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Daily Scripture Readings |
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Wednesday (July 7, 2010)* |
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Daily Office Lectionary, The Book of Common Prayer, the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A., 1979; cf. The Revised
Common Lectionary (RCL), Abingdon Press, 1992 |
Daily Lectionary, Book of Common Worship, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1993 |
Daily Lectionary, Book
of Worship Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship, c. 1978 (2002
printing) ‡ |
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http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/index.htm http://www.pcusa.org/lectionary YOU MAY NEED TO COPY AND PASTE THESE URLs IN YOUR BROWSER
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‡ Daily Lectionary, Evangelical Lutheran Worship,
ELCA, 2006. In the Evangelical
Lutheran Worship book of 2006, the Daily Lectionary (pp. 1121-1153) is
revised to correlate with the Sunday Lectionary (the Revised Common
Lectionary) on the three year cycle: Year A, Year B (now current), Year C. “The
readings are chosen so that the days leading up to Sunday (Thursday through
Saturday) prepare for the Sunday readings. The days flowing out from Sunday
(Monday through Wednesday) reflect upon the Sunday readings” (p. 1121). |
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Unless otherwise indicated, the scripture
texts quoted are from The New Revised Standard Version (Nashville, TN:
Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1989. |
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Wednesday AM Psalm 119:1-24 PM Psalm 12, 13, 14 Deut. 1:1-18 Rom. 9:1-18 Matt. 23:27-39 Eucharistic Readings: Psalm 105:1-7 Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12; Matthew 10:1-7 |
Wednesday Morning: Psalms 96; 147:1-11 Deut. 1:1-18 Rom. 9:1-18 Matt. 23:27-39 Evening: Psalms 132; 134 |
Wednesday Morning Pss.: 65, 147:1-12 Num. 16:36-50 Rom. 4:13-25 Matt. 20:1-16 Evening Pss.: 125, 91 |
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Year C Daily Readings Psalm 119:73-80 Joshua 23:1-16 Luke 10:13-16 |
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* Wednesday in the week of the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost,
references for the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two |
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Episcopal
and Presbyterian Readings:
Deuteronomy
1:1-18
Events at Horeb Recalled
1:1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all
Israel beyond the Jordan--in the wilderness, on the plain opposite Suph,
between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 (By the way of Mount
Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea from Horeb.) 3 In the fortieth
year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites
just as the LORD had commanded him to speak to them. 4 This was after he had
defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and King Og of
Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan in the land
of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law as follows:
6 The LORD our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying,
"You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Resume your journey, and
go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the neighboring
regions-the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb, and the
seacoast-the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great river,
the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you; go in and take
possession of the land that I swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them."
Appointment of Tribal Leaders (Ex
18.13-27)
9 At that time I said to you, "I am unable
by myself to bear you. 10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, so that today
you are as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your
ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised
you! 12 But how can I bear the heavy burden of your disputes all by myself? 13
Choose for each of your tribes individuals who are wise, discerning, and
reputable to be your leaders." 14 You answered me, "The plan you have
proposed is a good one." 15 So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and
reputable individuals, and installed them as leaders over you, commanders of
thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens,
and officials, throughout your tribes. 16 I charged your judges at that time:
"Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly
between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien. 17 You must
not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall
not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. Any case that is too
hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it." 18 So I charged you at
that time with all the things that you should do. (Deuteronomy 1:1-18, NRSV)
The
following comments are based on those of July 9, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of
the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two), when comments were repeated from July
12, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two).
The Book
of Deuteronomy consists mainly of three long speeches by Moses followed by the
account of his death. At the beginning, we are told, “These are the words (Myr9bAD4ha hl0,x26, ’ēleh haddevārîm) that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan” (Deut. 1:1a). In Hebrew
Bibles the book we know as Deuteronomy is called by this opening phrase, Myr9bAD4ha hl0,x26 (’ēleh haddevārîm), “These are the words,” which, as S.
Dean McBride Jr. points out, is “frequently shortened to devarim [Myr9bAD4], “Words” (The
HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, in the Introduction to
Deuteronomy). The title Deuteronomy is from Deuteronovmion (Deuteronomion, cf. Latin Deuteronomium), the title in the
Septuagint, which, according to McBride, means “second law-giving,” a name,
which . . . understands the book to be an account of Moses’ work
as legislator, supplementing and completing the revelation of covenantal law
that began at Mount Horeb a generation before (see 1:3; 4:13-14; 5:22-6:3)”
(ibid.). According to Rabbi J. H. Hertz, “The oldest name of the
Book . . . was hrvt hnwm [mišnēh Tôrāh], ‘the Repetition of the Torah,’ a phrase
based on xvii, 18” The Pentateuch and
Haftorahs, second ed., 1981, in the Introduction to Deuteronomy).
