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In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches what is known as the Golden Rule, as does Tobit. Tobit uses the negative form, teaching to do no harm, and Jesus uses the positive form, teaching to do acts of kindness.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 4:15
Deuterocanon
14 Do not let the wages of any man, which shall work for you, stay with you, but render it to him out of hand: and if you serve God, recompense shall be made to you. Take heed to yourself, my child, in all your works, and be discreet in all your behaviour. 15 And what you yourself hate, do to no man. Do not drink wine to drunkenness, and do not let drunkenness go with you on your way. 16 Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your garments to them that are naked: of all your abundance give alms; and do not let your eye be grudging when you give alms. 17 Pour out your bread and your wine on the tomb of the just, and do not give to sinners.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 7:12
New Testament
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Is there anyone among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Although this maxim was found throughout the ancient world (see Moore 1996: 178–180), this most probably reflects the teachings of Hillel B. Shabb. 31a, who called this maxim the “whole Law.” [The Gospels] turns the phrase around to the positive, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The negative rendering means “avoid doing harm to others,” and that harm is defined by what you would not want done to you. The positive statement implies the active practice of good deeds, and those good deeds are defined as what you would want done to you ..."
Robert J. Littman, Tobit: The Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 93.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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