Texts in Conversation
In Matthew, Jesus tells a wealthy man to give to the poor so that he will have treasure in heaven, following Jewish traditions like Tobit, where charity and generosity are described as saving for the future.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 4:8
Deuterocanon
5 My child, be mindful of the Lord all your days, and do not let your will be set to sin and to transgress his commandments: do acts of righteousness all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of unrighteousness. 6 For if you do the truth, success shall be in your works, and so it shall be to all that do righteousness. 7 Give alms of your substance: do not turn away your face from any poor man, and the face of God shall not be turned away from you, 8 As your substance is, give alms of it according to your abundance: if you have much, according to the abundance of it, give alms; if you have little bestow it, and do not be afraid to give alms according to that little: 9 for you lay up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity: 10 because alms delivers from death, and does not allow one to come into darkness. 11 Alms is a good offering in the sight of the Most High for all that give it.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 19:21
New Testament
16 Now someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?” 17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. 23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The effectiveness of almsgiving expressed through the idiom of laying up or storing treasure is found in Tobit 4:9, Sirach 29:11-12, 1 Timothy 6:19, and Matthew 19:21 ... Note the idioms in First Timothy and Tobit do not refer to a positive afterlife. Although First Timothy, unlike the Book of Tobit, carries a belief in a life after death (e.g., 1 Timothy 1:16 “for everlasting life”), the idiom in 1 Timothy 6:19 echoes the meaning in Tobit 4:9 without explicit mention of afterlife. Thus 1 Timothy 6:19 uses a common cultural idiom in a way that maintains the original meaning despite the different eschatological context. The idiom in First Timothy therefore stands in contrast with the eschatology in Matthew 6:20 and 19:21, both of which refer to “treasure(s) in heaven ..."
Vincent Skemp, “Avenues of Intertextuality between Tobit and the New Testament,” in Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honor of Alexander A. Di Lella, ed. Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp, CBQMS 38 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005), 43–70.
* 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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