Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser

Matt. 11:7-11; Luke 7:24-28
(Huck 65, 82; Aland 107; Crook 123)^[104]

Revised: 2 March 2022

וְכֵיוָן שֶׁהָלְכוּ מַלְאֲכֵי יוֹחָנָן הִתְחִיל [יֵשׁוּעַ] לוֹמַר לָאֻכְלוּסִים עַל יוֹחָנָן מַה יְצָאתֶם לַמִּדְבָּר לִרְאוֹת קָנֶה מְנוּעֲנָע בָּרוּחַ אֶלָּא מַה יְצָאתֶם לִרְאוֹת אָדָם בַּחֲמוּדוֹת לָבוּשׁ הֲרֵי הָעֹטִים בַּחֲמוּדוֹת בְּבָתֵּי הַמְּלָכִים אֶלָּא מַה יְצָאתֶם לִרְאוֹת נָבִיא הֵן אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לָכֶם וְיָתֵר עַל נָבִיא זֶה הוּא שֶׁעָלָיו כָּתוּב הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָכִי לְפָנֶיךָ אֲשֶׁר יְפַנֶּה דַּרְכְּךָ לְפָנֶיךָ אָמֵן אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לָכֶם לֹא קָם בִּילוּדֵי אִשָּׁה גָּדוֹל מִיּוֹחָנָן הַמַּטְבִּיל אַף הַקָּטֹן שֶׁבְּמַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם גָּדוֹל מִמֶּנּוּ

As Yohanan the Immerser’s messengers departed, Yeshua asked the crowds, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A windblown reed? No? What, then, did you go out to see? Someone wearing Esau’s clothing? Of course not! People who wear such things are to be found in palaces. So what was it you went out to see? A prophet? Yes, I suspect you were looking for something even more than a prophet.

“Yohanan the Immerser is the one about whom Scripture says: Behold! I am sending my messenger ahead of you who will prepare your way ahead of you [Exod. 23:20; Mal. 3:1].

“Indeed, I can assure you that among all human beings there has not been anyone greater than Yohanan the Immerser. Nevertheless, the least participant in God’s redeeming reign is more privileged than Yohanan.^[105]

Reconstruction

To view the reconstructed text of Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser, click on the link below:

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• ^[1] On the two types of DT pericopae, see Robert L. Lindsey, “Introduction to A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark,” under the subheading “Double Tradition.” ↩
• ^[2] See LOY Excursus: Criteria for Distinguishing Type 1 from Type 2 Double Tradition Pericopae. ↩
• ^[3] Corresponding to the first part of Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser, we read this in the Gospel of Thomas:

  Jesus said: Why did you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a man clothed in soft garments? [See, your] kings and your great ones are those who are clothed in soft [garments] and they [shall] not be able to know the truth. (Gos. Thom. §78 [ed. Guillaumont, 43])

  The above logion fails to mention John the Baptist. Thus, the main thrust of the original saying has been lost in the Gospel of Thomas. A parallel to the final part of Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser is also found in the Gospel of Thomas:

  Jesus said: From Adam until John the Baptist there is among those who are born of women none higher than John the Baptist, so that his eyes will not be broken. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child shall know the Kingdom, and he shall become higher than John. (Gos. Thom. §46 [ed. Guillaumont, 27])

  The author of Thomas failed to grasp the original comparison Jesus made between John the Baptist and Moses (on which, see Comments to L23-27 and L30), and therefore inserted Adam in order to make the statement about John’s greatness universally applicable. ↩

• ^[4] Cf. Marshall, 292; Nolland, Luke, 1:334. ↩
• ^[5] Cf. Davies-Allison, 2:246. ↩
• ^[6] Cf. Richard A. Edwards, “Matthew’s Use of Q in Chapter 11,” in Logia Les Paroles de Jésus—The Sayings of Jesus: Mémorial Joseph Coppens (ed. Joël Delobel; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1982), 257-275, esp. 263. ↩
• ^[7] Cf. Davies-Allison, 2:247. ↩
• ^[8] On reconstructing ἄρχειν as הִתְחִיל, see Tower Builder and King Going to War, Comment to L8. ↩
• ^[9] See Davies-Allison, 2:247; Nolland, Luke, 1:335; Bovon, 1:279 n. 13. ↩
• ^[10] See Fitzmyer, 1:116. ↩
• ^[11] We have accepted λέγειν/εἰπεῖν + πρός for GR in Call of Levi, L58; Yeshua’s Discourse on Worry, L1-2; Friend in Need, L1; “The Harvest Is Plentiful” and “A Flock Among Wolves,” L40-41. ↩
• ^[12] As Cameron pointed out, the “emphasis is on the identity of the one in the ‘wilderness’...on what it is they went out to see. This indicates that one should not take the interrogative τί (‘what?’) to mean “why?’ (= διὰ τί...) and punctuate the Greek text to make the verb part of the answer.” See Ron Cameron, “‘What Have You Come Out to See?’ Characterizations of John and Jesus in the Gospels,” Semeia 49 (1990): 35-69, esp. 38-39. ↩
• ^[13] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:545-546. ↩
• ^[14] See Dos Santos, 104. ↩
• ^[15] See Rainey-Notley, 350; R. Steven Notley, In the Master’s Steps: The Gospels in the Land (Jerusalem: Carta, 2014), 16. ↩
• ^[16] See Flusser, Jesus, 43. ↩
• ^[17] See Rainey-Notley, 350; Notley, In the Master’s Steps, 17-18. ↩
• ^[18] Theissen argued that the allusions Jesus made to Antipas in Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser point to a Galilean audience. See Gerd Theissen, “The ‘Shaken Reed’ in Mt 11:7 and the Foundation Coins of Tiberias,” (Theissen, Gospels, 26-42). ↩
• ^[19] On the uninhabited region on the outskirts of Bethsaida, see Mendel Nun, “The ‘Desert’ of Bethsaida”; Rainey-Notley, 350; Notley, In the Master’s Steps, 17-18. ↩
• ^[20] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:712. ↩
• ^[21] See Dos Santos, 184. ↩
• ^[22] On reeds in Israel, see Zohary, 134. ↩
• ^[23] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:86-87. ↩
• ^[24] See Dos Santos, 190. ↩
• ^[25] Most LXX manuscripts are lacking a counterpart to 1 Kgs. 14:15, but in Codex Alexandrinus we find πληξει τον Ισλ· καθα κινιται ο ανεμος εν τω υδατι (“and he will strike Israel like the wind moves in the water”). ↩
• ^[26] Examples of the proverbial use of the image of a reed in the wind are found in Jewish and Greek sources. Describing how King Ptolemy of Egypt was punished by God for entering the Temple in Jerusalem, the author of 3 Maccabees (first century B.C.E.) wrote:

