Texts in Conversation
Jesus in Matthew 12 echoes a saying from Sirach that compares speech to fruit that shows if a tree is healthy. The image illustrates how language reveals inner character and is used often in Jewish, Rabbinic, and Greco-Roman moral traditions.
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Sirach 27:4
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 Many have committed sin for gain, and those who seek to get rich will avert their eyes. 2 As a stake is driven firmly into a fissure between stones, so sin is wedged in between selling and buying. 3 If a person is not steadfast in the fear of the Lord, his house will be quickly overthrown. 4 When a sieve is shaken, the refuse appears; so do a person's faults when he speaks. 5 The kiln tests the potter's vessels; so the test of a person is in his conversation. 6 Its fruit discloses the cultivation of a tree; so a person's speech discloses the cultivation of his mind. 7 Do not praise anyone before he speaks, for this is the way people are tested.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Matthew 12:33
New Testament
33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35 The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... Evans finds numerous parallels in the rabbinic literature to Matthew 12:34, but this saying is absent from Matthew 7:15-23 and Luke 6:43-45. Betz cites several Greek moral writers as having parallel sayings to Jesus’ proverbs, but most notably, he mentions Aristotle, Aesop, and Diogenes. Noliand also cites Plutarch in his list, “Epict., Diss. 2.20.18-19; Plut., Tranq. an. 13; Mor. 472F; Seneca, Ep. 87.25,” and sees some parallel to Sirach 27:6 and the Testament of Naphtali 2:6. When citing his parallels for Matthew 7, Luz claims that “There are no direct Jewish sources” and he describes Evan and Nolland’s allusion to Sirach 27:6 as only “Somewhat similar.” However, when citing parallels for Matthew 12, Luz sees some parallel to Sirach 27:6 (as does Turner) and the Testament of Naphtali 2:6 ..."
Rothenberg, Ronald M.
A Virtue Ethical View of Trinitarian Sanctification: Jesus’ Roles as Teacher, Example, and Priest
(p. 144) Fontes Press, 2019
* 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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