Chapter Five – The Sermon upon the Mountain“Matthew now introduces the most striking and characteristic feature of his entire Gospel. … his greatest interest is in the moral life of the Christian community. This discourse, which is put at the forefront of his Gospel, deals with the righteousness which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20), and is appropriate for those who pray for the kingdom of heaven and will inherit it. This righteousness is prophetic rather than rabbinical… and it is worth noting that the last of the five discourses … concludes on the same exalted note of transcendent righteousness (25:31-46). Some of Matthew’s special material, which is often assigned to an M [Hypothetical source for Matthew] source, has an inverted rabbinical interest; i.e. [in other words], it is directed against the law as understood by the Pharisees. But the passages which are drawn from the sermon as it is found also in Luke (6:20-49), and also from other parts of Q [hypothetical source for the synoptics], deal with right action in the widest sense of the word. The Sermon on the Mount is a whole new Torah or teaching tradition and not merely a new halakha [ancient Jewish commentary] or lawbook.“FIRST DISCOURSE, ADDRESSED TO THE DISCIPLES. THE NEW LAW, DESIGNED FOR THE COMMUNITY WHOSE MEMBERS WILL INHERIT THE KINGDOM (5:1-7:29)
“Jesus would not have given all this teaching on a single occasion. The sermon is made up of aphorism, maxims, and illustrations which were remembered and treasured out of many discourses.
…
“It is a curious fact that both Matthew (4:24-25) and Luke (6:17-19) begin their sermons after a summary of healings, and in each case the summary is based on Mark 3:7-12. Possibly Q introduced the sermon in a similar fashion. In any event, the sermon, like the preaching of John the Baptist in 3:1-12, is addressed to a group of people who have come away from their homes to hear the word.” (Johnson, 1951, pp. VII 278-279)
“He went up on the mountain as he did when he was transfigured (17:1) and when he gave his parting commandment (28:16), and as Moses did to receive the law (Exod. [Exodus] 19).” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 279)-2. He opened his mouth to talk to them in his saying:
“The word μαθητης [mathytys] signifies literally a scholar.
“… the disciples form the corona fratrum [“ring of brethren”] (cf. [compare with] Neh [Nehemiah] 8:4), and the crowds the second concentric ring. the mountain: It is not named, but functionally it is a mount of revelation (as frequently in the Bible and in Matt [Matthew]), a symbolic Sinai … sitting: This is a posture of Oriental teachers.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 639)
“A solemn introduction. The sermon is a Matthean construction, pieced together from material scattered in Q [Quelle - a hypothetical source] (cf. Luke 6:20-49), Mark, and other material… the sayings have undergone revision. …
“The Sermon on the Mount is the first of five major discourses in the Gospel … It is Matthew’s masterpiece and was early the most frequently cited section. Its literary genre remains disputed…The dominant themes of the sermon are the kingdom of God and justice. …
…
“… The sermon has been criticized as setting too high a standard, which remains unfulfillable (‘you cannot govern with the sermon’ [Bismarck]); but, understood against its Jewish background, it becomes a possible but still high standard of moral wisdom about life.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 640)
-3. “Fortunate are deprived of [אניי, ’ahNYaY] the spirit,“BEATITUDES (5:3-12). Cf. Luke 6:20b-23. A comparison of the two versions shows that Luke has four … beatitudes and Matt eight… Probably only Luke’s first three are authentic; his fourth comes from the early church; Matthew’s additional beatitudes are his own expansion from the Psalms. The common source is Q, and beyond that Jesus’s use of Isa [Isaiah] 61:1-4. In form, a beatitude is an exclamation of congratulations that recognizes an existing state of happiness, beginning with the Hebr [Hebrew] noun ’ašrê or the Gk [Greek] adj. [adjective] makarios. Here the gospel begins with a cry of joy, based on the nearness of the kingdom of God. The original beatitudes about the ‘poor,’ the ‘mourners,’ and the ‘hungry’ express Jesus’ mission to the needy in Israel and the dawn of a new era of salvation history. … God was conceived of as an Oriental king, and a king’s duty was to protect the weak. The long last beatitude about the persecuted reflects the experience of martyrdom in the early church and is explicitly christological (vv [verses] 1-12). Matthew’s editorial additions may be seen in several places.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 640)Fortunes ([compare with] Luke 6:20-23)
“Their poverty is real and economic, but with a spiritual dimension. In Matt the addition of ‘in spirit’ changes the emphasis from social-economic to personal-moral… In the Bible economic destitution is an evil to be corrected (Deut [Deuteronomy] 15:11), and wealth is not an evil in itself; indeed, it is a necessity for the well-being of the kingdom, but it risks neglect of God and of the poor. God’s first priority is the care of the poor.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 640)“for to them is kingdom [of] the skies.