  Ἐνταῦθα ὁ πάντων ἐπόπτης θεὸς...κραδάνας αὐτὸν ὡς κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου ὥστε κατ᾿ ἐδάφους ἄπρακτον, ἔτι καὶ τοῖς μέλεσιν παραλελυμένον μηδὲ φωνῆσαι δύνασθαι δικαίᾳ περιπεπληγμένον κρίσει.

  Just then God, who watches over all things...shook him [i.e., King Ptolemy—DNB and JNT] this way and that like a reed in the wind [ὡς κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου] so that he lay helpless on the floor, quite unable to speak and paralyzed in his limbs, bound up, as it were, by a just judgment. (3 Macc. 2:21-22; NETS)

  Similarly, Lucian (second cent. C.E.) warned that it is necessary to gain wide experience before adopting the teachings of a philosophical school, for otherwise a student will be easily misled, like a sheep that follows a leafy branch:

  ἢ καὶ νὴ Δία καλάμῳ τινὶ ἐπ᾽ ὄχθῃ παραποταμίᾳ πεφυκότι καὶ πρὸς πᾶν τὸ πνέον καμπτομένῳ, κἂν μικρά τις αὔρα διαφυσήσασα διασαλεύσῃ αὐτόν.

  ...or indeed like a reed growing on a river bank, bending to every breath of wind, however slight the breeze that blows and shakes it. (Hermotimus §68; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[27] This is the position taken by Allen (114), McNeile (153), Davies-Allison (2:247) and Nolland (Luke, 1:336; Matt., 454-455). ↩
• ^[28] See, for example, Fitzmyer, 1:674; David Flusser, “The Magnificat, the Benedictus and the War Scroll” (Flusser, JOC, 126-149, esp. 141). ↩
• ^[29] On the grounds for the Baptist’s objection to Antipas’ marriage, see Yohanan the Immerser’s Execution, Comment to L8. ↩
• ^[30] On the reed coins marking the founding of Tiberias, see Ya’akov Meshorer, A Treasury of Jewish Coins: From the Persian Period to Bar Kokhba (Jerusalem: Yad Ben-Zvi; Nyack, N.Y.: Amphora, 2001), 81-82. Meshorer suggested that Antipas selected a reed to appear on his coins because the reed was a symbol of stability. How ironic, then, that the reed should have become a symbol of Antipas’ inconstancy!

  Meshorer and Theissen (“The ‘Shaken Reed’ in Mt 11:7 and the Foundation Coins of Tiberias,” 28) were under the impression that the reed coin from Tiberias was the first coin Antipas ever minted, but subsequent to their publications a coin from earlier in Antipas’ rule was discovered. On the earlier Antipas coin, see David Hendin, “A New Coin Type of Herod Antipas,” Israel Numismatic Journal 15 (2006): 56-61.

