A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Law and Love

751 Pages·2009·7.586 MB·English

by  John P. Meier

A�
MARGINAL�
JEW
volu m e fou r
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A�
MARGINAL�
JEW
rethinking
the historical jesus
Y
volume four
law and love
J P. M
OHN EIER
Yale University Press
new haven and london
Copyright © 2009 by John P. Meier.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part,
including illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted
by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers
for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Set in Sabon type by dix!
Printed in the United States of America.
Imprimatur—Hartford, CT, December 16, 2008—The Most Rev. Henry J. Mansell, D.D.
The Library of Congress has already cataloged earlier volumes as follows.
Meier, John P.
A marginal jew : rethinking the historical Jesus /
John P. Meier.—1st ed.
v. [1–2–3] ; maps ; 24 cm.—(The Anchor Bible
reference library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1. The roots of the problem and the person—
v. 2. Mentor, and miracles—
v. 3. Companions and competitors.
1. Jesus Christ—Historicity. 2. Jesus Christ—Jewishness.
I. Title. II. Series
BT303.2.M465 1991
232.9—dc20 91-10538
ISBN 978-0-300-14096-5 (v. 4)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence
of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
in memoriam
MYLES M. BOURKE
DAVID NOEL FREEDMAN
JR˘¯gJ χ¯˘R ·T¯ R·‡ R·‡
2 Kings 2:12
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Contents
Acknowledgments xi
introduction to volume four
The Historical Jesus Is the Halakic Jesus
1
I. The Multiple Difficulties of Dealing with Jesus and the Law 1
II. Three Vital Distinctions 5
III. A Road Map through Volume Four 8
IV. Once Again, A Reminder about the Rules of the Road 11
notes to the introduction
18
chapter
31
Jesus and the Law—but What Is the Law?
26
I. Jesus and the Law: Reciprocal Illumination 26
II. The Meaning(s) of the Law: The Old Testament and
Intertestamental Judaism 27
III. The Meaning(s) of the Law: The New Testament and
Rabbinic Judaism 38
IV. The Problem of the Historical Jesus and the Historical Law 40
notes to chapter
31 47
chapter
32
Jesus’ Teaching on Divorce
74
I. Introduction: Some Preliminary Clarifications 74
II. Divorce in the Pentateuch 77
III. Divorce in the Prophets and Wisdom Literature 81
vii
viii
CONTENTS
IV. Intertestamental Period: Philo, Josephus, and Qumran 84
A. Philo 84
B. Josephus 86
C. Qumran 87
V. A Glance Forward to the Mishna 94
VI. The New Testament Statements on Divorce 95
A. 1 Corinthians 7:10–11 97
B. The Q Tradition (Matt 5:32 ‘ Luke 16:18) 102
C. Mark 10:11–12 108
D. Divorce and the Criteria of Historicity 112
E. The Dispute Story in Mark 10:2–12 119
F. Conclusions 124
notes to chapter
32 128
chapter
33
The Prohibition of Oaths
182
I. Introduction 182
II. Oaths: From the Jewish Scriptures to the Mishna 183
A. Initial Clarifications 183
B. Oaths in Ancient Israel and Judaism 184
III. The Prohibition of Oaths in the New Testament 188
A. The Special Situation of the New Testament Sources 188
B. An Initial Comparison of the Two Texts 189
C. The Earliest Available Version of the Tradition 191
D. Does the Prohibition Go Back to the Historical Jesus? 198
notes to chapter
33 206
chapter
34
Jesus and the Sabbath
235
I. The Sabbath from the Scriptures to the Mishna 235
A. The Sabbath in the Jewish Scriptures 235
B. The Sabbath in the Deuterocanonical (Apocryphal) Books 240
C. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha and Qumran 241
D. Jewish Diaspora Literature: Aristobulus, Philo,
and Josephus 246
E. A Quick Glance Forward to the Mishna 248
II. Jesus’ Actions on and Sayings about the Sabbath 252
A. Miracles on the Sabbath That Do Not Provoke a Dispute 252
ix
CONTENTS
B. Miracles on the Sabbath That Do Provoke a Dispute 253
Hălākâ
C. Sayings of Jesus on Sabbath Found in the Synoptic
Miracle Stories 259
D. The Plucking of Grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–28) 267
E. The Sabbath Sayings in Mark 2:27–28 280
III. Conclusion 293
notes to chapter
34 297
chapter
35
Jesus and Purity Laws
342
I. Purity Laws in the Pentateuch and Beyond 343
II. Jesus and Purity in Mark 7:1–23 352
A. The Structure of Mark 7:1–23 353
B. A Structured Translation of Mark 7:1–23 360
C. Identifying the Hand(s) of the Christian Author(s) 363
D. Searching for the Historical Jesus in the Subunits of
Mark 7:6–23 369
E. Verses 1–5: The Question about Eating with
Unwashed Hands 399
III. Other Possible References to Ritual Purity in the Gospels 405
IV. Conclusions on Jesus and Ritual Purity 413
notes to chapter
35 415
chapter
36
Widening the Focus: The Love Commandments of Jesus
478
I. Introduction: The Various Commandments of Love 478
II. The Double Command of Love in the Gospel of Mark 481
A. The Place of the Double Command of Love
(Mark 12:28–34) 481
B. The Structure and Content of Mark 12:28–34 484
C. The Argument for the Historicity of Mark 12:28–34 499
III. The Command to Love Enemies in the Q Tradition 528
A. Clarifying the Question 528
B. “Love Your Enemies”: Is There an Exact Parallel? 532
IV. The Golden Rule in the Q Tradition 551
V. The Love Command in the Johannine Tradition 558
A. The Theological Context of the Love Command within
John’s Gospel 558
x
CONTENTS
B. The Love Commands: John and the Synoptics Compared 560
C. The Question of Historicity 566
D. The Love Command in the Johannine Epistles 568
VI. Concluding Reflections on the Love Commandments 572
notes to chapter
36 576
Conclusion to Volume Four
647
I. Positive Insights 647
II. Negative (or Inverse) Insights 651
notes to conclusion
658
Map of Palestine in the Time of Jesus 664
Map of the Galilee of Jesus’ Ministry 665
Chart of the Family of Herod the Great 666
Principes
Chart of the Regnal Years of the Roman (Emperors) 667
List of Abbreviations 668
Scripture and Other Ancient Writings Index 687
Author Index 704
Subject Index 719