At the
beginning, the location is reported as “beyond the Jordan—in the wilderness, on
the plain (hbArAf3B!&, bā‘ arābāh) opposite
Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab” (Deut. 1:1b). For
“the plain” (NRSV, cf. AV/KJV), Jewish translations have “the Arabah” (JPS
1917, NJPS 1985, 1999, cf TNIV). William L. Holladay defines the word as “desert (waterless region) Jer. 2:6,
especially in Jordan Valley, on east side of Jordan or South of Judah” (A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the
Old Testament, 1971, 10th corrected impression, 1988, s.v. hbArAf3, ‘ arābāh). This would give the location in a
general way. However, according to
Bernard M. Levinson, “The [specific] places named cannot be identified with
certainty” (NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Deut. 1:1). According
to Roger S. Boraas, Paran is “the wilderness site where the Israelites camped
after they left Mount Sinai (Num. 10:11-12; 12:16), and from which spies were
sent to reconnoiter Canaan (Num. 13:3-26)” (The
HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. Paran). Laban, says
Dennis R. Bratcher, is “an unknown location east of the Jordan connected with
the Israelites’ wilderness wandering (Deut. 1:1); some scholars identify it
with Libnah (Num. 33:20)” (The
HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. Laban). (According to
Nancy L. Lapp, Libnah’s “location is unknown,” The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. Libnah.) As
for Hazeroth, “the site is unknown although several locations in the
northeastern Sinai have been suggested” (The
HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. Hazeroth). The other
three place names, Suph, Tophel and Dizahab are not listed in the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary, nor in
the index of the Oxford Bible Atlas
(3rd ed., ed. Herbert G. May, assisted by G.N.S. Hunt, R. W.
Hamilton, rev. for 3rd ed. by John Day, 1984, repr. 1985). But Rabbi
Hertz says that Suph is ‘a shorter
form of yam suph, i.e. the Red Sea” (op. cit., on Deut.
1:1). Of “Tophel,” he says, “Some
identify this unknown place with el-Tafile, a village about 15 miles south-east
of the Dead Sea,” and of “Di-zahab,”
he says, “The spot has not been identified. The Hebrew implies ‘a place
productive of gold’ ” (ibid.). Parenthetically (cf. AV/KJV, NRSV), the
narrator adds, “By the way of Mount Seir it takes eleven days to reach Kadesh-barnea
from Horeb” (v. 2). According to Steven Breck Reid, Kadesh-barnea is “a place
in the wilderness of Paran between Shur and Edom, or alternatively in the
Wilderness of Zin, where it formed the south border of Canaan and the west
border with Edom” (The HarperCollins
Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1996, s.v. Kadesh, no. 1). Of the words, “it is eleven days’ journey” (JPS 1917,
for “it takes eleven days” NRSV), the Rabbi says, “From Horeb, i.e. Sinai, the scene of the Giving of
the Law, to Kadesh-barnea. The distance is between 160 and 170 miles. In 1838,
the traveler Robinson followed the route here specified, and the journey lasted
exactly eleven days of ordinary camel-riding” (op. cit., on v. 2).
The book
is located in time as well as place. “In the fortieth year, on the first day of
the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the Israelites just as the LORD had
commanded him to speak to them” (v. 3). According to McBride, this is “the
date, counting from the first Passover (Ex. 12:2), when Moses completed his
work as God’s spokesman” (op. cit., on v. 3). According to Rabbi Hertz, “Moses
reserved his exhortation for the closing days of his life, in the same way as
Jacob (Gen. XLIX), Joshua (Josh. XXIV), Samuel (1 Sam. XII), and David (1 Kings
II). Words spoke at the solemn time of departure from earth have a deep
influence upon the hearers” (op. cit., on v. 3). “This,” says the narrator,
“was after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon [cf.
Num. 21:21-32], and King Og of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei [Num.
21:33-35]” (Deut. 1:4). “As prelude to the campaign west of the Jordan,” says
McBride, “these victories vindicate Israel’s trust in divine providence; see
2:26-3:22; 4:46-48; cf. Ps. 135:10-12” (op. cit., on v. 4). The Rabbi says,
“These signal victories, still fresh in the memory of all, are repeatedly
mentioned in Deuteronomy; because the success of Moses’ leadership on these
occasions heightened his authority and enabled him to address his people on
their faults in the past and their duties in the future” (op. cit., on v. 4).
This introductory paragraph concludes, saying “Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law (hrAOT, tôrāh) as follows:” (Deut. 1:5). Of “this law,” Rabbi Hertz, quoting Herford, says “ ‘The Heb. Word Torah does not and never did mean “Law.” It means, and always has meant, “Teaching” ’ The word torah may refer to moral guidance, or to a single specific teaching, as in Prov. 1, 8, ‘forsake not the teaching (torah) of thy mother.’ It is also applied to a body of religious precepts or teaching—such as form the central portion of this Book (Chaps, xxii-xxvi). Often it denotes the entire sum of Israel’s religious doctrine and life—the Torah of Moses” (ibid., on v. 5). This introductory editorial note refers, according to Levinson, “to Moses in the third person, attributes the book to him, and locates the book historically and geographically” (The Jewish Study Bible, 2004, p. 363 on Deut. 1:1-5 [Note that Levinson authored the notes on Deuteronomy in both The Jewish Study Bible and the New Oxford Annotated Bible, 3rd ed., NOAB]). “On the other side of the Jordan” (NJPS, for NRSV “beyond the Jordan”), says Levinson, “designating the land east of the Jordan River . . . places the editor west of the Jordan, in Canaan. According to the narrative line, however, the Israelites have not yet reached the promise land, and Moses never does. From this and similar anachronisms, medieval Jewish commentators already recognized that not all of the Pentateuch could be attributed to Moses (see also 2:12; 3:11n; 20:15; 34:5; Gen 12:6) (ibid.).