“The Greek word rendered blessed is used in pagan literature to denote the highest stage of happiness and well-being, such as the gods enjoy. Here it stands for the Hebrew ’ashrê ‘how happy!’ as in Pss. [Psalms] 1:1; 32:1; 112:1. It is often used as a congratulatory salutation as in Luke 1:42; 11:27-28. … The poor, οι πτωχοι [oi ptokhoi], Hebrew ‘aniyyîm, primarily denotes their state of poverty, but they are the despised, oppressed, and pious poor of Pss. 9:18; 10:9; 12:5; 34:6; Jas. [James] 1:9; 2:5-6, who look to God for their vindication and for whom God cares. … they are afflicted in spirit (cf. Isa. 61:1) and ‘feel their spiritual need’ … The phrase in spirit, added by Matthew, is an accurate and happy gloss. (Johnson, 1951, pp. VII 280-281)
“Some rabbis gave the name ‘Comforter’ to the Messiah.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 281)-5. “Fortunate are the meek [הענוים, Vah'ahNahVeeYM], for they will inherit [את, ’ehTh], for they will inherit the land.
“Πραεις [“Praeis”] here means meek or humble-minded rather than gentle. It represents ‘the meek’ of Ps. [Psalm] 37:11, who are ‘the poor looked at from a different point of view. … The English word ‘meek’ now has unfortunate associations, but that was not always true: Moses was ‘very meek, above all men’ (Num. [Numbers] 12:3).” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 282)-6. “Fortunate are the hungry and the thirsty to righteousness,
“For they shall inherit the earth.] Or, την γυν [tyn gun], the land. Under this expression, which was commonly used, by the prophets to signify the land of Canaan, in which all temporal good abounded, Judg. [Judges] xviii. 9, 10.” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 52)
“… the word righteousness added …” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 282)-7. “Fortunate are the compassionate,
“[Matthew] adds ‘justice’ in vv 6 and 10, both as a formal divider and as one of the great themes of his Gospel.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 640)
“Such people will see God, not merely in the metaphorical sense of worshiping in his house (Ps. 42:2), nor in a purely mystical sense, but rather in the sense that God will reward them by permitting them to see him face to face in the age to come (Rev. [Revelation] 22:4). This beatitude of Jesus is distinctive and we know of no rabbinical saying like it.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 285)-9. “Fortunate are pursuers of peace,
“Hillel, Jesus’ contemporary, said, ‘Be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace’ (Aboth1 1:2). Such person will be called sons of God. In the O.T. [Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible] the phrase ‘sons of God’ occasionally refers to angels or divine beings (Job 38:70, but it most often means the Hebrews whom God created (Deut. 32:6), who are the objects of God’s love and care and are under obligation to obey him. For example, Hos. [Hosea] 1:10 promises that the repentant Israelites, who have not been God’s people, will be called ‘sons of the living God’) see on 4:3). Vss. [verses] 44-45 furnish the best possible comment on this verse. Those who seek peace by loving their enemies are doing as God himself does, and are his true sons in every way.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 286)-10. “Fortunate are the pursued because of [בגלל, BeeGLahL] the righteous,
“The Rabbis had democratized the royal ideology of the king as peacemaker and enjoined it on everyone. In Matt peace-making is closely related to the love of neighbor and hence to the beatitude of the merciful. Matthew thus transforms a short messianic manifesto into a program of life, a list of desirable qualities or virtues.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 640)
“Falsely is probably an unnecessary gloss; some Western authorities and the Sinaitic Syriac omit it, as does Luke.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 287)-12. “Be happy and rejoice,
“… neither Jesus nor the rabbis hesitated to speak of reward, since God had promised it. … in the last analysis, it is a gracious gift, for ‘when you have done all that is prescribed for you, say, “We are mere slaves; we have only done what we ought”’ (Luke 17:10). … The O.T. tells how prophets like Amos and Jeremiah were persecuted. In the first century it was also believed that Isaiah had been martyred by being sawed in two …” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 288)
-13. “You are salt [of] the land;Salt and light (Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34-35)
The only sensible explanation I’ve heard is that salt scraped from salt pans contained impurities, and once the sodium chloride was leached the remainder was discarded.-14.“You are [the] light of the world.
