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Separation and Identity: Aspects of the Symbolic World of Matt 6.1–18
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2009
Extract
A salient feature of the so-called cult-didache in Matt 6.1–18 is its concern for typically Jewish forms of piety. Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are discussed in a way which to many commentators suggests an inner-Jewish debate. The provenance of the section would be a reform movement within Judaism with few distinctive Christian emphases. In contrast to this line of interpretation, it will be argued that the traditional cultic section as well as its redaction and incorporation into the Sermon on the Mount belong in a community which had broken its ties with Judaism decisively on a practical level. The community still adhered to the religious symbols of Judaism, but these symbols were filled with new meanings and were designed to legitimate what was basically a rather different symbolic world.
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1 See nowBetz, H. D., Synoptische Studien: Gesammelte Aufsätze 2 (Tübingen: Mohr, 1992)Google Scholar.
2 Overman, J. A., Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism: The Social World of the Matthean Community (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1990). The main thesis is put forward in the introduction, pp. 1–5Google Scholar.
3 The three-world model is expounded in a forthcoming article (ANRW II 26.4) by M. Myllykoski and myself entitled ‘Text, Ideology and Concrete Reality in the Gospels: A Three-World Model for Hermeneutical Exegesis’. A briefer account is found in my article ‘The Gospel in Paradigms: A Study in the Hermeneutical Space of Luke-Acts’, in:Luomanen, P. (ed.), Luke-Acts: Scandinavian Perspectives (PFES 54; Helsinki: The Finnish Exegetical Society/Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1991) 36–57Google Scholar. Combining literary and real-life (sociological and other) approaches into a hermeneutically orientated sociology-of-knowledge framework, the model has common roots with the ‘social world’ research which is now applied to the synoptics by Esler (Luke), Overman (Matthew) and others. However, the three-world model is selective in its use of sociological (as well as literary) theory because it is more concerned with hermeneutical phenomena.
4 A typical literary-critical understanding of reality in terms of two worlds is articulated in Scholes, R. and Kellogg, R., The Nature of Narrative (New York/London: Oxford University, 1966) 82Google Scholar: ‘Meaning, in a work of narrative art, is a function of the relationship between two worlds: the fictional world created by the author and the “real” world, the apprehendable universe.’
5 See Berger, P. and Luckmann, Th., The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (London: Allen Lane, 1967) 18–19Google Scholar.
6 This definition of ‘text world’ implies several theoretical considerations. (1) The concept of ‘text world’ presupposes the objectivation of the text as a literary entity. The reader perceives the text as separate from its author; hence s/he finds that ‘it is said’ in the text or (with stronger objectivation) that ‘the text says’ something. In either case it is not the author but an anonymous ‘it’ or the personified ‘text’ who is speaking. The author's purpose is not included in the text world, it belongs to the symbolic level. (2) The objectivation of the text world presupposes more than linguistic competence: in order to understand the text world of the cultic section the reader must know what a synagogue is or how ironical devices work. (3) The ‘what’ and ‘how’ aspects of the text world refer to the concrete world and the symbolic world, respectively, being indicative of the text's layered representational structure.
7 It is widely acknowledged that v. 1 is Matthew's creation; see Hendrickx, H., The Sermon on the Mount (London: Chapman, rev. ed. 1984) 102–3Google Scholar; Luz, U., Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (EKK1/1; Zürich etc.: Benziger/Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1985) 321Google Scholar.
8 Strecker, G.. Die Bergpredigt: Ein exegetischer Kommentar (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1984) 102Google Scholar, 108–9 regards vv. 7–8 as a pre-Matthean insertion. This is unlikely, because the structure of w. 7–13 is similar to the three subsections of the cultic section (statement of the cultic act; prohibition of its improper performance; instruction in its proper performance). The structural similarity suggests that the redactor modelled his insertion on the cultic section. Strecker points out that vv. 7–8 contain several hapax legomena, but his observation provides no proof for his compositional hypothesis. Matthew may well have used traditional material in w. 7–8 (as he certainly did in w. 9–13) when inserting w. 7–15 into the cultic section.
