Texts in Conversation

Jesus in Matthew and Rabbinic tradition in Ruth Rabbah similarly contrast expectations with a reversal of outcomes. The parable of the workers who receive equal pay, regardless of effort, parallels midrash where the small and great are reversed.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE

Matthew 20:16

New Testament
10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 11 When they received it, they began to complain against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ 13 And the landowner replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give to this last man the same as I gave to you. 15 Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)

Ruth Rabbah 3:1

Aggadah
Rabbinic
That is what the verse said: “Small and great are there; and a servant is free from his master” (Job 3:19) – Rabbi Simon said: This is one of four verses that are similar to one another. “Small and great are there” – in this world, one who is small can become great, and one who is great can become small. But in the future, one who is small cannot become great and one who is great cannot become small. “And a servant is free of his master” – that is, he does the will of his Maker [yotzero], angers his [evil] inclination [yitzro]; when he dies, he goes free, as it is stated: “And a servant is free of his master.” Rabbi Meyasha, grandson of Rabbi Yehoshua, was gravely ill for three days. After three days he recovered. His father said to him: ‘Where have you been?’ He said to him: ‘I was in a chaotic world.’ He said to him: ‘What did you see there?’ He said to him: ‘I saw many people who are respected here and disgraced there.’ When Rabbi Yoḥanan and Reish Lakish heard, they went to visit him. His father said to them: ‘Have you heard what this child said?’ They said to him: ‘What did he say?’ He related the matter to them. Reish Lakish said: ‘Is it not an explicit verse? “So said the Lord God: Remove the mitre, and lift the crown; this shall no longer be; exalt the abased, and abase the exalted”’ (Ezekiel 21:31).
Date: 700-950 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References

#426
"... Myron Bialik Lerner gave in his Hebrew academic dissertation some concrete examples about the stylistic devices in the New Testament and in Midrash Ruth. They concern the good works, the merits which are valid also in the world to come and the evil inclination. There is always the same old literary pattern in both of them. The antithesis between this world and the coming one is expressed as follows ... Matthew shows a similar model too ... a certain extract of the Sermon on the Mount proves that this pattern typical to Amoraic era was used already in the Gospel. Jesus said according to the translation of Lerner that a) every good tree a) bears good fruit, b) but every bad tree b) bears bad fruit and a) a good tree cannot b) bear bad fruit b) nor can a bad tree a) bear a good fruit ..."
Santala, Risto The Midrash of the Messiah: The Messiah and His Meal in Midrash Ruth Chapters 5, 7, and 8 (pp. 170-171) Tummavuoren Kirjapaino Oy, Finland, 2002

* 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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