“A bushel (μοδιος [modios] is more nearly a ‘peck-measure’ …” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 290)-16. “Thus [כך, KahKh] light, if you please, your light before sons of ’ahDahM ["man", Adam],
-17. “Do not think that I came to stop [לבטל, LeBahTayL] [את, ’ehTh] the Instruction or [את, ’ehTh] the prophets;“These sayings, like 23:1-3, seem to teach a complete acceptance of the old religion, while in other passages the new and the old are sharply contrasted; see, e.g. [for example], 11:12-13 (=Luke 1:16); 15:11 (=Mark 7:15); Luke 13:10-17; Mark 3:1-6. The same apparent contradiction is found even in the sermon, for Jesus sweeps aside the law of oaths (vss. 33-37). … Jesus accepted the O.T. law in principle and assumed that it was the permanently binding revelation of God; but he made the ritual commandments subordinate to moral duties, opposed the development of purity laws, and went further than the Pharisees in relaxing the sabbath laws to meet human needs. In fact, his emphasis on the spirit of the law, and his occasional quoting of one passage against another, necessarily involved a new view of Torah.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 291)The Instruction and the Prophets
“… (5:17-20). These verses give the basic legal principles of the sermon. They are the most controversial verses in Matt and there is no consensus on their interpretation. The interpreter must try to state the problem clearly and to provide a historically honest judgment, even at the price of theological tidiness. The problem arises because the plain sense of the words is that Jesus affirms the abiding validity of the Torah; but this contradicts Paul (e.g., Gal [Galatians] 2:15, 16; Rom [Romans] 3:21-31). Moreover, no major Christian church requires observance of all 613 precepts of the OT law, ethical and ceremonial, but only the ethical commands such as the Decalogue and the commands to love God and neighbor. Thus, there is a gap between the teaching here and the teaching and practice of the churches. The position adopted here is the following: (a) There are contradictions with the NT on penultimate matters… (b) Historically Matt (and James) inclined more to the Jewish-Christian side of early Christian polemic… There are two common exegetical strategies for evading the plain meaning (a) reinterpretation, esp. [especially] through v 18d; but cf. 23:23; (b) denial of authenticity. This latter approach contains much truth. Apart from v [verse]18, the verses are probably postpaschal and reflect the outlook of Jewish Christianity, which, as a separate movement, was eventually defeated by Paulinism and died out (perhaps to be reborn in a different form as Islam)… But denial of the authenticity of vv 17, 19, 20 does not make Jesus hold the same view as Paul.
