First, Jewish literature looked forward to a sage-messiah. Job asks where wisdom and understanding are to be found (Job 28:12). Enoch claims that wisdom found no dwelling place on the earth (1 En. 42.2). The prophets therefore foretold the arrival of wisdom. Isaiah predicted that the sage-messiah would have “the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, . . . knowledge and fear of the LORD” (Isa. 11:2; 2 Chron. 1:10–12).33 The terms “wisdom,” “knowledge,” “understanding,” and “fear of the LORD” parallel the concepts in Prov. 2:1–8, indicating the hope for a king like Solomon. Isaiah also refers to the servant as one who will “act wisely” (52:13). Later, Isaiah connects this with teaching, claiming, “All your children shall be taught [διδακτούς] by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children” (54:13). Jeremiah 23:5–6 speaks of a Davidic “Branch” being raised up, “a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right” (NIV). Enoch said that the elect one will sit on the throne and out of his mouth will come all the secrets of wisdom, for the Lord of the Spirits has given them to him (1 En. 51.3; 63.2). The desire from times past was to have a wise ruler like Solomon. There is also a long tradition of wisdom being personified (Job 21; Prov. 1; 3; 8; 9; Sir. 1, 24; 11QPsa 18; Bar. 3–4; 1 En. 42; 4 Ezra 5; 2 Bar. 48; Wis. 1–9).34
The second argument for seeing Jesus as the teacher of wisdom is in the specific titles given to Jesus.35 Matthew prominently presents Jesus as a teacher (διδάσκαλος) and instructor (καθηγητής).36 The later term is unique to Matthew and portrays Jesus in the role of a tutor (23:10).37 Jesus therefore has a unique instructor-student relationship with his disciples in Matthew. Matthew refers to Jesus as a “teacher” implicitly or explicitly twelve times (8:19; 9:11; 10:24, 25; 12:38; 17:24; 19:16; 22:16, 24; 22:36; 23:8; 26:18). In Matt. 26 Jesus calls himself “the Teacher,” and many times in Matthew’s Gospel people come up to him, calling him “Teacher.” Witherington argues that Wisdom is regarded as the teacher in numerous sapiential texts.38 Matthew also stresses that Jesus is the son of David (Solomon). Eleven times he speaks of Jesus as the “son of David” compared to four in Mark and Luke and none in John. He and Luke are the only Gospels to have the following words on Jesus’s lips: “Behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42).
On the opposite end, Matthew contrasts Jesus with the “scribes/teachers [γραμματεῖς] of the law” twenty-one times—negatively describing those who are associated with the Pharisees (2:4; 5:20; 7:29; 8:19; 9:3; 12:38; 15:1; 16:21; 17:10; 20:18; 21:15; 23:2, 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 34; 26:57; 27:41). The Greek term for “teachers [γραμματεῖς] of the law” is the plural form of the same word as scribe in 13:52 (γραμματεύς). Therefore, those coming against Jesus could be rightly translated as the “scribes of the law.” Jesus, as the teacher, clashes with the “scribes of the law” but trains his own scribes in the true interpretation of the Scriptures. Jesus trains his scribes in Matt. 5–7 (first discourse); he chastises the scribes of the people in 23–25 (last discourse).39 Matthew explicitly connects scribes/disciples to the title of teacher throughout his Gospel (8:19; 9:11; 10:24–25; 12:38; 17:24; 22:16). Thus, both the titles for Jesus and the opposition to Jesus in Matthew point toward Jesus as a teacher of wisdom.
The third argument for seeing Jesus as the teacher of wisdom is not only the titles but also the specific content of Matthew’s Gospel. As Byrskog writes, “Matthew characterizes Jesus not only by means of designations and titles, but also by informing the readers/hearers about what Jesus does.”40 Matthew enhances the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher in a number of ways. He structures his book along five discrete discourses, many of which can be understood along the lines of the wisdom tradition.41 In fact, the process of gathering teachings together into blocks reflects the process of producing Proverbs.42 The first summary of Jesus’s ministry tells about Jesus and his teaching activity. “And he went throughout Galilee, teaching and healing in their synagogues” (cf. 4:23).43 The Sermon on the Mount portrays Jesus as one who teaches with authority, not as “their scribes” (7:29). Matthew specifically closes out Jesus’s teaching with the remark, “When Jesus had finished saying all these things . . .” (26:1). “All these things” refers not only to the final discourse but also to all the earlier discourses and sayings in Matthew, since the other Synoptic Gospels lack this statement.44 The Sermon on the Mount specifically portrays Jesus as an authoritative teacher who goes up on the mountain to instruct. Within the Sermon, Jesus asserts his authority over the Mosaic law. Additionally, as already mentioned, Matthew includes a prolonged attack on the scribal authorities of the day in chapter 23. In a section unique to Matthew, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and scribes as teachers, providing the antithesis and parallel to the Sermon in many ways.
