daved@westford.ccur.com (508-392-2990) (08/06/90)
What do folks make of the fact that Matthew 27:10 attributes to Jeremiah something not in OT canon? The context is Judas hanging himself, and the 'chief priests' decision to purchase a field with the money he had thrown back at them. I came across this last week while reading a book by Irenaeus (d. 202 or so); he and Justin Martyr suggest that the passages were taken out of the text of Jeremiah by 1st century Jews, as part of anti-Christian efforts. This suggestion sounds ridiculous to my ears. The notes in my NAB suggest that the text echoes Jeremiah's figures of a potter and the potter's flask, and also some passages from Zacariah (whom Matthew does not here mention) concerning thirty pieces of silver. But calling this a "free translation" (as the notes do) seems overly generous. One doesn't immediately have to say: "Matthew got it wrong." But, from what I've seen so far, I can't rule this out. Dave Davis [In the NRSV, there's a footnote on this passage saying 'Other ancient authorities read "Zechariah" or "Isaiah"'. The suggestion that the passage was removed from Jer. by Jews sounds, shall we say, ad hoc. You'd have to assume that the removers managed to get to all copies of both the Hebrew original and the translations, including those in Christian hands. This may not completely solve the problem, but remember that NT Greek doesn't have quotation marks. --clh]
cms@dragon.uucp (08/08/90)
In article <Aug.5.20.54.56.1990.18057@athos.rutgers.edu>, daved@westford.ccur.com (508-392-2990) writes: > What do folks make of the fact that Matthew 27:10 > attributes to Jeremiah something not in OT canon? > The context is Judas hanging himself, and the 'chief priests' > decision to purchase a field with the money he had thrown back at > them. > > The notes in my NAB suggest that the text echoes Jeremiah's figures > of a potter and the potter's flask, and also some passages from > Zacariah (whom Matthew does not here mention) concerning thirty pieces > of silver. But calling this a "free translation" (as the notes do) > seems overly generous. I looked this up in my NAB notes. The original NAB notes refer to Matthew's "free citation of Jer 18, 2f; 19, 1f; 32, 6-15 and Zec 11, 13 show that he regards Judas' death as a divine judgment." My NAB w/Revise NT has it that Matthew combines the Jeremiah text with the Zechariah text. I recall reading in an unrelated matter that NT authors, like their Talmudic counterparts, occasionally cite Scripture out of context, knowingly and deliberately, to gather wisdom unrelated to the original; my source said it was a fairly common practice among Jews, Christians, and even adherents of foreign religions (I recall the example given was the Aeneid, from which Romans plucked equally out-of-context "bits of wisdom." Indeed, it's a fairly common practice today (people do it with Shakespeare, too, for example). I wonder if there is any sense in equating "Judas" with "Y'hudah" or "Judah." As in Matthew 2:6, "And you, Beit-Lechem (Bethlehem) in the land of Y'hudah (Judah, Judea), are by no means the least among the rulers of Y'hudah; for from you will come a Ruler who will shepherd my people Israel." The passage in question says: "When Y'hudah (Judas), who had betrayed him, saw that Yeshua (Jesus) had been condemned, he was siezed with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver coins to the head cohanim (priests) and elders, saying 'I sinned in betraying an innocent man to death.' 'What is that to us?' they answered. 'That is your problem.' Hurling the pieces of silver into the sanctuary, he left; then he went off and hanged himself. The head cohanim took the silver coins and said, 'It is prohibited to put this into the Temple treasury, because it is blood money.' So they decided to use it to buy the potter's field as a cemetary for foreigners. This is how it came to be called the Field of Blood, a name it still bears. Then what Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) the prophet spoke was fulfilled, And they took the thirty silver coins, which was the price the people of Israel had agreed to pay for him, and used them to buy the potter's field, just as the Lord directed me." Jeremiah 18:4, "Rise up, be off to the potter's house; there I will give you my message. I went down to the potter's house and there he was, working at the wheel." It goes on to say how God shapes Israel as the potter shapes the clay. Verse 11, "And now, tell this to the men of Y'hudah (Judah) and the citizens of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Take care! I am fashioning evil against you and making a plan. Return, each of you, from his evil way; reform your ways and your deeds. But they will say, 'No use! We will follow our own devices; each one of us will behave according to the stubbornness of his evil heart!'" It seems to me that Y'hudah (Judas) is being equated with Y'hudah (Judah) to represent all of Judah, which/who condemned Jesus to death. In this sense, Y'hudah (Judah) is a play on words on the name of Y'hudah (Judas). This isn't unknown in either the Old or New Testament, for example, Yeshua is the name of Jesus, whereas yeshu'ah is a word meaning "salvation" or "saving justice." In the second chapter of Luke, verse 29, "Now, Adonai (Lord), according to your word, your servant is at peace as you let him go; for I have seen with my own eyes your yeshu'ah, which you prepared in the presence of all peoples -- a light that will bring revelation to the Goyim (Gentiles, nations) and glory to your people Israel." It's lost in the translation. Also, Jeremiah 32 speaks of purchasing the field, and in verse 12, refers to the "witnesses who had signed the deed, and before all the men of Judah who happened to be in the quarters of the guard." As offhand speculation, there may be some kind of implication regarding the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, giving the Samaritans greater prominence. Jesus's remarks about going first to the lost house of Israel, then later conversing with the Samaritan woman, are cases in point. Idle speculation; I'm probably reading too much into the text. 19, 1-3 speaks of buying the potter's earthen flask, taking priests and elders to the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to the Potsherd Gate, and then "Listen to the word of the LORD, kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: I am going to bring such evil upon this place that all who hear of it will feel their ears tingle. This is because they have forsaken me and alienated this place by burning in it incense to strange gods which neither they nor their fathers knew; and the kings of Y'hudah (Judah) have filled this place with the blood of the innocent." Zechariah 11:12, for what it's worth, says: "I said to them, 'If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, let it go." And they counted out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. But the LORD said to me, 'Throw it in the treasury, the handsome price at which they valued me.' So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the LORD. Then I snapped asunded my other staff, 'Bonds,' breaking off the brotherhood between Judah and Israel." It goes on about the false shepherd. > Dave Davis My first step in independent scholarship may be a flop. Corrections welcome. -- Sincerely, Cindy Smith _///_ // SPAWN OF A JEWISH _///_ // _///_ // <`)= _<< CARPENTER _///_ //<`)= _<< <`)= _<< _///_ // \\\ \\ \\ _\\\_ <`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ <`)= _<< >IXOYE=('> \\\ \\ \\\ \\_///_ // // /// _///_ // _///_ // emory!dragon!cms <`)= _<< _///_ // <`)= _<< <`)= _<< \\\ \\<`)= _<< \\\ \\ \\\ \\ GO AGAINST THE FLOW! \\\ \\ A Real Live Catholic in Georgia