Moses begins here by
describing the LORD's command to leave Horeb: “The LORD our God spoke to us at
Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Resume your
journey, and go into the hill country of the Amorites as well as into the
neighboring regions—the Arabah, the hill country, the Shephelah, the Negeb, and
the seacoast-the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon, as far as the great
river, the river Euphrates” (Deut. 1:6-7). McBride says, “The order to depart
from Horeb . . . was an oracular summons to invade and occupy
the promised land west of the Jordan. Cf. Ex 33:1-3” (op. cit., on Deut.
1:6-8). According to Rabbi Hertz, the words, “the LORD our God,” are “placed emphatically at the beginning of the
sentence as the motive of the whole Discourse. ‘The phrase the LORD our God has the intimate accent of a common affection. No
phrase has been more helpful to piety in all generations’ (G. A. Smith)” (op.
cit., on v. 6). According to Levinson, the destination describes the land of
Canaan with “ideal borders of the Israelite empire extended to the Euphrates
(Gen. 15:18), the northern limit of David’s conquests (2 Sam. 8:3)” (op. cit., NOAB,
on v. 7). Moses repeats the promise to the patriarchs: “See, I have set the
land before you; go in and take possession of the land that I swore to your
ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their
descendants after them” (v. 8).
Moses
continues by noting the great increase in the Israelite population: “At that
time,” he says, “I said to you, ‘I am unable by myself to bear you. The LORD
your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars of
heaven” (vv. 9-10). Of “not able to bear,”
(JPS, for NRSV “unable . . . to bear”), the Rabbi says it is “a
reminiscence of Num. xi, 14” (op. cit., on v. 9). Of “as the stars of heaven,” he says it is “a simile of wonderful
beauty. God had fulfilled His promise to increase the children of the
Patriarchs; cf. Gen xv, 5” (ibid., on v. 10). Moses expresses a desire for
further increase. “May the LORD, the God of your ancestors, increase you a
thousand times more and bless you, as he has promised you!” (v. 11). But Moses
reviews both the heavy burden that leading such a large number of people was to
himself, and the remedy. “But how can I bear the heavy burden or your disputes
all by myself?” he asked earlier. “Choose (Ub6hA, hāvû) for each of your tribes individuals who are wise,
discerning, and reputable to by your leaders” (vv. 12-13). “It is clear from v. 15,” says Rabbi Hertz, that Moses,
and not the people made the selection. As the Sifri points out, the Hebrew word
[bha, hav] denotes taking
counsel about a project, not taking action in connection with it” (ibid., on v.
13). “You answered me,” says Moses, “ ‘The plan you have proposed is a
good one.’ So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and reputable
individuals, and installed them as leaders over officials, through your tribes”
(vv. 14-15). “I charged your judges at that time,” says Moses: “ ‘Give the
members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person
and another, whether citizen or resident alien. You must not be partial in
judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated
by anyone, for the judgment is God’s’ (vv. 16-17a). On “hear the causes between” (JPS, for NRSV
“give . . . a fair hearing”), Rabbi Hertz says, “lit. ‘hear
between’; i.e. not to listen to ex parte statements, but to all that is
said on both sides (Talmud)” (ibid., on v. 16). On “ye shall not respect . . . in judgment” (JPS, for
NRSV “You must not be partial in judging”), he says,
‘You must never show partiality to any person in a case’
(Moffatt). The judge must avoid everything that can possibly be construed as a
bribe. The Babylonian teacher Samuel was passing over a plank laid across a
stream, when a stranger drew nigh and offered his hand to conduct him withy
safety over the frail bridge. Samuel, on inquiring who he was, learned that he
was a suitor who desired him to adjudicate upon his cause. ‘Friend, thou hast
disqualified me by thy eager courtesy. I am no longer able to judge the case
with impartiality.’ (ibid., on v. 17)
On “the judgment is God’s,” the Rabbi says,
“The judge should feel that he is God’s representative, and that every judicial
decision is a religious act; cf. II Chron. xix, 6 (and the king said to the
judges, ‘Consider what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD; and
[He is] with you in judgment’). In Jewish teaching all those who administer the
law in accordance with right, and thereby maintain the moral foundations—Truth
and Justice—upon which human society rests, are performing a Divine task”
(ibid.). “ ‘Any case that is too hard for you,’ said Moses, ‘bring to me,
and I will hear it.’ So I charged you at that time with all the things that you
should do” (vv. 17b, 18). According to Levinson,
This account combines and reinterprets two previous accounts of
the creation of a military-judicial system to share the burden of leadership
(compare vv. 9-12 with Num. 11:14-17 and vv. 13-17 with Ex. 18:13-27), placing
the institutionalization of leadership after the departure from Sinai rather
than before it and omitting the advisory role of Jethro, the non-Israelite
(contrast Ex. 18). (op. cit., NOAB, on Deut. 1:9-18)
One might
at least expect some of Moses’ review to take the form of summary.
Romans
9:1-18
God's Election of Israel (Gen
25.19-23)
9:1 I am speaking the truth in Christ-I am not
lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit- 2 I have great sorrow and
unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed
and cut off from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to
the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory,
the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; 5 to them
belong the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the
Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
6 It is not as though the word of God had
failed. For not all Israelites truly belong to Israel, 7 and not all of
Abraham's children are his true descendants; but "It is through Isaac that
descendants shall be named for you." 8 This means that it is not the
children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the
promise are counted as descendants. 9 For this is what the promise said,
"About this time I will return and Sarah shall have a son." 10 Nor is
that all; something similar happened to Rebecca when she had conceived children
by one husband, our ancestor Isaac. 11 Even before they had been
born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose of election might
continue, 12 not by works but by his call) she was told, "The elder shall
serve the younger." 13 As it is written,
"I have loved Jacob,
but I have hated Esau."