  Not all scholars agree that the image on Antipas’ coins depicts a reed. Wirgin, for instance, argued that it was a laurel branch. See W. Wirgin, “A Note on the ‘Reed’ of Tiberias,” Israel Exploration Journal 18.4 (1968): 248-249. ↩

• ^[31] See Theissen, “The ‘Shaken Reed’ in Mt 11:7 and the Foundation Coins of Tiberias,” 32. ↩
• ^[32] That his Jewish subjects were offended by the animal figures in Antipas’ palace is proven by the fact that when the revolt against Rome broke out Josephus was commissioned by the authorities in Jerusalem to demolish them. ↩
• ^[33] Schwartz suggested that Josephus drew all of his stories about Antipas’ capitulations to Herodias from a single source, which was highly critical of the tetrarch and his wife. See Daniel R. Schwartz, Agrippa I: The Last King of Judea (Tübingen: Mohr [Siebeck], 1990), 2-11, 177-178. ↩
• ^[34] On the New Testament’ portrayal of Herodias and its relationship to her portrayal in the writings of Josephus, see Tal Ilan, “Josephus on Women,” in A Companion to Josephus (ed. Honora Howell Chapman and Zuleika Rodgers; Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2016), 210-221, esp. 217. ↩
• ^[35] See Flusser, Jesus, 51; Young, JHJP, 238; idem, Parables, 20; Tomson, If This Be, 142; Notley-Safrai, 305. The fable of the Oak and the Reeds is recorded in Babrius’ collection of Aesop’s Fables (third cent. C.E.) as follows:

  Δρῦν ἀυτόριζον ἄνεμος ἐξ ὄρους ἄρας
  ἔδωκε ποταμῷ τὴν δ᾽ ἔσυρε κυμαίνων,
  πελώριον φύτευμα τῶν πρὶν ἀνθρώπων.
  πολὺς δὲ κάλαμος ἑκατέρωθεν εἱστήκει
  ἔλαφρον ὄχθης ποταμίης ὕδωρ πίνων.
  θάμβος δὲ τὴν δρῦν εἶχε, πῶς ὁ μὲν λίην
  λεπτός τ᾽ ἐὼν καὶ βληχρὸς οὐκ ἐπεπτώκει,
  αὐτὴ δὲ τόσση φηγὸς ἐξεριζώθη.
  σοφῶς δὲ κάλαμος εἶπε “μηδὲν ἐκπλήσσου.
  σὺ μὲν μαχομένη ταῖς πνοαῖς ἐνικήθης,
  ἡμεῖς δὲ καμπτόμεσθα μαλθακῇ φνώμῃ,
  κἂν βαιὸν ἡμῶν ἄνεμος ἄκρα κινήσῃ.”
  Κάλαμος μὲν οὕτως ὁ δέ γε μῦθος ἐμφαίνει
  μὴ δεῖν μάχεσθαι τοῖς κρατοῦσιν, ἀλλ᾽ εἴκειν.

  The wind [ἄνεμος] uplifted with its very roots an oak upon the mountain-side and gave it to the river; and the river swept it on amid its billows, that giant tree planted by men in former times. But many a reed [κάλαμος] stood firm on either side, drinking the quiet water by the river’s bank. Great wonder came upon the oak: how could it be that one so slender and so weak had not been felled, while he himself so great an oak had been uprooted? Wisely then the reed [κάλαμος] made answer, “Marvel not. You fought the winds and therefore lost the battle; but we as always bend ourselves in meek and yielding mood, if only with a little breeze the wind [ἄνεμος] bestirs our tops.”

  So spoke the reed [κάλαμος]. Our myth reveals this truth, it is not wise to struggle with the mighty, but to yield. (Aesopic Fables of Babrius in Iambic Verse, Babrius §36; Loeb)

  ↩

• ^[36] On the influence of Aesop’s Fables on rabbinic sources, see Joseph Jacobs, ed., The Fables of Aesop, as first printed by William Caxton in 1484, with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio (2 vols; London: David Nutt in the Strand, 1889), 1:110-124; idem, “Æsop’s Fables Among the Jews,” JE, 1:221-222; Haim Schwarzbaum, “Talmudic-Midrashic Affinities in Some Aesopic Fables,” IV International Congress for Folk-Narrative Research in Athens (1.9-6.9 1964): Lectures and Reports (Athens, 1965): 466-483; idem, “The Fables of Aesop and the Parables of the Sages,” Maḥanayim 112 (1967): 112-117 (for an English translation of this article, click here); Young, JHJP, 238-239. ↩
• ^[37] On Aesop’s Fables and other “international” folk traditions in the teachings of Jesus and in rabbinic sources, see Tomson, If This Be, 142. See also Danielle Parish, “Jesus’ Reference to Folklore and Historical Events.” ↩
• ^[38] On the important element of realistic pessimism in the teachings of Jesus, see David Flusser, “The Times of the Gentiles and the Redemption of Jerusalem,” especially under the subheading “Solidarity with Israel.” ↩
• ^[39] Cf. Bovon, 1:278. ↩
• ^[40] Josephus records that Agrippa, the nephew of Antipas, used to stay at the palace of the Hasmonean kings in Jerusalem (Ant. 20:190). It is likely that other members of the Herodian household did the same. See Harold W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1972; repr. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980), 239; Notley, In the Master’s Steps, 73. ↩
• ^[41] On the palace Herod the Great built at Macherus, see J.W. 7:171-177. ↩
• ^[42] On Esau (= Edom) as a symbol of Rome in rabbinic literature, see Ginzberg, 1:254 n. 19. Ginzberg suggested that Edom as a codename for Rome may have been inspired by the fact that Herod the Great, the client king of Rome, was of Idumean (i.e., Edomite) descent. Flusser (Jesus, 76-77) detected an allusion to Esau as a symbol of Rome in a saying of Jesus. ↩
• ^[43] We read the following in the Jerusalem Talmud:

