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Matthew

About this book
Chapter 16

1 Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’⁠ 3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.⁠ 4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away. 5 When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” 8 When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000, and how many baskets you took up? 10 Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? 11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 13 When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”⁠ 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”⁠ 17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.⁠ 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.⁠ Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”⁠ 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. 21 From that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed and on the third day be raised. 22 So Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him: “God forbid, Lord! This must not happen to you!” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.⁠ 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. 26 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life?⁠ Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?⁠ 27 For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.⁠ 28 I tell you the truth, there are some standing here who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare 2 Enoch 42:1 and Matthew 16:18

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · New Testament

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Summary

Matthew 16 may reflect an early form of a Jewish tradition about the gates of the underworld that is later echoed in 2 Enoch 42. Both mention these gates as symbolic boundaries connected to divine authority.

Passages

2 Enoch 42:1

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Secrets of Enoch
1 I saw the key-holders and guards of the gates of hell standing, like great serpents, and their faces like extinguished lamps, and their eyes of fire, their sharp teeth. 2 And I said to them, 'I wish I had never seen you. May no one from my family ever come to you.' 3 And I saw a blessed place there, where every creature was blessed and everyone lived in joy and boundless happiness, in eternal life.
1–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Enoch

Matthew 16:18

New Testament
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The means by which the apocalyptic seer descends to the underworld are not usually specified more closely than by saying that an angel took him or her. Although medieval Jewish texts refer to specific entrances to the underworld, as in Greek tradition, these are not used in the tours of hell, nor is there often any reference to obstacles to be passed. Enoch shudders at the sight of the gatekeepers of hell (2 Enoch 42: I). Ezra passes without difficulty, like the righteous dead, the two fiery lions who guard the gates of hell (VisEzra 3). Paul, like Odysseus, has to cross the river Oceanus to reach hell in the far west, but it is not said how he does so (Apocalypse of Paul 31). In the Gedulat Moshe, the fire withdraws before Moses as he enters hell, but when he fears to descend to the abyss of fire and snow, the Shekinah goes before him to protect him from the angels of punishment. The angelic guides (or, in the case of Joshua ben Levi, the prophet Elijah, and, in the apocalypses of the Virgin, Christ himself) are a constant feature of the tours: they lead, guide, explain and answer questions ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Fate of the Dead: Studies on the Jewish and Christian Apocalypses, NovTSup 93 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 36.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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2 Enoch 42:1 and Matthew 16:18

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