O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...
O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ... O'Donoghue MTh_Thesis-FinalCopy.pdf - South African Theological ...
the field,” would then ‘balance, “birds of the air (Hill 1977:144).”Fleming (Date unknown: 68) is more specific and says that the lilies Jesus refers tothe very beautiful Huleh Lilies. How he arrives at this conclusion is not clear. Bymaking a reference to lilies and then to grass, it seem best to accept lilies of the fieldas the generic for wild vegetation found in Galilee (France 1985: 141).Jesus makes the point that not even Solomon was arrayed like one of these flowers(Matt.6:29). Scholars are in dispute as to whether this reference to Solomon is apositive or negative one. Solomon is well known for governing Israel during a time ofabundant financial prosperity, Gerard von Rad notes the reign of Solomon was a“high point” in both Israel’s “culture and commerce (Longman & Enns 2008:734).”Solomon was seen to the Jewish audience as the “foremost example of human glory(Lioy 2004:171).” That Jesus makes reference to Solomon arrayed in all his glory itappears like Jesus is masking a positive reference to the way Solomon could dress(Matt.6:29).However as already noted Solomon is not always portrayed in a positive light and soit is worth exploring the idea that the reference to Solomon may be negative innature. While he is shown as a King who ruled over a prosperous age in Israel’shistory, he is also seen as a King whose (a) Integrity was at times in doubt and, (b)eventually ended up as an apostate (Provan 2000:788).Further Carter (2000:179) shows that references to Solomon in Matthew up to thispoint in the Gospel are negative ones. He argues so for the following reasons:a) Every time (13 times before this one) the phrase “Yet I say to you” appears itintroduces a “contrast.”b) Matthew 1:6-7 presents Solomon in a negative light.c) Jesus uses the personal pronoun “his” which shows that Solomon was preoccupiedwith his own glory. The OT paints a picture of Solomon, a king whogains wealth not by trusting God, but by using “military conscription, forcedlabour, requisitioned property, heavy taxation and slavery (p.178).”59
Perhaps the point is not to cast Solomon the man in a positive light, and perhaps it isnot to cast Solomon in a bad light. The point could be that even Solomon (regardlessof his moral disposition) in his glory and splendour can’t compare to how God clothesthe flowers of the field.Jesus again asking a rhetorical question: that is if God so clothes grass of the fieldwill He not much more clothe his disciples, which he refers to “O you of little faith(Matt.6:30).” The term “little faith,” is used five times in Matthew and denotes a lackof trust in “ the extent of Jesus authority (Brown 2002: 103-106).”In this instance it is a lack of trust for Jesus to provide for daily necessities (Brown2002:106). By Jesus using the term “little faith,” He is not stating that the discipleshave a complete lack of faith, but rather that their faith is “inadequate.” Thus adisciple’s worry shows that the disciple has “little faith (France 1985:141).”5.2.2 Part Two – Matthew 6:31-33Part two of Matthew 6:25-34 is found in Matthew 6:31-33 (Talbert 2006:126). It ismade up of a prohibition, two reasons for the prohibition, a command and a promise.The prohibition is found in verse 31. Here Jesus instructs His disciples not to worryabout the questions of what they will eat or drink or wear.The first reason related to the prohibition is found in verse 32a where Jesus notesthat Gentiles seek these kinds of things (Talbert 2006:126). Jesus is clearly puttingforward Gentile behaviour as something to be avoided. Gentile is translated fromethnos and is used in several ways through out Matthew’s gospel, (Saldarini1994:78). Firstly, it is used as a “descriptive word for non-Jews.” When used assuch the attitude of the text towards Gentiles is not negative (p.79-80). Thus this isnot what Christ is referring to.Secondly, ethne is used at times to refer to both Jewish and non-Jewish people(Saldarini 1994: 80). When used as such ethne can be translated as nations. Anation could be any “established people.” Matthew at times uses the word to refer to60
- Page 15 and 16: NT text actually did occur and did
- Page 17 and 18: to have used it as a source (France
- Page 19 and 20: almost no evidence outside of the N
- Page 21 and 22: addressed.Jesus says things in the
- Page 23 and 24: The Jewish community was taxed very
- Page 25 and 26: finding the origin and purpose of M
- Page 27: instruction for the believing commu
- Page 31 and 32: Matthew will have continued pertine
- Page 33 and 34: Chapter 3Literary Analysis - Struct
- Page 35 and 36: etween 6:19-24 and 7:1-11 that is c
- Page 37 and 38: would not have ever found such a li
- Page 39 and 40: and 7:7-11 are worth noting:a) Both
- Page 41 and 42: appealing. He seems to at times ack
- Page 43 and 44: three parts.While the literary appr
- Page 45 and 46: Chapter 4Literary Analysis - Matthe
- Page 47 and 48: common to a teacher like Jesus woul
- Page 49 and 50: treasures would be, but agrees that
- Page 51 and 52: Blomberg (1992:123) shows that the
- Page 53 and 54: Talbert (2006:122) argues this by r
- Page 55 and 56: for God’s kingdom, it is in a bad
- Page 57 and 58: The statement that one cannot serve
- Page 59 and 60: Chapter FiveLiterary Analysis - Mat
- Page 61 and 62: Moses. Even more significant is tha
- Page 63 and 64: ightly notes that humans are more v
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- Page 69 and 70: The second reason related to this p
- Page 71 and 72: the scriptures that even the great
- Page 73 and 74: more than what one eats and wears.