  ותקח רבקה את בגדי עשו בנה הגדול החמודות אשר אתה בבית מהו החמודות שהיה משמש בכהונה גדולה

  And Rebekah took the clothes of her eldest son Esau, the finest ones [הַחֲמוּדוֹת], which were with her in the house [Gen. 27:15]. What is the significance of the finest ones? That it was used for the high priesthood. (y. Meg. 1:11 [14b])

  ↩

• ^[44] Another rabbinic source identifies Esau’s חֲמוּדוֹת as imperial robes (בִּגְדֵי מַלְכוּת; Pesikta Rabbati 23/24:2 [ed. Friedmann, 124a]). ↩
• ^[45] Cf. Harnack, 15-16; McNeile, 153; Creed, 107; Marshall, 294; Bovon, 1:278. ↩
• ^[46] See Harnack, 15-16. ↩
• ^[47] The Ben Sira fragment mentioning “robes of glory” states:

  בגדי כבוד תלבשנה ועטרת תפארת תעטרנה

  You will wear her [i.e., Wisdom—DNB and JNT] as robes of glory [בִּגְדֵי כָּבוֹד] and you will don her as a crown of splendor. (2Q18 2 I, 12)

  στολὴν δόξης ἐνδύσῃ αὐτὴν καὶ στέφανον ἀγαλλιάματος περιθήσεις σεαυτῷ

  You will wear her as a robe of glory [στολὴν δόξης] and you will don her as a crown of gladness. (Sir. 6:31)

  On “robes of glory” see Yeshua’s Discourse on Worry, Comment to L36. ↩

• ^[48] In LXX φορεῖν occurs in Esth. 4:17; Prov. 3:16; 16:23, 26; Sir. 11:5; 40:4. ↩
• ^[49] See Jastrow, 1063. ↩
• ^[50] See Harnack, 16. ↩
• ^[51] See Creed, 107. While ὑπάρχειν in the sense of “be” or “exist” never occurs in Mark or Matthew, in the writings of Luke it occurs in the following verses: Luke 7:25; 8:41; 9:48; 11:13; 16:14, 23; 23:50; Acts 2:30; 3:2; 4:34; 5:4; 7:55; 8:16; 10:12; 16:3, 20, 37; 17:24, 27, 29; 19:36, 40; 21:20; 22:3; 27:12, 21, 34; 28:7, 18. Note that we found ὑπάρχειν in Luke 11:13 to be redactional. See Fathers Give Good Gifts, Comment to L12. ↩
• ^[52] Notice the textual variant in Matt. 11:8. In Codex Vaticanus εἰσίν is omitted after ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν βασιλέων. Critical editions of NT indicate that εἰσίν probably does belong to the original text of Matt. 11:8, and since εἰσίν also occurs in Luke 7:25 we have accepted εἰσίν in GR. Cf. Matt. 11:11 ∥ Luke 7:28, which concludes with ἐστιν (L35). ↩
• ^[53] See McNeile, 153; Marshall, 294; Bovon, 1:278 n. 11. ↩
• ^[54] In LXX the phrase οἶκος τοῦ βασιλέως occurs as the translation of בֵּית (הַ)מֶּלֶךְ in 2 Kgdms. 11:2, 8; 15:35; 19:19; 3 Kgdms. 9:1, 10; 10:12; 14:26, 27; 15:18; 16:18 (2xx); 4 Kgdms. 7:9, 11; 11:5, 16, 19, 20; 12:19; 14:14; 15:25; 16:8; 18:15; 24:13; 25:9; 2 Chr. 7:11; 9:11; 12:9; 16:2; 21:17; 23:5, 15, 20; 25:24; 28:21; 2 Esd. 13:25; Hos. 5:1; Jer. 22:1; 33[26]:10; 39[32]:2; 43[36]:12; 52:13. Note that LXX rendered בְּבֵית הַמֶּלֶךְ in Jer. 38:7 as ἐν οἰκίᾳ τοῦ βασιλέως (LXX: Jer. 45:7), and in 2 Chr. 23:5 LXX rendered בְּבֵית הַמֶּלֶךְ as ἐν οἴκῳ τοῦ βασιλέως. On reconstructing οἶκος (oikos, “house”) as בַּיִת (bayit, “house”), see Not Everyone Can Be Yeshua’s Disciple, Comment to L33. On reconstructing βασιλεύς (basilevs, “king”) as מֶלֶךְ (melech, “king”), see Tower Builder and King Going to War, Comment to L12-13. ↩
• ^[55] See LSJ, 309. Examples of ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις (“in the royal quarters,” “in the palace”) occur in LXX and in the writings of Philo and Josephus (cf. Esth. 1:9 [= בֵּית הַמַּלְכוּת]; Flacc. §92; J.W. 1:208, 443; 2:301; 7:162, 178; Ant. 9:202; 11:190 [= Esth. 1:9]; 15:306). ↩
• ^[56] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:197-214. ↩
• ^[57] See Dos Santos, 113. ↩
• ^[58] Cf. Marshall, 294-295. ↩
• ^[59] See McNeile, 153. Cf. Plummer, Luke, 204. ↩
• ^[60] See Robert L. Lindsey, “‘Verily’ or ‘Amen’—What Did Jesus Say?” ↩
• ^[61] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:276. ↩
• ^[62] See Dos Santos, 96. ↩
• ^[63] In rabbinic sources it is more common in quotation formulae to encounter נֶאֱמַר (ne’^emar, “it is said”) rather than כָּתוּב (kātūv, “it is written”), but in rabbinic sources, too, we find the word order עַל + pronominal suffix or noun + נֶאֱמַר, for example:

