Texts in Conversation
Sirach teaches that caring for widows and orphans makes one a child of God, showing mercy as God does. In Matthew, Jesus makes the same connection, saying generous love reflects the character of the Father.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 4:10
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
8 Incline your ear to a poor man. Answer him with peaceful words in humility. 9 Deliver him who is wronged from the hand of him who wrongs him; Don’t be hesitant in giving judgment. 10 Be as a father to the fatherless, and like a husband to their mother. So you will be as a son of the Most High, and he will love you more than your mother does. 11 Wisdom exalts her sons, and takes hold of those who seek her. 12 He who loves her loves life. Those who seek her early will be filled with gladness.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 5:45
New Testament
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ and ‘hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors do the same, don’t they? 47 And if you only greet your brothers, what more do you do? Even the Gentiles do the same, don’t they?
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The passage includes traditional Jewish proverbs—the golden rule and the “measure for measure” logion — and conventional Jewish motifs: the good and the bad/wicked, the just and unjust, God as the cause of sun and rain, the righteous as sons of God, (For example, Proverbs 3:12; Jeremiah 3:19; Hosea 11:1; Sirach 4:10; Wisdom of Solomon 2:18; Bava Batra 17b ...) and the imitation of divine attributes. The central part of the Sermon on the Plain also features striking images: someone turning the other cheek, a person going the extra mile, a log jutting from an eye; as well as provocative imperatives: love your enemy, pray for those persecuting you, give away your remaining garment. It further exhibits parallelism, balance, alliteration, and repetition, as one can see ..."
Dale C. Allison Jr., Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, and History (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 375.
* 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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