Philo describes the Therapeutae in On the Contemplative Life.[1] These were a Jewish studious religious sect (“the disciples of Moses”, On the Contemplative Life, 63-64) found throughout the Roman Empire but mainly in Egypt (On the Contemplative Life, 21). A particular characteristic of the sect was their use of music in meetings in addition to contemplation and meditation. Philo notes, “…they likewise compose Psalms and hymns to God in every kind of metre and melody imaginable” (On the Contemplative Life, 29). Their meetings, on the seventh day, involved a simple communal meal, and every seven weeks the meeting was extended into a more elaborate affair. It is this meeting that Philo describes in some detail.
Insofar as Philo and Paul describe meetings of a sect, their language bears comparison:
| On the Contemplative Life | 1 Corinthians |
| Come together (30, 32, 66) | Come together (11:18, 14:26) |
| Eat bread/drink water (37) | Eat bread/drink wine (11:23-29) |
| Wear simple covering (38, 66) | Hair for a covering (11:15) |
| Arrangements are to order (67, 69, 75) | Order (14:27, 40) |
| A president expounds scripture (75, 79) | Exhortation (14:3) |
| Listeners contemplate the words (allegories) as in a mirror (78) | See through a glass darkly (11:12) |
| Psalms and hymns are composed and sung by men and women in order (25, 29, 80, 81) | Psalms (14:26) |
After this meeting, when it was the seventh week, celebrations carried on during the night (On the Contemplative Life, 83). Philo states that the men and women formed two choruses and separately sang:
“Then they sing hymns which have been composed in honour of God in many metres and tunes, at one time all singing together, and at another moving their hands and dancing in corresponding harmony, and uttering in an inspired manner songs of thanksgiving…” (On the Contemplative Life, 84)
After singing separately, the two choruses joined together in “…an imitation of that one which, in old time, was established by the Red Sea…Moses the prophet leading the men, and Miriam the prophetess leading the women” (On the Contemplative Life, 85-87). The chorus of male and female worshippers were formed “on this model” (On the Contemplative Life, 88). Philo indicates that the women were led by a Miriam figure. He does not mention the use of tongues in such worship, nor does he say that the Therapeutae had prophetesses. However, it is noteworthy that men and women sang individually in order.
J. Spittler notes the theory that the Testament of Job was written within the circle of the Therapeutae.[2] The argument is that the Testament reflects their sectarian preferences:
- Women had a significant role in singing and in composition as in the Testament (On the Contemplative Life, 80-81, Job 48-50).
- Prayer for the Therapeutae was towards the East as in the Testament (On the Contemplative Life, 89, Job 40:3).
- The Therapeutae were concentrated in Egypt and Job is called the king of all Egypt ( Job 28:7).
Spittler’s view is that “an origin of the Testament among the Egyptian Therapeutae seems very possible”.[3] If this is the case, the songs and hymns composed by Job’s daughters would be representative of the hymns and songs composed by the women of the Therapeutae and they would be at least partly in the tongues of angels.
The singing of these songs within the body of the meeting at Corinth by a “Miriam figure” could explain the allusions to Miriam that Paul makes in 1 Cor 14:34-40.[4]
Paul states,
“What? came the word of God out from you? or came it into (eivj) you only?” 1 Cor 14:36
This is an ironic reversal of the question posed by Miriam,
“Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?” Num 12:2
At the Red Sea Miriam is described as a “prophetess” (Exod 15:20). Her claim to Moses was that the Lord had spoken by her and that therefore she had authority. She led the women at the Red Sea, and this is the pattern followed by the Therapeutae. In Numbers, Miriam is the leader challenging Moses.
Paul sets up a contrast in his two questions: “did the word come out from you” and “did the word of God come into you”. These two questions pick up on the character of what Miriam says at the Red Sea:
“Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Exod 15:21
This quotes Moses’ words in the Song of Moses,
“I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Exod 15:1
This repetition of what Moses had sung is the basis for Paul noting that the word of God did not come out from Miriam and did not come into her only. In the Corinthian context, this argument nullifies any claim on the part of women and women prophets that their words from the Spirit must be spoken in the assembly.
Paul reinforces his argument by saying,
“If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” 1 Cor 14:36
Paul’s words here quotes Num 12:6 from the Miriam episode,
“If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream.” Num 12:6
By quoting from this stage in the episode, Paul puts himself into the position of “Moses” as the one who was more than a prophet and someone with whom the Lord spoke face to face (Num 12:7).[5] Here Paul claims to deliver “the commandments of the Lord”. This cites the common refrain in the Law of Moses, for example,
“The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.” Deut 28:9
Miriam was turned into a leper and sent out of the camp for seven days. This was a “shame” to her (Num 12:14), and it reflected the shame in her usurping authority over Moses. In 1 Cor 14:34, Paul says it is a shame for women to speak in the assembly, and his choice of “shame” is prompted by his reading of Miriam’s speaking in the camp (Num 12:2).
In claiming to deliver the “commandments of the Lord”, Paul places his words on a level with the Law of Moses. He can do this because in 1 Cor 11:23 he had said, “I received of the lord that which I also delivered unto you”. Paul was a “new Moses” receiving a law from his “lord”—Christ. The word had come “out of him” and the Corinthians should accept his revelation. Paul’s application of Moses typology to himself naturally balances his allusion to Miriam. However, it also reflects the thinking of the Therapeutae who celebrated the deliverance of Yahweh at the Red Sea and the role of Moses and Miriam every seven weeks. Their theology gave equal place to the exercise of the prophetic spirit by men and women in the assembly; Paul is arguing for the silence of women precisely because of Miriam’s history in Exodus 15 and Numbers 12.
[1] Citations are from C. D. Yonge, ed., Philo (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1997).
[2] “Introduction”, in J. H. Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols; New York: Doubleday, 1983-1985), 829-868 (833).
[3] “Introduction”, 835.
[4] I am indebted to M. Morris for noticing the connections between Miriam and 1 Corinthians.
[5] Paul quotes the “and not in dark speeches” (Num 12:8) in 1 Cor 13:12.
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