9 H. D. Betz, ‘A Jewish-Christian Cultic Didache in Matt. 6:1–18’: Reflections and Questions on the Problem of the Historical Jesus’, in: idem, Essays in the Sermon on the Mount (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1985) 55–69. The German original of the article is reprinted in Synoptische Studien, 127–39.
10 Luz, Rightly, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus, 323Google Scholar(notes 27, 28) and 326 (notes 59, 60).
11 The reference to street-corners possibly presupposes the practice of praying three times a day; the midday prayer was conducted wherever one happened to be at noon. In that case the example was well chosen to describe pious (or ‘hypocritical’) behaviour, for the practice was hardly observed so scrupulously by the whole Jewish community.
12 Schenk, W., Die Sprache des Matthäus: Die Text-Konstituenten in ihren makro- und mikrostrukturellen Relationen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987) 52–3Google Scholartakes the verb νηστεύειν to mean ‘ein Hungerleiden… der verfolgten Gemeinde'’; he further infers that Matthew nowhere speaks of a Christian fasting practice. However, the context with alms-giving and prayer determines the meaning of νηστεύειν quite unequivocally as a cultic action rather than starving. A technical meaning (voluntary abstinence for religious reasons) is also clear at Matt 4.2 (after 40 days of fasting Jesus eventually starved) and 9.14–15 (different fasting practices are discussed).
13 For hortatory wisdom sayings, see Zeller, D., Die weisheitlichen Maknsprüche bei den Synoptikern (FzB 17; Würzburg: Echter, 2nd ed. 1983)Google Scholar. Zeller's criteria for the genre are not very strict, the principal characteristics being imperative/vetitive formulation, closedness of the composition, independence from a particular speaker, addressee or situation, and pregnant style; metaphorical language is usual but not constitutive (pp. 16–20). It is not surprising, on these criteria, that the cultic section appears to be a representative of the genre (pp. 71–4).
14 Brooks, S. H., Matthew's Community: The Evidence from His Special Sayings Material (JSNTS 16; Sheffield: JSOT, 1987) 120Google Scholar.
15 The ‘synagogues’ in the cultic section are buildings, not merely gatherings. The spatial denotation is quite clear since the synagogues are mentioned together with the street-corners (public spaces indoors and outdoors) and are contrasted with an inner room (ιαμεîον). Also Matt 10.17 and 12.9, and 23.34 in particular, give the impression of entering a synagogue building, as does Mark 3.1; rightly Overman, Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism, 61. Kee, H. C., ‘Transformation of the Synagogue after 70 C.E.’, NTS 36 (1990) 1–24CrossRefGoogle Scholar, argues that Luke 7.5 alone in the gospel tradition points unequivocally to a building (p. 17); that is simply not the case. On the whole, Sanders, E. P., Jewish Law from Jesus to the Mishnah: Five Studies (London: SCM/Philadelphia: Trinity, 1990) 77–8Google Scholaris certainly right to conclude that, despite scanty archaeological evidence, ‘most Jewish communities, both in Palestine and in the Diaspora, had synagogues - special buildings used primarily for study and worship, but also for other assemblies’.
16 Thus, e.g., Tilborg, S. van, The Sermon on the Mount as an Ideological Intervention: A Reconstruction of Meaning (Assen/Maastricht-Wolfeboro: Van Gorcum, 1986) 94Google Scholar.