  ועליהם נא′ כעל בני שמואל לא הלכו בניו בדרכיו וגו′‏

  And concerning them it was said [′וַעֲלֵיהֶם נֶאֱ] what [was said] concerning the sons of Samuel: his sons did not walk in his ways, etc. [1 Sam. 8:5]. (t. Sot. 14:5; Vienna MS)

  ובית הלל או′ ורב חסד מטה הוא כלפי חסד ועליהם אמ′ דוד אהבתי כי ישמע יי ועליהם נאמרה כל הפרשה כולה

  ...but Bet Hillel says, “And great in mercy [Exod. 34:6]. He inclines toward mercy, and concerning them David said, I have loved him because the LORD heard [Ps. 116:1], and concerning them was spoken [וַעֲלֵיהֶם נֶאֱמְרָה] the entire chapter.” (t. Sanh. 13:3; Vienna MS)

  לאותה שעה אמ′ ר′ יהושע מעיד אני עלי את השמים ואת הארץ שאיני זז מכאן עד שאני פודה אותו בממון הרבה ופדאו בממון הרבה ושגרו לארץ ישראל ועליו נאמר בני ציון היקרים וגו′‏

  In that hour Rabbi Yehoshua said, “I call heaven and earth to bear witness against me if I move from here before I ransom him with a large amount of money.” And he did redeem him for a large amount of money and sent him to the land of Israel. And concerning him it is said [וְעָלָיו נֶאֱמַר], The precious sons of Zion, etc. [Lam. 4:2]. (t. Hor. 2:6; Vienna MS)

  מי כמוך באלים יי מי כמוך כאלו שאחרים קוראין אותם אלוהות ואין בהם ממש ועליהם נאמר פה להם ולא ידברו וגו′‏

  Who is like you among the gods, O LORD? [Exod. 15:11]. Who is like you among these whom others call gods, although they have no reality, and concerning them it is said [וַעֲלֵיהֶם נֶאֱמַר], a mouth they have, but they do not speak, etc. [Ps. 115:5]. (Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Shira chpt. 8 [ed. Lauterbach, 1:208])

  ↩

• ^[64] The following table shows the relationship of Matt. 11:10 ∥ Luke 7:27 to LXX of Exod. 23:20 and Mal. 3:1, with blue marking wording that could have come from either verse, red marking wording that must have come from Exod. 23:20, and purple marking wording that must have come from Mal. 3:1:

  Matt. 11:10 ∥ Luke 7:27	Exodus 23:20	Malachi 3:1
  ἰδοὺ [ἐγὼMatt.]	καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ	ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ
  Behold! I	And behold! I	Behold! I
  ἀποστέλλω	ἀποστέλλω	ἐξαποστέλλω
  am sending	am sending	am sending out
  τὸν ἄγγελόν μου	τὸν ἄγγελόν μου	τὸν ἄγγελόν μου
  my messenger	my messenger	my messenger
  πρὸ προσώπου σου	πρὸ προσώπου σου
  ahead of you	ahead of you
  	ἵνα φυλάξῃ σε ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ
  	so that he may guard you in the way
  	ὅπως εἰσαγάγῃ σε εἰς τὴν γῆν
  	so that he may lead you into the land
  	ἣν ἡτοίμασά σοι
  	that I prepared for you.
  ὃς κατασκευάσει		καὶ ἐπιβλέψεται
  who will prepare		and he will oversee
  τὴν ὁδόν σου		ὁδὸν
  your way		the way
  ἔμπροσθέν σου		πρὸ προσώπου μου
  ahead of you.		ahead of me.

