpretation to accommodate it to such a con-

text" (p. 90).

   ⁹¹ Cf. Betz, Galatians, 152. Contrast Fung, Galatians, 151, who takes them as co-

ordinate clauses. He argues that the first "makes a statement from the perspective

of salvation history" while the latter expresses the same truth "in terms of individ-

spiritual experience."

   ⁹² Cf. Bligh, Galatians, 272

206                              TRINITY JOURNAL

 

 

believing Jew has been “bought out from under the law” (4:5) so that

he, with the believing Gentile, now finds Abrahamic sonship de-

fined by belonging to Christ, not to the law (3:26-29). In this new

status, Jew and Gentile together are made recipients of the prom-

ised Spirit, for as the Galatians' own experience testifies, the

Spirit comes only apart from the law in association with the

preaching of the gospel (3:2-5).

 

2. “Tree" Motif in the NT

 

The presence of other allusions to Deut 21:22-23 in the NT re-

quires brief consideration to examine the extent to which they co-

here with and are influenced by Paul's citation in Gal 3:13. The four

allusions are discussed under two heads: (1) References in Acts; and

(2) 1 Pet 2:24.

(a.) References in Acts. There are three passages in the book of

Acts that allude to Deut 21:22-23. The first two are ascribed to

Peter (Acts 5:30 and 10:39). Both passages employ krema<nummi e]pi>

cu<lon, a locution for crucifixion. For the purpose of comparison, the

two texts are set out as follows:

Acts 5:30                                            Acts 10:39-40

   o[ qeo>j  tw?n  pate<rwn  h[mw?n

           h@geiren  ]Ihsou?n,

   o{n u[mei?j  diexeiri<sasqe                      o{n kai> a]nei?lan,

         krema<santej e]pi> cu<lou.                      krema<santej e]pi> cu<lou.

                                                                    tou?ton o[ qeo>j

                                                                          h@geiren e]n t^? tri<t^ h[me<r%

Wilcox contends that these two texts employ a Greek version of

Deut 21:22 other than the LXX, for the LXX reads Kat a7t09a.vTJ,

kai> krema<shte au]to>n e]pi> cu<lou.⁹³ However, that such brief

allusions to scripture differ from the source may be explained by the

conventions of extemporaneous speech rather than by a different

source text.

Whatever Peter's text may have been, the most crucial matter

is his change of the finite krema<shte of the LXX to the participle

krema<santej, making it depend upon diexeiri<sasqe (5:30) and

a]nei?lan (10:39). So, where the LXX accurately represents two dis-

tinct acts from the MT tmAUhv; (“he is put to death") and tAylitAv; (“he is

hung"), Peter's words do not separate the two. As a result, if kre-

ma<santej is translated instrumentally (by hanging," NASB,

 

    ⁹³ Cf. Max Wilcox, The Semitisms of Acts (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965) 34-35;

idem, "'Upon the Tree'," JBL 96 (1977) 91. His argument is based upon: (1) the use of

diaxeiri<zomai (5:30, used only twice in the NT [cf. Acts 26:21]) and a]naire<w (10:39)

creating a difference from a]poqan^ of the LXX; (2) krema<shte is changed to the

participle krema<santej (3) both omit au]to<n after krema<santej; and (4) the words

krema<santej e]pi> cu<lou are introduced without explanation, though their link

with Deut 21:22-23 is apparent.

CANEDAY: DEUT 21:22-23 IN GAL 3:13                                       207

 

 

NIV), the reference to Deut 21:22-23 is more oblique. A clearer allu-

sion is preserved if the participle is rendered purely circumstan-

tially, "whom you (they) had, killed, hanging him upon the tree."

In 5:30, the use of diaxeiri<zomai⁹⁴ suggests an allusion to Deut

13:10 (LXX), where the Mosaic legislation outlines the procedures

Israel is to take with regard to a false prophet.⁹⁵ The false prophet

is to be killed for seducing Israel away from Yahweh. The text

reads, "Your hands [ai[ xei?rej] shall be upon him first to kill him,

and afterwards the hands of all the people" (LXX, 13:10). If this

allusion is correctly identified, it strengthens the OT imagery of

Deut 21:22-23 referred to in the words krema<santej e]pi> cu<lon.

The Sanhedrin surely understood the reference, for it had con-

demned Jesus for blasphemy (Matt 26:65) and received testimony

against him for falsely prophesying (Matt 26:61).

The Sanhedrin's orders for the apostles to cease proclaiming

Jesus elicited Peter's response: "The God of our fathers raised up

[h@geiren] Jesus, whom you put to death, hanging him upon the tree.

This one God exalted to his right hand" (5:30-31).  ]Egei<rw is con-

ceivably a reference to "resurrection," as the word is frequently used

(BAGD, 215). Yet, it is better taken as the "raising up" of a

prophet, for two reasons: (1) In Acts, where e]gei<rw denotes resurrec-

tion, other indicators are present;⁹⁶ and (2) it better suits the se-

quence of Peter's speech--God raised Jesus as a prophet among his

people;⁹⁷ You put him to death, hanging him upon the tree; But God

did not ratify your condemnation of Jesus as a blasphemer, for he

exalted him.

The third allusion to Deut 21:22-23 in Acts is 13:28-30. Two par-

ticular elements in the text suggest that Deut 21:22-23 is regarded

here as fulfilled in Christ's Passion. First, and more obvious, is the

mention of the removal of the body from the tree (kaqelo<ntej a]po>

tou? cu<lou, vs. 29). Second, the expression mhdemi<an ai]ti<an

qana<tou, "no capital charge," recalls the occasion of the legisla-

 tion of Deut 21:22a.⁹⁸

(b.) 1 Pet 2:24. Peter explicitly associates Deut 21:22-23 with

Isaiah 53:

o{j ta>j a[marti<aj h[mw?n au]to>j a]nh<negken,

 "who himself bore our sins" (cf. Isa 53:12);

 

    ⁹⁴ Cf. its use in Acts 26:21, where it is also used to describe an "arrest" with an

intention to put to death for an alleged violation of the Mosaic law.