14 What then are we to say? Is there injustice
on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have
compassion."
16 So it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who
shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up
for the very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be
proclaimed in all the earth." 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he
chooses, and he hardens the heart of whomever he chooses. Romans 9:1-18, NRSV)
The
following comments are based on those of March 28, 2009 (Saturday in the week
of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were repeated with some
editing from July 9, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July
6, Year Two), when comments were repeated from March 24, 2007 (Saturday in the
week of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One), when comments were repeated from
July 16, 2006 (Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year
Two), when comments were combined with revision from July 7, 2004 in an email
sent July 5, 2004, for July 5-11, and from March 12, 2005 (Saturday in the week
of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, Year One).
Paul’s
description of salvation through Christ and the blessings of life in the Spirit
comes to a dramatic climax in Romans, chapter eight. Nothing “in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Rom. 8:39). Paul now discusses the question of the place of contemporary Jews,
"my own people, my kindred according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:3) in
God's plan of salvation as he understands it. What is the status of Jews who do
not accept his teaching of justification/righteousness "apart from
law," "through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Rom.
3:21-22). When he turns how to consider how this relates to his fellow Jews,
non-believing Jews, his tone is anguished. “I am speaking the truth in Christ-I
am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—I have great sorrow
and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed
(ajnavqema, anathema) and cut off
from Christ for the sake of my own people, my kindred according to the flesh”
(Rom. 9:1-3). Of “I am not lying,”
Leander E. Keck says, “Paul’s words almost constitute an oath (see also 2 Cor.
11:31; Gal. 1:20; 1 Tim. 2:7)” (The
HarperCollins Study Bible, rev. ed., 2006, on Rom. 9:1). Frederick William
Danker defines the word translated “accursed” as “ ‘that which has been
cursed,’ accursed thing, anathema” (The
Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 2009, s.v. ajnavqema, anathema). Keck
compares “Let anyone be accursed (ajnavqema, anathema) who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come!” (1 Cor.
16:22), and “But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a
gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed (ajnavqema, anathema)! As we have
said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to
what you received, let that one be accursed (ajnavqema, anathema)!” (Gal. 1:8-9; op. cit., on
Rom. 9:3). The repetition shows Paul’s very strong feelings on this matter.
According to Neil Elliott, this “willingness to be cut off from Christ
for the sake of Israel is especially poignant after the assurance in 8:39"
(NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Rom. 9:2-3).
Paul
recognizes a host of benefits for Israelites: “They are Israelites, and to them
belong the adoption (uiJoqesiva, huiothesia), the glory,
the covenants (diaqh:kai, diathēkai), the
giving of the law (nomoqesiva, nomothesia),
the worship, and the promises; to them belong
the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, comes the Messiah (oJ CristovV, ho Christos), who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen” (Rom. 9:4-5). By the
term translated “adoption” according to Danker, the “ ‘condition of one
who is adopted as a son,’ with nuance of special status” (op. cit., s.v. uiJoqesiva, huiothesia), Paul
recognizes Israel’s status as God’s chosen people. The term translated
“covenants,” Danker says, has “focus on [the] OT perspective of God’s
unilaterally assumed obligation to confer a special blessing” (ibid., s.v. diaqhvkh, diathēkē).
And the term translated “giving of the law” is related to novmoV (nomos),
“law,” and tivqhmi (tithēmi
[-qesiva, -thesia]),
“set forth,” “place, put.” The term nomoqesiva (nomothesia),
means “legislation” in works of Plato and
Aristotle (Liddell-Scott-Jones [LSJ], A
Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., 1940, repr. 1966, s.v. nomoqesiva, nomothesia).
Paul has already put Abraham
forward as the prime example of faith and father of the faithful (chap. 4), and
now he discusses the special place of Isaac and Jacob as chosen for the promise
"so that God's purpose of election might continue" (Rom. 9:11). These
choices are guided by God's mercy, as indicated by verse 15 (see below). “It is
not as though the word of God had failed,” says Paul (v. 6a). By “word of God”
he means the promise to Abraham, “For the promise that he would inherit the
world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through
the righteousness of faith” (4:13). Paul’s statements that “Not all Israelites
truly belong to Israel” (v. 6b), “and not all of Abraham’s children are his
true descendants” (v. 7a), are supported when Paul points out that Isaac (and,
by implication, not Ishmael) is the child “of the promise,” for “It is through
Isaac that descendants shall be named for you” (v. 7b. citing Gen. 21:12).
“This means,” says Paul, “that it is not the children of the flesh who are
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as descendants”
(v. 8). According to Keck, “Paul sees in Gen. 21:12 the principle of the
patriarchal story: being children of God
depends on promise and election ([Gen. 21:] 11, 12), not on physical descent”
(op. cit., on Rom. 9:7-8).
Paul
spells out the earlier promise. “For this is what the promise said, ‘About this
time I will return and Sarah shall have a son’ ” (Rom. 9:9, citing Gen.
18:10, 14). And a further promise is cited with reference to Jacob and Esau.
