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In Matthew, Jesus compares a scribe to a homeowner who brings out new and old treasures, to describe the mix of wisdom and new insight. Rabbinic tradition in Leviticus Rabbah similarly connects “new and old” treasures with new meaning and interpretation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 13:52
New Testament
49 It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They replied, “Yes.” 52 Then he said to them, “Therefore every expert in the law who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his treasure what is new and old.” 53 Now when Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Then he came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers?
Leviticus Rabbah 2:11
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Another matter, “to the north [tzafona]…before the Lord,” refers to the actions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which are preserved before Him. From where is it derived that tzafona is an expression of preservation? As it is stated: “New and old as well, I preserved [tzafanti] them for you, my beloved” (Song of Songs 7:14). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are “old,” Amram son of Kehat and all the upright who were in Egypt are “new,” as it is stated: “New and old as well.” The company of Moses, the company of Joshua, the company of David and of Hezekiah – “old.” The company of Ezra, Hillel, Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Meir and his colleagues – “new.” In their regard it says: “Old and new as well.”
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... A midrash in Leviticus Rabbah 2:11 shares the reference to “new and old” with Matthew’s discourse between Jesus and his disciples (Matthew 13:51-52). As part of this discourse a treasure parable was cited: “Therefore, every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of the heavens is like a householder who brings out of his treasure new and old things” (Matthew 13:52). A combination between “new and old” (in this sequence) and a “treasure” also appears in Leviticus Rabbah 2:11, in a passage that is meant to elucidate the term הנופצ in Leviticus 1:11 (“And he shall kill it [the ram] הנופצ before the Lord”. In the first explanation, the expression is associated with the Binding of Isaac in the book of Genesis. Whether the term is already interpreted as derived from ןפצ, “to hide”, meaning “hidden” or “treasured” here, is uncertain but possible, that is, the memory of the Binding of Isaac is “treasured up before God”. In the following alternative interpretation this derivation is obvious ..."
Hezser, Catherine
Finding a Treasure: The Treasure Motif in Jewish, Christian, and Graeco-Roman Narratives in the Context of Rabbinic Halakhah and Roman Law
(pp. 295-325) Mohr Siebeck, 2019
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