2 Kings 2:1-18

Elijah is Taken Home to Heaven

2:1 Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?" And he said, "Yes, I know; keep silent."

4 Elijah said to him, "Elisha, stay here; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. 5 The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?" And he answered, "Yes, I know; be silent."

6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. 7 Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. 8 Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground.

9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." 10 He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not." 11 As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. 12 Elisha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

13 He picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over.

15 When the company of prophets who were at Jericho saw him at a distance, they declared, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." They came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, "See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the LORD has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley." He responded, "No, do not send them." 17 But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, "Did I not say to you, Do not go?" (2 Kings 2:1-18, NRSV)

On September 22, 2007 ( Saturday in the week of the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, references for the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One), comments were repeated with editing and supplement from September 17, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One); the comments are repeated again here with some editing and supplement:

In today’s reading we learn that Elijah is taken up to heaven in a whirlwind (2 Kgs 2:11), and Elisha becomes his successor, inheriting “a double share of [Elijah’s] spirit” (v. 9, cf. v. 15), and the ability to repeat Elijah’s miracles (vv. 8, 14). In introducing this episode, the narrator anticipates the whirlwind. “Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal” (v. 1). Elijah urges Elisha to stay behind; “Stay here,” he says; “for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel” (v. 2a). The journey from Gilgal to Bethel would be about ten miles. But Elisha is determined to stay with Elijah. “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (v. 2b). “So,” we are told, “they went down to Bethel” (v. 2c), where they meet “the company of the prophets who were in Bethel,” who ask Elisha, “Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?” to which Elisha answers, “Yes, I know; keep silent” (v. 3). Elijah, who must have heard this exchange, says, “Elisha, stay here; for the LORD has sent me to Jericho” (v. 4a). But again Elisha affirms his intent to stay with Elijah. “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (v. 4b). “So,” we are told, “they came to Jericho” (v. 4c), thus essentially retracing their journey from Gilgal to Bethel (as is apparent in maps such as Map 6, NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007). Upon their arrival at Jericho, they are met by “the company of prophets who were at Jericho” (v. 5a) who repeat the question of the prophets at Bethel, “Do you know that today the LORD will take your master away from you?” (v. 5b), and receive the same response, “Yes, I know; be silent” (v. 5b). It was probably exaggerated when Elijah, in his depression, claimed to be “alone and left” (1 Kgs. 19:10, 14); he was reminded by the LORD of “seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal” (19:18). Still it is noteworthy that he is honored by “a company of prophets” who are concerned that Elisha know that Elijah will be leaving (2 Kgs. 2:5).

And for a third time, Elijah urges Elisha to stay behind: Stay here; for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan” (v. 6a). But for the third time, Elijah refuses. “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you” (v. 6b). And “so,” we are told again, “the two of them went on.” “That Elijah wishes Elisha to remain behind,” says Iain W. Provan, “when it is clear that Elisha is to succeed Elijah today (vv. 3, 5; for Elijah’s knowledge of this see v. 9), is perhaps testimony to a certain reluctance on Elijah’s side to depart” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on 2 Kgs. 2:1-6).

For what happens next, according to the narrator, there is a group of witnesses. “Fifty men of the company of prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan” (v. 7). As Elijah takes his mantle and rolls it up, he strikes the water; thereupon, we are told, “the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground” (v. 8). “The scene,” says Provan, “is reminiscent of Moses at the Sea of Reeds (vv. 7-8; cf. Ex. 14:15-31, esp. vv. 21-22)” (ibid., on vv. 7-15). At this point, Elijah says to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you” (v. 9a). Elisha responds by saying, “Please let me inherit a double share (My9n1w4-yP9, pî-š ^enayim) of your spirit” (v. 9b). According to William L. Holladay, the phrase My9n1w4-yP9 (pî-š ^enayim), literally “mouth of two,” means “two parts” in Deut. 21:17, but “2/3" here (in 2 Kgs. 2:9). The recent Jewish translation takes note of this sense in a text note, but translates the request, “Let a ^b-double portion^-b of your spirit pass on to me” (2 Kgs. 2:9b NJPS 1985, 1999), but text note b-b says, “Lit. ‘two-thirds’; cf. Zech. 13:8 (where NJPS and NRSV both translate the phrase as “two-thirds”). Ziony Zevit comments on the phrase. For

