It appears, for instance, that Matthew
made use of the language of Wisdom of Solomon in his telling of the story
of Jesus. For example, in Wisdom 2:13 we read, “He professes to have knowledge
of God and calls himself a child of the Lord.” There is some coincidence of
language in Matt 27:43 where we read, “He trusts in God, let God deliver him
now, if he wants to; for he said, ‘I am God’s Son’” (see also parallels in
thought in Wisdom 2:18-20). Likewise, in Wisdom 3:7, the words “In
the time of the visitation they will shine forth and will run like sparks
through the stubble” have some parallel with the words in Luke 19:44 where
Jesus says, “because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from
God.” In both Wisdom 5:22 (“The water of the sea will rage against them,
and rivers will relentlessly overwhelm them”) and Luke 21:25 (“distress among nations
confused by roaring of the sea and waves”), the judgment of God comes upon the
disobedient through raging waters. The following examples show other parallels
in word and thought:
1.
Compare 2 Macc
3:26: “Two young men also appeared to him, remarkably strong, gloriously beautiful
and splendidly dressed, who stood on either side of him and flogged him continuously,
inflicting many blows on him” with Luke 24:44: “While they were perplexed about
this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.”
2.
Compare Tob
12:15: “I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter
before the glory of the Lord” with Matt 18:10: “Take care that you do not
despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels
continually see the face of my Father in heaven” and Luke 1:19: “The angel
replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been
sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.’”
3.
Compare Tob 14:5:
“But God will again have mercy on them, and God will bring them back into the
land of Israel, and they will rebuild the temple of God, but not like the first
one until the period when the times of fulfillment shall come. After
this they will return from their exile and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor;
and in it the temple of God will be rebuilt, just as the prophets of Israel
have said concerning it” with Mark 1;15: and saying, “The time is fulfilled,
and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news”
and Luke 21:24: “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as
captives among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
4.
Compare Sir 9:8: “Turn
away your eyes from a shapely woman, and do not gaze at beautify belonging
to another; many have been seduced by a woman’s beauty, and by its passion
is kindled like a fire” with Matt 5:28: “But I say to you that everyone who
looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his
heart.”
5.
Compare Sir
10;14: “The Lord overthrows the thrones of rulers and enthrones the owly in
their place” with Luke 1:52: “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”
6.
Compare Sir
11:19: “when he said, ‘I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods!’
He does not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies”
with Luke 12:19-20: “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods
laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to
him,’ You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the
things you have prepared, whose will they be?’”
7.
Compare Jut 29:10-11:
“Lose your silver for the sake of a brother or a friend, and do not let it
rust under a stone and be lost. Lay up your treasure according to the commandments
of the Most High, and it will profit you more than gold” with Matt 6:20: “but
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust
consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
8.
Compare Sir
51;23: “Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge in the house of instruction”
with Matt 11:28: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest.”
9.
Compare Sir
51:26-27: “Put your neck under her yoke, and let your souls receive instruction;
it is to be found close by. See with your own eyes that I have labored but
little and found for myself much serenity” with Matt 11:29: “Take my yoke
upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls.”
10. Compare Wis 6:18: “and love of her is the
keeping of her laws and giving heed to her laws is assurance of immortality”
with John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
11. Compare Wis 16:26: “so that your children,
whom you loved, O Lord, might learn that it is not the production of crops that
feeds humankind but that your word sustains those who trust in you” with
Matt 4:4: “But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone,
but by ever word that comes from the mouth of God.”’”
12. Compare Jub. 5.3: “For no one takes
plunder away from a strong man, so who is going to take (anything) from all
that you have done, unless you give (it)?” with Mark 3:27: “But no one can
enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property, without first tying up
the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.”
13. Compare Jub. 5.9-11: “You feed the birds
and the fish, as you send rain to the wilderness that the grass may sprout,
to provide pasture in the wilderness for every living thing, and if they are
hungry, they will lift up their face to you. You feed kings and rulers and
peoples, O God, and who is the hope of the poor and the needy, if not you,
Lord” with Matt 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor
reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you
not of more value than they?”