    ⁹⁵ Cf. e]pe<balon ta>j xei?raj e]pi> tou>j a]posto<louj (5:18).

    ⁹⁶ Cf. 3:15; 4:10 – o{n o[ qeo>j h@geiren e]k nekrw?n;  10:40 –tou?ton o[ qeo>j

h@geiren e]n t^? h[me<r%; 13:30—o[ de> qeo>j h@geiren au]to>n e]k nekrw?n;

13:37—o!n de> o[ qeo>j h@geiren, ou]k ei#den diafqora<n; 26:8—ei] o[ qeo>j nekrou>j

e]gei<rei. Contrast Wilcox, "'Upon the Tree'," 94, who takes e]gei<rw in 5:30 as

“resurrection."

   ⁹⁷ See BAGD, p. 215. a. Matt 11:11; Luke 7:6; John 7:52.

   ⁹⁸ Cf. the use of ai]ti<a in the Passion narraties (Matt 27:27; Mark 15:26; John 19:4,

6). Luke 24:20b reads, instead, kri<ma qana<tou, reflecting the LXX form of Deut 21:22a.

208                              TRINITY JOURNAL

 

 

e]n t&? sw<mati au]tou? e]pi> to> cu<lon,

“in ‘his body' ‘upon the tree'" (cf. Deut 21:23).

 

By bringing together the two passages, he interprets Isa 53:12

as fulfilled in Jesus' death “upon the tree." Like Paul in Acts 13:28-

30, Peter does not merely associate Deut 21:22-23 with Jesus' death,

but also with his guiltlessness (cf. 1 Pet 2:22). But unlike Paul in Gal

3:13, it is doubtful whether Peter uses Deut 21:22 with regard to the

curse pronounced upon the criminal. Rather, he uses the passage to

draw attention to the shame of the punishment Christ suffered.

Though he was convicted of no capital offense, Jesus was neverthe-

less treated as the guilty man of Deut 21:22-23, for he was “hung

upon the tree" to be reviled. Peter's purpose is parenetic rather

than doctrinal.

There are, thus, indications that Deut 21:22-23 was early re-

garded as fulfilled in Christ's Passion. So, when Paul penned his

words to the Galatians, an early Christian exegetical tradition al-

ready interpreted Deut 21:22-23 concerning Christ's guiltlessness,

bearing the curse, hanging upon the cross, and burial, for the church

realized that it was the Christ whom the text anticipated.

 

IV. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Much of Paul's argument in Galatians 3 depends upon the OT

scriptures. So, to grasp the development of his thesis, one must un-

derstand how he is using his OT citations. This study has isolated

Gal 3:13 to offer a fresh approach to Paul's use of Deut 21:22-23.

This is done recognizing that he employed Jewish hermeneutical

techniques In his use of the OT, yet that these were governed by his

Christian hermeneutical matrix, namely, his belief that the entire

OT realized its termination in Christ. Accordingly, the OT must

now be read through the optic provided by his inauguration of the

OT's eschatological hope and anticipation. This lens now brings

into focus what was formerly diffused and enigmatically predic-

tive.

Reading Deut 21:22-23 from this hermeneutical matrix clarifies

the legitimacy of Paul's use of that passage in Gal 3:13. In its OT

covenantal context, Deut 21:22-23 prepares for and anticipates

Christ's curse bearing upon the cross. The corpse of the covenant-

breaker is hung “upon the tree" as a gruesome sign that he is an ob-

ject of curse. He is suspended between heaven and earth, exposed to

the vengeance of God to propitiate his wrath toward Israel (Num

25:4; 2 Sam 21:6ff).

From his salvation-historical perspective, Paul argues that

Christ hung “upon the tree" in Israel's place, bearing the curse of

the violated covenant and turning away God's wrath from his peo-

ple by redeeming them out from under the law's curse. This redemp-

tion of believing Jews from the law's curse is epochal in character,

for Christ replaces the law for Jews and in so doing extends to

 

CANEDAY: DEUT 21:22-23 IN GAL 3:13                                       209

 

 

Gentiles the blessing promised to Abraham. Thus, Jew and Gentile

together are made recipients of the long-awaited Spirit of the new

covenant.

Paul's use of Deut 21:22-23 to speak of Christ's Passion is corrob-

orated by other NT uses of the "tree motif." Though Acts 5:30; 10:39;

13:29; and 1 Pet 2:24 all allude to Deut 21:22-23 with an application

to Christ's cross, they do so without bringing over to the NT all

that Paul does in Gal 3:13. Instead, they underscore Christ's guilt-

lessness, his divine vindication, and the shame he endured.

If this study is reasonably correct in its identification of bibli-

cal authorization for Paul's quotation of Deut 21:22-23 in Gal 3:13,

it demonstrates the short-sightedness of exegesis that becomes un-

duly entangled in pursuing hidden midrashic link-words. Paul's

warrant for employing his selected passage, though undoubtedly

influenced by gezerah shawah, is not bound to the middoth, nor is

he driven to find and appropriate in an ad hoc manner OT passages

to validate the NT creed. The eye of faith, reading the OT through

Paul's optic (namely the coming of Christ) will yield fresh and re-

warding insights concerning how the NT cites the OT.

 

 

 

 

 

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