Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn

Matt. 11:25-26; Luke 10:21

(Huck 67, 141; Aland 109, 181a; Crook 128, 205)^[99]

Revised: 25 May 2021

בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה שָׂשׂ בְּרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַיֹּאמֶר אוֹדְךָ אָבִי אֲדוֹן שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ כִּי הִסְתַּרְתָּ אֵלֶּה מֵחֲכָמִים וּנְבֹנִים וְגִלִּיתָ אוֹתָם לִפְתָאיִם הֵן אַבָּא כִּי כֵּן רָצוֹן הוּא לְפָנֶיךָ

At that very moment Yeshua was filled with joy through the Holy Spirit, and he said, “I give thanks to you, my Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because although you hid these mysteries from the wisest of the wise in former generations, you have now revealed them to my own simple followers. Yes, Father, I thank you because this act of grace is what you desire.”^[100]

Reconstruction

To view the reconstructed text of Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn click on the link below:

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• ^[1] On the inclusion of the Woes on Three Villages in the pre-synoptic version of the Sending the Twelve discourse, see Arland D. Jacobson, “The Literary Unity of Q LC 10,2-16 and Parallels as a Test Case,” in Logia Les Paroles de Jésus—The Sayings of Jesus: Mémorial Joseph Coppens (ed. Joël Delobel; Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1982), 419-423, esp. 421. Cf. Richard A. Edwards, “Matthew’s Use of Q in Chapter 11,” also in Logia Les Paroles de Jésus—The Sayings of Jesus: Mémorial Joseph Coppens, 257-275, esp. 262. ↩
• ^[2] Among the reasons why Woes on Three Villages was probably not part of the original “Mission of the Twelve” complex are the following:
  1. The inclusion of Woes on Three Villages in the Sending the Twelve discourse creates a dramatic shift from addressing the apostles (insiders) to addressing unrepentant villages (outsiders).
  2. In the Sending the Twelve discourse repentance is not part of the apostles’ message, but in Woes on Three Villages Jesus upbraids the people for not repenting.
  3. Capernaum and Bethsaida (two of the three towns mentioned in Woes on Three Villages) are places that Jesus had visited himself, but the Sending discourse is about preparing the apostles to enter places Jesus had not visited.

  On the other hand, there are thematic reasons why the Anthologizer might have included Woes on Three Villages where he did in the Sending the Twelve discourse:

  1. Jesus had just given instructions to the apostles regarding how they were to deal with towns that did not receive them, while Woes on Three Villages is about towns that did not receive him.
  2. Jesus said that a town that failed to receive the apostles would be subject to judgment, while in Woes on Three Villages Jesus pronounces judgments against specific towns in the Galilee.
  3. Sodom, mentioned in the instructions to the apostles, was a Gentile city known in Scripture for its wickedness. Tyre and Sidon, mentioned in Woes on Three Villages, were also Gentile cities known in Scripture for their wickedness.

  In the LOY Map we have suggested a different placement of the Woes on Three Villages saying, a placement that might have been its original context in the conjectured Hebrew Life of Yeshua. ↩

• ^[3] See Davies-Allison, 2:273. ↩
• ^[4] Among the scholars who regard the mention of the Holy Spirit as a secondary Lukan addition are Manson (Sayings, 79), Marshall (433) and Fitzmyer (2:867). One of the reasons scholars often give for regarding the mention of the Holy Spirit as a Lukan addition is the author of Luke's overall interest in the Holy Spirit. Yet Rodd has noted that, with the exception of the infancy narratives where the Holy Spirit is mentioned frequently, the Gospel of Luke has no more references to the Holy Spirit than Matthew. See C. S. Rodd, “Spirit or Finger,” Expository Times 72.5 (1961): 157-158. If Luke copied the infancy narratives from Anth., as Lindsey believed, then it may well be that the role of the Holy Spirit in narrative portions of Luke are a reflection of Luke's sources rather than the result of Luke's editorial activity. ↩
• ^[5] On the Holy Spirit in DSS, see F. F. Bruce, “Holy Spirit in the Qumran Texts,” Annual of Leeds University Oriental Society 6 (1969): 49-55. On the Holy Spirit in rabbinic Judaism, see Aaron Singer, “Holy Spirit,” in Contemporary Jewish Religious Thought (ed. Arthur A. Cohen and Paul Mendes-Flohr; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1987), 409-415. ↩
• ^[6] Superhuman knowledge imparted by the Holy Spirit is found in other Qumran texts as well, for example:

  אלה ידענו [בא]שר [חנו]את[נו רוח] הקודש

  These things we know, [bec]ause you have [favou]red [us with] the holy [spirit.] (4Q506 131-132 I, 10-11; DSS Study Edition)

