2 Corinthians 5:7 evaluated theough the Sinai covenant

2 Corinthians 5:7 evaluated theough the Sinai covenant

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

From a Tanakh / Karaite standpoint, this line is not an extension of biblical faith but a redefinition of it. Here’s why.

1. Tanakh faith is never opposed to sight

In the Hebrew Bible, seeing is foundational to believing:

“You yourselves have seen what YHWH did in Egypt” (Deut 4:9; 11:7)

“This day your eyes have seen” (Deut 29:2–3)

God repeatedly grounds obedience in witnessed acts

From a Karaite view:

Faith grows from sight — it is not praised for rejecting it.

2. “Walking” in Tanakh means walking in Torah

Biblically:

“Walk” = halakh → manner of life

“Walk in My statutes” (Lev 26:3)

“Walk in all His ways” (Deut 10:12)

So when Paul says “walk by faith,” a Karaite asks:

Which commandments define that walk?

If no Torah is specified, the phrase becomes content-less.

3. Tanakh condemns faith detached from evidence

God explicitly warns Israel not to believe claims without verification:

Deut 13: signs do not validate a message that contradicts Torah

Deut 18: prophets are tested by outcomes

Judges 6: Gideon asks for visible confirmation — and God complies

So “not by sight” as a virtue has no Tanakh precedent.

4. “Sight” in Tanakh includes commandments

In Hebrew thought:

Torah is seen, heard, touched, done

“See, I have set before you today life and good” (Deut 30:15)

Obedience is not blind trust — it is conscious engagement with revealed instruction.

5. Trust without Torah is unintelligible

Tanakh faith always has an object:

Trust in God

Expressed through commandments

Paul’s formulation:

Faith without visible Torah practice

Trust without national covenant

Walking without defined path

From a Karaite perspective, this is philosophical abstraction, not biblical faith.

6. Tanakh actually teaches the opposite principle

Consider these:

“The Torah of YHWH is clear, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet” (Ps 119:105)

“All the people saw the voices” (Exod 20:18)

Biblical faith illuminates sight — it doesn’t bypass it.

7. The Karaite diagnosis

2 Cor 5:7 reflects:

Greek dualism (seen vs unseen)

Interiorized belief

Detachment from law, land, and nation

All of which are foreign to Tanakh categories.

Tanakh-based equivalent (and contradiction)

Tanakh principle:

“You shall know today and take it to heart…” (Deut 4:39)

Knowing precedes trusting.

Seeing precedes walking.

Commandments precede faithfulness.

Bottom line (Karaite framing)

From a Karaite view:

“Walking by faith, not by sight” is not biblical

Tanakh faith is walk by Torah because you have seen

Trust without sight is not virtue — it is gullibility

God never asks Israel to suspend reason or evidence

Biblical faith is loyalty to what God has already revealed — openly, publicly, and verifiably.