a double portion, see translators’ note b-b. Radak (in the name of his father) points out that, according to Deut. 21:17 [cf. above], the eldest son inherits a portion twice that of other brothers dividing their father’s property. Elisha, therefore, is not asking for twice the spirit of Elijah, but for the larger amount due the eldest. (For the division of the spirit, cf. Num. 11:17, 24-26.) Several rabbinic sources, however, understand double as literal, and suggest that Elijah performed eight miracles, and Elisha sixteen. Many of the miracles performed by Elijah and Elisha are similar indicating that they shared the same spirit (see 1 Kings 22:19-33n). (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, on 2 Kgs. 2:9)

In the note to which Zevit refers, he says, “Divine spirit (‘ruach’ [H1Ur] ) is frequently associated with prophecy” (ibid., on 1 Kgs. 22:19-23). Elijah considers the request difficult. “You have asked a hard thing,” he says; “yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not” (v. 10). Elisha’s loyalty is evident in his staying with Elijah (vv. 4, 6). His request for the double share of Elijah’s spirit is sincere (v. 9). This was the right request, and if you count the miracles of Elijah and of Elisha (cf. Zevit, above), it seems to be answered quite specifically, at least in numerical terms. According to Provan, “Elisha requests of Elijah what an eldest son would expect of a ‘father’ (cf. v. 12) as his inheritance: a double share (cf. Deut 21:15-17), in this case of his spirit” (op. cit., on v. 9).

At this critical juncture, “As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven” (v. 11). Provan puts it this way. “The divine army, last encountered waging war on Ahab (1 Kings 22:1-38), comes for Elijah, and Elisha sees it (cf. 6:8-23)” (ibid., on v. 11). Elisha is reluctant to see Elijah depart. “Father, father!” he shouts, “The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” (v. 12a). According to Zevit, “In addition to indicating a biological relationship, father indicates a tutorial one: ‘instructor, counselor, teacher, leader’ (Gen. 45:8; Judg. 17:10; Jer. 31:9)” (op. cit., on v. 12). But Elijah is taken from Elisha’s view and “he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces” (v. 12b). It appears that Elisha mourns the loss (departure) of Elijah. Zevit explains the words, “Israel’s chariots and horsemen”: “The same title, possibly an epithet of Elijah as Israel’s defender, is addressed to Elisha when he is about to die in 13:14. In the case of Elisha, it may have been based on the incident recorded in 6:17-18. No similar story is recorded about Elijah” (ibid.).

By necessity, one might say, Elisha picks up “the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him” (v. 13a), and, upon returning to the bank of the Jordan (v. 13b), he takes the mantle and strikes the water, saying “Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” (v. 14a). At that, Elisha gets the same result that Elijah has gotten earlier (v. 8). “When he [Elisha] had struck the water,” says the narrator, “the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha went over” (v. 14b). Provan (again) comments. “Elisha’s success in seeing Elijah’s departure means that he is consequently able to repeat Elijah’s action in parting the waters (vv. 13-14), proving himself to be Joshua to Elijah’s Moses (cf. 1 Kings 19:19-21). Joshua also crossed the Jordan and entered the land of Israel near Jericho, repeating Moses’ action in parting the waters (Josh 3)” (ibid., on vv. 12-14). The company of prophets from Jericho observe what happens here, and acknowledge that “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha,” and they come to meet him and bow to the ground before him (v. 15).