17 Consider v. 11: οÙ πάντες… άλλ'οίζδδοτάέ. In Matthew's tradition the honorific name οι μικροί seems to refer to a group which claimed an ecclesiastical authority. The group may have included former Pharisees, charismatic missionaries and others who lived in voluntary poverty; outside this group was a growing number of rank-and-file members and newcomers who had little ideological power. See my interpretation of Matt 18 in the forthcoming joint article (above, n. 3). Roloff, J., ‘Das Kirchenverständnis des Matthäus im Spiegel seiner Gleichnisse’, NTS 38 (1992) 337–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar; 342 has a quite contrary interpretation of οι μικροί, but he too thinks that the principal fronts were the ideological core (wandering charismatics) and the rest of the community (settled people = οι μικροί).
18 There was probably some discussion in the community about the eschatological reward. The tradition in Matt 5.18–19 suggests that observant members will be better off in the coming kingdom, but Matthew's redaction in 5.20 makes another point, stressing that the question is simply one of getting into the kingdom; similarly 7.13–14. Also Matt 20.1–16 urges that all disciples of Jesus will be rewarded equally. In 20.20–3 the possibility of special rewards is not denied, but the whole issue is regarded as a divine secret; that seems to be the general attitude in the cultic section, too.
19 For a basic discussion of internalization, see Berger, and Luckmann, , The Social Construction of Reality, 147–211Google Scholar. A religious group's symbolic universe is an institution-based ‘sub-world’, the internalization of which belongs to secondary socialization (157–66).
20 The strategy of concealment is one source for the anxiety that is seen in Matthew's theology as a whole; see Syreeni, , The Making of the Sermon on the Mount: A Procedural Analysis of Matthew's Redactoral Activity 1 (AASF [Diss.] 44; Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1987) 217–18Google Scholar.
21 Betz, , ‘A Jewish-Christian Cultic Didache’, 61Google Scholar.
22 Betz, , ‘A Jewish-Christian Cultic Didache’, 62Google Scholar.
23 Cf. Sanders, E. P., Paul and Palestinian Judaism: A Comparison of Patterns of Religion (London: SCM, 1977) 107–82Google Scholar.
24 The boundary between doctrine and scheme is not always clear. If one dominant scheme is activated repeatedly in a situation which shapes a group's or an individual's symbolic universe, the scheme may become a doctrine (or firm belief). Ideally, however, a doctrine is marked by generalized (not situation-bound) use and absence (implausibility) of alternative interpretations.
25 That need not be an over-interpretation, for the whole episode is skilfully narrated to lend weight to Aqiba's lesson. The three rabbis speaking before Aqiba flatter their teacher but fail to interpret the meaning of his illness, only Aqiba is able to expound it, well noted by Hammer, R. in his translation of Sifre Dtn (Yale Judaica Series 24; New Haven/London: Yale University, 1986) 405 n. 17Google Scholar. After the threefold praise Aqiba's statement that chastisements are precious sounds alerting; Eliezer sat up and then asked Aqiba to continue. With his well chosen biblical proof text Aqiba did provide a silent praise to his teacher, thus relaxing the narrative tension. A similar narrative device was used in the Sanhedrin passage.
26 In this case the situation is a feature of the text world, but there is no reason why similar situations might not have occurred in real life.
27 The publicity scheme of Matt 5.16 is echoed in 1 Peter 2.12 in a situation of persecution. The cultic section also seems to reflect an oppressive situation, but there another scheme is active. One might hypothesize that one reason for the choice of different schemes and, obviously, of different social strategies is that the community of 1 Peter had better self-confidence or was a higher grid group than the pre-Matthean community.
28 See E.Schweizer, ‘“Der Jude im Verborgenen…, dessen Lob nicht von Menschen, sondern von Gott kommt”: Zu Röm 2.38f und Mt 6.1–18’, in: idem, Matthaus und seine Gemeinde (SBS 71; Stuttgart: KBW, 1974) 86–97. Schweizer rightly observes that Matthew and Paul draw on similar traditions.