  ↩

• ^[7] One might assume that since this conversation took place between a Jew and a Gentile the conversation must have been conducted in Greek or Aramaic, even though it was recorded in Hebrew, since it is highly improbable that Gentiles would have learned Hebrew. But Jastrow (724) points out that מַבְגַּאי (“Mavgai”) occurs as the name of certain Samaritans in rabbinic sources. The rabbinic sages considered Samaritans to be Gentiles, but Samaritans did speak Hebrew. ↩
• ^[8] The sages also appealed to the Holy Spirit to explain how the Israelites knew what to demand from their former oppressors when they “plundered” the Egyptians (Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Pisḥa chpt. 13 [ed. Lauterbach, 1:73]), and how Rahab the prostitute knew the pursuers would return in three days (Sifre Deut. §22 [ed. Finkelstein, 33]). ↩
• ^[9] On the Holy Spirit as the source of prophecy, see 1QS VIII, 16; t. Sot. 13:3; Sifre Deut. §176, on Deut. 18:18 (ed. Finkelstein, 221); y. Sanh. 10:2 [51a]. ↩
• ^[10] According to Manson (Sayings, 79), “The phrase ‘at that season’ in Mt. is one of Mt.’s editorial phrases (cf. Mk. 2³³ with Mt. 12¹, and Mk. 6¹⁴ with Mt. 14¹).” ↩
• ^[11] Examples of ἐν τούτῳ τῷ καιρῷ in the works of Josephus include Ant. 12:362; 16:6. ↩
• ^[12] Examples of κατ᾿ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρόν in the works of Josephus are found in J.W. 7:54; Ant. 2:205; 5:121; 6:30; 8:155, 206, 232, 266, 400; 9:88, 97, 229; 10:228; 11:32, 77; 12:169, 223; 13:304; 15:224, 425. ↩
• ^[13] Examples of κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν καιρόν in the works of Josephus are found in Life §112; J.W. 1:218; 2:309; Ant. 6:213, 271, 292; 7:21; 9:239; 11:313; 12:196; 13:395, 419; 17:89, 224; 20:169, 179; Ag. Ap. 1:136. On the phrase κατὰ τοῦτον τὸν καιρόν as a transition marker between Josephus’ sources, see Daniel R. Schwartz, “ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟΥΤΟΝ ΤΟΝ ΚΑΙΡΟΝ: Josephus’ Source on Agrippa II,” Jewish Quarterly Review 72.4 (1982): 241-268. ↩
• ^[14] In NT the phrase ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ occurs exclusively in the writings of Luke (Luke 10:21; 12:12; 13:31; 20:19). Only in Dan. 5:5 do we have a phrase similar to that in Luke 10:12, where we find ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἐκείνῃ (en avtē tē hōra ekeinē, “in that very hour”). In Dan. 5:5 the underlying Aramaic text reads בַּהּ שַׁעֲתָה (bah sha‘^atāh). ↩
• ^[15] See Plummer, Luke, 274; Moule, Idiom, 93; Fitzmyer, 1:117-118. ↩
• ^[16] See Manson, Sayings, 79. ↩
• ^[17] Among the multitude of instances in rabbinic sources, examples of בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה are found in m. Ber. 5:3; m. Peah 5:4; m. Sanh. 3:4; t. Shab. 13:3, 14; t. Pes. 4:14; t. Sot. 6:5 (2xx). ↩
• ^[18] Examples of בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה in rabbinic sources include:

  באותה השעה הציצו מלאכי השרת וגו′‏

  At that time [באותה השעה] the ministering angels came forth.... (t. Sot. 6:5; Vienna MS)

  אָמַ′ ר′ אֱלְעָזָר בֵּרְ′ צָדוֹק מַעֲשֶׂה בְּבַת כֹּהֵן שֶׁזִּינַּת וְהִקִיפוּהָא חֲבִילֵּי זְמוֹרוֹת וּשְׂרָפוּהָ אָמְרוּ לוֹ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה בֵית דִּין שֶׁבְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָׁעָה בָקִי

  Rabbi Eleazar ben Rabbi Zadok said, “An anecdote about a priest’s daughter who committed sexual transgression and they surrounded her with bundles of branches and burned her.” They said to him, “[This was only] because at that time [בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָׁעָה] there was no competent court.” (m. Sanh. 7:2)

  בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה בָּכָה ר′ יִשְׁמָעֵא′ וְאָמַ′ בְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵ′ נָאוֹת הֵן אֶלָּא שֶׁהַעֲנִיּוּת מְנַוְּולַתָּן

  At that time [בְּאוֹתָהּ הַשָּׁעָה] Rabbi Yishmael wept and said, “The daughters of Israel are comely, except that poverty has disfigured them.” (m. Ned. 9:10)

  This final example offers a formal parallel to Luke’s version of Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn. In Luke the Thanksgiving Hymn is introduced with the phrase “at that time,” then Jesus expresses a powerful emotion (joy), which prompts a saying, while in m. Ned. 9:10 we find “at that time,” Rabbi Yishmael expressing a powerful emotion (crying), which prompts a saying. ↩

