"Not fit to untie the strap of the sandals" & Matthew

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

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What did Matthew seen here that he has changed it?

Mark, Luke & John

Mark 1:7

And he preached, saying, he comes who [is] mightier than I after me, of whom not I am fit having stooped down, to untie the strap of the sandals of him
οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς κύψας λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ

Luke 3:16

answered saying [to] all the John, I indeed with water baptize you, it comes moreover the [one] mightier than I, of whom not I am fit to untie the strap of the sandals of him;
οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς λῦσαι τὸν ἱμάντα τῶν ὑποδημάτων αὐτοῦ

John 1:27

the [one] after me coming, of whom not am I worthy, that I should untie of him the strap of the sandal.
οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἄξιος ἵνα λύσω αὐτοῦ τὸν ἱμάντα τοῦ ὑποδήματος

Matthew

Matthew 3:11

I indeed you baptize with water to repentance; the however after me coming mightier than I is he, of whom not I am fit the sandals to carry.
οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς τὰ ὑποδήματα βαστάσαι

[Ben C. Smith]

I have no ready answer for you, but I note the Matthean version in Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 49.3:

...οστις επι τον Ιορδανην ποταμον καθεζομενος εβοα· Εγω μεν υμας βαπτιζω εν υδατι εις μετανοιαν· ηξει δε ο ισχυροτερος μου, ου ουκ ειμι ικανος τα υποδηματα βαστασαι.

...who, situated upon the Jordan river, shouted: I baptize you in water unto repentance. But the one mightier than I is coming, whose sandals I am not fit to remove.

And again, in Dialogue with Trypho 88.7, John the baptist shouts at those who have mistaken him for the Christ:

Ουκ ειμι ο Χριστος, αλλα φωνη βοωντος. ηξει γαρ ο ισχυροτερος μου, ου ουκ ειμι ικανος τα υποδηματα βαστασαι.

I am not the Christ, but a voice shouting. For the one mightier than I is coming, whose sandals I am not fit to remove.

Ben.

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

I have no ready answer for you, but I note the Matthean version in Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 49.3:
...
And again, in Dialogue with Trypho 88.7, John the baptist shouts at those who have mistaken him for the Christ:

Thanks Ben, an interesting side note.

Yesterday I forgot to mention Acts 13:25 (the preaching of Paul in Antioch)

while moreover was fulfilling John the course, he said, Whom me do you suppose to be? Not am I [he], but Behold, he comes after me, of whom not I am worthy a sandal of the feet to untie.
οὗ οὐκ εἰμὶ ἄξιος τὸ ὑπόδημα τῶν ποδῶν λῦσαι

I think there are few options.

1. It could be a scribal error
But no minor reading is attested.

2. Matthew preferred „carry/bear the sandals“ because he was following a Matthean theme of „carry/bear something“
But Matthew used the word only in two other places, once in a positive and once in a negative sense.
positive

8:16 That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore (ἐβάστασεν) our diseases.”

negative

20:12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne (βαστάσασι) the burden (βάρος) of the day and the scorching heat.’

3. It could be an OT-allusion which Matthew preferred.
The word „βαστάζω“ is used five times in the Septuagint, for example in Ruth 2:16

„2:15 … and Booz charged his young men, saying, Let her even glean among the sheaves, and reproach her not. 16 And do ye by all means carry it for her (καὶ βαστάζοντες βαστάξατε αὐτῇ), and ye shall surely let fall for her some of that which is heaped up; and let her eat, and glean, and rebuke her not.

Many commentators are of the view that „untie the strap of the sandals“ could be an OT-allusion to Ruth (4:7-8 - Jesus the redeemer as Boaz). Therefore this could be an option. But it´s not easy to understand what advantage the phrase „carry/bear the sandals“ brought Matthew.

4. Matthew rejected the meaning of the phrase „untie the strap“ intended by Mark.
Another disagreement between Mark and Matthew could be of interest in this context. Jesus sends out the disciples – with or without sandals?

Mark 6:9

8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

Matthew 10:10

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

Luke 9:3 undecided, no mention of sandals

3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.

Luke 10:4 (Jesus sends out the seventy-two)

Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.

But note Ephesians 6:15

14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as sandals for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

For now we see in a mirror dimly ...

[Kunigunde Kreuzerin]

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I. The interpretation of the phrase in Mark 1:7
II. The Markan and Pauline position

I. The interpretation of the phrase in Mark 1:7

„of whom not I am fit, having stooped down, to untie the strap of the sandals of him“

majority view

another well-established interpretation

According to the majority view the statement of John the Baptist means, that he considers himself - in a juridical sense - not able to be a slave of the one who comes and is mightier than he. It's very good explained here: Now sandals today are all mod-con, but in those days they were composed of leather soles, fastened to the foot by straps passed through the toes. The roads were unsurfaced, in dry weather they were dust heaps, in wet weather they were rivers of mud. But according to ancient Jewish tradition, the difference between a disciple and a servant or a slave was this: a disciple was willing to perform every service for his master that a menial servant would have performed, except untie his sandals. So what may well be given to us here are the three ascending degrees of humility in John‘s life - note it: one, the disciple is willing to render almost every service. A disciple will do everything except untie a man‘s sandals. Two, the slave, the servant must be willing to render every service including untying sandals - but here‘s what John says, this is where he was: the Baptist considers himself even unfit or unworthy to render the service of untying his Master‘s sandal straps. The preeminence of Christ - so high, and I so low!

