How to cite this article: Jeffrey P. García, “The Historical Jesus, a Tanna? Charity and Deeds of Loving-Kindness in the Gospels and Early Rabbinic Thought,” Jerusalem Perspective (2022) [https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/24187/].
Two Gospel accounts, “The Rich Young Person” (Matt. 19:16–30, Mark 10:17–3, Luke 18:18–30) and “On Almsgiving” (Matt. 6:1-4), that share similar content, structure, and argumentation with two discussions that appear in the Mishnah and Tosefta shed light on the use of rabbinic literature for the study of the Gospels. More importantly, for this study, a comparison of these texts demonstrates the value of rabbinic thought and style to address the transmission of traditions associated with the early Jesus movement, and perhaps, the historical Jesus.
The Rich Young Person (Matt. 19:16–30, Mark 10:17–3, Luke 18:18–30)
| Matthew 19.16 | Mark 10.17 | Luke 18.18 |
| 16And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, 19Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. | 17And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” 21And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. | 18And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 20You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21And he said, “All these I have observed from my youth.” 22And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23But when he heard this he became sad, for he was very rich. |
The narrative of the “Rich Young Person” is a triple tradition in the Synoptic Gospels. The conversation in this pericope, despite bearing the marks of the Evangelists’ editing, has not lost its quintessential rabbinic-ness. Its contents bear striking similarities to early rabbinic thought. For the sake of clarity, we will begin with the more salient features of the three different Gospel accounts.
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- [1] “Treasure in Heaven (or above) is an ancient idiom for the giving of charity that originates in the Second Temple period. See Gary Anderson, Sin: A History (Yale U Press, 2010), 164-88; idem, Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (Yale University Press, 2014), 123-35; Jeffrey Garcia, “‘Treasure in Heaven’: Examining an Ancient Idiom for Charity,” on Jerusalem Perspective, https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/12036/. ↩
- [2] See t. Sanh. 13 and the discussion regarding who will have a portion in the “world to come” (reference below). ↩
- [3] Ha’azinu §32, Louis Finkelstein, ed., Sifre to Deuteronomy (Berlin, 1939), 345. ↩
- [4] Other manuscripts of the Mishnah, for example Kaufman ms. A, omit “educated in the Torah” (lit. “by the hand of the Torah,” בְּיָדוֹ תוֹרָה). ↩
- [5] Marcus Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli, and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, 2 vols. (New York: G. Putnam’s Sons; 1903), 2:1422. ↩
- [6] Hebert Danby’s, The Mishnah (London: Oxford University, 1933), 10-11. ↩
- [7] “Peah,” trans. Roger Brook, The Tosefta: from the Hebrew with a New Introduction, ed. Jacob Neusner, 2 vols. (Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2002), 1:47. ↩
- [8] There is likely no parallel between “slander” and “bearing false witness” since the two infractions, לשון הרע (“slander”; t. Peah 1:2; t. Avod. Z. 1:10, 13, 14) and זוֹמְמִים (“perjurers”; m. Mak. 1) are treated differently. ↩
- [9] This was recently pointed out to me by Matthew Goldstone. Marc Hirshman, The Stabilization of Rabbinic Culture, 100 C.E. – 350 C.E. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 182. ↩
- [10] Private conversation with R. Steven Notley. He notes the similarities between Matt. 6 and m. Avot 1:1, where a statement attributed to Simon the Righteous describes the three matters upon which the world stands, Torah, Temple service, and acts of loving-kindness. ↩
- [11] Mishnah statistics are from “Mishnah-Tagged (Kaufman),” vers. 3.5, Oaktree Software, Inc., 2009. Tosefta statistics are from the Textual Witness Project (PTWP) electronic version of Tosefta Venice, 1521-22, “Tosefta (untagged),” vers. 1.1, Oaktree Software, Inc., 2009. ↩
- [12] Davies and Allison have suggested that the “sounding of the trumpet” mentioned in Matt. 6:2 may be a polemical barb against the giver of charity who makes noise when depositing their offering in one of the thirteen shofars said to be in the sanctuary (m. Shek. 6:5), Matthew 1:1-7: Volume 1, ICC (London: T&T Clark. 1988), 1:579. The shofars, however, mentioned in m. Sheq. do not appear to be used for alms (cf. m. Shek. 6:5-6; t. Shek. 3:1-7). There was a chamber in the Temple in which secret donations were placed for the poor (m. Shek. 5:6) but it does not seem that Matthew or the mishnaic passage are referring to this chamber. See Shmuel Safrai, The Jewish People in the First Century: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions, CRINT 2, 2 vols. (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1976), 2:879. ↩
- [13] See Jeffrey P. García, “Matthew 19:20: ‘What Do I Still Lack?’ Jesus, Charity, and the Early Rabbis,” in The Gospels in First-Century Judaea: Proceedings of the Inaugural Conference of Nyack College’s Graduate Program in Ancient Judaism and Christian Origins, August 29th, 2013, eds. Jeffrey P. García and R. Steven Notley, JCP 29 (Leiden: Brill 2016), 20-43. ↩
- [14] Admittedly, there is room to suggest, however unlikely, that some of the very early Jesus traditions, whether passed down orally or written, were reworked into a style that is not unlike the Mishnah and Tosefta and then incorporated into the Gospels as we know them. ↩
Comments 2
The Rich Young “Person”???
Strange to encounter this wording on a website traditionally dedicated to the validity of ancient, Judeo/Christian expression. Why not “The Rich Young Creature?” It seems the biblical narrative actually records an encounter with a young man. Have I grossly over valuated something here?
We can’t speak for the author, but perhaps the reference to the “rich young person” reveals a sensitivity to the fact that none of the Gospel writers refer to this individual as a “man” (Greek: ἀνήρ [anēr]). Matthew and Mark introduce him as “someone” (εἰς [eis]), while Luke introduces him as “a certain ruler” (τις ἄρχων [tis archōn]). Later on Matthew does refer to this individual as a “youth” (νεανίσκος [neaniskos]). Evidently the Gospel writers did not regard this individual’s gender as the most important aspect of his personhood.
We like your suggestion of referring to him as a “creature.” In the Hebrew of the period one could refer to a person as בִּירְיָא (biryāh [“creature”])—a feminine noun—if gender was not a primary concern.