Texts in Conversation
Matthew 22:13 depicts the condemned being cast into outer darkness, echoing traditional language also found in the Wisdom of Solomon where the unrighteous are described as captives of darkness and prisoners of a long night.
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Wisdom of Solomon 17:2
Deuterocanon
1 Great are your judgments and hard to describe; therefore uninstructed souls have gone astray. 2 For when lawless people supposed that they held the holy nation in their power, they themselves lay as captives of darkness and prisoners of long night, shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence. 3 For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness, they were scattered, terribly alarmed, and appalled by specters. 4 For not even the inner chamber that held them protected them from fear, but terrifying sounds rang out around them, and dismal phantoms with gloomy faces appeared.
Date: 100-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Matthew 22:13
New Testament
11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. 13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.” 15 Then the Pharisees went out and planned together to entrap him with his own words.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Darkness is a symbol employed throughout scripture, with a great diversity of significations. In this context the following should be kept in mind: the person who sins blinds himself and in turn is imprisoned in darkness. “You shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways” (Deuteronomy 28:29). Darkness of mind and heart can stem from human beings who inflict it upon themselves, but God can also withhold illumination as a form of warning, perhaps in order to invite repentance: “that thou shouldst have broken us in the place of jackals, / and covered us with deep darkness” (Psalm 44:19). The symbol of darkness is also employed to signify the threat of death and nothingness: “Before I go whence I shall not return, / to the land of gloom and deep darkness” (Job 10:21). Wisdom of Solomon 17:2–3 contains an especially profound recollection in this respect. The Egyptians sought to hide themselves from the light of God, taking their own counsel as the most ultimate light to guide their behavior. But in doing so, they darkened their own intellects and lived in separation or alienation from the true light that saves ..."
* 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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