Matthean Posteriority: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (Did Lukan redaction influence Matthew 23:37?)
Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2022 10:32 am
Re: In a History Valley debate, Mark Goodacre showed his virtue as a dispassionate student of the evidence when he agreed with Dr. Robert K. MacEwen that this parallel points toward Matthean Posteriority.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE5UOisT8AY
Luke 13:34
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
who kills the prophets
and stones those sent to her,
how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἱερουσαλήμ,
ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας
καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν,
ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιὰν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας,
καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
who kills the prophets
and stones those sent to her,
how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ,
ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας
καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν,
ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπισυνάγει τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.
It appears that Matthew copied Luke because:
1) As Robert K. MacEwen explains, the use of the double vocative is characteristic of Luke, not Matthew.
2) Mark Goodacre, agreed, and added that there are two ways of spelling of Jerusalem.
Matthew normally uses a spelling that Luke seldom uses:
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_2414.htm
"Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ" is a spelling usually used by Luke, but never by Matthew, except here:
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_2419.htm
------------------
I doubt that this adds to the debate, but I also note that Paul used both spellings in Galatians.
Matthew's preferred spelling appears in the travel narrative:
Galatians 1:17 "did I go up to Jerusalem to those"
Galatians 1:18 "I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas"
Galatians 2:1 "I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas"
Luke's preferred spelling, Ἱερουσαλήμ (indeclinable), appears in the Galatians allegory that contrasts Jerusalem above and Jerusalem below, painting Jerusalem below a bad light:
Galatians 4:25
GRK: τῇ νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ δουλεύει γὰρ
NAS: to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery
Galatians 4:26 N
GRK: δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν
NAS: But the Jerusalem above is free;
On connotation: Luke's preferred Ἱερουσαλήμ is the Hebraic and LXX spelling and often has sacred connotations, whereas Mark, Matt and John's preferred spelling, Ἱεροσόλυμα, is the profane designation used more by Gentile writers and Jews addressing a Greek-speaking audience (according to Longenecker, Commentary on Galatians).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE5UOisT8AY
Luke 13:34
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
who kills the prophets
and stones those sent to her,
how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Ἱερουσαλὴμ Ἱερουσαλήμ,
ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας
καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν,
ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυνάξαι τὰ τέκνα σου ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις τὴν ἑαυτῆς νοσσιὰν ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας,
καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.
Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
who kills the prophets
and stones those sent to her,
how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
but you were unwilling!
Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ,
ἡ ἀποκτείνουσα τοὺς προφήτας
καὶ λιθοβολοῦσα τοὺς ἀπεσταλμένους πρὸς αὐτήν,
ποσάκις ἠθέλησα ἐπισυναγαγεῖν τὰ τέκνα σου, ὃν τρόπον ὄρνις ἐπισυνάγει τὰ νοσσία αὐτῆς ὑπὸ τὰς πτέρυγας, καὶ οὐκ ἠθελήσατε.
It appears that Matthew copied Luke because:
1) As Robert K. MacEwen explains, the use of the double vocative is characteristic of Luke, not Matthew.
2) Mark Goodacre, agreed, and added that there are two ways of spelling of Jerusalem.
Matthew normally uses a spelling that Luke seldom uses:
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_2414.htm
"Ἰερουσαλὴμ Ἰερουσαλήμ" is a spelling usually used by Luke, but never by Matthew, except here:
https://biblehub.com/greek/strongs_2419.htm
------------------
I doubt that this adds to the debate, but I also note that Paul used both spellings in Galatians.
Matthew's preferred spelling appears in the travel narrative:
Galatians 1:17 "did I go up to Jerusalem to those"
Galatians 1:18 "I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas"
Galatians 2:1 "I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas"
Luke's preferred spelling, Ἱερουσαλήμ (indeclinable), appears in the Galatians allegory that contrasts Jerusalem above and Jerusalem below, painting Jerusalem below a bad light:
Galatians 4:25
GRK: τῇ νῦν Ἰερουσαλήμ δουλεύει γὰρ
NAS: to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery
Galatians 4:26 N
GRK: δὲ ἄνω Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐλευθέρα ἐστίν
NAS: But the Jerusalem above is free;
On connotation: Luke's preferred Ἱερουσαλήμ is the Hebraic and LXX spelling and often has sacred connotations, whereas Mark, Matt and John's preferred spelling, Ἱεροσόλυμα, is the profane designation used more by Gentile writers and Jews addressing a Greek-speaking audience (according to Longenecker, Commentary on Galatians).