Later text
Luke 9:49-50BSB
“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not accompany us.” “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Intertextuality Pair
Luke 9:49-50 → Numbers 11:26-29
Allusion
Earlier text
Two men, however, had remained in the camp—one named Eldad and the other Medad—and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those listed, but they had not gone out to the tent, and they prophesied in the camp. A young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” Joshua son of Nun, the attendant to Moses since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” But Moses replied, "Are you jealous on my account? I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would place His Spirit on them!"
Significance
The significance of this dialogue between John and Jesus connects to the story of Eldad and Medad in Numbers 11:26-29, where Moses responds to unauthorized prophesying with openness rather than restriction, wishing all God's people would prophesy. The link is verbal as well as situational: John's "we tried to stop him" (Luke 9:49) and Jesus's "Do not stop him" (9:50) use the same Greek verb, κωλύω (G2967), that the Septuagint puts in Joshua's mouth when he urges Moses, "stop them!" (Numbers 11:28). Jesus answers His disciple as Moses answered his — as analogy, not type — and the scene sits on the canon-wide motif of the Spirit's widening reach: Moses's wish "that all the LORD's people were prophets" (Numbers 11:29) is live in the Gospels, and it is answered in full when the risen Christ pours out His Spirit on all His people.
- Found via
- Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
- Reference Type
- Allusion
- Connection Method(s)
- Analogy + Longitudinal Theme
Linked Mentions 1