  ↩

• ^[65] Scholars have noted that the quotation of Mal. 3:1 in Matt. 11:10 ∥ Luke 7:27 could not have been based on LXX, since the LXX translators understood the phrase ופנה דרך in Mal. 3:1 differently from the way it is understood in the Gospel quotation, which agrees with the way the verse is vocalized in MT. See Gundry, Use, 11; Marshall, 295; Fitzmyer, 1:674; Davies-Allison, 2:249; Luz, 2:138 n. 23. Whereas LXX rendered ופנה דרך as καὶ ἐπιβλέψεται ὁδὸν (“and he will oversee the way”; NETS), treating פנה as a qal verb (i.e., וּפָנָה דֶרֶךְ [ufānāh derech, “and he will watch the way”]), the Gospel quotation κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν (“he will prepare the way”) treats פנה as a pi‘el verb (i.e., וּפִנָּה דֶרֶךְ [ūfināh derech, “and he will prepare the way”]). The independence from LXX displayed in the Gospel quotation is significant because it suggests that the linking of the two verses took place at a Hebrew stage of the tradition, and therefore is likely to have originated with Jesus himself (pace Nolland, Luke, 1:335). See R. Steven Notley and Jeffrey P. García, “Hebrew-Only Exegesis: A Philological Approach to Jesus’ Use of the Hebrew Bible” (JS2, 349-374, esp. 357-362). ↩
• ^[66] The question arises as to what form of Exod. 23:20 Jesus was familiar with. Although MT reads אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ (“I am sending a messenger”), LXX reads ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου (“I am sending my messenger”), a reading that is also confirmed by the Samaritan Pentateuch. Since Jesus predates MT by over half a millennium, it is possible that the pre-Masoretic version of Exod. 23:20 familiar to Jesus read מַלְאָכִי (“my messenger”). On other examples of non-Masoretic quotations of Scripture in the Gospels, see Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, Comment to L43. ↩
• ^[67] See R. Steven Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” in The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity: Studies in Language and Tradition (ed. Craig A. Evans; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), 279-322, esp. 293; Notley and García, “Hebrew-Only Exegesis: A Philological Approach to Jesus’ Use of the Hebrew Bible” (JS2, 358), R. Steven Notley and Jeffrey P. García, “The Hebrew Scriptures in the Third Gospel,” in Searching the Scriptures: Studies in Context and Intertextuality (ed. Craig A. Evans and Jeremiah J. Johnson; London: Bloomsbury, 2015), 128-147, esp. 134-139. ↩
• ^[68] The pre-Masoretic version of Exod. 23:20 that Jesus knew likely read מַלְאָכִי (“my messenger”), as we find in LXX and in the Samaritan Pentateuch. ↩
• ^[69] See David Flusser, “The Stages of Redemption History According to John the Baptist and Jesus” (Flusser, Jesus, 258-275); Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 279-322. See also David N. Bivin and Joshua N. Tilton, “LOY Excursus: The Kingdom of Heaven in the Life of Yeshua,” under the subheading “The Kingdom of Heaven in the Teachings of Jesus: Temporal Aspect.” ↩
• ^[70] A similar linkage between Mal. 3:1 and Exod. 23:20 is made in a rabbinic source:

  הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי שֹׁלֵחַ מַלְאָךְ-אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה מִי שֶׁשָּׁמַר אֶת הָאָבוֹת הוּא יִשְׁמֹר אֶת הַבָּנִים, וְכֵן אַתָּה מוֹצֵא בְּאַבְרָהָם כְּשֶׁבֵּרַךְ אֶת יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ אָמַר לוֹ ה′ אֱלֹהֵי הַשָּׁמַיִם וְגוֹ′ הוּא יִשְׁלַח מַלְאָכוֹ לְפָנֶיךָ וְיַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ מָה אָמַר לְבָנָיו הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי וְגוֹ′ אָמַר לָהֶם הוּא גְאָלַנִי מִיַּד עֵשָׂו, הוּא הִצִּילַנִי מִיַּד לָבָן, הוּא זָנַנִי וּפִרְנְסַנִי בִּשְׁנֵי רְעָבוֹן, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה אַף עַכְשָׁיו מִי שֶׁשָּׁמַר אֶת הָאָבוֹת יִשְׁמֹר אֶת הַבָּנִים, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי...וְכֵן לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁיְּגֲלֶּה הַגְּאֻלָּה בָּא עַל יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הִנְנִי שֹׁלֵחַ מֵלְאָכִי וּפִנָּה דֶרֶךְ לְפָנָי

  Behold, I am sending an angel [Exod. 23:20]. The Holy one, blessed be he, said to Moses, “The one who guarded the fathers, he will guard the sons.” And so you find with Abraham, when he blessed his son Isaac, he said to him, The LORD, God of heaven, etc., he will send his angel before you. And our father Jacob, what did he say to his sons? The angel who redeemed me, etc. He told them, “He redeemed me from the hand of Esau, he delivered me from the hand of Laban, he fed me and sustained me during the years of famine.” The Holy one, blessed be he, said to Moses, “Also now the one who guarded the fathers will guard the sons,” as it is said, Behold I am [sending an angel] [Exod. 20:23].... And likewise in the future to come, in the hour the redemption is revealed he will come upon Israel as it is said, Behold, I am sending my angel and he will prepare the way before me [Mal. 3:1]. (Exod. Rab. 32:9 [ed. Merkin, 6:85-86])

  ↩

• ^[71] See Joseph Hertz, ed., The Pentateuch and Haftoras (2d ed.; London: Soncino, 1970), 319; Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 293. ↩
• ^[72] If we are correct that Jesus attempted to recast John the Baptist as a Mosaic rather than an Elijianic figure, then it is ironic that the authors of Mark and especially Matthew were at pains to present John the Baptist as none other than Elijah. Cf. Matt. 3:4 ∥ Mark 1:6; Matt. 17:10-13 ∥ Mark 9:11-13; Matt. 11:14. None of these verses have parallels in Luke and are likely of Matthean or Markan authorship. ↩
• ^[73] Cf. Marshall, 296; Darrell L. Bock, Proclamation from Prophecy and Pattern: Lucan Old Testament Christology (Sheffield: Sheffield Acacemic Press, 1987), 111-114. ↩
• ^[74] On the author of Luke’s tendency to drop ἐγώ, see "The Harvest Is Plentiful" and "A Flock Among Wolves," Comment to L49. ↩
• ^[75] Cf., e.g., Cameron, “‘What Have You Come Out to See?’ Characterizations of John and Jesus in the Gospels,” 57. ↩
• ^[76] Thus, according to one source, we read:

