Texts in Conversation
Jesus in Matthew 26 warns that those who use the sword will die by it, using language similar to the Aramaic translation of Isaiah 50 in Targum Jonathan, where those who use the sword also die by the sword. This suggests that Matthew was influenced by an Aramaic tradition later preserved in the Targum.
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Matthew 26:52
New Testament
50 Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you are here to do.” Then they came and took hold of Jesus and arrested him. 51 But one of those with Jesus grabbed his sword, drew it out, and struck the high priest’s slave, cutting off his ear. 52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back in its place! For all who take hold of the sword will die by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father and that he would send me more than 12 legions of angels right now?
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Jonathan Isaiah 50:11
Targum
11 The nations answered and said to him: O our Lord! it is not possible for us to occupy ourselves with the law; because we continually wage war against each other, and when we gain the vic tory one over the other, we bum their houses with fire, and bring their children and their treasures into captivity, and in this manner our days are spent; thus it is impossible for us to occupy our selves with the law. The Holy One, blessed be He, answered and said unto them: Behold, all of you who stir up a fire, and lay hold on the sword; go ye, fall into the fire which ye have stirred up, and by the sword, which ye have laid hold on. This shall be unto you from my Word, ye shall turn to your destruction.
Date: 200-300 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... 'All those who grasp a sword will perish by a sword' (Matthew 26:52): the sword, like the measure (see below), seems to have been a proverbial figure. In Targum Isaiah 50:11, it is applied quite graphically: 'Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who grasp a sword! Go, fall in the fire which you kindled and on the sword which you grasped!' A link to the passage in Isaiah (or any passage of Scripture) cannot be demonstrated in Jesus' saying, so the correspondence seems to be of the proverbial type, like the saying about the measure. Nonetheless, the close agreement in wording and imagery makes this a comparison of the first type ..."
Chilton, Bruce
"From Aramaic Paraphrase to Greek Testament" in Evans, Craig A. (ed.) From Prophecy to Testament: The Function of the Old Testament in the New
(pp. 23-43) Hendrickson Publishers, 2004
* 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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