Blessedness of the Twelve

Matt. 13:16-17; Luke 10:23-24
(Huck 92, 142; Aland 123b, 181b; Crook 145b, 206)^[67]

Revised: 8-April-2021

אַשְׁרֵי הָעֵינַיִם הָרֹאוֹת מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם רֹאִים וְהָאָזְנַיִם הַשֹּׁמְעוֹת מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים אָמֵן אֲנִי אֹמֵר לָכֶם הַרְבֵּה נְּבִיאִים וּמַלְאָכִים הִתְאַוּוּ לִרְאֹת מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם רֹאִים וְלֹא רָאוּ וְלִשְׁמֹעַ מַה שֶּׁאַתֶּם שֹׁמְעִים וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ

“How privileged you are because of what you are witnessing. Yes! I want you to know that many of God’s messengers would have given anything to experience what you are experiencing, but were not so fortunate as you.”^[68]

Reconstruction

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• ^[1] See Brad Young and David Flusser, “Messianic Blessings in Jewish and Christian Texts” (Flusser, JOC, 280-300, esp. 293-294); Notley-Safrai, 29-30. Other scholars who agree that Blessedness of the Twelve originally belonged to the context of the apostles’ mission include Plummer, Luke, 283; Davies-Allison, 2:394; David Hill, “ΔΙΚΑΙΟΙ as a Quasi-Technical Term,” New Testament Studies 11.3 (1965): 296-302, esp. 298. ↩
• ^[2] On Luke’s Mission of the Seventy-two as the Anth. version of the Sending of the Twelve, see Sending the Twelve: Commissioning, under the subheading “Conjectured Stages of Transmission.” ↩
• ^[3] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[4] Lindsey classified this pericope as Type 1 Double Tradition. See Robert Lindsey, "Introduction to A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark," under the subheading "Double Tradition." ↩
• ^[5] Dodd suggested that John 20:29 (“Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe”) is a reaction to Blessedness of the Twelve. According to Dodd, “John seems to say, ‘No: blessed are those who do not see—but have faith!’ The Sitz im Leben, therefore, of the Johannine saying is the situation of the Church after the resurrection..., whereas the Synoptic form [i.e., Blessedness of the Twelve—DNB and JNT] makes sense only in the Setting of the historic Ministry of Jesus” (C. H. Dodd, Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965], 354). ↩
• ^[6] Pace Manson, Sayings, 80. ↩
• ^[7] On the καί + participle + aorist construction, see Jesus and a Canaanite Woman, Comment to L1. ↩
• ^[8] The closest Hebrew expression to κατ᾿ ἰδίαν is probably לְבַד + pronominal suffix (e.g., לְבַדּוֹ, "by himself"), which LXX typically translated as μόνος (e.g., Gen. 2:18), κατά + ἑαυτοῦ (e.g., Gen. 30:40) or κατά + μόνος (e.g., Gen. 32:17). ↩
• ^[9] In LXX the phrase κατ᾿ ἰδίαν occurs in 2 Macc. 4:5; 6:21; 9:26; 14:21.

  Incidentally, it is likely that the phrase κατ᾿ ἰδίαν should be considered what Robert Lindsey called a Markan stereotype, in other words, a phrase the author of Mark picked up from the Gospel of Luke and used with a much higher frequency than is found in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke the phrase κατ᾿ ἰδίαν occurs twice (Luke 9:10; 10:23), and in both instances it is probably editorial. In Mark κατ᾿ ἰδίαν occurs 7xx:

  • Mark 4:34
  • Mark 6:31
  • Mark 6:32 (= Luke 9:10)
  • Mark 7:33
  • Mark 9:2
  • Mark 9:28
  • Mark 13:3

  Evidently, the author of Mark became enamored of the idea that Jesus spoke privately to his disciples, and therefore worked this theme into his Gospel repeatedly. This theme was subsequently passed on to the Gospel of Matthew.

  In Matthew κατ᾿ ἰδίαν occurs 6xx:

  • Matt. 14:13 (= Mark 6:32; Luke 9:10)
  • Matt. 14:23
  • Matt 17:1 (= Mark 9:2; omitted in Luke 9:28)
  • Matt. 17:19 (= Mark 9:28)
  • Matt. 20:17
  • Matt. 24:3 (= Mark 13:3; omitted in Luke 21:7)

  In Matthew’s much longer Gospel the phrase κατ᾿ ἰδίαν occurs with less frequency than in Mark. Moreover, most instances of κατ᾿ ἰδίαν in Matthew are taken over from Mark’s Gospel.

