Jesus in the footsteps of Jeremiah

Catholic Biblical Quarterly

Volumn 68, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 229-247

  Whitters, Mark F ^a  

^a EASTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

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EID: 60949571754     PISSN: 00087912     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
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References (79)

1. For Josephus, see Shaye J. D. Cohen, "Josephus, Jeremiah, and Polybius," History and Theory 21 (1982) 366-81, esp. 370-74.
2. For Josephus's use of the Book of Jeremiah, see Christian Wolff, Jeremia im Frühjudentum und Urchristentum (TU 118; Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1976) 10-14.
3. For a general description of the parallels with Yohanan b. Zakkai, see Louis Finkelstein, Akiba: Scholar, Saint and Martyr (repr., New York: Atheneum, 1970).
4. For the textual evidence, see Jacob Neusner, A Life of Rabban Yohanan Ben Zakkai, Ca 1-80 C.E. (2nd ed.; Leiden: Brill, 1970) 39-42;
5. Catherine Hezser, The Social Structure of the Rabbinic Movement in Roman Palestine (TSAJ 66; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997) 294.
6. For the standard teaching about Yohanan b. Zakkai according to rabbinic sources, see Michael S. Berger, Rabbinic Authority (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998) 42-43.
7. For some suggestions on the parallels with Baruch, see J. Edward Wright, Baruch ben Neriah (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003) 74-97;
8. Rivka Nir, The Destruction of Jerusalem and the Idea of Redemption in the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch (SBLEJL 20; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003) 43-117;
9. Mark F. Whitters, "Testament and Canon in the Letter of Second Baruch (2 Baruch 78-87)," JSP 12 (2001) 149-63, esp. 156-57;
10. Gwendolyn Sayler, Have the Promises Failed? A Literary Analysis of 2 Baruch (SBLDS 72; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1984).
11. In general, see Michael P. Knowles, Jeremiah in Matthew's Gospel: The Rejected Prophet Motif in Matthaean Redaction (JSNTSup 68; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993) 182-89;
12. David E. Garland, The Intention of Matthew 23 (NovTSup 52; Leiden: Brill, 1979);
13. Ross E. Winkle, "The Jeremiah Model for Jesus in the Temple," AUSS 24 (1986) 155-72.
14. William L. Holladay, Jeremiah: A Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah (2 vols.; Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1986, 1988) 2. 93.
15. See also Eduard Schweizer, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (NTD 2; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1973) 221;
16. Jean Carmignac, "Pourquoi Jérémie est-il mentionné en Matthieu 16, 14?" in Tradition und Glaube: Das frühe Christentum in seiner Umwelt; Festgabe für Karl Georg Kuhn zum 65. Geburtstag (ed. Hartmut Stegemann, Gert Jeremias, and Heinz-Wolfgang Kuhn; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1971) 283-98.
17. It is possible that the concept of the "new covenant" arises earlier in the Gospel of Matthew at the Last Supper (Matt 26:27-29 // Mark 14:24-25), though this phrase has textual problems. Other important NT texts for the concept are 1 Cor 11:23; Heb 8:8-12; 10:16-17. There seem to be references to a "new covenant" in the Dead Sea Scrolls as well. All of these readings probably go back to Jeremiah 31-32 [LXX chaps. 38-39]. It is difficult to see a personal parallel to Jeremiah in most of these passages, so typology is probably not at stake.
18. For OT utilization of the "charter myths," see Rainer Albertz, "Exodus: Liberation History against Charter Myth," in Religious Identity and the Invention of Tradition: Papers Read at a NOSTER Conference in Soesterberg, January 4-9, 1999 (ed. Jan W. Van Henten and Anton Houtepen; Studies in Theology and Religion 3; Assen: Van Gorcum, 2001) 128-43;
19. for NT utilization, see Walter T. Wilson, "Urban Legends: Acts 10:1-11:18 and the Strategies of Greco-Roman Foundation Narratives," JBL 120 (2001) 77-99.
20. For a list of references, see William D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, volume 1, Introduction and Commentary on Matthew I-VII (ICC; Edinburgh: Clark, 1988) 190-95;
21. Knowles, Jeremiah, 237-41.
22. Christine Ritter, Rachels Klage im antiken Judentum und frühen Christentum (AGAJU 52; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2003).
23. The Gospel quotation containing the image is itself interesting because there is no exact equivalence in the MT or the LXX; see Davies and Allison, Matthew, 267; Knowles, Jeremiah, 36-38.
24. An ancient monument marks her traditional grave on the road to Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem.
25. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 268-69;
26. Ritter, Klage, 125-26;
27. Knowles, Jeremiah, 36.
28. All English translations are taken from the NRSV unless otherwise noted.
29. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 267.
30. See Jeffrey A. Gibbs, "Israel Standing with Israel: The Baptism of Jesus in Matthew's Gospel (Matt 3:13-17)," CBQ 64 (2002) 511-26, esp. 515-20. The LXX continues, "[and] a delightful child" (παιδίον εcombining comma aboveντρυφω̂ν), words that are consonant with the rest of the divine statement in Matt 3:17.
31. Jesus here is called "Son" (υιdot;ό ς), while twenty-one verses earlier the slain are called "children" (τέκνα). If the writer is citing LXX Jeremiah, he or she is changing the quotation slightly, since "son" (υιcombining comma aboveός) is used both times in LXX Jeremiah. The distinction between the two Greek terms is important because it preserves the uniqueness of Jesus. See Knowles, Jeremiah, 37.
32. For a contrary view, see Maartin J. J. Menken, "The Quotation from Jeremiah 31 (38).15 in Matthew 2.18: A Study of Matthew's Scriptural Text," in The Old Testament in the New Testament: Essays in Honour of J. L. North (ed. Steve Moyise; JSNTSup 189; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000) 106-25, esp. 117. Menken argues that "children" (τέκν α) was originally in the LXX Jeremiah 38.
33. There are further indications that such a typological reading is valid: the Gospel's account of the baptism and its aftermath, the temptations in the desert, seem to hark back to the exodus, the crossing of the Red Sea, and the wandering in the wilderness. Though these events are described in great detail in the Pentateuch, they are also echoed in general ways in Jeremiah 31 (vv. 5, 6, 12, 20, 31-34). See Davies and Allison, Matthew, 267-68;
34. Gibbs, "Israel," 517-18.
35. David Daube ("Typology in Josephus," JJS 31 [1980] 18-36, esp. 21-25) notes that typology is found particularly in early Jewish and Christian religious texts and traditions. Since typology involves circular and not linear thinking, the commentator needs to allow anachronisms and exaggerations. Daube especially sees typology at work in Josephus's presentation of himself as a first-century Jeremiah.
36. Both "voices" seem to imply some kind of divine agency: the first one seems to be a "divine passive," as if it were conjured up from Ramah and Rachel; the second one comes from heaven.
37. For a discussion of Targum Jeremiah and its date, see Knowles, Jeremiah, 50 n.1. Knowles dates the kernel of the work to the time of the Gospel of Matthew.
38. See Lam. Rab., Proem 24,
39. cited by Arnold A. Wieder, "Jeremiah in Aggadic Literature" (Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1962; available from University Microfilms, Ann Arbor, MI) 84-85.
40. Midrash Tehillim 137, p. 522 (ed. Solomon Buber; 2 vols.; Wilna, 1891);
41. Pesiq. Rabbati 26, 131b;
42. both cited by Wieder, "Jeremiah," 86.
43. See Pesiq. Rb. Kah. 13, 115b,
44. cited by Wieder, "Jeremiah," 116.
45. For a list of commentators and their reasons for each of these episodes, see Knowles, Jeremiah, 67-77. Knowles himself supports Jeremiah 19 as the primary allusion in Matt 27:9-10, though he acknowledges that there is not much convincing evidence of verbal similarity for any of the passages. He relies instead on the thematic correspondence between Jeremiah 19 and Matt 27:9-10.
46. Knowles (Jeremiah, 60-66) offers other reasons for the reference to Jeremiah: scribal error, another Jeremiah document not part of the canonical OT, a simple error on the author's part, and so on. He concludes, however, that the Gospel deliberately uses the reference.
47. F. van Segbroeck, "Le scandale d'incroyance: La signification de Mt. XIII,35," ETL 41 (1965) 344-72, esp. 371.
48. As in the apparent disaster of the children slain by Herod, noted above, where divine passives are used, so here God is in charge.
49. Odil Hannes Steck, Israel und das gewaltsame Geschick der Propheten: Untersuchungen zur Überlieferung des deuteronomistischen Geschichtsbildes im Alten Testament, Spätjudentum, und Urchristentum (WMANT 23; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1967) 227-30.
50. The case of a national deity vacating its shrine and resulting in a withdrawal of divine protection is a theological topos widespread throughout the ancient Near East. See Michael Fishbane, Biblical Myth and Rabbinic Mythmaking (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) 78.
51. In the Hebrew Bible there are various accounts of divine departure and abandonment (Ezek 9:9; Isa 49:14; 54:7; 60:15), but Jer 12:7 is the most relevant for this essay: "I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my heart into the hands of her enemies." The topos is known also among Roman sources: Tacitus (History 5.13) testifies to a supernatural announcement that the Jewish temple would be vacated.
52. The Romans apparently invited foreign gods to leave their sanctuaries before the Roman armies attacked, a practice known as evocatio deorum. See Nir, Destruction, 80;
53. Mary Beard, "Evocatio," The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) 580;
