Does Paul Swap Torah for Jesus?
In Deuteronomy 30:12-14, Moses says of the Torah, “It is not in heaven, that you would say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you would say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you.” In Romans 10:6-8, Paul uses the same speech to speak of Yeshua and faith in him: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend to heaven?’ (that is, to bring Messiah down) or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ (that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim).” Since Romans inputs the name of Jesus where Moses spoke of law, is Paul saying that faith in Yeshua should replace Torah observance?
The key to understanding Paul’s message is in Romans 10:4, which states, “For Messiah is the goal (τέλος, tēlos) of the Torah to righteousness for all who trust.” It is only after saying that Jesus is the “goal” that Paul goes on to put Yeshua in the place of Moses’s Law. Since Jesus is the telos of the Torah, Paul can speak of him in the same terms as Moses describes the Torah without implying that Jesus replaces or supersedes the Mosaic commands. To make an analogy, the “goal” of shooting a basketball is to put the ball in the hoop, but to speak of the scoring process (i.e., the “Messiah” in Paul’s rhetoric) does not suggest that one can now stop shooting the basketball.
In fact, Paul anticipates the later rabbinic understanding of holy behavior being the “goal” of wisdom. According to the Babylonian Talmud (ca. 600 CE), the sage Rava states, “The goal (תכלית; takhlit) of wisdom is repentance and good deeds” (b. Berakhot 17a). The rabbi goes on to say that a person “should not read [Torah]… and [then] dishonor his father and mother and teacher, or anyone who is greater than he is in wisdom.” For Rava, the point of gaining wisdom through Torah study is to behave rightly; indeed, such good behavior is the goal of Torah-based wisdom. The Talmud does not dissociate wisdom from repentance and good deeds; on the contrary, the gaining of wisdom is required for the doing of good deeds. Similarly, Paul can say that Jesus is the goal of the Torah without doing away with the Law. Instead, the study of Torah is requisite for understanding its goal, Jesus. When Paul switches Moses’s commandment with Yeshua’s name, he highlights the centrality of the Messiah and affirms the importance of the Law.
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