Arguing that purported parallels between Matt 11:28-30 and Sirach 51 “are probably misguided,” Graham Stanton noted that:
(a) The verbal links between Matt 11. 28-30 and Sirach are in fact
quite slender. Only two words, 'toil' and 'yoke', and one phrase, 'find rest', from
these three Matthaean verses are found anywhere in Sirach. The verb 'toil' is found
twice with reference to the search for Wisdom, but at Sir 6. 18 and 51. 27 the sense
is very different: the emphasis is not on the toil needed to find Wisdom, but
on the ease of the task.
(b) There is nothing in Sirach quite comparable with two of the
most important clauses in Matt 11. 28-29, the group addressed as 'all who toil
and are heavy laden' and the reference to Jesus as 'meek and lowly in heart The
portrait of Jesus as 'meek and lowly' is difficult to square with the portrait of
Sophia which we find in the Wisdom writings. At Sir 24. 1, which introduces the
so-called Sophia myth, Sophia speaks with pride. In Prov 1. 20ff. and again
at 8. 1ff. Sophia lifts her voice and cries aloud. She stands by the gate and
calls aloud in a rather arrogant manner.
It is, I think, not a coincidence that at the very point in 11.
28-30 where we seem to be a long way from the Wisdom tradition, we can see, in all
probability, the evangelist's own hand. Many of the words in 11. 28-30 are not
found elsewhere in the gospel, but 'meek' and 'lowly’ are used by the evangelist
and, as we shall see in a moment, they accord well with his portrait of Jesus.
So the words 'for I am meek and lowly in heart' may well be Matthew's own addition
to his source.
As is well known, elsewhere Matthew does add interpretative phrases and
clauses to his sources: there are classic examples in his version of the Lord's
Prayer and the Beatitudes. In support of this suggestion we may note that v. 28
and v. 29a and c are parallel statements:
Come unto me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke and learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls.
Both statements are undergirded by the 'reasoning' of v. 30:
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
It is verse 29b, 'for I am meek and lowly in heart, which breaks up the
flow of the 'argument in this short section, and which seems to come from the evangelist's
own hand. If this proposal is correct, the evangelist's redactional addition runs
directly counter to the Wisdom tradition. But
even if this specific suggestion is not accepted, it is clear that 'I am
meek and lowly in heart' is out of character with the portrait of Sophia in the
Wisdom writings, but very much in line with Matthew's portrait of Jesus, as will
be shown below.
(c) I find it difficult to see how either Matthew or his readers could
make the jump from v. 27 where Jesus is presented as 'the Son' to v. 28, where,
it is alleged, Jesus is Sophia /Wisdom. It is hot just that Wisdom is a
feminine noun in both Hebrew and Greek. In the Wisdom tradition Sophia is always
portrayed in strongly female terms. Those who search and seek after her are always
men: sexual imagery lies just beneath the surface in many passages. A similar
point is made by M.D. Johnson when he insists that 'it would have been as
incongruous to ancient Jewish sensibilities as it is to ours to speak of Lady Wisdom
being incarnated as the Son”’.
In short, it is not at all clear that Matthew identifies Jesus as Sophia.
The use of some Wisdom themes in 11. 28-30 is not being disputed, but they do
not seem to be the key to the passage as it now stands in Matthew’s gospel.
Whatever may have been their origin, the evangelist has redacted these verses,
probably by adding his own portrait of Jesus as ‘meek and lowly in heart’, but
certainly by placing them in their present position within his gospel. (Graham
Stanton, “Matthew 11.28-30: Comfortable Worlds?,” in A Gospel for a New
People: Studies in Matthew [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1992], 368-71)