  On the phenomenon of Markan stereotypes, see Robert L. Lindsey, “Introduction to A Hebrew Translation of the Gospel of Mark,” under the subheading “The Markan Stereotypes”; Joshua N. Tilton and David N. Bivin, “LOY Excursus: Catalog of Markan Stereotypes and Possible Markan Pick-ups.” ↩

• ^[10] So Albright-Mann, 167: “The your is emphatic here (humōn de), in contrast with them (autios, ekeinois) of vss. 10, 11, 13, 14.” Cf. Allen, 147; Davies-Allison, 2:395; Hagner, 375. ↩
• ^[11] Pace Malcolm Lowe and David Flusser, “Evidence Corroborating a Modified Proto-Matthean Synoptic Theory,” New Testament Studies 29.1 (1983): 25-47, esp. 38. ↩
• ^[12] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Comment to L12. ↩
• ^[13] Cf. T. W. Manson, 80. ↩
• ^[14] See Nolland, Luke, 576. ↩
• ^[15] Davies and Allison compare Jesus’ blessing upon those who see and hear to two blessings recorded in the Psalms of Solomon:

  μακάριοι οἱ γενόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἰδεῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ισραηλ ἐν συναγωγῇ φυλῶν ἃ ποιήσει ὁ θεός.

  Happy are those who shall live in those days, to see the good things of Israel that God shall accomplish in the congregation of the tribes. (Pss. Sol. 17:44; NETS)

  μακάριοι οἱ γενόμενοι ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις ἰδεῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ κυρίου ἃ ποιήσει γενεᾷ τῇ ἐρχομένῃ.

  Happy are those who shall live in those days, to see the good things of the Lord, which he will perform for the coming generation. (Pss. Sol. 18:6; NETS)

  Davies and Allison write, "In these two texts those who shall see the messianic age are blessed. Jesus, however, declares that salvation has come now" (Davies-Allison, 2:394). ↩

• ^[16] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:892. ↩
• ^[17] See Dos Santos, 20. ↩
• ^[18] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1039-1042. ↩
• ^[19] See Dos Santos, 154. ↩
• ^[20] An inversion of this blessing is found in Luke 23:29. “Blessed are the pure in heart” (Matt. 5:8) is a quasi-example of a blessing pronounced on a body part. ↩
• ^[21] Cf. Pesikta Rabbati, chpt. 37; Yalkut HaMechiri on Isa. 61:10. On these rabbinic traditions, see Young and Flusser, “Messianic Blessings in Jewish and Christian Texts” (Flusser, JOC, 280-300). ↩
• ^[22] Cf. T. W. Manson, 80; Bultmann, 109; Davies-Allison, 2:395. ↩
• ^[23] Such examples include:

  מְעוֹת חוּלִּין וּמְעוֹת מַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁנִי שֶׁנִּיתְפַּזְּרוּ מַה שֶּׁלִּיקֵּט לִיקֵּט לְמַעֲשֵׂר שֵׁינִי עַד שֶׁיַּשְׁלִים וְהַשְּׁאָר חוּלִּין

  Monies for common use are inadvertently scattered with monies for the Second Tithe: what is gathered is gathered for the Second Tithe until it is all accounted for and the rest can be put to common use. (m. Maas. Sh. 2:5)

  עָשִׂיִנוּ מָה שֶּׁגָּזַרְתָּה עָלֵינוּ אַף אַתָּה עֲשֵׂה מָה שֶׁהִבְטַחְתָּנוּ

  We have done what you have imposed upon us, so may you do what you have promised us. (m. Maas. Sh. 5:13)

  אָמַ′ לוֹ ר′ אֱלִיעֶזֶר עֲקִיבָה עָקַרְתָּה מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב

  Rabbi Eliezer said to him, “Akiva, you have uprooted what is written....” (m. Pes. 6:2)

  יְתוֹמָה שֶׁהִשִּׂיאַתָּהּ אִמָּה וְאַחֶיהָ וְכָתְבוּ לָהּ מֵאָה וַחֲמִשִּׁים זוּז יְכוּלָה הִיא מִשֶּׁתַּגְדִּיל לְהוֹצִיא מִיָּדָן מַה שֶּׁרָאוּיִ לְהִינָּתֶן לָהּ

