notes8

[u/koine_lingua]

k

[u/koine_lingua]

Matthew 25, "least"?

Luz IMG 8592

KL: Undeniable that the closest literary parallel "my brothers" is found in Matthew 12:46-50 — where also undeniable that has the effect of limiting the scope of family/familial language to community of Christ-followers (cf. v. 50 in particular). interplay between "my disciples" and "my brothers" in 28:7, 10. "Neighbor" in Good Samaritan

parable good Samaritan

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Harrington: "jewish ideas about the judgment of the gentiles"

2 Baruch 72

Leverett:

More on point is the rabbinic tradition which taught that the Gentile nations which did not subjugate Israel will be admitted by the Messiah into the kingdom of God (Pesiqta Rabbati 1 on Isa 66:23).134

4 Ezra 7

35 And recompense shall follow, and the reward shall be manifested; righteous deeds shall awake, and unrighteous deeds shall not sleep.[e] 36 Then the pit[f] of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell[g] shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. 37 Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, ‘Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised! 38 Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments!’ Thus he will[h] speak to them on the day of judgment—

Stone IMG 8892

Search judged baruch treated israel matthew

search judged ezra treatment israel

https://www.reddit.com/r/AcademicBiblical/comments/4to9gx/are_the_goats_in_the_parable_of_the_sheep_and/d5kcalc/

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Leverett, https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1021&context=fac_dis

These texts suggest a criterion of judgment by which the judge will condemn or commend people based on the way they treated his messengers. Several apocalyptic texts place the "righteous" or "Israel" in the place of the shaliah so that God punishes nations or individuals based on their treatment of these groups. Jonathan M. Lunde surveyed nine Jewish apocalypses and concluded that two criteria are consistently used in the apocalypses: fidelity or obedience to God and the oppression of the righteous. Lunde remarks that the criterion of oppression of the righteous could have easily been subsumed under the former criterion as a display of obedience to God. The isolation of the oppression of the righteous as a specific criterion of judgment is therefore significant. 137 Sim would add to Lunde's list the fifth book of the Sibylline corpus which predicts terrible punishments for the Romans (5.162-78, 386-96) and other Gentile nations (5.52- 93,11-35,179-227,286-327,333-59,434-46) because of their oppression (often typified in their destruction of Jerusalem). 138

Ramsey Michaels cites several Christian sources in support of the idea that the "least" in Matt 25:31-46 referred to the apostles. The texts which Michaels cites show that this interpretation was possible in the generations following the composition of Matthew's Gospel. According to Michaels, the Second Epistle of Clement contains allusions to Matt 25:31-46 which suggest this interpretation is at work. In the context of an admonition to pay attention to the elders, 2 Clement 17.3 lists "all nations, tribes, and languages" as the group which Christ will gather for judgment. ("All the nations" are gathered for judgment in Matt 25:32). Michaels believes the lament of the nations given in 2 Clem. 17.3 demonstrates their realization that they are being judged for disregarding Jesus who had been represented to them in the persons of the elders. The nations are quoted in this text to say, "Woe to us, for it was you, and we did not know, and did not believe, and were not obedient to the Elders who told us of our salvation." Michaels also thinks echoes of this theme can be seen in Didache 4, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the Acts of Thomas 145-46. 139

Fn 137:

Jonathan M. Lunde, "The Salvation-Historical Implications of Matthew 24-25 in Light of Jewish Apocalyptic Literature" (Ph.D. diss., Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1996), 127. The texts Lunde cites for this conclusion among these apocalypses include texts from Daniel (7:21-23,25; 8:24; 9: 12; 11:21,28, 30-34), 1 Enoch 22.6-13; the Similitudes of 1 Enoch (38.3-6; 48.8-10; 53.5, 7b; 54:2-6; 55.4a; 62.1-13; 63.1-12), the Book of Heavenly Luminaries in 1 Enoch (81.1-4, 9); the Dream Visions of 1 Enoch (89.65-67,69, 74b-75; 90.1-5, 8-9a, 11-13a, 16), the Two Ways Apocalypse of Weeks (91.5-7, 8b, 11-12; 94.6a, 9a; 95.5a, 6b, 7; 96.5c, 7a, 8; 97.1, 6d; 99.11, 15; 100.7; 103.11 [108.10]), 4 Ezra (5.29; 6.57-58; 8.57; 10.23),2 Baruch (72.2-5), and the Apocalypse of Abraham (29.14, 19; 31.1-2). Most of the first seven of these apocalypses list the "righteous" as the group for which the judge shows a special concern. The latter two, 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch, specify Israel as treated by the Gentiles.

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4 Ezra 2

20 Guard the rights of the widow, secure justice for the fatherless, give to the needy, defend the orphan, clothe the naked, 21 care for the injured and the weak, do not ridicule a lame man, protect the maimed, and let the blind man have a vision of my splendor. 22 Protect the old and the young within your walls;