“Nor is that all,” says Paul; something similar happened to Rebecca when she
had conceived children by one husband, our ancestor Isaac” (Rom. 9:10). Paul
explains: “Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so
that God's purpose of election might continue, not by works but by his call)
she was told, ‘The elder shall serve the younger’ ” (Rom. 9:11, 12, citing
Gen. 25:23). “Contrary to custom,” says Keck, “the elder shall serve the younger. See Gen. 25:23” (ibid., on v.
12). The point made by citing Genesis is reinforced by citing Malachi. “As it
is written, ‘I have loved Jacob, / but I have hated Esau’ ” (Rom. 9:13,
citing Mal. 1:2-3).
God’s
sovereignty, his right to so choose is defended. “What then are we to say?”
Paul asks. “Is there no justice on God’s part?” And he answers, “By no means!”
(Rom. 9:14). “For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom [ever] I [may]
have mercy ( jElehvsw o}n
a[n ejlew:, Eleēsō hon
an eleō)’ ” (Rom. 9:15a, b NRSV with ‘ever’ and ‘may’ added to
represent the contingency represented by the particle a[n, an, and the
subjunctive mood of the verb ejleevw, eleeō). The
other line in the quotation has a similar structure: “I will have compassion on
whom [ever] I [may] have compassion (oijktirhvsw o}n a[n oijktivrw, oiktirēsō
hon an oiktirō)” (Rom. 9:15c NRSV with similar additions). The
quotations follow the wording of the Septuagint (Ex. 33:19, where it has ejleevw (eleeō)
for the Hebrew verb NnaHA (chānan, “be gracious” NRSV), a very
common equivalent in the Septuagint (cf. Edwin Hatch and Henry A. Redpath, A Concordance to the Septuagint, 1897,
repr. 1954, s.v. ejleei:n (eleein), and
oijktivrw (oiktirō)
for the Hebrew Mhar9 (richam, “show mercy” NRSV). The variant
spelling of oijktivrw (oiktirō),
that is, oijkteivrw (oikteirō),
infinitive oijkteivrein (oikteirein),
occurs in the Septuagint representing NnaHA (chānan)
ten times and Mhar9 (richam) twelve times (ibid., s.v. oijkteivrein (oikteirein).
This
point is reiterated in verse eighteen. In the Exodus context Moses is
interceding for the people who have sinned by making and worshiping the golden
calf. But Paul’s next example is Pharaoh (v. 17, citing Ex. 9:16), “For the
scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘I have raised you up (ejxhvgeirav se /
exēgeira se) for the very purpose of
showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth”
(v. 17) The Exodus text says “But this is why I have let you live” j~yT9d4maf$h, / he‘ emadtîkā
), literally “I have caused you to stand,” in this context, “maintained you”
(Holladay, op. cit., s.v. dmf, hif., mng. no. 3).
The Septuagint translation is “you were preserved” (diethrhvqhV, dietērēthēs).
Given the
role the present passage has played (along with the remainder of the chapter)
in the discussion of the doctrine of election, some of my comments will be
reserved for tomorrow, when the readings continue here. But I should like to
point out that the references to Jacob and Esau (v. 13, citing Mal. 1:2-3)
refer not to the individual persons whose stories appear in Genesis, but to
their respective lines of descendants and their status in postexilic times.
Gregory Mobley comments on the Malachi passage: “The implication is that the
respective fortunes of these sibling cultures after the exile were evidence of
divine favor or disfavor: Jerusalem and Judah were rebuilt; Edom was not” (NOAB,
3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Mal. 1:2-4). I take it that Paul’s
reference has to do with God’s purposes for Israel and Edom as peoples, and not
with the individual destinies of Jacob and Esau as persons. And as for Pharaoh,
the texts of Exodus 9:16 (Hebrew or Greek) do not refer to God’s purpose in
allowing Pharaoh to be born in the first place, but rather suggest that he was
maintained or preserved as a part of the context in which he delivered Israel.
John
Wesley comments as follows on verse sixteen:
It--The blessing. Therefore is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth—It is not the effect either of the will or the works of man, but
of the grace and power of God. The will of man is here opposed to the grace of
God, and man's running, to the divine operation. And this general declaration
respects not only Isaac and Jacob, and the Israelites in the time of Moses, but
likewise all the spiritual children of Abraham, even to the end of the world.
(Explanatory Notes on Romans, on Romans 9:16, at the Internet web site, Wesley
Center Online, at http://wesley.nnu.edu/john_wesley/notes/romans.htm#Chapter+IX, accessed again July 4, 2010; you may need to copy and paste the URL in your browser).
And on
verse seventeen, Wesley says:
Moreover--God has an indisputable right to reject those who will
not accept the blessings on his own terms. And this he exercised in the case of
Pharaoh; to whom, after many instances of stubbornness and rebellion, he said,
as it is recorded in scripture, For this very thing have I raised thee up—That
is, Unless thou repent, this will surely be the consequence of my raising thee
up, making thee a great and glorious king, that my power will be shown upon
thee, (as indeed it was, by overwhelming him and his army in the sea,) and my
name declared through all the earth—As it is at this day. Perhaps this may have
a still farther meaning. It seems that God was resolved to show his power over
the river, the insects, other animals, (with the natural causes of their
health, diseases, life, and death,) over the meteors, the air, the sun, (all of
which were worshipped by the Egyptians, from whom other nations learned their
idolatry,) and at once over all their gods, by that terrible stroke of slaying all
their priests, and their choicest victims, the firstborn of man and beast; and
all this with a design, not only to deliver his people Israel, (for which a
single act of omnipotence would have sufficed,) but to convince the Egyptians,
that the objects of their worship were but the creatures of Jehovah, and
entirely in his power, and to draw them and the neighbouring nations, who
should hear of all these wonders, from their idolatry, to worship the one God.
