Texts in Conversation
Proverbs 29 says that pride brings a person low while humility brings honor. Jesus restates this reversal almost exactly in Matthew, reshaping the saying into a verdict on those who fight over seats of honor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Proverbs 29:23
Hebrew Bible
21 If someone pampers his servant from youth,he will be a weakling in the end. 22 An angry person stirs up dissension,and a wrathful person is abounding in transgression. 23 A person’s pride will bring him low, but one who has a lowly spirit will gain honor. 24 Whoever shares with a thief is his own enemy; he hears the oath to testify, but does not talk. 25 The fear of people becomes a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high.
Matthew 23:12
New Testament
10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
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Notes and References
"... The sense that one who is overly ambitious will come to an inevitable fall reflects prior biblical teaching, especially in Isaiah 2:17 and Proverbs 29:23 (as well as Matthew 23:5-12 about which more will be said later). Important here is the role of humility as articulated by Hillel. Humility along the path of Torah study is essential. Paradoxically, one can only aspire to the virtue and learning of Hillel by resolutely putting aside one’s own desire for fame and glory. Learning Torah and growing in the virtues that emerge from that practice is enough to put one on this path. ..."
Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Daniel
The More Torah, the More Life: A Christian Commentary on Mishnah Avot
(p. 97) Peeters, 2018
* 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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