“Law in Matt. Jesus probably did not break in principle with Torah but only with Pharisaic halaka2. Yet he was a free spirit who directly confronted and resolved life situation in his healing and parables without carefully citing texts. Matthew remains in the same line of basic fidelity to Torah but with a concentration on the more important values (23:23) and with a lawyerly concern to provide textual support for innovations. Paul prefers an ethics of values like faith, hope, love, and walking in the Spirit to a legal ethics, but he does cite the Decalogue as applicable to Christians (Rom 13:8-1) even though the ceremonial laws do not bind Gentile converts according to his gospel. As far as most modern Christians are concerned, Paul won this fight and they follow him. But Matthew, by exerting a powerful influence on church life, has acted as a moderating influence on radical Paulinism, which can easily become libertinism and antinomianism.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 641)
“Jews, in their second-century controversies with Christians, quoted it thus: ‘I, the gospel, am not come to take away the Torah of Moses, but to add to it.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 291)-18. “Truly [אמן, ’ahMayN] say I to you,
“Dot not imagine that I am come to violate the law – καταλυσαι [katalusai] from κατα and λυω, I loose, violate, or dissolve … But I am come, πλυρωσαι [plurosai] to complete …” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 55)
“In the background lies a pair of rabbinic expressions, qwm and bṭl. Qwm means to ‘confirm’ or ‘establish’ the law by putting it on a better exegetical footing… bṭl means to ‘void, abolish, suspend, neglect, cancel’ a law.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 641)
“Whoever … relaxes …. refers to the rabbinical prerogative of declaring certain actions permitted or forbidden. One of the least of these commandments: The rabbis drew distinctions between ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ precepts … To teach men so is, if possible, worse than breaking the law oneself… The saying could easily have been used against Paul.” (Johnson, 1951, pp. VII 292-293)-20. “Say I to you, if will not be your righteousness multiple from [the] righteousness of the recounters and the PROoSheeYM [Pharisees “pure, abstemious”],
“There was no finer standard of righteousness in the ancient world than the Pharisaic, with its emphasis on personal holiness and social responsibility. But, like most systems of ethics, it was adjusted to the capabilities of mankind, and it made allowances for the weakness of human nature and the demands made on man by his environment… Jesus, on the contrary, would have men aspire, not to what is socially expedient, but to that righteousness which will be perfectly manifest in the kingdom of God. His disciples are, so far as possible, to live in this age as though they were already living in the age to come.” (Johnson, 1951, pp. VII 293-294)
“This verse almost certainly comes from Matthew’s reaction and provides the thematic heading for the rest of the chapter, a ‘more abundant righteousness/justice.’ A sense of abundance (perisseuein) is characteristic of every level of early Christianity. For Matthew the essence of what Jesus brought is a superior ethic, a higher justice. His is a moral piety. His great opponents are the rabbinic heirs of the Pharisees at Jamnia. Note that he does not explicitly say that the Pharisees will not enter the kingdom. The verse is a warning to Christians.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 641)
-21. “You have heard that [כי, KeeY] it is said to [the] firsts,“The first of six hypertheses. They are usually called antitheses, because interpreters were impressed by Jesus’ sovereign authority over the OT Torah and by the cases where his teaching seems to contradict the OT or be opposed to it, e.g., on divorce, which the OT presupposes and which Jesus prohibits (or restricts). The present interpretation emphasizes rather that Jesus seems to go beyond OT teaching by deepening and radicalizing it, by returning to the original will of God, but that he never moves in a lax direction, whence hyperthesis… Also to be noted is that the formula “It was said …, but I say’ is close to an exegetical formula common in the rabbinic schools: first a Bible quotation, then “You might think this means … but I say to you. …’ As a matter of fact, here in the sermon an OT text is followed by a false interpretation, which Jesus then corrects; see on 5:43. Yet the hypertheses, although exegetical in form, are materially revelation for Matthew.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 641)Anger and reconciliation [והתפייסות, VeHeeThPahYaYÇOoTh]
“Contrasts … (vss. 21-26, 27-30, 33-37) are alike in that Jesus takes an O.T. maxim and surpasses it by forbidding not only the overt crime but the disposition behind it. But Contrasts … (vss. 31-32, 38-42, 43-47) are annulments of the existing code as it was popularly understood.” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 294)
“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time] τοις αρχαιοις [tois arkhaiois] to or by the ancients. By the ancients, we may understand those who lived before the law, and those who lived under it…-22. “And say I to you,
“… Murder from the beginning has been punished with death; and it is, probably, the only crime that should be punished with death. There is much reason to doubt, whether the punishment of death, inflicted for any other crime, is not in itself murder, whatever the authority may be that has instituted it.” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 57)
“Biblical law comes in two forms: apodictic and casuistic. Apodictic takes the ‘Thou shalt not’ form familiar from the Decalogue; casuistic takes the forms, ‘If anyone…’ or ‘Whoever …’ or ‘In the case that. …’ Here we have an apodictic command followed by case law.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 642)
“Without a cause is not found in some of the best MSS [manuscripts] and earliest fathers. It is a gloss which seriously weakens Jesus’ teaching. …-23. “Therefore, if you bring [את, ’ehTh] your offering unto the altar,
“… A first-century rabbi is quoted as saying, ‘He who hates his neighbor, behold he is one who belongs to the shedders of blood.’ …
“… A talmudic passage, however, reads: ‘He who says ‘slave’ to his neighbor shall be excommunicated; he who says ‘bastard’ to him shall receive the forty [lashes]; he who says ‘godless’ to him, is a matter of his life.’ …
“Raca has often been identified with the rabbinical rēqa’, ‘good-for-nothing’ or ‘wretch,’ which would mean about the same as ‘fool.’ But a Greek insult ραχας [rakhas], of which racha is probably a vocative, has been discovered in a papyrus… Its exact meaning is unknown.