29 Räisänen, H., Paul and the Law (WUNT 29; Tübingen: Mohr, 2nd ed. 1987) 76Google Scholar.
30 Consider Paul's emphatic statement in Rom 3.31. Räisänen (Paul and the Law, 71) remarks that ‘the puzzling brevity of Paul's statement serves to conceal… the radical nature of his actual position’
31 In fact the ‘synagogue’ appears nowhere in the New Testament as a positive, theologically pregnant symbol. In Luke-Acts as well as in John, it is a neutral term designating the Jewish institution. A typical example is John 18.20: the synagogue and the temple are the places ‘where all Jews come together’. Matthew frequently speaks, slightly polemically, of ‘their’ synagogue(s) (4.23; 9.35; 10.17; 13.54) and once of ‘your’ synagogues (23.34). In Rev 2.9 and 3.9 a strong pejorative use of term is evident (συναγωγη τοû σατανα). The only reference to a (Jewish) Christian synagogue in Jas 2.2 conveys no symbolic overtones. It is interesting that in Matt 16.18 and 18.17 the corresponding term for the Christian community, τ έĸĸλησία, is used. One may ask why that term is absent from the cultic section while the synagogues are mentioned. Obviously τσυναγωτ and τĸĸλησία were not really twin terms. ‘The synagogue’, while being negatively coloured, was basically a concrete entity while έκκλησία was a more ideological term for the ‘church’ of Christ. In addition, the absence of the specific Christian term may be another sign of the concealment of actual differences. Even though v. 6 seems explicit in contrasting the synagogues with the ‘innermost room’, the latter reference is somewhat metaphorical (the community's meeting-place was hardly called raneiov - note also the singular σύ/σО and the implication that no meeting is taking place); once again the choice of words avoids taking up the concrete circumstances.
32 Consider the possibility that an author's or a group's symbolic universe is radically changed after the completion of a document.
33 Luz, , Das Euangelium nach Matthäus, 322Google Scholar, finds the authenticity of the cultic section a feasible option, admitting that a later compilation by ‘a very talented Jewish Christian teacher’ in an intra muros debate is not excluded. His arguments for authenticity are in part stylistic (use of hyperboles, second person singular), in part ideological (absence of christology; no interest in the community's cultic activities). However, the hyperbolic language and the avoidance of clear references to the community's actual situation can be understood otherwise, as I am arguing. Nor should we expect explicit christology in a section whose main purpose is to defend the plausibility of the community's life in terms of Jewish honour codes; in this respect the prophetic µν λέγω ὑμίν formula provides a hint of the underlying conviction. On the whole it is the thematic idea and the three-part structure that should alert anyone opting for full-scale authenticity. It is another thing that some individual sayings such as v. 3b may claim authenticity; see Chr. Dietzfelbinger, , ‘Die Frömmigkeitsregeln in Mt 6.1–18 als Zeugnisse frühchristlicher Geschichte’, ZNW 75 (1984) 184–210CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
34 Das wahre Israel: Studien zur Theologie des Matthäusevangeliums (München: Kaiser, 3rd ed. 1964)Google Scholar.
35 The sections following Matt 6.1–18 show that the redactor's main theme is true devotion to God, which he contrasts with serving mammon (6.24) and worrying about earthly needs (6.25–34). In this light the contrast ‘before men/before God’ in Matthew's redaction of 6.1–18 does not underline the idea of secrecy; the contrast is instead an ethical one between earthly and heavenly values.
36 Guelich, R. A., The Sermon on the Mount: A Foundation for Understanding (Waco, Texas: Word, 1982) 301Google Scholar. Matt 6.1, particularly the concluding είδ μή γε clause, may have contributed to the interpretation that the cultic section is based on an ideology which denies a future reward to those who happen to expose their righteousness in public. However, Matthew's warning is against adopting the hypocritical aim (πρòς τò θεαθναι) rather than against showing one's righteousness (cf. 5.16). The negative ending of the verse is typical of Matthew's style; similar warnings occur throughout the sermon (5.20; 6.15, 23; 7.14, 26–7).