For the execution of this design, (in order to the display of the divine power
over the various objects of their worship, in variety of wonderful acts, which
were at the same time just punishments for their cruel oppression of the
Israelites,) God was pleased to raise to the throne of an absolute monarchy, a
man, not whom he had made wicked on purpose, but whom he found so, the
proudest, the most daring and obstinate of all the Egyptian princes; and who,
being incorrigible, well deserved to be set up in that situation, where the
divine judgments fell the heaviest. Ex 9:16. (ibid., on v. 17)
“So
then,” says Paul, “he [i.e., God] has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he
hardens the heart of whomever he chooses” (v. 18).
Matthew
23:27-39
The Last Two Woes against the Pharisees (Luke 11:44, 47-48)
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look
beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds
of filth. 28 So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside
you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of
the righteous, 30 and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
31 Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who
murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors. 33 You
snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell? 34
Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and scribes, some of whom you will kill
and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to
town, 35 so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from
the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom
you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this
will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem (Lk
13.34-35)
37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that
kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I
desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her
wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you, desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the Lord.' " (Matthew 23:27-39, NRSV)
The
following comments are repeated here from December 11, 2009 (Friday in the week
of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year Two), when comments were repeated with
editing and supplement from July 12, 2009 (the Sunday closest to July 13, Year
One), when comments were repeated from July 9, 2008 (Wednesday in the week of
the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two), when comments were repeated from
December 14, 2007 (Friday in the week of the Second Sunday of Advent, Year
Two), when comments were repeated from July 15, 2007 (the Sunday closest to
July 13, Year One), when they were combined with revision and supplement from
July 10, 2005 (the Sunday closest to July 13, Year One), and from July 12, 2006
(Wednesday in the week of the Sunday closest to July 6, Year Two), when
comments were based on those from July 7, 2004 in an email sent July 5, 2004,
for July 5-11, and from December 9, 2005 (Friday of the week of the Second
Sunday of Advent, Year Two).
Recent
comments on Luke 11:37-52 in the Archive for October 29, 2008 (Thursday in the
week of October 26, Year Two) include comments on Luke 11:44-51, comparable to
parts of this reading from Matthew. Recent comments on Luke 13:34-35 may be
found in the Archive for November 7, 2008 (Friday in the week of the Sunday
closest to November 2, Year Two).
Today’s
reading begins with the last of a series of woes against the scribes and
Pharisees (Mt. 23:11-36), which Luke presents on the occasion when a Pharisee
invited Jesus to dinner (Lk. 11:37-52). Earlier notes, beginning with the
next-to-last woe in Matthew (Mt. 23:27-28) are included from the earlier notes.
Matthew follows these woes with Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (Mt. 23:37-39),
which Luke presents in another context (Lk. 13:34-35) when some Pharisees have
warned Jesus that Herod wants to kill him (Lk. 13:31). These texts are compared
in the following table:
|
The Last Two “Woes” to
the Scribes and Pharisees † |
|
|
Matthew 23:27-36 * |
Luke 11:44, 47-51 * |
|
27
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are
full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28 So you also on
the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy
and lawlessness. 29
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs
of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, 'If
we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with
them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 Thus you testify against
yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill
up, then, the measure of your ancestors. 33 You snakes, you brood of vipers!
How can you escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets, sages, and
scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in
your synagogues and pursue from town to town, 35 so that upon you may come all the righteous
blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the
altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come upon this generation. |
44 Woe to you! For you are like unmarked
graves, and people walk over them without realizing it. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the
prophets whom your ancestors killed. 48 So you are witnesses and approve of the
deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, 'I
will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and
persecute,' 50 so that this generation may be charged with
the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of
Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you,
it will be charged against this generation. |
|
Jesus’ Lament over
Jerusalem † |
|
|
Matthew 23:.37-39 * |
Luke 13:34-35 * |
|
37
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those
who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See,
your house is left to you, desolate. 39 For I tell you, you
will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in
the name of the Lord.' " |
34 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills
the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to
gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and
you were not willing! 35 See, your house is left to you. And I tell
you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed
is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.' " |
|
† Cf. Kurt Aland, Synopsis of the Four Gospels, rev.
printing, 1985, secs. 284 part, 285, pp. 252-253. * NRSV |
|
Matthew
23:27-32 reads like an elaboration of Luke 11:44, 47-48. He surely added the
“Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” formula (vv. 27, 29, cf. the
earlier woes in Mt.), and brought material together–another example of his
tendency to arrange material topically–to form the discourse against the
scribes and Pharisees. As in the case of the Lord’s Prayer, for example (Mt.
6:9-13; Lk. 11:2-4), which Matthew includes in a group of instructions on
Christian piety (Mt. 6:1-21), but Luke probably reports on the occasion when
Jesus gave the disciples the prayer in response to their request, “Lord, teach
us to pray, as John taught his disciples” (Lk. 11:1), so also here, the
Lawyer’s question (Lk. 11:45) was the occasion for some of Jesus’ comments.
In Luke,
the third woe, the last against the Pharisees, assumes a background that
Matthew elaborates with severe judgment. “Woe to you!” says Jesus in Luke. “For
you are like unmarked graves (mnhmei:a, mnēmeia), and
people walk over them without realizing it” (Lk. 11:44). According to C. G.