Matthew not only blocks the teaching material of Jesus and gives the antithesis to his teaching, but the teaching itself also mirrors explicit wisdom sayings. As Witherington points out, there are many echoes of Sirach in Jesus’s teaching that require explanation (compare Sir. 24:9 and 6:19–31 to Matt. 11:29–30; Sir. 23:9 to Matt. 5:34; Sir. 28:3–4 to Matt. 5:22; Sir. 29:11 to Matt. 6:19). The Sermon on the Mount uses terms and concepts that would have put Jesus in the tradition of a Greco-Roman philosopher as he speaks about what it means to flourish and be whole as a human being.45 Jesus speaks as a sage when he says that the values of the world will be turned upside down and wrongs will be righted. “The concern for the righting of wrongs in the long run is one of the driving engines of all Wisdom literature, beginning even with Proverbs.”46 Jesus also adheres to the act-consequence theory: good deeds will be rewarded and bad ones will be punished. This is another form that pervades the wisdom tradition. Jesus speaks of himself as having nowhere to lay his head (8:20), and a number of texts speak of wisdom searching for a dwelling place and sometimes finding one and other times not. Sirach 24:8–9 asserts wisdom seeks a resting place, while 1 En. 42.1–2 says, “Wisdom could not find a place in which she could dwell, but a place was found for her in the heavens. Then Wisdom went out to dwell with the children of the people, but she found no dwelling place.”
Jesus is also first worshiped by “wise men,” who bring Jesus gifts as the queen of Sheba brought gifts to Solomon (Matt. 2:1–12). Matthew claims that in Jesus’s life “wisdom is justified by her deeds” (11:19).47 This is Jesus’s response to the people’s rejection of both John the Baptist and Jesus for their different lifestyles (11:6–9). Jesus comes eating and drinking, and the wisdom tradition itself has quite a bit about banqueting (see Sir. 31:12–32:6). Jesus claims that all things have been revealed to him by the Father (Matt. 11:25–27).48 In the wisdom tradition, it was Wisdom herself who was entrusted with the secrets or revelation of God (Prov. 8:14–36; Wis. 6:22; 7:7; 9:17). Jesus speaks of creation theology similar to what we find in Proverbs and compares the beauty to the great sage Solomon (Matt. 6:25–30).49 Sages perceived the cosmic order to have originated at creation and attempted to maintain it by the justice of divine rules. As James Dunn concludes, Matthew “stands alone within the Synoptic tradition in maintaining a full Wisdom Christology.”50
Finally, and most important for our purposes, are the arguments from Matt. 13 for Jesus being a teacher of wisdom. Three points enhance the portrait of Jesus as a sage in chapter 13. First, the placement of Matt. 13 in the structure of Matthew. Chapter 13 sits structurally at the center of the Gospel and is a lens through which to view the entire book.51 At the center of the chapter Matthew indicates that Jesus’s kingdom parables are in fulfillment of Ps. 78:2, “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden [κεκρυμμένα] since the foundation of the world” (AT).52 The connection between wisdom and what is secret or hidden is a common theme (Prov. 10:14; Job 3:21; 15:18; 28:21; Sir. 20:30; 41:14; Isa 29:14; 45:3).53 Proverbs speaks of wisdom as something to be sought after like silver, searched for as hidden treasures (Prov. 2:4). Throughout the wisdom tradition, wisdom is spoken of as hidden and secret but still
able to be found.54 If we expand our view of the structure as well, Celia Deutsch has argued, the clearest wisdom text is Matt. 11:25–30, which also speaks of the “things . . . hidden” by the Father (emphasis added). These five verses sit contextually in a “conflict section,” and Matt. 13 is the response and conclusion to this conflict narrative.55 All sections of 11:2–13:58 have themes of revelation and concealment. Matthew 13 gives the reason for the dynamic of opposition and conflict: Jesus speaks to his disciples in parables about the secrets of the kingdom because they have become blind, but he will now enlighten them (13:13–15). What has been hidden (wisdom) is now revealed in Jesus. Notably, the word “understanding” (συνίημι) occurs only in and after chapter 13 in Matthew’s narrative.