  If a fatherless girl was given in marriage by her mother or her brothers and they wrote for her a dowry of a hundred [zuz (a certain denomination of money)—DNB and JNT] or fifty zuz, when she is come of age she can take from their hand what rightfully ought to have been given her. (m. Ket. 6:6)

  אוֹמְ′ לוֹ עֲשֵׂה מַה שֶּׁיִשְׂרָאֵ′ אוֹמְרִין לָךְ

  ...they say to him, “Do what Israel tells you!” (m. Git. 9:8)

  ↩

• ^[24] See Bultmann, 109; Marshall, 438; Nolland, Luke, 2:575. ↩
• ^[25] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1034-1035. ↩
• ^[26] See Dos Santos, 6. ↩
• ^[27] Ἀμήν is the most common transliterated Hebrew word in the Gospels. See Joshua N. Tilton and David N. Bivin, "LOY Excursus: Greek Transliterations of Hebrew, Aramaic and Hebrew/Aramaic Words in the Synoptic Gospels." ↩
• ^[28] Robert L. Lindsey, "'Verily' or 'Amen'—What Did Jesus Say?" ↩
• ^[29] See Sending the Twelve: Conduct in Town, Comment to L115. Cf. Davies-Allison, 2:395. ↩
• ^[30] According to the laws of Greek grammar, γάρ cannot begin a sentence; it is usually placed as the second word of a sentence. ↩
• ^[31] For an identical reconstruction of λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι, see Rich Man Declines the Kingdom of Heaven, L102 and Sending the Twelve: Conduct in Town, L116. ↩
• ^[32] See Lowe and Flusser, “Evidence Corroborating a Modified Proto-Matthean Synoptic Theory,” 38. ↩
• ^[33] See David Hill, “ΔΙΚΑΙΟΙ as a Quasi-Technical Term,” New Testament Studies 11.3 (1965): 296-302. ↩
• ^[34] On Matt. 10:41, which was likely penned by the author of Matthew, see Sending the Twelve: Apostle and Sender, Comment to L145-150. ↩
• ^[35] See Harnack, 26; T. W. Manson, 80; Hill, “ΔΙΚΑΙΟΙ as a Quasi-Technical Term,” 298; Davies-Allison, 2:395; Hagner, 376; Nolland, Luke, 2:576. The pairing of prophets with righteous persons is unusual in ancient Jewish and early Christian sources. The closest we come to “prophets and righteous persons” in the rest of NT is “prophets and saints” (Rev. 11:18; 16:6; 18:24). Davies-Allison (2:395) cite Josephus’ account of the wickedness of king Manasseh as a possible parallel to Matthew’s “prophets and righteous persons”:

  πάντας τοὺς δικαίους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἀπέκτεινεν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τῶν προφητῶν ἔσεχε φειδώ

  ...he killed all the righteous men [τοὺς δικαίους] among the Hebrews, nor did he spare even the prophets [τῶν προφητῶν].... (Ant. 10:38; Loeb)

  In his Dialogue with Trypho, Justin mentions kings, righteous persons, prophets and patriarchs (ἢ βασιλέων ἢ δικαίων ἤ προφητῶν ἢ πατριαρχῶν) in a single list (Dial. chpt. 85). ↩

• ^[36] In ancient Jewish sources it is more common to find prophets paired with priests, elders or emissaries than with kings.

  In MT the pairing of “priest” with “prophet” sometimes refers to specific individuals, e.g., Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet (1 Kgs. 1:32, 34, 38, 44, 45), and sometimes “priests” are paired with “prophets” when listing prominent positions in the community (e.g., 2 Kgs. 23:2; Jer. 2:26; 8:1; 23:34; 26:7; 29:1; Neh. 9:32). Other times, however, “priests” and “prophets” are paired in such a way that suggests that their functions were considered comparable, for example:

  “Both prophet and priest [גַם נָבִיא גַם כֹּהֵן] are ungodly; even in my house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD. (Jer. 23:11; RSV)

  Other examples include: Jer. 5:31; 6:13; 8:10; 14:18; Lam. 4:13; Ezek. 7:26; Zeph. 3:4 (in the order “prophet...priest”); Isa. 28:7; Jer. 4:9; Lam. 2:20; Mic. 3:11; Zech. 7:3 (in the order “priest...prophet”).