However, these prophets did not see the actual taking up of Elijah, for they offer to go looking for him. “ They said to him, ‘See now, we have fifty strong men among your servants; please let them go and seek your master; it may be that the spirit of the LORD has caught him up and thrown him down on some mountain or into some valley’ ” (v. 16a), to which Elisha responds, “No, do not send them” (v. 16b). But they insist, “until [Elisha is] ashamed” and says, “Send them” (v. 17a), though their search proves futile (v. 17b), and upon their return, Elisha as much as says, “I told you so.” When they came back to him (he had remained at Jericho), he said to them, ‘Did I not say to you, Do not go?’ ” (v. 18). For the narrator, this report would confirm the fact that Elijah was indeed taken up to heaven (vv. 1-11).

Zevit says, “Stories about the death of Elijah show the smooth transition of authority from one prophet to another, and with it, responsibility for groups of disciples living in different communities. Introductory v[erse] 1 mentions the whirlwind, which appears in v. 11” (op. cit., on 2:1-12). He further says, “Elijah did not die. See also the notation about Enoch in Gen. 5:24. His heavenly assumption became the stuff of many legends in Judaism and traditions about him in prophetic circles. These legends, which suggest that Elijah periodically returns to the earth, and especially associated with the arrival of the Messiah, already have a late biblical precedent (Mal. 3:23-24 [Heb. = NJPS = 4:5-6 NRSV] ) (ibid., on 2 Kgs. 2:1).

1 Corinthians 4:1-7

It is the Lord Who Judges Me

4:1 Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.

6 I have applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, "Nothing beyond what is written," so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. 7 For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? (1 Corinthians 4:1-7, NRSV)

On February 16, 2008 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year Two), comments were repeated from September 22, 2007 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One), when comments were combined from September 17, 2005 (Saturday in the week of the Sunday closest to September 14, Year One), and from March 11, 2006 (Saturday in the week of the First Sunday of Lent, Year Two); the combined comments are repeated here with editing and supplement:

After the introductory thanksgiving (1 Cor. 1:4-9), Paul begins the body of First Corinthians with reference to the “divisions” reported to him by “Chloe’s people” (1:10-12). The remainder of chapters 1 through 4 is presented in order to correct this problem. The issue is not between Apollos and himself (4:6; cf. 3:5-9), but rather the forming of groups, “cliques,” that claim loyalty to one or the other of these, or perhaps other, apostles. Paul reminds the Corinthians that he and Apollos are servants of Christ, not to be judge by human beings (1 Cor. 4:1, cf. v. 6). They will be judged by God (v. 5). This still applies to the problem of divisions into cliques devoted to one leader or another (cf. v. 6).

Paul defines the apostles’ role. “Think of us in this way, as servants (uJphrevtai, hypēretai) of Christ and stewards (oijkonovmoi, oikonomoi) of God’s mysteries” (4:1). By “God’s mysteries,” Paul probably means “the overall message of God’s fulfillment of history (cf. the singular in 2:7)” (Richard A. Horsley, 1 Corinthians, Abingdon New Testament Commentaries, 1998, p. 67 on 1 Cor. 4:1-5). I would see the term as focused especially on Paul’s gospel through faith in the work of Christ crucified and risen (1:18-25; cf. 2:7). The word translated “servants” (uJphrevtai, hypēretai) here is not common in Paul’s letters (cf. diavkonoi, diakonoi, 3:5). It means “one who functions as a helper, frequently in a subordinate capacity, helper, assistant,” in particular, in “Acts 26:16; 1 Cor. 4:1” it refers to “the apostles as assistants of Christ” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. uJphrevthV, hypēretēs). The word translated “stewards” (oijkonovmoi, oikonomoi) means “manager of a household or estate, (house) steward, manager” (BDAG, s.v., oijkonovmoV, oikonomos, meaning no. (1) ), but “one who is entrusted with management in connection with transcendent matters, administrator,” in 1 Cor 4:1 (meaning no. (3) ). Victor Paul Furnish comments on “servants, or ‘helpers’ (‘attendant’ in Lk. 4:20. In 3:5 servants translates a different Greek word.” Of “stewards, or ‘managers’ ” he adds, “the word was often used, as in Lk. 12:42-48, of the slave who supervised household business. See also Gal. 4:2 (translated ‘guardians’); 1 Pet. 4:10” (HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on 1 Cor. 4:1). This word, too, is relatively infrequent in the Pauline Epistles.

