Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus uses Psalm 8 to show that children’s cries in the temple are genuine praise. The psalm celebrates God’s power shown through the weak, and Matthew follows the Greek translation that changes the word “strength” to “praise.”
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Psalm 8:3
Septuagint
2 O Lord, our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth, because your magnificence was lifted up far above the heavens. 3 From the mouth of infants and nursing babies you created praise, on account of your enemies, to destroy the enemy and the avenger. 4 Because I will see the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you laid down. 5 What is a mana that you remember him? Or a son of a man that you observe him?
Matthew 21:16
New Testament
14 The blind and lame came to him in the temple courts, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the experts in the law saw the wonderful things he did and heard the children crying out in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they became indignant 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and spent the night there. 18 Now early in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry.
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Notes and References
"... In all likelihood, Matthew’s insertion of material related to Psalm 8:2 stemmed from his understanding of children’s open receptiveness to spiritual concepts. Earlier in the Gospel he reveals this inclination with the statement, “At that time Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent’” referring to the scribes and chief priests, “and have revealed them to infants.” (Matthew 11:25, but see also 10:42 and 18:3–5). Frequently in the literature on Matthew 21:16, scholars eagerly note that Jesus’ words depend on the Septuagint’s rendition of the Hebrew Bible. Instead of an expected Greek equivalent to the Hebrew זֹע, such as δύναμις, indicating “strength” or “power,” Matthew chooses the word αἶνος, representing “praise.” Although it apparently deviates from a plain reading of the Hebrew text, it is nevertheless in line with the later Reed Sea tradition that recognizes praise stemming from the lips of the young ones ..."
Emanuel, David
"Matthew 21:16: 'From the Lips of Infants and Babes' - The Interpretation of Psalm 8:2 in Matthew 21:16" in Notley, R. Steven (ed.) The Gospels in First-Century Judaea: Proceedings of the Inaugural Conference of Nyack College’s Graduate Program in Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins
(pp. 44-57) Brill, 2016
* 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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