“By the first century A.D. many Jews believed in the hell (Gehenna) of fire as a place where sinners were tormented, either after the final judgment or in the intermediate period before the judgment. The name is derived from the gê Hinnôm or valley of Hinnom (Josh. [Joshua] 15:8), southwest of Jerusalem, where human sacrifices had been offered and refuse was still burned. When this allusion was combined with the ideas of Isa. 31:9; 66:24, the conception of a fiery hell resulted (Enoch 54:1-2; 56:3-4; II Baruch 59:10; 85:13). The older idea had been that good and bad alike went to Sheol, where there was no punishment and no joy.” (Johnson, 1951, pp. VII 295-296)
“The council] Συνεδριον [Sunedrion], the famous council known among the Jews by the name of sanhedrin. It was composed of seventy-two elders, six chosen out of each tribe. This grand Sanhedrin not only received appeals from the inferior sanhedrins, or court of twenty three, … but could alone take cognizance, in the first instance, of the highest crimes, and alone inflict the punishment of stoning.” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 57)
“This case presupposes the Temple standing and must stem from before AD 70. It also presupposes that Jesus approves of the Temple and the sacrificial system. After the crucifixion some Christians would regard the Temple system (or administration) as spiritually bankrupt, as did the Qumran community, although others would continue to worship there. first ... then: This priority of ethics over cult reflects OT prophetic teaching: there can be no true worship of God without justice, a doctrine called ethical monotheism for short and often considered the center of the OT. Since perfect justice eludes us until the kingdom comes, we must worship imperfectly, trusting in God’s mercy.” (Viviano, 1990, p. 642)-25. “Hasten to be reconciled with man, your contender while still you are [בעודך, Be`ODKhah] in [the] way with him,
“As the Mishnah says, ‘The day of Atonement atones for offenses of man against God, but it does not atone for offenses against man’s neighbor, till he reconciles his neighbor’ (Yoma 8:9).” (Johnson, 1951, p. VII 296)
“The original word, δωρον [doron], which we translate gift, is used by the rabbins in Hebrew letters דורון doron, which signifies not only a gift, but a sacrifice offered to God.” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 58)
“Agree with thine adversary quickly] Adversary, αντιδικος [antidikos], properly a plaintiff in law …” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 58)-26. “Truly, say I to you,
“The uttermost farthing] Κοδραντην [Kodrantyn]. The rabbins have this Greek word corrupted into קרדיונטס kordiontes, and קינטריק kontarik [sic], and say, that two פרוטות prutoth, make a kontarik, which is exactly the same with those words in Mark xii. 42 … Hence it appears, that the λεπτον, lepton, was the same as the prutah. The weight of the prutah was half a barley corn, and it was the smallest coin among the Jews, as the kodrantes, or farthing, was the smallest coin among the Romans.” (Clarke, 1832, p. I 59)An Amateur's Journey Through the Bible
It does not seem that John the Baptist could possibly have been a member of the community of Qumran (which we assume was occupied by the Essenes). The very reason the community withdrew to this remote site was to avoid contact with those less holy than themselves. This is explained in the Community Rule papyrus: These connections have been known for some time, but Bergsma draws out even more detail to link the Baptist to the Qumran community (the main Essene site along side of the Dead Sea where the scrolls were found). He argues that “There are striking similarities between the teachings