2:9: But rather, as it is written: “What no eye has seen or any ear
has heard or has arisen in the heart of any person, what God has prepared for
those who love him.”
Opinions on the origin of this citation have been divided since time
immemorial. For a time, Origen oscillated between whether it was a free
citation of Isa 52:15 or derived from a lost writing. Later he explains that it
was taken from a (Jewish) Apocalypse of Elijah. This last opinion of his is
followed by the so-called Ambrosiaster and Euthalius. Clement of Alexandria may
also have supposed the Apocalypse of Elijah as the source of the quotation.
However, Jerome declares most definitely that it should be traced back to Isa
64:3. In the so-called Second Letter of Clement to the Corinthians (from the 2nd
half of the 2nd century), chapter 11 reads: Ἐὰν οὖν ποιήσωμεν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ, εἰσήξομεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτοῦ καὶ λημψόμεθα τὰς ἐπαγγελίας, ἃς οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν οὐδὲ ὀφθαλμὸς ἴδεν οὐδὲ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου ἀνέβη. The author does not indicate in any way
that the concluding words are a quotation; rather, he uses them as if they were
his own words. It may be concluded from this that the citation had already
become a familiar saying at that time. However, in his so-called First Letter
to the Corinthians, chapter 34, toward the end, Clement of Rome introduces our
quotation with a formula that he elsewhere uses to introduce Old Testament
passages, namely: λέγει γάρ, that is, “for he” =
God, or “for it” = Scripture “says.” Then the citation itself follows in this
form: ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ὅσα ἡτοίμασεν τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν αὐτόν. The divergences from the Pauline
quotation are so stark in respect to the complex sentence and the wording that
it seems debatable whether Clement intends to cite 1 Cor 2:9 or whether he
independently means to adduce an Old Testament passage. If the latter is the
case, the closing words τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν αὐτόν (in Paul: τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν) = “those who wait on him” would make it
doubtful that Clement had Isa 64:3 in view. The same would then have to be
supposed in the case of the apostle. Yet it must be kept in mind that both Paul
and Clement did not follow the wording of the base text in rendering Isa 64:3,a
but rather the meaning that had generally been assigned to the prophetic
passage by Jewish scriptural scholarship.b
a. The base passage is Isa 64:3: “From
eternity no one has witnessed, nor heard, nor has any eye seen a God besides
you, who works for the one who waits for him.” — Septuagint: ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν εἶδον θεὸν πλήν σου, καὶ τὰ ἔργα σου, ἃ ποιήσεις τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν ἔλεον. — Targum: “Since eternity no ear has
heard the news of great deeds, nor heard a word to make one tremble, nor has
any eye seen what your people have seen, (namely) the presence of your glory, O
Yahweh; for besides you there is no (God), who will create for your people the
primordial righteous ones (the righteous, as they were at the beginning), who
wait for your redemption.”
b. The base passage (Isa 64:3) according to
rabbinic understanding. We will start with b. Sanh. 99A: R. Hiyya b. Abba (ca.
280) said that R. Yohanan († 279) said, “All the prophets prophesied only up
until the days of the Messiah (i.e., all their prophecies do not extend beyond
the messianic time, but rather will find their fulfillment in this age); but
for the future world (which follows on the days of the Messiah) it may be said,
‘No eye has seen, O God, except you, what he (God) is preparing for the one who
waits for him’ (Isa 64:3).” — This understanding of Isa 64:3 is also found in
the mouth of R. Yohanan in b. Sanh. 99A.27 and 30; b. Ber. 34B.24, 28. In Midr.
Prov. 13 § 25 (37A) the exposition is as follows: R. Levi (ca. 300) said, “Come
and see how great the goodness is that God stores up for the righteous for the
future! For it says, ‘How great is your goodness, which you store up for those
who fear you, which in the face of the children of men you show to those who
trust in you.’ ” R. Yohanan said, “Not so! Rather, an eye can be made to
see only what it can see, and an ear can be made to hear only what it can hear,
but what he (God) has prepared for the righteous for the future, no eye can see
and no ear can hear; as it says, ‘No eye has seen, O God, except you, what
(God) is preparing for the one who waits for him’ (Isa 64:3).” — Just how old
this interpretation is, its distinctive characteristic being the vocative
understanding of אֱלֹהִים,
cannot be indicated with certainty. R. Simeon b. Halapta (ca. 190), appears as
the earliest named author representing the view, who says in Midr. Eccl. 1:8
(9B): “All good things, blessings and comforts, which the prophets have seen in
this world (in a vision), they have seen only for the penitent (whose
recompense will be precisely those goods); but of the one who all his life has
not tasted sin at all (i.e., of the perfectly righteous) it holds: ‘No eye has
seen, O God, except you, what (God) is preparing for the one who waits for him’
(Isa 64:3).” — Yet it is in no way said that R. Simeon b. Halapta was the
actual originator of this interpretation. It is found anonymously already in
SNum 27:12 § 135 (51A) in the following context: “Enough from you” (Deut 3:26).
God said to Moses, “Much is stored up for you, much preserved for you”; as it
says, “How great is your goodness, which you store up for those who fear you”
(Ps 31:20). Furthermore, it says, “From eternity no one has witnessed, nor
heard, nor has any eye seen, O God, besides you, what (God) is preparing for
the one who waits for him” (Isa 64:3). The fact that this explanation of the
prophetic passage can be presented anonymously in the old halakic midrashic
work called Sifre is a proof that it was already generally known and common in
the tannaitic period (until about 200 CE), and that, furthermore, the name of
its actual originator may have passed into oblivion. In any case, there is no
basis for the assumption that this interpretation of Isa 64:3 was not yet
common in the days of the apostle Paul. — Among the later scholars, apart from
R. Yohanan already mentioned above, this interpretation is represented in
particular by R. Samuel b. Nahman (ca. 260), R. Levi (ca. 300) and R. Berekhiah
(ca. 320) in Midr. Eccl. 1:8 (9A); also by R. Hiyya b. Abba (ca. 280) in b.
Šabb. 63A, R. Asi (ca. 300) in Exod. Rab. 45 (101A), and R. Hanina b. Agil (ca.
300) in Midrash Abba Gurion (ed. Buber 5A); Leqach Tob on Esth 1:6 (ed. Buber
45B), Midr. Esth. 1:5 (87A); it is found anonymously in, for example, Midr.
Eccl. 12:9 (59B); Midr. Ps. 9 § 2 (40B); Tanḥ. בראשית
2A; כי
חשא 118B; אלה דברים 1A; TanḥB דברים
§ 2 (1A); Pesiq. Rab. 37 (163A). (Hermann L. Strack and Paul
Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash,
ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino;
Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2021], 3:380-82)
