The high mountain
Jesus rejects the third temptation with a quotation from Deut 6 (v
13), a fact which indicates that in this, as in the other temptations, an
examination of the themes of Deuteronomy will give us the necessary background.
There are two themes which requires most attention: the scene of the temptation
(the high mountain) and its subject (riches and idolatry).
In Deuteronomy we find one of the most pathetic scenes of the Old
Testament: Moses stands on the top of Mount Nebo and looks out over “the Promised
Land”; this, God tells him, is the land that Israel is to possess, yet he
himself is not to be allowed to enter it with his people.
The most detailed version is Deut 34:1-4. Moses goes up from the plain
of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite Jericho. There JHWH shows
him the whole land, and reminds him of the promise made to his forefathers that
this land would be given to their descendants; then JHWH says to him, “I have
let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there”.
In the parallel account earlier in the book (3:27) Moses receives the
following command, “Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward
and northward and southward and eastward and behold it with your eyes; for you
shall not go over this Jordan”. This is followed by Moses speech to the people
in which he depicts the riches awaiting the Israelites in Canaan and commands
them (to this we must return) not to allow these riches to lead them into forgetting
JHWH and worshipping other gods (Deut, chaps 6 and 8).
Much rabbinic speculation was devoted to what happened to Moses on the
mountain; the text lent itself to elaboration and embroidery. For example,
Moses was said to have been attacked on the mountain by Satan and was able to
repel him; Moses was shown the whole world and the secrets of all ages; he
received a special gift of sight enabling him to see every part of the land,
even those that were hidden from view etc. Deut 3:27 was especially attractive
for there it says not merely that Moses should look at the land lying on the
other side of the Jordan but that he should look toward all four quarters;
thus the rabbis could interpret it as a command to look over the whole world.
R. Eliezer ben Hyrkanos concluded from this passage that God gave special sight
to Moses to enable him to see thus far. In the Apoc Bar (Syr) there is mention
of Baruch seeing all the kingdoms of the world from the top of a high mountain
(76:4) and many scholars have rightly concluded that this theme has been borrowed
from the Moses story. This being the case, the formula in Deut 3:27 has
certainly influenced this passage too.
The core of the matter however is that Deuteronomy depicts Moses on a
high mountain beholding, at least, the land of Canaan and all its desirable
glories.
More is implied in this “beholding” than mere oracular vision. Daube
has rightly called attention to the ancient legal custom on conveying properly,
particularly land, from one person to another for the seller to take the buyer
to some vantage point, assure him on his desire to transfer it, and let the
buyer “see it”, “receive it with his eyes”. Daube thinks it possible that the
tradition of Moses on the mountain originated in a story JHWH handing over the
land to the leader of the Israelites. Whether or not this was the origin of the
story, it is very probable that the late Jewish rabbis, knowing of this custom,
expounded the story in the light of it.
Although the mountain here is regarded positively, either as the place
for a good view over the rich country of Canaan, or as the place where the
ownership of the land could be transferred, it is worth noting that in another place
in Deuteronomy high mountains are seen in a very negative light as sites of
idolatrous worship. In 12:1 ff Israel is warned against following the customs
of their neighbours and worshipping idols. Instead they must destroy all the
Canaanite sanctuaries upon the high mountains (על ההרים הרמים, LXX: επι των ορεων των υψηλων) and upon the hills and under every green
tree. Thus the high mountain is regarded in Deuteronomy as the scene of the
false worship which Israel must avoid. (Birger Gerhardsson, The Testing of
God’s Son (Matthew 4-11 & PAR): An Analysis of an Early Christian Midrash [trans.
John Toy; CWK Gleerup, 1966; repr., Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2009], 62-64)
