A. Siquans (Univ. Vienna): Moses’ Land? Evidence of Patristic Literature

In Exod. 3:8, God announces to bring his people into a land flowing with milk and honey. In v. 10 he commands Moses to lead Israel to this land. Moses, however, fails and his successor Joshua is appointed to bring the people into the promised land. The church fathers identified Joshua as typos of Jesus. Justin and Theodoret see an opposition between Moses, who could not lead the people to the land, and Joshua/Jesus, who accomplished this task. For Origen, Moses is the “spiritual law” (Rom. 7:14) and its true meaning is revealed by Jesus. Hippolyt and Gregory provide an allegorical interpretation of the land. Thus, in patristic writings a typological and spiritual interpretation prevails which takes up Moses’ ambivalent relationship to the land.