  Prophets are also paired with priests in the writings of Philo (e.g., Cher. §17; Sacr. §130; Gig. §61) and Josephus (e.g., Ant. 6:262, 268; Ag. Ap. 1:249).

  Elders (זְקֵנִים; z^eqēnim) are paired with prophets in rabbinic sources. Cf., e.g., m. Avot 1:1; m. Yad. 4:3; Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Vayassa‘ chpt. 1 (ed. Lauterbach, 1:225); BaḤodesh chpt. 6 (ed. Lauterbach, 2:324).

  According to a rabbinic source, שָׁלִיחַ (shāliaḥ, “emissary”) is a synonym for prophet:

  עשרה שמות נקרא נביא אלו הן. ציר. נאמן. עבד. שליח. חוזה. צופה. רואה. חלום. נביא. איש אלהים.‏

  By ten names were prophets called, and they are: ambassador, faithful, servant, emissary [שָׁלִיחַ], visionary, watchman, seer, dreamer, prophet, man of God. (Avot de-Rabbi Nathan, Version A, 34:7 [ed. Schechter, 102])

  This agrees with the pairing of prophets with apostles (ἀποστόλοι; apostoloi) in NT, for instance:

  Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles [προφήτας καὶ ἀποστόλους]....” (Luke 11:49; RSV)

  Apostles and prophets are closely associated in 1 Cor. 12:28, 29 (cf. Eph. 4:11), and they appear in tandem in Eph. 2:20; 3:5. In Rev. 18:20 we find saints, apostles and prophets mentioned together. Apostles and prophets also appear together in Didache 11:3. (On שָׁלִיחַ as the equivalent of ἀπόστολος, see Choosing the Twelve, Comment to L10-11.)

  The term ἀπεσταλμένος (apestalmenos, “sent one”), which is similar in form and meaning to "apostle," is found in Jesus’ Lament for Yerushalayim (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who have been sent to her [τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους]”; Matt. 23:37; Luke 13:34), where it too is paired with "prophet." The Hebrew equivalent of ἀπεσταλμένος is probably שָׁלוּחַ (shālūaḥ, “emissary”), a synonym of שָׁלִיחַ.

  In the New Testament we also find prophets paired with teachers (προφῆται καὶ διδάσκαλοι) in Acts 13:1, to which we may compare Did. 13:1-2 (προφήτης ἀληθινὸς...διδάσκαλος ἀληθινός). ↩

• ^[37] In the Hebrew Scriptures kings were often at odds with the prophets, e.g., Ahab and Elijah (1 Kgs. 18); Ahab and Michaiah (1 Kgs. 22); Ahaz and Isaiah (Isa. 7); Jeroboam and Amos (Amos 7); Joash and Zechariah (2 Chr. 24); and Jehoiakim and Jeremiah (Jer. 36).

  Sometimes, as in the example from Justin’s Dialogue with Trypho cited above, kings and prophets are mentioned together in lists of important personages, for example:

  ...let not all the hardship seem little to thee that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all thy people [לִמְלָכֵינוּ לְשָׂרֵינוּ וּלְכֹהֲנֵינוּ וְלִנְבִיאֵנוּ וְלַאֲבֹתֵינוּ וּלְכָל־עַמֶּךָ], since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day. (Neh. 9:32; RSV)

  Further examples from Scripture include Jer. 2:26; 4:9; 8:1; 13:13; 32:32; Lam. 2:9.

  The Mishnah describes a similar assemblage of personages:

  אֵין מוֹסִיפִין עַל הָעִיר וְעַל הָעֲזָרוֹת אֶלָּא בַמֶּלֶךְ בַּנָּבִיא <בָּאוּרִ>ים וּבְתוּמִּים וּבְסֶנְהֶדְרִין שֶׁלְשִׁבְעִים <וְאֶחָד> וּבִשְׁתֵּי תוֹדוֹת וּבְשִׁיר

  They may not add to the city [i.e., Jerusalem] or to the [Temple] courts, unless by the decision of the king, and prophet, and Urim and Thummim [i.e., priest] and a sanhedrin of seventy-one members, and two thank offerings, and song. (m. Shevu. 2:2)

  Sources that pair “prophets” and “kings” more narrowly include Ben Sira’s description of Elijah’s resume:

  ὡς ἐδοξάσθης, Ηλια, ἐν θαυμασίοις σου...ὁ χρίων βασιλεῖς εἰς ἀνταπόδομα καὶ προφήτας διαδόχους μετ᾿ αὐτόν