  עשרה שמות נקרא נביא עבד. מלאך. שליח. צופה. חוזה. חולם. ציר. רואה. נביא. איש אלהים.‏

  By ten names is a prophet [נָבִיא] called: servant, messenger [מַלְאָךְ], emissary, watchman, visionary, dreamer, ambassador, seer, prophet, man of God. (Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version B, chpt. 37 [ed. Schechter, 95])

  ↩

• ^[77] Cf. the comparison of prophet (נָבִיא) and messenger (מַלְאָךְ) in Blessedness of the Twelve, L12. ↩
• ^[78] On the author of Luke’s tendency to omit ἀμήν, see Sending the Twelve: Conduct in Town, Comment to L115. Other scholars who regard ἀμήν in L28 as original include Plummer (Luke, 205), T. W. Manson (70), Marshall (296) and Bovon (1:279). ↩
• ^[79] See Flusser, Jesus, 261 n. 8. ↩
• ^[80] See Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 291 n. 48. ↩
• ^[81] Cf. Lindsey, TJS, 56; LHNS, 53. On reconstructing γυνή (gūnē, “woman,” “wife”) with אִשָּׁה (’ishāh, “woman,” “wife”), see Demands of Discipleship, Comment to L12. ↩
• ^[82] Examples of יְלוּד אִשָּׁה in DSS include:

  וילוד אשה מה ישב לפניכה והואה מעפר מגבלו ולחם רמה מדורו

  And one born of a woman [יְלוּד אִשָּׁה], how can he abide before you? He was kneaded from dust and to be food for worms is his destiny. (1QS XI, 21)

  ומה ילוד אשה בכול [ג]ד[ו]ל[י]ך הנוראים

  And what is one born of a woman [יְלוּד אִשָּׁה] among all your great and terrible works? (1QH^a V, 20)

  Additional examples of יְלוּד אִשָּׁה in DSS are found in 1QH^a XXI, 2; 4Q482 1 I, 4. ↩

• ^[83] The following is an example of יְלוּד אִשָּׁה in rabbinic literature:

  יש לך ילוד אשה שאינו מוציא מה שהוא אוכל

  Do you have [an example of] someone born of a woman [יְלוּד אִשָּׁה] who does not put out [i.e., from his bowels—DNB and JNT] what he eats? (Sifre Num. Zut., BeHa‘alotcha 11:6 [ed. Horovitz, 269])

  In the above example, human beings, who need to vacate their bladders and bowels, are contrasted with the angels, who do not.
  Additional examples of יְלוּד אִשָּׁה will be cited in the continuation of this discussion. ↩

• ^[84] In 3 Enoch we find:

  כיון שהגעתי לשמי מרום והיו חיות הקודש ואופנעם ושרפים וכרובים וגלגלי המרכבה ומשרתי אש אוכלת מריחין את ריחי...ואומרים מה ילוד אשה בינינו

  As soon as I approached the highest heavens the holy living creatures and the wheels and the seraphim and the cherubim and the wheels of the chariot and the ministers of the consuming fire smelled my scent...and they said, “What is one born of woman [doing—DNB and JNT] among us?” (3 Enoch 6:2; Bodeleian MS MICH. 175 [ed. Odenberg, 12])

  The apostle Paul described Jesus as γενόμενον ἐκ γυναικός (genomenon ek gūnaikos, “born of a woman”; Gal 4:4), likely reflecting his familiarity with the Hebrew idiom יְלוּד אִשָּׁה. On Paul’s knowledge of Hebrew, see Acts 21:40; 22:2; Phil. 3:5; Randall Buth and Chad Pierce, “Hebraisti in Ancient Texts: Does Ἑβραϊστί Ever Mean ‘Aramaic’?” (JS2, 66-109, esp. 68-71). ↩