• ^[19] For more on the blended style of Hebrew in which we believe the Hebrew Life of Yeshua was likely composed, and the baraita about King Yannai, see David N. Bivin and Joshua N. Tilton, “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction’ Addendum: Linguistic Features of the Baraita in b. Kid. 66a.” ↩
• ^[20] See Metzger, 152. ↩
• ^[21] The LXX translators chose to render שִׁעֲשַׁע and הִשְׁתַּעֲשַׁע, which only occur in MT 6xx, with μελετᾶν (meletan, “to study”; Ps. 118[119]:16, 47, 70), παρακαλεῖν (parakalein, “to comfort”; Isa. 66:12) or ἀγαπᾶν (agapan, “to love”; Ps. 93[94]:19). In Isa. 11:8 the LXX translators omitted translating שִׁעֲשַׁע altogether. ↩
• ^[22] See Dos Santos, 36 (גִּיל). In LXX ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι is the translation of גָּל in 1 Chr. 16:31; Ps. 2:11; 9:15; 12[13]:5, 6; 13[14]:7; 15[16]:9; 20[21]:2; 30[31]:8; 31[32]:11; 34[35]:9; 47[48]:12; 50[51]:10: 52[53]:7; 88[89]:17; 95[96]:11; 96[97]:1, 8; 117[118]:24; 149:2; Song 1:4; Isa. 25:9; 35:1, 2; 49:13; 61:10; 65:19. ↩
• ^[23] Examples of גָּל +‎ -בְּ include:

  אָגִילָה בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ

  ...I will rejoice in your salvation. (Ps. 9:15)

  ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐπὶ [ἐν—Alexandrinus] τῷ σωτηρίῳ σου

  ...I will rejoice over [in—Alexandrinus] your salvation. (Ps. 9:15)

  וְנַפְשִׁי תָּגִיל בַּיי

  And my soul will rejoice in the LORD.... (Ps. 35:9)

  ἡ δὲ ψυχή μου ἀγαλλιάσεται ἐπὶ [ἐν—Sinaiticus] τῷ κυρίῳ

  And my soul will rejoice over [in—Sinaiticus] the Lord.... (Ps. 34:9)

  בְּשִׁמְךָ יְגִילוּן

  In your name they will rejoice.... (Ps. 89:17)

  καὶ ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἀγαλλιάσονται

  And in your name they will rejoice.... (Ps. 88:17)

  וְגַלְתִּי בִירוּשָׁלִַם

  And I will rejoice in Jerusalem.... (Isa. 65:19)

  καὶ ἀγαλλιάσομαι ἐπὶ [ἐν—Sinaiticus] Ιερουσαλημ

  And I will rejoice over [in—Sinaiticus] Jerusalem.... (Isa. 65:19)

  ונגילה בעז[רתכה ובש]לומכה

  And let us rejoice in [your] he[lp and in] your [pe]ace. (1QM XIII, 13)

  וכול בני אמתו יגילו בדעת עולמים

  ...and all the sons of his truth will rejoice in eternal knowledge. (1QM XVII, 8)

  ↩

• ^[24] Bruce, “Holy Spirit in the Qumran Texts,” 52. In addition to joy and the phrase “your Holy Spirit,” both texts also share the adjectival participle נָכוֹן (nāchōn, “correct”; Ps. 51:12; 1QH^a XVII, 32) and the verb סָמַךְ (sāmach, “support,” “uphold”; Ps. 51:14; 1QH^a XVII, 32). ↩
• ^[25] Note that in LXX שָׂשׂ is translated with ἀγαλλιᾶσθαι in Ps. 18[19]:6; 39[40]:17; 69[70]:5; 118[119]:162. Examples of שָׂשׂ with -בְּ include the following:

  שׂוֹשׂ אָשִׂישׂ בַּיי

  I will surely rejoice in the LORD.... (Isa. 61:10)

  καὶ εὐφροσύνῃ εὐφρανθήσονται ἐπὶ κύριον

  And they will rejoice with joy over the Lord.... (Isa. 61:10)

  וְשַׂשְׂתִּי בְעַמִּי

  ...and I will rejoice in my people.... (Isa. 65:19)

  καὶ εὐφρανθήσομαι ἐπὶ τῷ λαῷ μου

  ...and I will rejoice in my people.... (Isa. 65:19)

  תָּשִׂישׂ בִּישׁוּעָתוֹ

  [My soul]...will rejoice in his salvation. (Ps. 35:9)

  τερφθήσεται ἐπὶ τῷ σωτηρίῳ αὐτοῦ

  [My soul]...will delight over his salvation. (Ps. 34:9)

  יָשִׂישׂוּ וְיִשְׂמְחוּ בְּךָ כָּל־מְבַקְשֶׁיך

  May they delight and rejoice in you, all those who seek you.... (Ps. 40[39]:17; cf. Ps. 70[69]:5)

  ἀγαλλιάσαιντο καὶ εὐφρανθείησαν ἐπὶ σοὶ πάντες οἱ ζητοῦντές σε

  May they delight and rejoice in you, all those who seek you.... (Ps. 40[39]:17; cf. Ps. 70[69]:5)

  וְיָשִׂישׂוּ בְשִׂמְחָה

  ...they will rejoice with happiness. (Ps. 68[67]:4)

  τερφθήτωσαν ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ

  ...they will rejoice with happiness. (Ps. 68[67]:4)

  וְיָשִׂישׂ בְּכֹחַ

  ...and he will delight in strength.... (Job 39:21)

