SOCIETY FOR NEW TESTAMENT STUDIES MONOGRAPH SERIES GENERAL EDITOR MATTHEW BLACK, D.D., F.B.A. THE THEME OF JEWISH PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW THE THEME OF JEWISH PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST MATTHEW BY DOUGLAS R.A.HARE Assistant Professor of New Testament Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1967 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521052108 © Cambridge University Press 1967 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1967 This digitally printed first paperback version 2005 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 67—21959 ISBN-13 978-0-521-05210-8 hardback ISBN-10 0-521-05210-6 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-02045-9 paperback ISBN-10 0-521-02045-X paperback To W.D.DAVIES CONTENTS Preface page ix List of abbreviations xiii I General Remarks on the Nature of the Conflict between Jews and Christians i II Survey of the Data of Jewish Persecution of Christians in Sources other than Matthew 19 Forms of persecution 20 Violent death 20 Judicial flogging 43 Imprisonment 47 Exclusion from the synagogues 48 Economic reprisals 56 Social reprisals 58 Unspecified persecution 59 Incidence, geographical distribution and chronology 62 Organization and spontaneity 64 The relationship between Jewish and Gentile persecution of Christians 66 Summary 77 III References to Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel according to St Matthew 80 Exegesis of the relevant passages 80 Matthew 23: 29-39 80 Matthew 10: 16-33 96 Matthew 5: 10-12 114 Matthew 22: 6 121 Ambiguous references to persecution 122 Summary and evaluation 125 IV Matthew's Understanding of the Causes of Persecution 130 sveKev 5iKccioowr|s (5: 10) 130 6V6KEV k\XO\t (5:11) 132 OUTCOS yap s8ico£av TOUS 7rpo(pr|Tas (5: 12) 137 The dispute over the interpretation of Torah 141 The eschatological cause 143 Summary 144 vii CONTENTS V The Christian Response to Persecution by the Jews as Evidenced by Matthew page 146 Pessimism concerning the possibility of the conversion of Israel 146 Israel's rejection of the Gospel foreordained 149 God has rejected Israel 152 Israel replaced by the Church 156 Renewed emphasis upon love of enemies 162 Persecution de-eschatologized 163 Summary 164 VI Summary and Conclusions 167 Appendices 1 Use of the term aOsos 172 11 The Roman church in the first century 173 in A Common Vorlage for Matt. 5: 12 c and Luke 6: 231? 174 iv Two types of suffering 176 v Interpreting Matthew 24 177 Bibliography 180 Indices 1 Index of passages quoted 190 n Index of Greek words 200 in Index of authors 200 iv Index of subjects 202 Vlll PREFACE It has long been recognized that the Gospel according to St Matthew has intensified the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees. It has frequently been suggested that this intensifica- tion reflects the continuing struggle between the Church and the synagogue, a struggle which constitutes an important part of the Sitz im Leben of the First Gospel. One aspect of this matter which has seldom, if ever, received sustained and thorough treatment is the theme of Jewish persecution of Christians, a theme which occurs repeatedly in Matthew's gos- pel. The intention of the present study is to subject this Matthean theme to careful scrutiny, with two questions primarily in mind: (i) Has Matthew exaggerated the severity of the perse- cution? and (2) How has the persecution influenced Matthew's theology? The first part of the study is consequently strictly historical. In view of many exaggerated and inaccurate statements con- cerning the suffering imposed upon Christians by Jews, there is a great need for a reappraisal of the historical data relating to this persecution, in order to establish as accurately as possible the nature and extent of the conflict. Chapter 1 prepares for this historical study by examining the sociological presuppositions of persecution as related to the Jewish community. In order to evaluate properly the Matthean portrayal of persecution, we must then, in chapter 11, examine the evidence found in sources other than Matthew. Here we shall be dependent primarily upon Christian sources, since they alone make explicit reference to the conflict. This is unfortunate, since the Christian accounts are clearly biased and consequently a poor foundation for an objective study. Some control, however, can be provided by rabbinic texts, which, when used with caution as regarding date, can enable us to establish to a limited extent the patterns of synagogue discipline employed in the first century. Rabbinic allusions to the Minim provide some indication of the methods used by the rabbis to control nonconformity. Employing both Christian and Jewish sources, we shall examine individually the kinds of ill-treatment attributed to Jews by Christian authors. Attention will also be paid to questions of incidence, ix