Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches storing treasure in heaven rather than on earth, similar to a tradition found in the Aramaic translation of Genesis 15 in Targum Neofiti, where Abraham is told that his reward for good works is stored for the world to come.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 6:20
New Testament
18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. 19 “Do not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and devouring insect destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and devouring insect do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Neofiti Genesis 15:1
Targum
1 After these things, after all the kingdoms of the earth had gathered together and drawn up battle against Abram, and had fallen before him, and he had killed four kings of them and brought back nine camps, Abram thought in his heart and said, “Woe is me now! Perhaps I have received the reward of the commandments in this world, and there is no portion for me in the world to come. Or perhaps the brothers or the kinsmen of these slain men who fell before me will go and be in their fortified towns and in their cities, and many legions will join up with them, and they will come against me and kill me. Or perhaps there were a few commandments to my credit the first time, when they fell before me, and they stood up for me; or perhaps no commandment will be found to my credit the second time, and the name of Heaven will be profaned through me.” For this reason a word of prophecy came from before the Lord to Abram the righteous, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram; for even though many legions join up and come against you to kill you, my Memra will be a shield for you, and it will be a protection for you in this world. And even though I have handed your enemies over before you in this world, the reward of your good deeds is made ready for you before me in the world to come.” 2 And Abram said, “I entreat you, in mercy from before you, Lord: much you have given me, and much is before you to give me; but I am going from the world without sons, and Eliezer, a son of my house, by whose hands miracles were done for me in Damascus, will be my heir.” 3 And Abram said, “Look, to me you have not given sons, and look, a son of my house will be my heir.”
Date: 300–600 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... In the Gospels we find repeated references to good works and bad works. These terms, occurring neither in the Hebrew nor Greek Old Testament, are extremely common right through the Palestinian Targums of the Pentateuch. We have already cited Palestinian Targum Genesis 4:7. The works of the generation of the flood were evil (Palestinian Targum Genesis 6:3). So were the works of the people of Sodom (Palestinian Targum Genesis 18:21). Abram is told by God to serve before him in truth and be perfect in good works (Genesis 17:7, Neofiti). God reassured him that the reward of his good works was exceeding great, and kept and prepared before God in his favour for the world to come (Palestinian Targum Genesis 15:1) ..."
Martin McNamara, Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 198.
* 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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