“Moreover,” Paul adds, “it is required of stewards (oijkonovmoi, oikonomoi) that they be found trustworthy” (1 Cor. 4:2). This use of the term is related to the first meaning given above (BDAG, meaning no. (1) ). But he rejects the idea of being judged by the Corinthian believers. “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself” (v. 3). If judged at all, it is to be by God. “I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me” (v. 4). “This surely refers to judgment of his speech and example as a rhetor [public speaker],” says Ben Witherington III (Conflict & Community in Corinth, 1995, p. 137 on 1 Cor. 4:1-5). As noted last Wednesday (Sept. 16, 2009), public “declamation” was a kind of sporting event with speech-giving contests in Corinth and elsewhere in the Roman Empire. He says,

The cultural expectation in regard to rhetoric was that the audience should judge the quality of the oratory. In Sophistic rhetoric this principle was extended so far that rhetoric came to be understood as the art of being able to please the audience or sway their emotions by catering to their predilections. It appears that the Corinthians felt they had the right to judge Paul and his message and were evaluating him by the same criteria by which popular orators and teachers were judged. Paul disputed this right, especially in 2 Corinthians, and sought to make clear that he was answerable only to God. He was swimming upstream on this point: As Tacitus noted (Dialogus 19.5), many audiences were highly adept at evaluating rhetoric and almost everyone knew some rhetoric. Most relished the opportunity to be judge and jury, like the crowds in the Roman arena passing final judgment over whether a combatant deserved to live or die. In a culture where public reputation was of great importance, a crowd could make or break the career of an orator. (ibid., in the “Introduction,” p. 47)

But Paul refers to God’s judgment when “the Lord comes.” “Therefore,” he says, “do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God” (v. 5).

The next paragraph (vv. 6-7) leads into the scathing ironic rebuke which follows (4:8-21), but that’s Monday’s reading (March 13). Paul presents himself and Apollos as examples. “I have applied all this to Apollos and my self for your benefit, brothers and sisters, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, ‘Nothing beyond what is written,’ so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another” (v. 6). Horsley says, “ ‘Nothing beyond what is written’ must be aimed at members of the Corinthian community who ‘spiritualize’ the interpretation of scripture, such as the ‘spiritual food, . . . drink, . . . and rock” in 10:3-4)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., on 1 Cor. 4:6). In the opening thanksgiving, Paul has said that “Christ has been strengthened among you–so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1:6-7), perhaps with some irony in view of his later teaching on spiritual gifts (chaps. 12-14); now he chides them for some pride related to gifts. “For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift?” (v. 7).

Matthew 5:17-20

Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets

17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20, NRSV)

On September 7, 2008 (the Sunday closest to September 7, Year Two), when the reading was Matthew 5:13-20, comments were based on earlier comments, as noted there. Relevant comments for today’s reading are repeated here:

The following table presents the passage from Matthew on the Law and the Prophets in parallel columns with related texts from Mark and Luke. This distribution fits in well with the commonly held “Two Source Theory” of the origins of the Synoptic Gospels. On this view, Matthew 5:17-20 and Luke 16:16-17 would be based on the “Q” source, with adaptations by one or both of these evangelists, and the saying, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” (Mk. 13:31; Mt. 24:35; Lk. 21:33), would be based on Mark as a source used by Matthew and Luke, each independently of the other.