37 Thus Overman, , Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism, 5Google Scholar.
38 The quoted words are used by Overman, , Matthew's Gospel and Formative Judaism, 3Google Scholar(original emphasis) to describe ‘formative Judaism’. Later (p. 35) he explains that ‘[t]his term emphasizes the fluid nature of Judaism in this [post–70] period, as well as the fact that for some time Judaism was in the process of becoming, that is, of consolidating, organizing, and obtaining a structure to ensure its existence.’
39 There is presumably more than a literary relationship between Matthew's Gospel and the Didache. Both documents belong to a predominantly Jewish Christian community where, among other common features, a trinitarian baptismal formula was used (Matt 2819/ Did 7.1); the virtues of being πραὑς, (Matt 5.5; 11.29/Did 3.7) and πραὑς, (Matt 5.5; 11.29/Did 3.7) and (Matt 5.48; 19.21/Did 1.4; 6.2) were appreciated; wandering prophets caused problems (Matt 7.15–20/Did 11.7–12); and the non-hierarchic correctio fraterna was considered the primary means of church discipline (Matt 18.15–18/Did 15.3). The possibility, or rather likelihood, of a trajectory from Matthew to the Didache means that the following discussion has a tradition-historical dimension, too, which justifies the question of what has ‘changed’ in the Didache vis-à-vis Matthew. However, since we are probably dealing with two different communities, the entity which has undergone changes is rather abstract, namely the symbolic universe of a branch of the Syrian church.
40 The verb έκέλενσεν. is sometimes considered to favour a reference to oral tradition (viva vox evangelii); see K. Niederwimmer, Die Didache (KAV; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1989) 168 (n. 6). This may be correct insofar as the 'oral sensibility* and ‘repressed literacy’ of the Didache is concerned; see Henderson, I. A., ‘Didache and Orality in Synoptic Comparison’, JBL 111 (1992) 283–306Google Scholar. The document's attitude toward orality and literacy is a hermeneutical issue. It is to be distinguished from the source-critical question of its dependence on Matthew. The Didachist and his readers must have been aware that the ‘gospel’ where Jesus gave this particular teaching is Matthew's Gospel; yet the oral sensibility tends to repress the notion of a written source. A similar hermeneutical ambiguity is present in Matthew: the evangelist does not indicate directly that the binding teaching of Jesus (Matt 28.19) is written in his very gospel.
41 Niederwimmer, , Die Didache, 165–6Google Scholar.
42 Another instructive parallel text to be compared with the cultic section is the Gospel of Thomas. In log. 14 fasting, prayer and almsgiving together with dietary rules are rejected expressis verbis as unnecessary, even harmful. Also in log. 6, which possibly belonged together with 14 at a pre-redactional stage, Jesus is annulling these Jewish practices (‘do not do what you hate’) rather than telling how they are properly observed. In log. 104 Jesus rejects fasting as inappropriate to one who has not sinned. Despite these explicit negative statements, the GospThom appreciates Jewish observances metaphorically. Log. 27 speaks of ‘fasting to (= as regards) the world' and ofkeeping the sabbath as a sabbath’ as necessary for anyone entering the kingdom. Obviously fasting and observing the sabbath are to be understood as metaphorically referring to the group's ascetic way of life. Log. 53 criticizes the practice of circumcision, but then surprisingly a spiritual circumcision is recommended. It seems that the GospThom is not really in debt to Jewish honour codes. Its metaphorical language concerning fasting, sabbath and circumcision is an instance of secondary metaphorizing, which is hermeneutically distinct from a primary use of metaphors. Primary and secondary metaphors may be quite similar in appearance - for example, the metaphorical interpretation of circumcision in Paul and in Justin (Dial 113) - but there is a substantial difference in terms of hermeneutical dynamics. In primary use of metaphors the tenor cannot be expressed except through the metaphorical vehicle. In secondary use the vehicle is optional, decorative or rationalizing; being a mere rhetorical device it does not indicate a hermeneutical commitment.