and lifestyle of John the Baptist and those of the Qumranites. the qumran community and new testament backgrounds ~7 With such ideas regarding Messiah being currentin the first century, we have a broader under standing of the question put to John the Baptist in In. 1 ~21 by the deputation from Jerusalem. John the Baptizer and the Qumran community also both used apocalyptic language—images and ideas about the end of the present age in the context of divine judgment. Early in the life of the Qumran community, many of its members had been priests associated with the Jerusalem temple, and John the Baptizer’s father was a temple priest ( Luke 1 QUMRAN AND JOHN THE BAPTIST. Dr. W. A. Criswell. Matthew 3:1-13. 1-19-69 . I. Introduction. A. John the Baptist in the wilderness (Matthew 3:1-6, Luke 3:1-2) B. Where he grew up, preached and baptized was Qumran. C. Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran. II. The community of Qumran compared with John the Baptist QUMRAN COMMUNITY TESTING A HYPOTHESIS JOHN A. T. ROBINSON CLARE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY THAT THERE WAS, as has been suggested,' an actual historical con-nection between John the Baptist and the Qumran Community is, and must at present remain, a hypothesis. The similarities to be found between them do not in any case depend upon this link be- John and the Qumran Community. November 12, 2016 • Under: Blog. 0 . The archaeological site of Qumran on the West Bank is close to the caves where a Bedouin shepherd found the Dead Sea Scrolls in the winter of 1947. Those texts have much in common with John the Baptist’s sermons. One notable similarity and difference between the Qumran materials and the Gospels is this: Qumran presents its community stationed in the wilderness (about 20 km from Jerusalem) as the voice calling out in the wilderness, while the Gospels speak of the fulfillment of Isaiah 40:3 only in terms of the ministry of John the Baptist. near Qumran instead of the waters from the cisterns or basins. Allegro7 suggests that at least two of the cisterns i W. H. Brownlee, "John the Baptist in the New Light of Ancient Scrolls", Interpretation, 1955, p. 39. 2 Frank Moore Cross, Jr., The Ancient Library rif Qumran and Modern John the Baptist1 was a member of the community at Qumran.2 This community was an ascetic group who, frustrated with the priesthood at Jerusalem, moved to Qumran during the second century b.c.e. to live there more purely. They also took upon themselves special dietary, clothing, ritual, and other practices.
[index] [220] [9094] [3697] [4894] [2929] [6173] [8120] [1083] [5735] [9816]
Caves at Qumran, John the Baptist, Slideshow Part 3 of the 4 episode Dead Sea mini-series. This time we are exploring the Qumran caves site, where archeologists had discovered 2000 year old Hebrew Bible... Qumran is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by shepherd boys. These scrolls were manuscripts of Scriptures copied by the Essenes. Qumran Caves and the Dead Sea Scrolls - Duration: 10:06. Sergio & Rhoda in Israel 195,515 views. 10:06 . The Great Flood and Its Aftermath - Duration: 46:54. Penn Museum 5,416 views. 46:54. The ... Pilgrimage to the place where the Dead Sea Scroll were found. Dr. Bergsma offers some insight - how lucky we were to have such an authority on the Old Testam... Bible of John the Baptist Found! The Dead Sea Scrolls. Proof It Was John Not Essenes In Qumran The Dead Sea Scrolls. Proof It Was John Not Essenes In Qumran - Duration: 1:10:13. While the Qumran community does not have a direct link with John the Baptist or with Jesus, it provides a remarkable background to the New Testament narrativ... http://j.mp/1U76KK5
Copyright © 2024 m.sportbetbonus772.info