a man

May 27, 2018

Pharisees question him about divorce (Mt 19:3-19:3)

“Some Pharisees

Came to Jesus.

They tested him.

They asked.

‘Is it lawful

For a man

To divorce

His wife

For any cause?’”

 

Καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι πειράζοντες αὐτὸν καὶ λέγοντες Εἰ ἔξεστιν ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν;

 

This questioning of the Pharisees about divorce can also be found in Mark, chapter 10:2, almost word for word, with some minor changes.  Once again, some Pharisees show up on the scene (Καὶ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Φαρισαῖοι) testing or tempting Jesus (πειράζοντες αὐτὸν).  The Pharisees were a political party, a social movement, and a religious school of thought that followed the Law of Moses, but with a number of oral traditions.  They had they own expert explanations of Jewish law that sometimes appeared to be hypocritical or arrogant, with a form of Judaism that extended beyond the Temple.  They asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause (καὶ λέγοντες Εἰ ἔξεστιν ἀπολῦσαι τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ κατὰ πᾶσαν αἰτίαν), since this was a disputed question among many Jewish rabbis.

May 12, 2018

The mouth speaks from the heart (Mt 15:18-15:20)

“But what comes out

Of the mouth

Proceeds from the heart.

This is what defiles a man.

Out of the heart

Come

Evil thoughts,

Murder,

Adultery,

Fornication,

Theft,

False witness,

And slander.

These are what

Defile a man.

But to eat

With unwashed hands

Does not defile a man.”

 

τὰ δὲ ἐκπορευόμενα ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἐκ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχεται, κἀκεῖνα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

ἐκ γὰρ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχονται διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί, φόνοι, μοιχεῖαι, πορνεῖαι, κλοπαί, ψευδομαρτυρίαι, βλασφημίαι.

ταῦτά ἐστιν τὰ κοινοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον· τὸ δὲ ἀνίπτοις χερσὶν φαγεῖν οὐ κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον.

 

There is something similar to this in Mark, chapter 6:20-23.  Jesus indicated that the true defilement was what came out of a person’s mouth, not what went into it.  He clearly explained defilement.  What came out of the mouth (τὰ δὲ ἐκπορευόμενα ἐκ τοῦ στόματος) proceeded from the heart (ἐκ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχεται).  That is what defiled a man (κἀκεῖνα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον).  Out of the heart came (ἐκ γὰρ τῆς καρδίας ἐξέρχονται) such things as evil or wicked thoughts, plots or deliberations (διαλογισμοὶ πονηροί), murders or killings (φόνοι), adulteries (μοιχεῖαι), sexual immoralities, fornication or pornography (πορνεῖαι), theft (κλοπαί), false witness or false testimony (ψευδομαρτυρίαι), and slander, abusive language, or blasphemy (βλασφημίαι).  These were the things that defiled a man or person (ταῦτά ἐστιν τὰ κοινοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον).  You can clearly see what Jesus, his disciples, and the early Christian community considered as sins or defilements that made a person unclean.  But to eat with unwashed hands did not defile a man (δὲ ἀνίπτοις χερσὶν φαγεῖν οὐ κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον) or make him unclean.  Notice that there is no mention of any unclean foods as in Mark.  Perhaps the Jewish Christians around Matthew still held to Jewish dietary laws.

April 7, 2018

The call of Matthew (Mt 9:9-9:9)

“As Jesus was walking along,

He saw a man

Called Matthew.

He was sitting

At the tax booth.

Jesus said to him.

‘Follow me!’

He got up.

He followed him.”

 

Καὶ παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ Ἀκολούθει μοι. καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.

 

This saying about the call of Matthew is similar to Mark, chapter 2:14, and Luke, chapter 5:27-28, but there he was called Levi, his Jewish name, and not Matthew.  Also, the other stories mention his father, but not here.  It is strange that if this Matthew the apostle was the author of this gospel, why it was not mentioned here.  Jesus was walking along (Καὶ παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν), when he saw a man called Matthew sitting in his tax office, toll booth, or tax booth (εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον).  Jesus simply said to him, “Follow me!” (καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ Ἀκολούθει μοι).  Then Matthew got up and followed him (καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ) without any need to explain why or how he was doing this.  At this point in the Matthew gospel narrative, he is the 5th named apostle after Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, the first individual without a brother follower.

September 6, 2017

The description of the man on the banks of the Great River (Dan 10:4-10:6)

“On the twenty-fourth day

Of the first month,

As I was standing

On the bank

Of the great river,

That is the Tigris,

I looked up.

I saw

A man clothed

In linen,

With a belt

Of gold,

From Uphaz,

Around his waist.

His body was

Like beryl.

His face was

Like lightning.

His eyes were

Like flaming torches.

His arms,

As well as his legs,

Were

Like the gleam

Of burnished bronze.

The sound

Of his words were

Like the noise

Of a multitude.”

On the 24th of the 1st month, Daniel was on the banks of the great river, the Euphrates, not the Tigris, since the Tigris does not go through Babylon. Then Daniel looked up. He saw a man dressed in linen clothes with a Uphaz gold belt. Uphaz was another name for Ophir, a large gold mining area. Daniel then described this man’s body as like beryl or emerald looking. His face was like lightning. His eyes were like flaming torches. He almost sounded like Santa Claus. His arms and legs were like burnished bronze, similar to the bronze man at the end of the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-47. The sound of his voice was like a large group of people. He was quite unique.

September 2, 2017

The interpretation of the vision (Dan 8:15-8:15)

“When I,

Daniel,

Had seen the vision,

I tried

To understand it.

Then someone

Appeared,

Standing before me.

He had the appearance

Of a man.”

Daniel, clearly in the first-person singular, had now seen the vision. He was hoping to understand this vision. Then, there appeared, right in front of him, someone that looked like a man.

June 6, 2017

Jerusalem has fallen (Ezek 33:21-33:21)

“In the twelfth year

Of our exile,

In the tenth month,

On the fifth day

Of the month,

Someone

Who had escaped

From Jerusalem

Came to me.

He said.

‘The city has fallen.’”

Once again, there is an exact date, the 5th day of the 10th month in the 12th year of his captivity, probably January, 586 BCE. On that day, a man who had escaped from Jerusalem came to him, perhaps a month or two after the fall of Jerusalem. This time it was not Yahweh who came to Ezekiel, but this straggler. However, the news was not good, since he said that the city of Jerusalem had fallen.

July 30, 2015

Yahweh confronts Job directly (Job 38:1-38:3)

“Then Yahweh answered Job out of the whirlwind.

‘Who is this that darkens counsel?

Who speaks words without knowledge?

Gird up your loins like a man!

I will question you.

You shall declare to me!’”

Now finally, we hear from God himself. It is Yahweh, the God of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who speaks. He speaks to Job out of a whirlwind as he had done to many of his prophets. He had spoken to Moses in a cloud. Here there are 2 speeches of Yahweh and 2 responses of Job. Yahweh poses a series of questions to Job. He said that Job was speaking words without knowledge. He told him to be like a man. Even though Job is not Jewish, the God of Israel and not the almighty Shaddai was going to question him directly.