Why 23,000 Instead of 24,000?
As I mentioned above, it is often
suggested that in 1 Cor 10,8 Paul alludes to Num 25,1-9 and in 10,8c to Num
25,9. I think that the main argument for this idea is in the number of 23,000
which resembles the number 24,000 mentioned in Num 25,9. The thesis proposed
here is that in 1 Cor 10,8c Paul deliberately mixes Ex 32,28 and Num 25,9.
It may be worthwhile to compare:
Ex, 32,28: καὶ ἐποίησαν οἱ υἱοὶ Λευι
καθὰ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς Μωυσῆς καὶ ἔπεσαν ἐκ τοῦ λαοῦ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ εἰς
τρισχιλίους ἄνδρας
Num 23,9: καὶ ἐγένοντο οἱ τεθνηκότες ἐν
τῇ πληγῇ τέσσαρες καὶ εἴκοσι χιλιάδες
1 Cor 10,8: καὶ ἔπεσον ἐν μιᾷ ἡμέρᾳ εἴκοσι
τρεῖς χιλιάδες
It is clear that if Paul had used Num
25,9 the allusion in 10,8 is not quite exact. We see several differences.
In Num 25,1-9 it is recorded that
those Israelites, who were guilty of idolatry in the guise of sexual immorality
with Moabite women are punished. In Num 25,9, there is a form of the verb αποθνησκω and the number twenty-four thousand is
mentioned. Some scholars argue that Paul made a mistake and used the number
twenty-three thousand by accident, because the number three thousand is used in
Ex 32,28.
But this number three-thousand is not
the only thing which could refer to Ex 32,28. When we examine this sentence we
find two further remarkable similarities: a) in Ex 32,28 as well as in 10,8c we
find the same form of the verb πιπτω this verb
is absent in Num 25; b) in 1 Cor 10,8c it is mentioned that God’s penalty is
executed “in one day”. However, we do not find this in Numbers. In Ex 32,28,
however, there is even a certain stress on the fact that such a huge number of
people could die in one day.
When there are three clear-cut
similarities between 1 Cor 10,8c and Ex 32,28, it is highly probably that in
10,8c Paul does not make a mistake, but refers deliberately to the punishment
for the idolatry of the Golden Calf as described in Ex 32,28. This is much more
probable because of the fact that Paul already quoted Ex 32,6. In 10,8 Paul
places in a skillful way Ex 32,28 in the context of Num 25. Paul does not need
to mention the punishment as described in 32,28 in 10,7, because he will use
reminiscences to do it in 10,8c. In this way Paul kills two birds with one
stone: 10,8c reminds the hearers of the punishment for idolatrous relations
with the Moabite women as well as for the idolatry of the Golden Calf. This
explains the absence of a punishment in 10,7. When Paul quotes Ex 32,6 and
alludes to Ex 32,28, it is clear that he expects his hearers to be familiar
with the material. (B. J. Koet, “The Old Testament Background to 1 Cor 10,7-8,”
in The Corinthian Correspondence, ed. R. Bieringer [Bibliotheca
Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 125; Leuven: Leuven University Press,
1996], 611-13)