- Page 75 and 76: CHAPTER SIXTHEOLOGICAL MOTIFS OF MA
- Page 77 and 78: 6:19-34 and that this chapter would
- Page 79 and 80: It has now been established that Th
- Page 81 and 82: Kingdom requires its citizens to ha
- Page 83 and 84: “our Father,” i.e. the Father o
- Page 85 and 86: It must be noted that the Father-So
- Page 87 and 88: Matthew 25:31-36 presents Jesus as
- Page 89 and 90: unanimous among scholars. These rea
- Page 91 and 92: Unger and White (1985:171) note tha
- Page 93 and 94: interdependent interpersonal relati
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- Page 97 and 98: Chapter SevenConclusion7.1 Introduc
- Page 99 and 100: the accumulation of wealth over and
- Page 101 and 102: them. The historical analyses highl
- Page 103 and 104: preparedness to give up monetary pu
- Page 105 and 106: e for the benefit of the believing
- Page 107 and 108: captivity to sin. The SOM itself wa
- Page 109 and 110: APPENDIX ONETALBERTS FORMAL DIVISIO
- Page 111 and 112: BIBLIOGRAPHYAchtemeier PJ, Green JB
- Page 113 and 114: Clowney EP 1988. Church. In SB Ferg
- Page 115 and 116: Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishi
Perhaps the point is not to cast Solomon the man in a positive light, and perhaps it isnot to cast Solomon in a bad light. The point could be that even Solomon (regardlessof his moral disposition) in his glory and splendour can’t compare to how God clothesthe flowers of the field.Jesus again asking a rhetorical question: that is if God so clothes grass of the fieldwill He not much more clothe his disciples, which he refers to “O you of little faith(Matt.6:30).” The term “little faith,” is used five times in Matthew and denotes a lackof trust in “ the extent of Jesus authority (Brown 2002: 103-106).”In this instance it is a lack of trust for Jesus to provide for daily necessities (Brown2002:106). By Jesus using the term “little faith,” He is not stating that the discipleshave a complete lack of faith, but rather that their faith is “inadequate.” Thus adisciple’s worry shows that the disciple has “little faith (France 1985:141).”5.2.2 Part Two – Matthew 6:31-33Part two of Matthew 6:25-34 is found in Matthew 6:31-33 (Talbert 2006:126). It ismade up of a prohibition, two reasons for the prohibition, a command and a promise.The prohibition is found in verse 31. Here Jesus instructs His disciples not to worryabout the questions of what they will eat or drink or wear.The first reason related to the prohibition is found in verse 32a where Jesus notesthat Gentiles seek these kinds of things (Talbert 2006:126). Jesus is clearly puttingforward Gentile behaviour as something to be avoided. Gentile is translated fromethnos and is used in several ways through out Matthew’s gospel, (Saldarini1994:78). Firstly, it is used as a “descriptive word for non-Jews.” When used assuch the attitude of the text towards Gentiles is not negative (p.79-80). Thus this isnot what Christ is referring to.Secondly, ethne is used at times to refer to both Jewish and non-Jewish people(Saldarini 1994: 80). When used as such ethne can be translated as nations. Anation could be any “established people.” Matthew at times uses the word to refer to60
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