In Matthew, Jesus claims not to abolish the Mosaic law, but to fulfill it. “Do not think,” he says, “that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (Mt. 5:17). As Jesus explains, “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter ( ijw:ta, iōta), not one stroke (keraiva, keraia) of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” (v. 18).  jIw:ta (iōta, i, i ) is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and corresponds to yodh ( y, y) in the Hebrew alphabet. The word keraiva (keraia), literally a “horn,” is defined as “anything that projects like a horn, projection, hook as part of a letter, a serif” (Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3^rd ed., 2000, s.v. keraiva, keraia). The term is used in a passage from Plutarch’s Moralia “in the sense of something quite insignificant” (ibid.). Jesus as much as said, “Not the tiniest or least significant part of the law will pass away until all is accomplished.” “For truly I tell you,” he adds, “until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished" (Mt. 5:18).

In contrast with this passage from Matthew, Luke seems to mark a clear break between the period of the law and the prophets and the period of the kingdom of God. Some suggest that this explains why he records the arrest of John the Baptist before he begins the narrative of Jesus’ public ministry (Lk.3:19-20; cf. Mk. 6:17-18; Mt. 14:3-4). According to Luke, Jesus says,

The law and the prophets were in effect until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away, than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped. (Lk. 16:16-17, NRSV)

According to Marion Lloyd Soards, “Here, John the Baptist is presented as the figure through whom the fulfillment of God’s promises began to appear” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Lk. 16:16-17). Apparently, Matthew and Luke write for different audiences, Matthew for a Christian community within close proximity to Judaism and Jewish culture, Luke for a Gentile audience. They both refer to the law and the prophets (i.e. the Hebrew scriptures), but Matthew emphasizes their fulfillment, as he quotes Jesus’ purpose “not to abolish but to fulfill [the law and the prophets]” (Mt. 5:17). Breaking these commandments, “one of the least of these commandments,” is a serious matter, and teaching “others to do the same” is even more serious (v. 19). Our righteousness must exceed “that of the scribes and Pharisees” (v. 20). (Compare Jesus statement, recorded by Matthew, that a scribe “who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven” makes a good Christian, “who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (Mt. 13:52). In this way, according to Matthew, Jesus prepares for what follows in chapter 5, as Jesus calls for stricter interpretation of Old Testament commandments and contemporary religious understandings of them.

However, even for Luke, says Eric Franklin, the transition from the time of “the law and the prophets,” which “were in effect until John came,” to the time of the Kingdom of God (v. 17) “does not mean an end of the righteous requirements of the law,” for in his saying about divorce” (v. 18), Jesus “actually intensifies the law’s demands” (The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2004, p. 949, on vv. 16-31). Jesus’ “Free acceptance of sinners did not mean an indifferent acquiescence in their standards. Grace exposed and recreated those who responded to its gentle outreach” (ibid.). G. W. H. Lampe says, “The Law itself, however, is not repudiated by the preaching of the kingdom. It is not part of the Pharisaic ‘abomination’, but is fulfilled and so stands in its entirety. To repudiate it would be for Jesus to break the covenant or marriage-bond between God and Israel” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962, reprint 1972, sec. 730 k, p. 837, on Lk. 16:16-18). This understanding of the “marriage-bond between God and Israel” leads to the final statement about divorce (Lk. 16:18; cf. Mk. 10:11-12; Mt. 19:9), which does not include Matthew’s exception clause, “except for unchastity” (Mt. 19:9; cf. Mt. 5:32).

In Matthew, Jesus rounds off his statement about the continuing validity of the law with a stern warning. “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:19). He calls for a righteousness that “exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees”: “For I tell you,” he says, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (v. 20). According to J. Andrew Overman, “Jesus and his followers in Matthew fulfill the law through Jesus’ teaching, though they were accused of neglecting the law (12:2)” (NOAB, 3^rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Mt. 5:17-19).

Ronald D. Worden, Ph.D.

rdworden@hgst.edu

deanworden@comcast.net