  כי שש לבי בבריתכה

  ...for my heart delighted in your covenant. (1QH^a XVIII, 30)

  ↩

• ^[26] See Hatch-Redpath, 181. ↩
• ^[27] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:12-15. ↩
• ^[28] Examples of בְּרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ (b^erūaḥ haqodesh, “by/in the Holy Spirit”) and close equivalents include:

  היאה מדרש התורה א[ש]ר צוה ביד מושה לעשות ככול הנגלה עת בעת וכאשר גלו הנביאים ברוח קודשו

  This is the study of the Torah, which was commanded by the hand of Moses, to do according to all that is revealed in every age, and as the prophets revealed by his Holy Spirit.... (1QS VIII, 15-16)

  יחונכה ברוח קודש

  May he grace you with [the] Holy Spirit. (1QS^b II, 24)

  ולהתחזק ברוח קודשך

  ...and to be strengthened by your Holy Spirit. (1QH^a VIII, 15)

  לטהרני ברוח קודשך

  ...and to purify me by your Holy Spirit.... (1QH^a VIII, 20; cf. 1QS IV, 21)

  שמעתי לסוד פלאכה ברוח ק^ודשכה

  I have listened to your wonderful secret by your Holy Spirit. (1QH^a XX, 12)

  כיון רבן גמליאל ברוח הקדש

  Rabban Gamliel determined this by the Holy Spirit. (t. Pes. 2:15; Vienna MS)

  ר′ שמעון בן מנסיא או′ שיר השירים מטמא את הידים מפני שנאמר ברוח הקדש

  Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says, “Song of Songs makes the hands impure because it was spoken by the Holy Spirit.” (t. Yad. 2:14; Vienna MS)

  הָיוּ הַנְּבִיאִים מִתְנַבְּאִים בְּרוּחַ הַקּוֹדֶשׁ

  ...the prophets were prophesying by the Holy Spirit.... (Seder Olam chpt. 30 [ed. Guggenheimer, 259])

  יסכה זו שרה ולמה נקרא שמה יסכה שסכתה ברוח הקדש שנאמר כל אשר תאמר אליך שרה שמע בקלה

  Yiskah [Gen. 11:29]—this is Sarah. And why is she called “Yiskah”? Because she had clairvoyance by means of the Holy Spirit, as it is said, all that Sarah tells you, obey [Gen. 21:12]. (b. Meg. 14a)