Montefiore, “The tombs around Jerusalem used to be whitewashed before Passover
so that no ritual impurity might be contracted by stepping upon one unawares. There
was no objection to a layman becoming unclean, except when he wanted to enter
the Temple and this he would wish to do at the Festival” (The Synoptic
Gospels Edited with an Introduction and a Commentary, Library of Biblical
Studies, vol. II, 1968, p. 302, on Mt. 23:27, 28). Matthew doesn’t explain this
significance, but turns the reference to whitewashed graves into a metaphor of
hypocrisy, that is, hidden iniquity. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs (tavfoi, taphoi), which on
the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead
and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others,
but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt. 23:27-28).
One might
wonder whether there is a connection between whitewashing tombs (v. 27) and
decorating graves (v. 29)–both perhaps with the intention of honoring the dead.
According to Matthew, the final woe accuses the scribes and Pharisees, “For you
build the tombs (tavfoi, taphoi) of the prophets and decorate the graves (mnhmei:a, mnēmeia)
of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,
we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the
prophets’ ” (Mt. 23:29-30). “Though this is the seventh Woe [in Mt.], it
sees unconnected with the previous sections,” says Montefiore. “The word
‘sepulchres’ [his translation of mnhmei:a, mnēmeia,
‘graves’ NRSV] forms a verbal link. It is the Jews generally who are here
addressed, rather than the Scribes or the Pharisees” (op. cit., on v. 29).
Luke’s version of Matthew’s final woe, one of those that in Luke is addressed
to the lawyers (Lk. 11:45-46), does not have reference to decorating the graves
or a disclaimer of responsibility for killing the ancient prophets; rather, it
simply says, “Woe to you! For you build the tombs (mnhmei:a, mnēmeia)
of the prophets whom your ancestors killed” (Lk. 11:47). In Luke, Jesus
continues with a conclusion that links his hearers (the Pharisees and lawyers)
with the ancestors: “So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your
ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs” (v. 48).
In
Matthew, Jesus explains the denial of complicity in the killing of the ancient
prophets (Mt. 23:30, above) as self-incrimination, by building their tombs and
decorating their graves. “Thus you testify against yourselves that you are
descendants (uiJoiv, huioi, literally ‘sons’) of those who murdered the
prophets” (v. 31). According to Elwyn E. Tilden and Bruce M. Metzger, “Only one
such murder [i.e. of prophets, v. 31] is mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures (2
Chr. 24:20-22), but Jewish legend had added others to the list of national
martyrs" (NOAB, 2nd ed. 1994, on Mt. 23:30). The words
“sons of” may refer to descendants, but it has been suggested that they could
refer to persons of similar character. Tilden and Metzger say, “The scribes and
Pharisees would admit to being descendants of those who murdered the
prophets; Jesus insists that their attitudes are also similar (v. 28)”
(ibid., on v. 31). According to the Lexicon, two extended meanings of
“son” (uiJovV, huios) are combined here, “human offspring in an extended
kind of descent, descendant, son” and “one whose identity is
defined in terms of a relationship with a person or thing [that is], of those
who are bound to a personality by close, nonmaterial ties; it is this
personality that has promoted the relationship and given it its character”
(Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich [BDAG], A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament and other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed., 2000,
s.v. uiJovV, huios, meanings (1) (c) and (2) (c) a). The scribes and
Pharisees addressed by Jesus are thus like the ancient prophet killers. In this
context, this relates the killing of the ancient prophets to the forthcoming
crucifixion of Jesus, by the Romans, of course, but at the insistence, as
Matthew tells the story, of these Jewish leaders. Montefiore, who seems to
shift the “blame” for anti-Jewish sentiment here from Jesus himself to “a
Christian writer,” says, “The laboured violence of the attack is not very
attractive, and there can be little doubt that we have here the bitterness of a
Christian writer [the evangelist Matthew?] who conceived that the Jews, and
especially the Rabbis, were responsible for the death of Jesus. And so we can
readily excuse and forgive this exhibition of hatred” (op. cit., pp. 302-303,
on v. 30). In the continuation, this attitude is stressed. “Fill up, then,”
says Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees, “the measure of your ancestors. You
snakes, you brood of vipers! How can you escape being sentenced to hell?” (vv.
32-33). Matthew’s verse 33, about “snakes” and “you brood of vipers,” has no
parallel in Luke.
In
Matthew, Jesus continues with a prediction: “Therefore I send you prophets,
sages, and scribes, some of whom you kill and crucify and some you will flog in
your synagogues and pursue from town to town” (Mt. 23:34), a statement that
seems to echo the actions of the tenants in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants
(Mt. 21:33-41). In the present context, this sending becomes the occasion for
retribution: “so that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth,
from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah,
whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all
this will come upon this generation” (23:35-36). According to J. Andrew
Overman, “The identity of this Zechariah is uncertain; cf. 2 Chr.
24:20-22; Zech. 1:1” (NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on v.