54. John S. Kloppenborg, "Evocatio deorum and the Date of Mark," JBL 124 (2005) 419-50.
55. "House" (οιcombining comma aboveκο ς) has broad meaning in this context: temple, city, or nation. See Garland, Intention, 198-99.
56. See 2 Apoc.Bar. 2:1; 9:1; Par. Jer. 1:1-2. For commentary on these two citations, see Pierre Bogaert, Apocalypse de Baruch, introduction, traduction du syriaque et commentaire (2 vols.; SC 144-45; Paris: Cerf, 1969) 2. 11.
57. See Pesiq. Rb. Kah. 115b-116a; Pesiq. Rabbati 131a; Tg. Esth. 2 1:1, all cited by Wieder, "Jeremiah," 81-83, 216-17.
58. Wieder says that this interpretation is found also in the Babylonian Talmud and Rashi; see also Bogaert, Baruch, 2. 11.
59. Wolff (Jeremia, 165-66) senses that there is some connection between the evangelist's use of both of these Jeremianic passages and the destruction of Jerusalem, but he does not look into the rabbinic connections. Nor does he - or almost any other commentator - make use of the final chapter in the Gospel as an indication of Jeremiah's influence.
60. See Moma D. Hooker, Endings: Invitations to Discipleship (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2003). Hooker does not see the same things in the ending of the Gospel of Matthew that I mention in this article. Nonemeless, she points out some dynamics in endings of the Gospels that are relevant. For example, she stresses that the endings of the Gospels repeat themes that are found in the beginnings; she also emphasizes that endings are supposed to motivate the reader to make a personal response, namely, a personal beginning.
61. The summons that Cyrus delivers may also show signs of a covenant form. See Hubert Frankemölle, Jahwebund und Kirche Christi: Studien zur Form- und Traditionsgeschichte des 'Evangeliums' nach Matthäus (NTAbh 10; Münster: Aschendorff, 1974) 43-61;
62. cf. Gerhard Friedrich, "Die formale Struktur von Mt. 28.18-20," ZTK 80 (1983) 137-83, esp. 158-59. Intriguingly, Frankemölle finds in the speech a covenant form that he claims is imitated in Matt 28:16-20.
63. Weider ("Jeremiah," 116) cites the Hebrew of Pesiq. Rb. Kah. 125b ("All the prophets who prophesy prophesy through the mouth of the prophet [Jeremiah]" [my translation]).
64. The centrality of Ezra to the rabbis is commonly recognized among scholars of the rabbis. For example, the great rabbinics scholar Israel Lipschütz (cited by Herbert Danby, The Mishnah [Oxford: Clarendon, 1933] 446 n. 5) comments that the basis for the authority of the "Great Syna" gogue" in m. Abot 1.1 was Ezra.
65. In general, see Mark F. Whitters, The Epistle of Second Baruch (JSPSup 42; London/New York: Sheffield Academic Press, 2003) 35-65.
66. Knowles (Jeremiah, 148)
67. As I mention above, this Jeremianic theme is rooted in the very events of Jeremiah's life as the audience knew them. Gibbs ("Israel," 522-25) suggests that the attention paid to the Gentiles goes right back to the baptism of Jesus and the voice that came from heaven.
68. David R. Bauer (The Structure of Matthew's Gospel: A Study in Literary Design [JSNTSup 31; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1988] 109-28) sees a literary climax in Matt 28:16-20 that reveals the authority of Jesus, the universalism of his message, and the eternal presence of Jesus ("Emmanuel"). He does not accept the idea that a "new covenant" explains the new mission, only that the new mission is understandable as a climax to the earlier indications of Jesus' unfulfilled desires. These desires can be fulfilled only after Jesus has suffered, died, and risen from the dead; therefore, the Gospel can express the climax only in Matt 28:16-20.
69. "Covenant" is almost never mentioned in regard to the passage, and the only scholar who proposes "covenant renewal" as the underlying genre for the passage is Frankemölle (Jahwebund, 43-61).
70. Knowles, Jeremiah, 214 (emphasis in original).
71. LXX Jer 38:34 (my trans.). Knowles (Jeremiah, 211-12) sees a similarity of theme and a "concurrence of significant features of vocabulary."
72. Frankemölle (Jahwebund, 52)
73. finds a tripartite arrangement of the covenant in Matt 28:16-20, though he later says that it could be a five-member covenant structure in accordance with Klaus Baltzer's analysis of Middle Eastern suzerainty treaties (The Covenant Formulary in Old Testament and Early Christian Writings [trans. D. E. Green; Oxford: Blackwell; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1971]).
74. Frankemölle (Jahwebund, 52) calls this part the "Macht des Kyros und Vorgeschichte des Ediktes" plank of the covenant, followed by the "Befehl."
75. Bauer, Structure, 109-28.
76. Leviticus 26:12; Jer 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; 31:1; Ezek 11:20; 36:28; 37:27; 2 Sam 7:24; Isa 51:15-16; Rev 21:3; 2 Cor 6:16; see also Bar 2:35; Jub. 1:17; cf. 2 Apoc. Bar. 86:2.
77. See Whitters, "Testament," 159-60.
78. Baltzer, Covenant Formulary, 97-98.
79. Frankemölle (Jahwebund, 56-61) concurs with Baltzer's analysis.