  How you were glorified, Elias, in your wondrous deeds! ...He who anointed kings for the purpose of retribution and prophets as successors after him. (Sir. 48:4, 8; NETS)

  The deeds of the prophets and kings are mentioned together in the second book of Maccabees:

  καταβαλλόμενος βιβλιοθήκην ἐπισυνήγαγεν τὰ περὶ τῶν βασιλέων βιβλία καὶ προφητῶν καὶ τὰ τοῦ Δαυιδ

  ...he founded a library and collected the books about the kings and prophets, and the writings of Dauid.... (2 Macc. 2:13; NETS)

  Philo of Alexandria occasionally attributed the role of king and prophet to the same individual, for instance:

  ὁ καὶ βασιλὲων καὶ προφητῶν μέγιστος Σαμουήλ

  Samuel...the greatest of kings and prophets! (Ebr. §143; Loeb)

  ἐγένετο γὰρ προνοίᾳ θεοῦ βασιλεύς τε καὶ νομοθέτης καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ προφήτης

  For Moses, through God’s providence, became king and lawgiver and high priest and prophet.... (Mos. 2:3; Loeb; cf. 2:292)

  In the Tosefta we find a halachic ruling pertaining exclusively to prophets and kings:

  כל הקברות מתפנין חוץ מקבר המלך ומקבר הנביא רבי עקיבא אומר אף קבר המלך וקבר הנביא מתפנין

  All graves are subject to removal except for the grave of a king and the grave of a prophet. Rabbi Akiva says, “Even the grave of a king and the grave of a prophet are subject to removal.” (t. Bab. Bat. 1:11 [Vienna MS]; cf. Semaḥot 14:10)

  Prophets and kings are also paired in the following aggadic statements:

  כל כלה שהיא צנועה בבית חמיה, זוכה ויוצאין ממנה מלכים ונביאים

  Every bride who is modest in the house of her father-in-law is rewarded by having kings and prophets among her descendants. (b. Meg. 10b; b. Sot. 10b; Soncino)

  תמר זינתה יצאו ממנה מלכים ונביאים

  Tamar played the harlot yet out from her came kings and prophets. (b. Naz. 23b; cf. b. Hor. 10b)

  ↩

• ^[38] See Abbott, Clue, 154-156. ↩
• ^[39] Lowe and Flusser mention the possibility of confusion between מַלְאָךְ and מֶלֶךְ, but they attribute this solution to Michael Mach. See Lowe and Flusser, “Evidence Corroborating a Modified Proto-Matthean Synoptic Theory,” 46 n. 78. ↩
• ^[40] The use of “messenger” as a synonym for "prophet" occurs in MT and in post-biblical Jewish literature. Examples include:

  וַיִּהְיוּ מַלְעִבִים בְּמַלְאֲכֵי הָאֱלֹהִים וּבוֹזִים דְּבָרָיו וּמִתַּעְתְּעִים בִּנְבִאָיו עַד עֲלוֹת חֲמַת יי בְּעַמּוֹ עַד לְאֵין מַרְפֵּא

  But they mocked the messengers of God [מַלְאֲכֵי הָאֱלֹהִים] and disdained His words and taunted His prophets [נְבִאָיו] until the wrath of the LORD against His people grew beyond remedy. (2 Chr. 36:16; JPS)

  קלקלו בנביאים שנאמר ויהיו מלעיבים במלאכי האלהים

  They despised the prophets, as it is said, But they mocked the messengers of God [2 Chr. 36:16]. (Sifre. Deut. §306 [ed. Finkelstein, 328])

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

  By ten names were the prophets 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])

  נקראו הנביאים מלאכים. הה″ד וישלח מלאך ויוציאנו ממצרים וכי מלאה היה והלא משה היה, ולמה קורא אותו מלאך, אלא מכאן שנקראו הנביאים מלאכים.‏

  The prophets are called מַלְאָכִים [i.e., “messenger” or “angel”—DNB and JNT]. This is indicated by what is written, And he sent a מַלְאָךְ, and brought us out of Egypt [Num. 20:16]. And was it indeed an angel? Was it not Moses? So why does it call him מַלְאָךְ? Only so that from here we might know that the prophets were called angels. (Lev. Rab. 1:1 [ed. Marguiles, 1:2])

