Later text
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Intertextuality Pair
Allusion
Later text
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
Earlier text
Isaiah 19:20BSB
It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and defender to rescue them.
Paul's declaration that "there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" resonates with Isaiah 19:20, where God promises to send Egypt "a savior and a great one" (sōtēra in the LXX) who will deliver them. Isaiah's oracle envisions a time when even Egypt — Israel's ancient oppressor — will cry out to YHWH and receive a deliverer. Paul's emphasis on "the man" (anthrōpos) Christ Jesus as mediator echoes the Isaianic expectation of a human agent of divine salvation. The universalizing context is significant: Paul has just urged prayer "for all people" (2:1) and declared God "wants everyone to be saved" (2:4), matching Isaiah 19's vision of Gentile nations coming to know YHWH. The one mediator fulfills the Isaianic hope of a single divine agent through whom all peoples access God.