• ^[85] See Flusser, Jesus, 261 n. 8. Cf. Brad Young and David Flusser, “Messianic Blessings In Jewish and Christian Texts” (Flusser, JOC, 280-300, esp. 292 n. 28); Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 291 n. 48. ↩
• ^[86] See Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 291 n. 48. ↩
• ^[87] Above in Comment to L3 we saw that the narrator’s reference to John’s disciples as ἄγγελοι/מַלְאָכִים may have been intended to prepare readers for the proper understanding of מַלְאָךְ in Jesus’ composite citation of Exod. 23:20 and Mal. 3:1. This concern may already be reflected in the reference to John’s disciples as “men” in Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, L19. ↩
• ^[88] Cf. Harnack, 16; Creed, 107; Nolland, Luke, 1:337; Bovon, 1:279. Curiously, Davies and Allison regard “the more Semitic οὐκ ἐγήγερται” in Matt. 11:11 to be due to Matthean redaction (Davies-Allison, 2:250). That a Greek writer such as the author of Matthew would intentionally barbarize the wording of his source seems highly improbable. Hebraic Greek is better taken as a sign of reliance upon a pre-synoptic source. ↩
• ^[89] On FR as the source behind Luke 16:16, see The Kingdom of Heaven Is Breaking Through, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[90] This conclusion is borne out by the number of times Matthew referred to John the Baptist without adding John’s full title: Matt. 3:4, 13, 14; 9:14; 11:2, 4, 7, 13, 18; 14:3, 4, 10; 21:25, 26, 32. ↩
• ^[91] On the derivation of Luke 7:20 from Anth., see Yohanan the Immerser’s Question, Comment to L17-25. On Luke’s use of Anth. in 7:33, see Like Children Complaining, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[92] See David Flusser, “The Literary Relationship Between the Three Gospels,” in his Jewish Sources in Early Christianity: Studies and Essays (Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim, 1979 [in Hebrew]), 28-49, esp. 41. Cf. Flusser, Jesus, 261 n. 8; Notley, “The Kingdom of Heaven Forcefully Advances,” 291 n. 47. ↩
• ^[93] See BDB, 65. Examples where אַף implies contrast are found in Ps. 44:10; 58:3. ↩
• ^[94] See Allen, 116; Moule, 98. ↩
• ^[95] On the author of Luke’s preference for “Kingdom of God,” see Bivin and Tilton, “LOY Excursus: The Kingdom of Heaven in the Life of Yeshua,” under the subheading “Which is Correct: ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ or ‘Kingdom of God’?” ↩
• ^[96] On the various nuances of the term “Kingdom of Heaven” in the teachings of Jesus, see Bivin and Tilton, “LOY Excursus: The Kingdom of Heaven in the Life of Yeshua.” ↩
• ^[97] See Segal, 194 §392. ↩
• ^[98] Of Galadriel, the elven mistress of Lothlorien, we read, “Already she seemed to him [i.e., Frodo—DNB and JNT], as by men of later days Elves still at times are seen: present and yet remote, a living vision of that which has already been left far behind by the flowing streams of Time.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring (2d ed.; Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1965), 389. ↩
• ^[99] See Blessedness of the Twelve. ↩
• ^[100] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. ↩
• ^[101]

  Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἀπελθόντων δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων Ἰωάνου ἤρξατο λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὄχλους περὶ Ἰωάνου τί ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἱματίοις ἠμφιεσμένον ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐν ἱματισμῷ ἐνδόξῳ καὶ τρυφῇ ὑπάρχοντες ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις εἰσίν ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν προφήτην ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου οὗτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ γέγραπται ἰδοὺ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου λέγω ὑμῖν μείζων ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν Ἰωάνου οὐδείς ἐστιν ὁ δὲ μεικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν		ἀπελθόντων δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων Ἰωάνου ἤρξατο [ὁ Ἰησοῦς] λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὄχλους περὶ Ἰωάνου τί ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἠμφιεσμένον ἰδοὺ οἱ τὰ μαλακὰ φοροῦντες ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν βασιλέων εἰσίν ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν προφήτην ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου οὗτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ γέγραπται ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐγήγερται ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὁ δὲ μεικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν
  Total Words:	94	Total Words:	96 [98]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	82	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	82
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	87.23%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	85.42 [83.67]%

  ↩

• ^[102]

  Yeshua’s Words about Yohanan the Immerser
  Matthew’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  τούτων δὲ πορευομένων ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγειν τοῖς ὄχλοις περὶ Ἰωάνου τί ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἠμφιεσμένον ἰδοὺ οἱ τὰ μαλακὰ φοροῦντες ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν βασιλέων ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε προφήτην ἰδεῖν ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου οὗτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ γέγραπται ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐγήγερται ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὁ δὲ μεικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν		ἀπελθόντων δὲ τῶν ἀγγέλων Ἰωάνου ἤρξατο [ὁ Ἰησοῦς] λέγειν πρὸς τοὺς ὄχλους περὶ Ἰωάνου τί ἐξήλθατε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον θεάσασθαι κάλαμον ὑπὸ ἀνέμου σαλευόμενον ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν ἄνθρωπον ἐν μαλακοῖς ἠμφιεσμένον ἰδοὺ οἱ τὰ μαλακὰ φοροῦντες ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν βασιλέων εἰσίν ἀλλὰ τί ἐξήλθατε ἰδεῖν προφήτην ναὶ λέγω ὑμῖν καὶ περισσότερον προφήτου οὗτός ἐστιν περὶ οὗ γέγραπται ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω τὸν ἄγγελόν μου πρὸ προσώπου σου ὃς κατασκευάσει τὴν ὁδόν σου ἔμπροσθέν σου ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν οὐκ ἐγήγερται ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων Ἰωάνου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ὁ δὲ μεικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν
  Total Words:	94	Total Words:	96 [98]
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	88 [90]	Total Words Taken Over in Matt:	88 [90]
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	93.62 [95.74]%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Matt.:	91.67 [91.84]%

  ↩

• ^[103] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Comment to L10-11. ↩
• ^[104] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[105] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