  In LXX מַלְאָךְ is rendered ἄγγελος (angelos, “messenger,” “angel”) over 200xx. In Hellenistic Jewish sources and in NT we find “angel/messenger” paired with “prophet,” for example:

  It was then, I think, that she [Sarah—DNB and JNT] first saw in the strangers before her a different and grander aspect, that of prophets or angels [ἢ προφητῶν ἢ ἀγγέλων], transformed from their spiritual and soul-like nature into human shape. (Philo, Abr. 113; Loeb)

  “If hearing ye will hear My voice,” [Exod. 23:22] (which), it must be supposed, refers to the angel mentioned a little while ago. For the prophet [προφήτης] of Him Who speaks is properly an angel [ἄγγελος]. (Philo, QE 2:16; Loeb)

  The prophets [προφῆται] who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired about this salvation.... It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things which have now been announced to you by those who preached the good news to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels [ἄγγελοι] long to look. (1 Pet. 1:10, 12; RSV)

  ↩

• ^[41] Abbott (Clue, 62-63) noted that מַלְאָךְ was mistaken for מֶלֶךְ in the story of David’s census. According to 1 Chr. 21:20, “Araunah [the Jebusite—DNB and JNT]...turned and saw the angel,” whereas 2 Sam. 24:20 reads, “Araunah looked out and saw the king.” Other examples of the confusion of מַלְאָךְ and מֶלֶךְ occurred in the process of translation from Hebrew to Greek: “The Hebrew ‘messenger’ [malāch] is rendered [in the Septuagint] by the Greek ‘king’ or ‘ruler,’ in Is. xiv. 32, xlii. 19; Prov. xiii. 17” (Abbott, Clue, 63 n. 1). (Abbott cited David Christian Ginsburg, Introduction to the Massoretico-Critical Edition of the Hebrew Bible [1897], 141, for additional examples.) More recently, Kister has collected examples of this confusion from DSS and rabbinic literature. See Menahem Kister, “Ancient Material in Pirqe de Rabbi Eli‘ezer: Basilides, Qumran, the Book of Jubilees,” in ‘Go Out and Study the Land’ (Judges 18:2): Archaeological, Historical and Textual Studies in Honor of Hanan Eshel (ed. Aren M. Maeir, Jodi Magness, and Lawrence H. Schiffman; Leiden: Brill, 2012), 85 n. 70.

  The similarity of the Hebrew words for “king” and “messenger/angel” is intentionally played upon in a story about Hanina ben Dosa in Eccl. Rab. 1:1 §1. ↩