14. Compare 1 En. 15.6-7: “Indeed, you, formerly
you were spiritual, having eternal life, and immortal in all the generations of
the world. That is why formerly I did not make wives for you, for the dwelling
of the spiritual beings of heaven is heaven” with Mark 12:25: “For when they
rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like
angels in heaven.” (Note: The similarity here is though rather than verbal
parallels, namely angels do not marry neither do those who go from this life to
the next.)
15. Compare 1 En. 16.1: “they will
corrupt until the day of great conclusion, until the great age is consummated,
until everything is concluded upon the Watchers and the wicked one” with
Matt 13:39: “and the enemy who sowed them [evil children = weeds] is the
devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as
the weeks are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of
the age.”
16. Compare 1 En. 22.9-10: “the spirits of
the dead might be separated. And in the manner in which the souls of the
righteous are separated [by] this spring of water with light upon it, in like
manner, the sinners are set apart when they die and are buried” with
Luke 16:26: “Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed,
so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one
can cross from there to us.” The similarity is more in the notion of
separation in the afterlife.
17. Compare 1 En. 38.3: “and when the Righteous
One shall appear before the face of the righteous, those elect ones, their
deeds are hunt upon the Lord of the Spirits, he shall reveal light to their righteous
and the elect who dwell upon the earth, where will the dwelling of the
sinners be, and where the resting place of those who denied the name of the
Lord of the Spirits? It would have been better for them not to have been born”
with Matt 26:24: “The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to
that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed It would have been better for that
one not to have been born.”
18. Compare 1 En. 51.2: “And he shall
choose the righteous and the holy ones from among [the risen dead], for the
day when they shall be selected and saved has arrived” with Luke 21:28:”
Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads,
because your redemption is drawing near.”
19. Compare 1 En. 62.2-3: “The Lord of
the Spirits has dat down on the throne of his glory, and the spirit of righteousness
has been poured out upon him. The word of his mouth will do the sinners in; and
all the oppressors shall be eliminated from before his face. On the day of
judgment, all the kings, the governors, the high officials, and the landlords
shall see and recognize him—how he sits on the throne of his glory, and righteousness
is judged before him, and that no nonsensical talk shall be uttered in his
presence” with Matt 25:31 and 19:28: “When the Son of Man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.”
20. Compare 1 En. 69.27: “Then there came
to them a great joy. And they blessed, glorified, and exalted the Lord on
account of the fact that the name of that Son of Man was revealed to them.
He shall never pass away or perish from before the face of the earth” with Matt
26:64: “Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, form now on
you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the
clouds of heaven.’” (Note: The parallel is the exaltation of the Son of Man.)
21. Compare 1 En. 94.8: “Woe unto you, O
rich people! For you have put your trust in your wealth. You shall ooze out
of your riches, for you do not remember the Most High” with Luke 6:24: “But
woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.”
22. Compare 1 En. 97.8-10: “Woe unto you
who gain silver and gold by unjust means; you will then say, ‘We have grown
rich and accumulated goods, we have acquired everything that we have desired.
So now let us do whatever we like; for we have gathered silver, we have dilled
our treasures with money like water.’ And many are the laborers in our
house. Your lies flow like water. For your wealth shall not endure but it shall
take off form you quickly, for you have acquired it all unjustly, and you shall
be given over to a great curse” with Luke 12:19: “And I will say to my soul,
‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
The parallel is the notion of putting confidence in worldly good and losing all
of one’s wealth.
23. Compare Sir 24:19-22: “Come to me, you who desire
met, and eat your fill of my fruits. For the memory of me is sweeter than
honey, and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb. Those who eat of me
will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for me. Whoever
obeys me will not be put to shame, and those who work with me will not sin.”
See also Sir 51:23, 26: “Draw near to me, you who are uneducated, and lodge
in the house of instruction . . . Put your neck under her yoke, and let
your souls receive instruction; it is to be found close by” with Matt
11:28-30: “Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I
am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (This is like the examples in items
8 and 9 above.) (Lee Martin McDonald, Before There was a Bible: Authorities
in Early Christianity [London: T&T Clark, 2023], 71-75)