  ↩

• ^[29] In LXX בְּרוּחַ is translated as ἐν πνεύματι in 2 Esd. 19:30; Ps. 47[48]:8; Zech. 4:6; 7:12; Mal. 2:15; Isa. 4:4; 11:4; Ezek. 11:24; 37:1. ↩
• ^[30] On our decision to use Vaticanus as the base text of our reconstruction, see David N. Bivin and Joshua N. Tilton, “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction,’” under the subheading “Codex Vaticanus or an Eclectic Text?” ↩
• ^[31] See Metzger, 152. ↩
• ^[32] On the baraita about King Yannai in b. Kid. 66a, see above, Comment to L1. ↩
• ^[33] See LSJ, “ἐξομολογέομαι,” 597. ↩
• ^[34] In LXX ἐξομολογήσομαί σοι is the translation of אוֹדְךָ in 2 Kgdms 22:50; Ps. 17[18]:50; 29[30]:13; 34[35]:18; 42[43]:4; 51[52]:11; 56[57]:10; 70[71]:22; 85[86]:12; 107[108]:4; 117[118]:21, 28; 118[119]:7; 137[138]:1; 138[139]:14. ↩
• ^[35] On -שֶׁ in the sense of “because” see Segal, 227 §482; Lord’s Prayer, Comment to L20. ↩
• ^[36] See Marshall, 433. According to Flusser, “Not only the opening of Jesus’ hymn but also the free rhythm of the poem and its content show affinity with the Essene thanksgiving hymns. Furthermore, the high self-awareness expressed in Jesus’ hymn resembles the Essene hymns; both Jesus and the author of the Thanksgiving Scroll proclaim that they reveal to the simple divine things hidden from others. Thus it seems evident that Jesus knew the Essene thanksgiving hymns and used their form in order to express his own place in the divine economy, though he introduced into his own hymn the motif of his divine sonship, which is naturally absent from the Thanksgiving Scroll.” See David Flusser, “Psalms, Hymns and Prayers,” in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (CRINT II.2; ed. Michael E. Stone; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 551-577, esp. 567; cf., idem, “Hillel and Jesus: Two Ways of Self-Awareness,” in Hillel and Jesus: Comparative Studies of Two Major Religious Leaders (ed. James H. Charlesworth and Loren L. Johns; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997), 71-107, esp. 99-100. ↩
• ^[37] Among the scholars who presume that אַבָּא stands behind πάτερ in Matt. 11:25 and Luke 10:21 are Jeremias (Prayers, 56, 109), Marshall (433), Nolland (Luke, 571), France (Matt., 444) and Bovon (2:41). ↩
• ^[38] See James Barr, “’Abbā Isn’t Daddy,” Journal of Theological Studies 39.1 (1988): 28-47, esp. 30-32. ↩
• ^[39] The vocative form πάτερ with no possessive pronoun is the translation of אָבִי in Gen. 22:7; 27:18, 34, 38 (2xx); 48:18; 4 Kgdms. 2:12 (2xx); 6:21; 13:14 (2xx). Only in Judg. 11:36 is אָבִי translated with the vocative πάτερ μου. ↩
• ^[40] See our discussion in Lord’s Prayer, Comment to L10. ↩
• ^[41] On the presumed obsolescence of אָבִי, see Jeremias, Prayers, 22-23, 56. Cf. Dalman, 192. ↩
• ^[42] In DSS the form אָבִי occurs in the Thanksgiving Hymns at 1QH^a XVII, 29, 35. Additional examples of אָבִי in DSS are found in 4QTNaph [4Q215] 1 III, 7, 10; 4Q372 1 I, 16; 4Q460 5 I, 6; 4Q526 1 I, 1; 11QPs^a [11Q5] XIX, 17; XXVIII, 3. ↩
• ^[43] In rabbinic texts we find אָבִי in, e.g., Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Baḥodesh chpt. 6 (ed. Lauterbach, 2:325); Sifre Deut. §305 (ed. Finkelstein, 327); Avot de-Rabbi Natan, Version A, 37:13 (ed. Schechter, 112); Gen. Rab. 75:9 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 2:888). See Lord’s Prayer, Comment to L10. ↩
• ^[44] Two examples of אָבִי (“my father”) as an address to God in prayer have been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. The first, found in 4Q372 1 I, 16, is in a prayer attributed to Joseph the patriarch. The second is in 4Q460 5 I, 6. On these prayers see Eileen M. Schuller, “The Psalm of 4Q372 1 within the Context of Second Temple Prayer,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 54 (1992): 67-79. ↩
• ^[45] Thus we cannot agree with France who wrote, “...while the tone of the prayer is thus familiarly Jewish, the address to God simply as ‘Father’ breaks new ground” (France, Matt., 444). ↩
• ^[46] See David Flusser, “Jesus and Judaism: Jewish Perspectives,” in Eusebius, Christianity, and Judaism (ed. Harold W. Attridge and Gohei Hata; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1992), 80-109, esp. 100; idem, Jesus, 121-123. ↩
• ^[47] Whether Tobit was originally composed in Hebrew or Aramaic is a matter of scholarly debate. Fragments of the book of Tobit were discovered at Qumran in both languages. Scholars continue to debate which of these two languages was the one in which Tobit was originally composed. Buth has recently made a case for a Hebrew original for Tobit. See Randall Buth, “Distinguishing Hebrew from Aramaic in Semitized Greek Texts, with an Application for the Gospels and Pseudepigrapha” (JS2, 247-319, esp. 291-295). ↩
• ^[48] According to Nickelsburg, “It is generally agreed that Judith was composed in Hebrew.” See George E. Nickelsburg, “Stories of Biblical and Early Post-Biblical Times,” in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period (CRINT II.2; ed. Michael E. Stone; Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984), 33-87, esp. 52. However, see the reservations expressed by Jan Joosten, “Varieties of Greek in the Septuagint and the New Testament,” in The New Cambridge History of the Bible (4 vols.; ed. James Carleton Paget, Joachim Schaper et al.; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013-2015), 1:22-45, esp. 36. According to Buth’s criteria, Aramaic is ruled out as the original language of Judith. See Buth, “Distinguishing Hebrew from Aramaic” (JS2, 295). ↩
• ^[49] The title קֹנֵה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ occurs in Gen. 14:19, 22. ↩
• ^[50] The title עֹשֵׂה שָׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ occurs in Ps. 115:15; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; 146:6. ↩
• ^[51] The title אֲדוֹן כָּל הָאָרֶץ occurs in Josh. 3:11, 13; Mic. 4:13; Zech. 4:14; 6:5; Ps. 97:5. ↩
• ^[52] The opening line of the Aleinu reads עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל (“It is our duty to praise the Lord of everything”). Dating of Jewish prayers is uncertain, but the Aleinu may have originated in the late Second Temple period. ↩
• ^[53] The title אדון כל הבריות occurs in y. Ber. 1:5 [10b]; cf. Gen. Rab. 17:4 (ed. Theodor-Albeck, 156). ↩
• ^[54] The title רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם occurs frequently in rabbinic literature. Cf., e.g., m. Taan. 3:8; Mechilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Beshallaḥ chpt. 6 (ed. Lauterbach, 1:156); Shirata chpt. 3 (ed. Lauterbach, 1:187). ↩
• ^[55] A similar Greek improvement is found in LXX, where some manuscripts read διὰ τί ἀπ᾽ ἐμοῦ κρύπτῃ (“Why from me do you hide?”; Job 13:24), but the texts of Alexandrinus and Sinaiticus read διὰ τί με ἀποκρύπτῃ (“Why do you hide away from me?”). Bovon (2:39) suggests that the author of Luke changed ἔκρυψας to ἀπέκρυψας in order to achieve alliteration with ἀπεκάλυψας (“you have revealed”; L8). On compound verbs in Luke in general, see Cadbury, Style, 166-168. ↩
• ^[56] For citations, see above, Comment to L4. ↩
• ^[57] In the first four chapters of Genesis alone, ὅτι is the translation of כִּי‎ 22xx: Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25; 2:3, 23; 3:1, 5, 6 (2xx), 7, 10, 11, 14, 17, 19, 20; 4:12, 23, 24. ↩
• ^[58] In the Thanksgiving Hymns the root ס-ת-ר occurs in 1QH^a IV, 9 (נסתרות; “hidden things”); IX, 25 (נסתרו; “they were hidden”); XI, 38 (תסתירני; “you will hide me”); XIII, 11 (סתרתני; “you hid me”); XIII, 25 (סתרת; “you hid”); XVI, 10 (סותר [pu‘al]; “hidden”); XIX, 19 (נסתר; “it was hidden”); XXVI, 15 (נסתרות; “hidden things”). ↩
• ^[59] The verb טָמַן occurs in 1QH^a X, 29; XXI [bottom], 8. ↩
• ^[60] Examples of the root ח-ב-ה/ח-ב-א in the Thanksgiving Hymns include:

  ותורתכה חבתה ב[י ]עד קץ

  ...and you hid your Torah in [me] until the time.... (1QH^a XIII, 11)

  וברז חבתה בי ילכו רכיל לבני הוות

  And about the mystery you hid in me, they go slandering to the sons of destruction. (1QH^a XIII, 25)

  ותחבא אמת לקץ[--] מועדו

  And you will hide truth for time[--] its appointed season. (1QH^a XVII, 24)

  ↩

• ^[61] See Segal, 41 §72. In the Mishnah אֵלֶּה occurs exclusively in biblical quotations: m. Rosh Hash. 1:9; 2:9; m. Meg. 2:3; m. Sot. 2:3; 7:8; m. Zev. 10:1. ↩
• ^[62] See Robert L. Lindsey, “The Major Importance of the ‘Minor’ Agreements,” under the subheading “From Non-Hebraisms to the Synoptic Problem.” ↩
• ^[63] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[64] According to Flusser, for instance, “The critique of the intelligentsia expressed here [i.e., in Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn—DNB and JNT] is...common to the Essenes, Jesus, and the contemporary Jewish holy charismatics [i.e., Hasidim—DNB and JNT].” See Flusser, “Jesus and Judaism: Jewish Perspectives,” 100. For other scholars who understand Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn as a polemic against various contemporaries of Jesus, see Marshall, 434 (religious leaders); Fitzmyer, 2:873 (unspecified contemporaries); Davies-Allison, 2:275 (scribes and Pharisees); Luz, 2:162 (the entire religious aristocracy). ↩
• ^[65] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, under the subheading “Story Placement.” ↩
• ^[66] This quotation is based on our reconstruction of Jesus’ saying in Hebrew and therefore does not exactly conform to either Matt. 13:17 or Luke 10:24. ↩
• ^[67] See our discussion in Blessedness of the Twelve, Comment to L6. ↩
• ^[68] See Mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, Comment to L19. ↩
• ^[69] According to Marshall (434), “The thought is of the secrecy of God’s plans and purposes which he reveals at his own appointed time to his chosen people.” ↩
• ^[70] See Huub van de Sandt, “Matthew 11,28-30 Compassionate Law Interpretation in Wisdom Language,” in The Gospel of Matthew at the Crossroads of Early Christianity (ed. Donald Senior; Leuven: Peeters, 2011), 313-337, esp. 324, where he writes, “...the wise and understanding in [Luke] 10,21 are identified with the prophets and kings who never saw or heard what the disciples now see and hear.” ↩
• ^[71] To cite one example, the story is told how a bat kol intimated that Hillel was worthy to have the Holy Spirit rest on him, but his generation was unworthy of such an honor (t. Sot. 13:3). It follows that in the generations when the Holy Spirit did rest upon the prophets, the generations did merit this honor. ↩
• ^[72] Examples of the pairing of prophets and/or prophecy with the wise and/or wisdom include:

  כִּי לֹא תֹאבַד תּוֹרָה מִכֹּהֵן וְעֵצָה מֵחָכָם וְדָבָר מִנָּבִיא

  For Torah will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise person [מֵחָכָם], nor a word from the prophet. (Jer. 18:18)

  ὅτι οὐκ ἀπολεῖται νόμος ἀπὸ ἱερέως καὶ βουλὴ ἀπὸ συνετοῦ καὶ λόγος ἀπὸ προφήτου

  For law will not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the intelligent person [ἀπὸ συνετοῦ], nor a word from the prophet. (Jer. 18:18)

  σοφίαν πάντων ἀρχαίων ἐκζητήσει καὶ ἐν προφητείαις ἀσχοληθήσεται

  He will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and he will be occupied with prophecies. (Sir. 39:1; NETS)

  βουλεύοντες ἐν συνέσει αὐτῶν, ἀπηγγελκότες ἐν προφητείαις

  ....when they counseled with their intelligence [ἐν συνέσει], when they announced through prophecies.... (Sir. 44:3; NETS)