• ^[42] See David N. Bivin, “‘Prophets and Kings’: The Evangelist Luke’s Curious Doublet.” ↩
• ^[43] See Harnack, 26. ↩
• ^[44] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:520. In LXX ἐπιθυμεῖν is the translation of הִתְאַוֶּה in Num. 11:4; Deut. 5:21; 2 Kgdms. 23:15; 1 Chr. 11:17; Ps. 44[45]:12; 105[106]:14; Prov. 21:26; 23:3, 6; 24:1; Eccl. 6:2; Amos 5:18; Jer. 17:16. ↩
• ^[45] See Bendavid, 336, 345. ↩
• ^[46] The verb הִתְאַוֶּה occurs with both negative and positive connotations in m. Mak. 3:15; Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Pisḥa chpt. 16 (ed. Lauterbach, 1:91); Sifre Deut. §31 (ed. Finkelstein, 53); Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, 20:1 (ed. Schechter, 71). Additional examples are cited in Jastrow, 24. ↩
• ^[47] Following Delitzsch, Lowe and Flusser reconstructed ἐπιθυμεῖν as נִכְסַף (nichsaf, “desire”), but since Jastrow (655) does not include this use of the root כ-ס-פ in his dictionary, it appears that נִכְסַף had fallen into disuse in MH. See Lowe and Flusser, “Evidence Corroborating a Modified Proto-Matthean Synoptic Theory,” 38. ↩
• ^[48] See Plummer, Luke, 283. ↩
• ^[49] On the reconstruction of Matt. 10:1; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1, see Sending the Twelve: Commissioning, L14-23. On the reconstruction of Luke 10:9, see Sending the Twelve: Conduct in Town, L103-105. ↩
• ^[50] See Joseph Frankovic, “Beyond an Inheritance,” footnote 28. Manson commented, “The blessedness consists not in the fact that their eyes are open (as in Mt.), but in the fact that there is something to be seen by the open-eyed, the manifestation, namely, of the kingdom of God” (T. W. Manson, 80). ↩
• ^[51] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, under the subheading “Results of this Research.” ↩
• ^[52] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Comment to L10-11. ↩
• ^[53] The verb יִמְלֹךְ (yimloch, "he will reign") and the nouns מֶלֶךְ (melech, “king”) and מַלְכוּת (malchūt, “kingdom”) all derive from the same Hebrew root, מ-ל-כ. ↩
• ^[54] We discuss this rabbinic tradition further in Lord’s Prayer, Comment to L13. ↩
• ^[55] Synagogue prayers are difficult to date. However, such prayers often preserve ancient phraseology. The phrase “for the Kingdom is yours” in the above quotation, for instance, is nearly identical to the phrase ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία (“for yours is the kingdom”), which appears in the doxology appended to the Lord’s Prayer. See Lord’s Prayer, Comment to L26. ↩
• ^[56] See Joseph H. Hertz, ed., The Authorized Daily Prayer Book (rev. ed.; New York: Bloch, 1975), 370. ↩
• ^[57] Although the concept of seeing the Kingdom of Heaven might sound strange to English speakers, references to seeing God’s Kingdom occur elsewhere in NT. In John 3:3 we find the phrase ἰδεῖν τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ (“to see the Kingdom of God”). According to Dodd, “This use of ἰδεῖν is probably a Semitism, representing the Hebrew ראה with the wide meaning ‘experience’” (Dodd, Historical Tradition in the Fourth Gospel, 359). ↩
• ^[58] See Young and Flusser, “Messianic Blessings in Jewish and Christian Texts” (Flusser, JOC, 249 n. 31). ↩
• ^[59] For a fuller discussion of the different aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven in Jewish literature and in Jesus’ teachings, see David N. Bivin and Joshua N. Tilton, “LOY Excursus: The Kingdom of Heaven in the Life of Yeshua.” ↩
• ^[60] See Rich Man Declines the Kingdom of Heaven, Comment to L64. ↩
• ^[61] See Young and Flusser, “Messianic Blessings in Jewish and Christian Texts” (Flusser, JOC, 249 n. 31). ↩
• ^[62] On the Hebraisms preserved in Matthew’s version of this pericope, see David N. Bivin, “Cataloging the Gospels’ Hebraisms: Part One (Luke 10:23-24).” ↩
• ^[63]

  Blessedness of the Twelve
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  καὶ στραφεὶς πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς κατ᾿ ἰδίαν εἶπεν μακάριοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ βλέποντες ἃ βλέπετε λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ βασιλεῖς ἠθέλησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ ὑμεῖς βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδαν καὶ ἀκοῦσαί ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν		μακάριοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ βλέποντες ἃ βλέπετε καὶ τὰ ὦτα τὰ ἀκούοντα ἃ ἀκούετε ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδαν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν
  Total Words:	38	Total Words:	37
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	28	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	28
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	73.68%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	75.68%

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• ^[64]

  Blessedness of the Twelve
  Matthew’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ὑμῶν δὲ μακάριοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὅτι βλέπουσιν καὶ τὰ ὦτα ὅτι ἀκούουσιν ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδαν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν		μακάριοι οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ οἱ βλέποντες ἃ βλέπετε καὶ τὰ ὦτα τὰ ἀκούοντα ἃ ἀκούετε ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ βασιλεῖς ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδαν καὶ ἀκοῦσαι ἃ ἀκούετε καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν
  Total Words:	35	Total Words:	37
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	28	Total Words Taken Over in Matt:	28
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	80.00%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Matt.:	75.68%

  ↩

• ^[65] On the anti-Jewish nature of much of Matthew’s editorial activity, see David Flusser, “Two Anti-Jewish Montages in Matthew” (Flusser, JOC, 552-560); idem, “Matthew’s Verus Israel” (Flusser, JOC, 561-574); idem, “Anti-Jewish Sentiment in the Gospel of Matthew” (Flusser, JSTP2, 351-353); and Tomson, If This Be, 263-267, 406-408. ↩
• ^[66] See Sending the Twelve: Conduct on the Road, Comments to L52-62, L68; Sending the Twelve: Conduct in Town, Comment to L82-83. ↩
• ^[67] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[68] 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. ↩