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Testament of Gad

Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

About this book
Chapter 6

1 Now, my children, I urge you: let each of you love his brother, put away hatred from your hearts, and love one another in deed, in word, and in the disposition of the soul. 2 In my father's presence I spoke peaceably to Joseph, but once I had gone out, the spirit of hatred darkened my mind and stirred up my soul to kill him. 3 So love one another from the heart; and if someone sins against you, cast out the poison of hatred and speak peaceably to him, holding no dishonesty in your soul; and if he confesses and repents, forgive him. 4 But if he denies it, do not lose your temper with him, or he may catch the poison from you, resort to cursing, and so you sin twice over. 5 Do not let another man hear your private words during a dispute, or he may come to hate you and become your enemy and commit a great sin against you, for often he speaks to you deceitfully or busies himself about you with wicked intent. And if he denies it but shows shame when rebuked, stop rebuking him. 6 For the one who denies it may repent and not wrong you again; he may even honor you, fear, and be at peace with you. And if he is shameless and persists in his wrongdoing, even then forgive him from the heart, and leave the vengeance to God.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Testament of Gad 6:7 and Matthew 18:35

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · New Testament

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Summary

In Matthew 18, Jesus concludes with the command to forgive “from the heart,” an idiom found previously in Jewish tradition in the Testament of Gad, which also emphasizes that forgiveness must be sincere rather than superficial.

Passages

Testament of Gad 6:7

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
5 Do not let another man hear your private words during a dispute, or he may come to hate you and become your enemy and commit a great sin against you, for often he speaks to you deceitfully or busies himself about you with wicked intent. And if he denies it but shows shame when rebuked, stop rebuking him. 6 For the one who denies it may repent and not wrong you again; he may even honor you, fear, and be at peace with you. And if he is shameless and persists in his wrongdoing, even then forgive him from the heart, and leave the vengeance to God.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Gad

Matthew 18:35

New Testament
32 Then his lord called the first slave and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me! 33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’ 34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him until he repaid all he owed. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if each of you does not forgive your brother from your heart.”
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The language of the fatherhood of God abounds in the Sermon and in the Community Discourse from which our two forgiveness texts are taken. As Robert H. Gundry has said, the manner in which the heavenly Father will deal with the unforgiving disciple leaves no room for misunderstanding the parable, and therefore no excuse for failure to forgive. The expression (“from your heart”) is important for the discussion. It also occurs in Testament of Gad 6:7 (“I forgive you from the heart”). In Matthew 18:35, it expresses sincerity and excludes all casuistry and legalism, as France has also suggested. The phrase (“from the heart”) shows that hypocrisy has no part in the kind of forgiveness that God demands. But the warning character of the parable shows that forgiving out of obedience need not kill sincerity, for a true disciple wants to obey his master. Commenting on the statement (“from the heart”), Luz says that forgiveness of sins involves both outward reconciliation with one’s brothers and sisters and complete affirmation of them. Sincerity is thus at the core ..."
Isaac Kahwa Mbabazi, “The Jewish Background to Interperonal Forgiveness in Matthew,” Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 30.1 (2011): 15–34.

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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Testament of Gad 6:7 and Matthew 18:35

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