  οἷς μὲν οὖν πάρεστι τὸ καλῶς νοεῖν, θαυμάζουσι τὴν περὶ αὐτὸν σοφίαν καὶ τὸ θεῖον πνεῦμα, καθ᾿ ὃ καὶ προφήτης ἀνακεκήρυκται

  Therefore, those who are able to think well marvel at his [i.e., Moses’—DNB and JNT] wisdom and the divine spirit in accordance with which he has been proclaimed as a prophet also. (Aristobulus, frag. 2 from Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 8:10 §4; trans. Charlesworth 2:838)

  πῶς οὖν εἰκὸς ἰσοχρονίους εἶναι τοὺς ὑπαιτίους τῷ πανσόφῳ καὶ προφήτῃ

  How then can it be reasonable that the years of the guilty should match those of the sage and prophet? (Philo, Gig. §56; Loeb)

  Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποστέλλω πρὸς ὑμᾶς προφήτας καὶ σοφοὺς καὶ γραμματεῖς

  Therefore, behold, I am sending to you prophets and wise persons and scribes. (Matt. 23:34)

  והלא דברים ק″ו ומה משה רבינו חכם גדול שבגדולים אב לנביאים בשעה שהקפיד על דבריו שכח את דבריו אנו על אחת כמה וכמה

  Is this not a matter of kal vahomer? If Moses our teacher, greatest among the wise and father of the prophets, in a moment when he was short-tempered in his speech forgot his words, how much more in our own case! (Avot de-Rabbi Natan 1:4 [ed. Schechter, 3])

  ניתנו מרועה אחד אמר הקב″ה אם שמעתה דבר מפי קטן ישראל והנייך לא יהא בעיניך כשומעו מפי קטן אלא כשומעו מפי גדול ולא כשומעו מפי גדול אלא כשמעו מפי חכם ולא כשמעו מפי חכם אלא כשמעו מפי נביא ולא כשמעו מפי נביא אלא כשמעו מפי רועה ואין רועה אלא משה

  Given through one shepherd [Eccl. 12:11]. The Holy One, blessed be he, said, “If you heard a word from an Israelite minor and it pleases you, do not regard it as though you heard it from the mouth of a minor, but as though from the mouth of an adult, and not as though from the mouth of an adult, but as though from the mouth of a sage [חכם], and not as though from the mouth of a sage, but as though from the mouth of a prophet, and not as though from the mouth of a prophet but as though from the mouth of a shepherd, and there is no shepherd other than Moses.” (y. Sanh. 10:1 [50b])

  כך היה אחז סבור בדעתו לומר אם אין קטנים אין גדולים אם אין גדולים אין חכמים אם אין חכמים אין נביאים אם אין נביאים אין רוח הקודש אם אין רוח הקודש אין בתי כניסיות ובתי מדרשות כביכול אין הקב″ה משרה שכינתו על ישראל

  Thus did Ahaz reason in his mind, saying, “If there are no little ones there will be no grown-ups, and if there are no grown-ups there will be no sages [חכמים], and if there are no sages there will be no prophets, and if there are no prophets there will be no Holy Spirit, and if there is no Holy Spirit there will be no synagogues or houses of study: as it were the Holy one, blessed be he, will not cause his divine presence to rest on Israel.” (y. Sanh. 10:2 [51a]; cf. Gen. Rab. 42:3)

