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Let us make three tabernacles - DISRAELI - 03-23-2024
“And Peter said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” (Matthew ch17 v4).
I was reminded of this episode recently by a wrong-headed interpretation of it found in Toynbee’s “Study of History”. I like Toynbee. I am carefully reading through this work for the fourth time. But his enthusiasm for his case sometimes moves him to build it upon inaccurate details, and this is one of them.
He is offering examples of Violent and Gentle reactions to the disintegrations of civilisations. He counts Peter initially as an example of the violent tendency, partly because of the ear-cutting incident at Gethsemane, and partly because of the declaration just quoted. He claims that Peter took the appearance of Elijah and Moses as the signal for a war of liberation, “proposing to build on the spot the nucleus of a camp of the kind that the Theudases and Judases of Galilee were wont to establish in the wilderness during the brief interval of grace before the Roman authorities received intelligence of their activities and sent out a flying column of troops to disperse them” (Volume V, p393, if you want to look it up).
Commentaries don’t always do better. One found on my bookshelves, ignoring the wording of the remark, suggests that Peter wanted to build shelters for the three disciples, being the ones who would need shelter, so that they could stay on the mountain longer. Most commentators discover an allusion to the annual Feast of Tabernacles, often called “Feast of Booths” in modern times. The RSV translation implies the same assumption.
But I suggest that Peter was not thinking of the annual feast at all, but of the original Tabernacle, the one established by Moses in order to meet with God. The word used by Peter (SKENE) is the same word used in Hebrews ch9 for the original Tabernacle.
I think he was remembering that the Tabernacle had been erected originally so that Moses could speak with God. Seeing Jesus, Moses and Elijah together, it occurred to him, in his understandably muddled state of mind, that they might need one each. Hence the proposal.
RE: Let us make three tabernacles - quintessentone - 03-23-2024
He is asking if Jesus' wishes him to build three tabernacles, did Jesus reply?
ETA:
God replied instead...
Quote:Peter wanted to honor Jesus, Moses, and Elijah by building three tabernacles—sacred shrines—one for each of them. But God interrupted the well-intentioned, albeit misguided, disciple: “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!’” (Matthew 17:5). Peter had missed the point, and God intended to clear up all confusion.
Quote:When the three disciples heard God’s voice, they fell to the ground in terror. Jesus calmed their fears, and when they opened their eyes again, Moses and Elijah were gone. Only Jesus stood in their midst, and their focus was back on Him alone (Matthew 17:6–8). As they walked down from the mountain, Jesus instructed Peter, James, and John, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead” (Matthew 17:9).
https://www.gotquestions.org/three-tabernacles.html
