The Ascent into Paradise (2 Cor 12:1–12): Paul’s Merkava Vision and Apostolic Call

Abstract

This chapter discusses the influence of Jewish apocalyptic and visionary-mystical merkava traditions on Paul's thought and experience, and on his understanding of his apostolic role. It provides a unique apocalyptic disclosure passage encountered in 2 Corinthians 12 and the significance of that disclosure in relation to the polemical context in which the passage is embedded. Main tenets of the argument are the existence in late Second Temple Judaism of a trend of mysticism involving visionary practices and experiences, which resembles and prefigures the type of mysticism encountered in rabbinic documents from the third century onwards and in the hekhalot literature; the close relationship of the visionary experience mentioned in 2 Cor 12:1-12 to this proto-rabbinic mysticism; and the centrality of that vision to Paul's claim to have received his apostolic commission not by human transmission, but directly from the heavenly-enthroned Christ.Keywords: apostolic commission; hekhalot literature; merkava traditions; Paul; Second Temple Judaism