  ↩

• ^[73] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1280-1281. ↩
• ^[74] See Dos Santos, 63. ↩
• ^[75] See Hatch-Redpath, 2:1315. ↩
• ^[76] See Hatch-Redpath, 1:131-132. ↩
• ^[77] See Luz, 2:157. ↩
• ^[78] In LXX νήπιος is used to translate עוֹלָל/עוֹלֵל in 1 Kgdms. 15:3; 22:19; 4 Kgdms. 8:12; Ps. 8:3; 16[17]:14; 136[137]:9; Job 3:16; Joel 2:16; Nah. 3:10; Jer. 6:11; 9:20; 51[44]:7; Lam. 1:5; 2:11, 19, 20; 4:4. ↩
• ^[79] In LXX νήπιος is the translation of פֶּתִי in Ps. 18[19]:8; 114[116]:6; 118[119]:130; Prov. 1:32; Ezek. 45:20 (Alexandrinus). ↩
• ^[80] See Fitzmyer, 2:873; Luz, 2:162; Flusser, “The Dead Sea Sect and Its Worldview” (JSTP1, 8 n. 20). ↩
• ^[81] See Flusser, “Jesus and Judaism: Jewish Perspectives,” 100; idem, “The Dead Sea Sect and Its Worldview” (JSTP1, 8 n. 19). Other times, the “simple” are non-members who might be attracted to the sect (4QpNah [4Q169] 3-4 I, 6). See Luz, 2:162 n. 67. ↩
• ^[82] See David Flusser, “Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit” (JOC, 102-114); Robert L. Lindsey, “The Hebrew Life of Jesus,” under the subheading “The Two Versions of the Beatitudes.” ↩
• ^[83] See Marshall, 434; Barr, “’Abbā Isn’t Daddy,” 41. ↩
• ^[84] See a critique of this view in Barr, “’Abbā Isn’t Daddy,” 41-44. ↩
• ^[85] See Joshua N. Tilton, “Did Jesus Call God ‘Abba’?” ↩
• ^[86] Note that this story is set in the period when the Temple was still standing. ↩
• ^[87] Unlike the rest of the Torah’s commandments, which a person sets out to perform intentionally, the commandment of the forgotten sheaf (Deut. 24:19) depends on an unintentional action, namely, accidentally forgetting a sheaf in the field. Thus, a completely Torah-observant person who is also possessed of a good memory might never have the opportunity to fulfill the commandment of the forgotten sheaf. The opportunity comes by chance (or Providence), and it is for this reason the man described as a Hasid was so pleased to fulfill the commandment of the forgotten sheaf. He regarded the opportunity to fulfill this commandment as a sign of God’s favor. ↩
• ^[88] In LXX we find ναί in Gen. 17:19; 42:21; Judith 9:12 (2xx); Job 19:4; Isa. 48:7. ↩
• ^[89] In Gen. 30:34 הֵן comes very close to meaning “yes.” See BDB, 243. ↩
• ^[90] See Jastrow, 356. ↩
• ^[91] See Moulton-Howard, 465. ↩
• ^[92] The earliest example of the formula יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ is found in m. Avot 5:20. ↩
• ^[93] In LXX ἔμπροσθεν + personal pronoun is the translation of לִפְנֵי + pronominal suffix in Gen. 24:7; 32:4, 17; 33:3; 41:43; 45:5, 7; 46:28; Num. 14:43; Judg. 3:27; 4:14; 18:21; 1 Kgdms. 8:20; 9:19, 27; 10:5; 25:19; 2 Kgdms. 5:24; 10:16; 15:1; 20:8; 3 Kgdms. 1:5; 3:12; 16:25, 30, 33; 4 Kgdms. 4:31; 5:23; 17:2; 18:5; 23:25; 1 Chr. 14:15; 17:13; 19:16; 21:30; 29:25; 2 Chr. 1:12; 2 Esd. 22:36; Ps. 79[80]:10; 104[105]:17; Eccl. 1:16; 2:7, 9; 4:16; Job 21:33; 41:14; Joel 2:3; Isa. 43:10; 45:1 (2xx), 2; 58:8. ↩
• ^[94] In Eccl. 1:10 ἀπὸ ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν (“from before us”) is the translation of מִלְּפָנֵנוּ (“from before us”), and in Josh. 4:23 ἐκ τοῦ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν (“from before them”) is the translation of מִפְּנֵיכֶם (“from before you”). ↩
• ^[95] Many scholars consider ἔμπροσθεν σου (“before you”) in Matt. 11:26 and Luke 10:21 to be a Semitism. See Allen, Matt., 122; Davies-Allison, 2:278. ↩
• ^[96] The phrase כי כן also occurs in CD-A XI, 18, and in 1QS V, 15 we find כיא כן. ↩
• ^[97] In LXX εὐδοκία is the translation of רָצוֹן in Ps. 5:13; 18[19]:15; 50[51]:20; 68[69]:14; 88[89]:18; 105[106]:4; 144[145]:16. The exceptions are in Ps. 140:5, where ἐν ταῖς εὐδοκίαις αὐτῶν (“in their good will”) is the translation of בְּרָעוֹתֵיהֶם (“against their evil deeds”; Ps. 141:5), and Song 6:4, where ὡς εὐδοκία (“like good pleasure”) is the translation of כְּתִרְצָה (“like Tirzah”). ↩
• ^[98]

  Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn
  Luke’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἠγαλλιάσατο τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ εἶπεν ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι πάτερ κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἀπέκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις ναὶ ὁ πατήρ ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου		ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἠγαλλιάσατο ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ εἶπεν ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι πάτερ κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις ναὶ ὁ πατήρ ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου
  Total Words:	40	Total Words:	41
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	39	Total Words Taken Over in Luke:	39
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	97.50%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Luke:	95.12%

  Yeshua’s Thanksgiving Hymn
  Matthew’s Version		Anthology’s Wording (Reconstructed)
  ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι πάτερ κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις ναὶ ὁ πατήρ ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου		ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἠγαλλιάσατο ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ εἶπεν ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι πάτερ κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις ναὶ ὁ πατήρ ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου
  Total Words:	37	Total Words:	41
  Total Words Identical to Anth.:	31	Total Words Taken Over in Matthew:	31
  Percentage Identical to Anth.:	83.78%	Percentage of Anth. Represented in Mathew:	78.05%

  ↩

• ^[99] For abbreviations and bibliographical references, see “Introduction to ‘The Life of Yeshua: A Suggested Reconstruction.’” ↩
• ^[100] This translation is a dynamic rendition of our reconstruction of the conjectured Hebrew source that stands behind the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels. It is not a translation of the Greek text of a canonical source. ↩