Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus’ teaching that people will be judged the same way they judge others echoes the Testament of Zebulun, which teaches to not judge unfairly. Both reflect a Jewish interpretive tradition of the Torah that stresses fairness and consistency.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Testament of Zebulun 5:3
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Pseudepigrapha, Testaments
1 Now, my children, I urge you to keep the commands of the Lord, to show mercy to your neighbors, and to have compassion on all, not only on people but also on animals. 2 For all this the Lord blessed me, and when all my brothers were sick, I came through without illness, for the Lord knows the intentions of each person. 3 So have compassion in your hearts, my children, because whatever a person does to his neighbor, the Lord will do the same to him. 4 The sons of my brothers grew sick and were dying because of Joseph, since they showed no mercy in their hearts; but my sons were kept free of sickness, as you know. 5 When I was in the land of Canaan, on the seacoast, I caught fish for my father Jacob; and when many men drowned in the sea, I came through unharmed.
Date: 100 BCE – 100 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 7:2
New Testament
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For by the standard you judge you will be judged, and the measure you use will be the measure you receive. 3 Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to see the beam of wood in your own? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... While Matthew 5:43–48 is in line with the original context of the love command in Leviticus 19:17–18 as it is developed in the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs with regard to the figure of Joseph, Matthew 19:16–22 follows a second option of application, namely, charitable love, as it appears in the Testaments of the 12 Patriarchs, namely, in the Testament(s) of Issachar (and Zebulon). (See especially Testament of Issachar 5.2 and Testament of Zebulon 5.1–8.3) This analogy presents exemplary evidence that Matthew is firmly rooted in early Jewish Torah paraenesis ..."
Matthias Konradt, “The Love Command in Matthew, James, and the Didache,” in Matthew, James, and Didache: Three Related Documents in Their Jewish and Christian Settings, ed. Huub van de Sandt and Jürgen Zangenberg, SymS 45 (Atlanta: SBL, 2008), 271–288.
* 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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