35). The point, however, is to characterize Jesus’ opponents as being like
those earlier Israelites who “murdered” the prophets. In Luke’s version, Jesus
cites this prediction from “the Wisdom of God”: “Therefore also the Wisdom of
God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill
and persecute, so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the
prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I
tell you, it will be charged against this generation” (Lk. 11:49-51). According
to Marion Lloyd Soards, “The Wisdom of God said, introduces an apparent
quotation, but from neither the Hebrew Bible nor the nonbiblical writings of
Judaism” (NOAB, 3rd ed., augmented, 2007, on Lk. 11:49,
apparently meaning the known nonbiblical writings of Judaism). Montefiore
sees the reference in Luke as to “some lost apocalyptic writing,” and the
differences in Matthew as changes because he “does not like to make Jesus quote
an apocryphal book” (op. cit., p. 303, on Mt.23:34-36). G. W. H. Lampe, on the
other hand, does not see Luke’s reference as to an apocryphal book at all.
“Wisdom of God,” he says, probably means ‘God in his Wisdom’, and does not
allude to a ‘Wisdom’ book” (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, 1962,
reprinted 1972, sec. 728 j, on Lk. 11:49).
Dale C.
Allison, Jr., reads these Woes against the Pharisees (Mt. 23:1-39) as criticism
by their own standards.
Chapter 23 does not criticize isolated beliefs or activities;
rather its charges amount to a rejection of Pharisaism itself. Surprisingly,
however, Mt 23 does not censor the scribes and Pharisees for failure to believe
in the Messiah Jesus. Instead it convicts them by their own standards. No
scribe or Pharisee would have defended hypocrisy, or commend the slaying of
‘God’s prophets, or affirmed that preoccupation with the lesser matters of the
law should be at the expense of the greater. So the text presupposes that the
scribes and Pharisees actually know better: they are hypocrites in the full
sense of the word. The presupposition is possible because the scribes and
Pharisees, like those in Matthew’s community, were heirs in the Jewish
tradition. Matthew’s Jesus accordingly argues as a Jew with Jews: the leaders
have been unfaithful to their own tradition. (Dale C. Allison, Jr., The
Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001, pp. 874-875)
One might
add that it is probable that Matthew, in telling this story of Jesus’ criticism
of the scribes and Pharisees, is in fact directing the criticisms at the faults
and hypocrisy within his own Christian, probably, Jewish-Christian, community,
rather than at any contemporary non-Christian Jews.
In
Matthew, the series of woes leads into Jesus’ Lament over Jerusalem (Mt.
23:37-39; cf. Lk. 13:34-35). Although Luke uses this passage in a different
context, we have here one of those examples of nearly verbatim agreement
between Matthew’s text and Luke’s. Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34 are identical
in the English translation (NRSV), but with minor differences in phrasing in
Greek. “"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones
those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather (ejpisunagagei:n, episynagagein,
2nd aorist infinitive, Mt.; ejpisunavxai, episynaxai, 1st
aorist infinitive, same verb, Lk.) your children together as a hen gathers ( ejpisunavgei, episynagei,
Lk.; verb understood from the previous infinitive in Mt.) her brood (ta; nossiva, ta
nossia, neuter plural of nossivon, nossion, ‘the
young of a bird,’ Mt.; th;n eJauth:V nossiavn, tēn
heautēs nossian, feminine singular of nossiav, nossia, ‘brood,
Lk., each term only here in the NT [F. Wilber Gingrich and Frederick W. Danker,
Shorter Lexicon of the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., 1983,
s.v. nossivon, nossion and nossiav, nossia; note the
asterisks [*]) under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Mt. 23:37; Lk.
13:34).
The
continuation also has very similar wording: “See, your house is left to you, desolate
(Mt., not in Lk.). For (Mt.) And (Lk.) I tell you, you will not
see me again (Mt.) until the time comes when (Lk.) you say,
‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’ ” (Mt. 23:38-39;
Lk. 13:35). These differences–in bold print– reflect minor differences in the
Greek text. Matthew’s e[rhmoV (erēmos, “desolate”) is not in Luke. Where Matthew
has the conjunction gavr (gar, “for”), Luke has the conjunction dev, de, “and”). And
for Matthew’s “again until” (ajp j a[rti e{wV a[n, ap’
arti heōs an), Luke has “until the time comes when” (e{wV (h{xei o{te), heōs
hēxei hote). According to Lampe, this passage (Lk. 13:31-35) “is Q
material, in a context in Mt. (23:37, 39) which removes the ambiguity of Lk.’s
v. 35, and makes it allude to the return of Jesus as Messiah, not to his entry
(19:38). This is probably the intended meaning in Lk. also” (op. cit., sec. 730
a, p. 836, on Lk. 13:31-35).
This
passage anticipates the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in A.D.
70. This lament is presented by Luke in a different context (as noted above).
In Matthew the lament serves to complete the record of Jesus' public ministry,
since chapters twenty-four and twenty-five are addressed to the disciples, and,
except for the plot to arrest him (Mt. 26:4) and the arrest (vv. 47-56) Jesus
is with the disciples in chapter twenty-six (in Bethany at the house of Simon
the Leper, Mt. 26:6-16; in preparation for or at the Last Supper, vv. 17-29;
and on the way to or at Gethsemane, vv. 30-46). It also provides a transition
to the next chapter, which begins with Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of
the temple (24:1-3). “How often have I desired to gather your children together
as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (23:37b).
As noted
above, for the Lutheran Readings for today, and comments on them, see the
Episcopal Readings in the file for June 23, 2010, two weeks ago. These
traditions differ in relating readings to the weeks following Pentecost.
Ronald D.
Worden, Ph.D.
rdworden@hgst.edu
deanworden@comcast.net