Another well-established interpretation in Christian scholarship (along with the fathers) based on an allusion to the Book of Ruth, for example explained here: To understand this better (and the entire Levirate process) one must look to the book of Ruth. In it, the widow Ruth is set to marry her 'next of kin' via the levirate law, but Boaz arrived first to claim Ruth, It does not matter though, the next of kin has first choice. But he decides to pass up the marriage to Ruth, and gives her to Boaz. And in doing so he 'drew off his sandal' (Ruth 4:8). Even though John came first, Jesus is the one with the right to the woman, and he opts for the marriage - and thus does not remove his sandal. John will not be given the chance to take his place. ... So keeping all of this in mind: the repeated reference to untying of sandals, the 'maleness' of Christ, the juridical context, and the spousal-messianism John uses to describe the Christ, Schokel (along with the Fathers) exegetes this text in light of the Levirate Law in the Old Testament. ... The sandal is the key - the sandal is symbolic of he who has the right to marriage. The one who wears the sandal is the Bridegroom. As St. Cyprian said, this is why both Moses (Ex 3:2-6) and Joshua (John 5:13-15) were told by Yaweh that they had to remove their sandals; although they might have been prophets, they were not the one who had the right to marry Israel the Bride. In saying that he is not fit (juridically) to remove the sandal from Jesus' foot he is saying that Jesus is the bridegroom, he is the one who has the right to marriage, not John - even though he came first.

I think that the description of one bowing himself and untieing another one's sandal-strap is a very accurate image of a slave or a lower servant.


II. The Markan and Pauline position

In Christian scholarship a statement of St. John the Baptist is considered to be „true“ and is always welcome. But it seems to me worth to look at what the Markan Jesus and Paul have to say on this subject.

Mark 1:7 - statement of the Markan John	Mark 10:45 - statement of the Markan Jesus	2 Cor 3:5-6 - statement of Paul
And he preached, saying, he comes (Ἔρχεται) who [is] mightier than I after me, of whom not I am fit (ἱκανὸς), having stooped down, to untie (λῦσαι) the strap of the sandals of him	even indeed the Son of man not came (ἦλθεν) to be served (διακονηθῆνα), but to serve (διακονῆσαι), and to give the life of him [as] a ransom (λύτρον) for many	Not that we are sufficient (ἱκανοί) in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency (ἱκανότης) is from God, who has made us sufficient (ἱκάνωσεν) to be ministers (διακόνους) of a new covenant

Mark 1:7	Mark 10:45
he comes (Ἔρχεται) who [is] mightier	the Son of man not came (ἦλθεν)
"to untie (λῦσαι) the strap of the sandals" λῦσαι (lysai), aorist infinitive active from λύω (luo)	"give the life of him [as] a ransom (λύτρον") λύτρον (lutron), noun, neuter from λύω (luo); something to loosen with, i.e. A redemption price (figuratively, atonement) – ransom

Therefore it seems possible that John is in error (from Mark's point of view).

[Ben C. Smith]

Probably nothing, and I admit the whole Joshua/Jesus thing has been on my mind of late, but here is Joshua 5.15 NASB/LXX:

And the captain of the LORD's host said to Joshua [πρὸς Ἰησοῦν], "Remove your sandals from your feet [λῦσαι τὸ ὑπόδημα ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν σου], for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

Ben.

[Ben C. Smith]

What did Matthew see here that he has changed it?

I am currently reading Two Shipwrecked Gospels, by Dennis MacDonald, and on page 120 MacDonald uses this bit of Matthew and Mark as part of his ongoing argument that, while canonical Matthew used canonical Mark as a source, there are lots of spots at which Matthew seems to preserve a more primitive version of the unit, which would imply that both Matthew and Mark were drawing upon a lost gospel, which he calls Q+, or the Logoi of Jesus (underlining mine):

Matthew uses the present tense βαπτίζω for John’s baptizing, whereas Mark uses the past tense ἐβάπτισα apparently to refer back to John’s activities in 1:4–5.37 Matthew states that the one to come would baptize “in holy Spirit and fire,” whereas Mark lacks “and fire.” Notice also that Mark places John in a more subordinate position. Matthew’s John says he is “not worthy to carry” Jesus’ sandals, but Mark’s Jesus says he is “not worthy to bend down and untie” them.

Finally, it is worth noting that Mark seems to have scrambled the elegant chiastic structure of the saying found in Matthew.

Ben.