Second, Matt. 13 should be viewed under the lens of wisdom because of the specific form of the chapter. Looking at the form matters because, as Sneed argues, the wisdom tradition was a mode of literature (though diverse) used to train young scribes through short pithy sayings.56 These instilled the values, beliefs, and norms of ancient Israelite culture into those being trained.57 According to Justin Martyr, “Jesus’ sayings were short and concise” (1 Apol. 4.5), possibly with the same aims. Jesus regularly taught using rhetorical forms designated by the Greek terms χρεία and παραβολή, which are connected to the Hebrew word mashal. Likewise, NT scholars give the larger label of aphorisms to Jesus’s teachings (i.e., pithy instructional sayings).58 Throughout the OT it is the kings who are to be the patterns of wisdom. Matthew 13 specifically contains a collection of parables about the kingdom.59 Unlike the parallels in the other Gospels, Matthew has nearly every parable in this chapter begin with the phrase “the kingdom of heaven is like.” The kingdom is the central theme in Jesus’s ministry, and therefore understanding Jesus as a teacher of wisdom pulls the entire Gospel together as Matthew focuses on Jesus’s revealing “the secrets” or “the mysteries” of the kingdom in chapter 13.60 Matthew, as a wisdom teacher himself, cleverly reveals at the center of his Gospel the secrets of his teacher (13:11).
Third, the immediate context surrounding Matt. 13:52 supports viewing Jesus as a teacher of wisdom. Right before Jesus makes the comment about scribes, he asks the disciples if they have “understood” (συνίημι) his parables (13:51). The disciples answer yes. The term “understand” is used twice in Prov. 2 (2:5, 9) and six more times in Proverbs as a whole (8:9; 21:11, 12, 29; 28:5; 29:7); the concept looms large for the wisdom tradition as a whole. But it is not only the words immediately preceding Matt. 13:52 but also the narrative following 13:52 as well. The story that follows concerns Jesus going to his hometown in Nazareth and “teaching” them in their synagogue (13:53–58, esp. v. 54). The people are astonished and ask, “Where did this man get this “wisdom” (σοφία, v. 56), and they are offended by him because he is the carpenter’s son. Matthew intentionally brackets 13:52 with wisdom themes. The next section will argue that the term “treasures” in 13:52 also has wisdom connotations.
Therefore, it is not only the Jewish hopes, the titles given to Jesus in Matthew, or the specific content of Jesus’s teaching in Matthew that point to Jesus as a teacher of wisdom, but the very structure, form, and immediate context of Matt. 13. At the axis of his Gospel, Matthew inserts multiple hints for how he himself reads Jesus’s life. Just as Jesus reveals the mysteries of the kingdom as the teacher of wisdom, so Matthew discloses the mysteries of his method (13:11). While “a disciple is not above his teacher” (10:24), Jesus gave his twelve disciples authority (10:1) and bequeathed to them revelation of the kingdom that they can pass on to the next generation. They do understand Jesus’s teaching (13:51). Matthew now reveals the secrets of the kingdom in his Gospel (13:11). When Matthew devotes a whole chapter to Jesus explicating the kingdom, he also inserts a statement about how he himself learned to illuminate the kingdom from his teacher-sage. Jack Suggs is right to conclude that Jesus as a wisdom teacher has been neglected in Matthew: “For too long, the traces of wisdom speculation present in Matthew have been treated as tangential or eccentric traditions foreign to the purpose and theology of the evangelist. They constitute, in my opinion, certain proof that one aspect of Matthew’s thought has been unfortunately neglected.”61
Matthew as the Discipled Scribe
Matthew is not only a disciple of Jesus the teacher of wisdom but also a discipled scribe. Labeling Matthew as a scribe should inform us about his task and how he will accomplish it. Although the word “scribe” (γραμματεύς) in 13:52 might carry a nontechnical meaning, this does not necessarily mean historical scribal background can’t help inform Matthew’s usage.62 In fact, as Duling notes, it would be an oversimplification to suppose that scribes occupied only one category. Duling suggests at least six categories: (1) royal scribes, (2) public and private secretaries, (3) village and local scribes, (4) scribes of voluntary associations, (5) scribes who teach elementary education, (6) learned Torah scribes.63 But in another sense all scribes were “sapiential scribes” who sought out wisdom (Sir. 39:1–3) and became sagacious.64 William McKane has even argued that “scribes” and “wise men” were essentially synonymous as a class.65 The above categories don’t have to be put at odds, and it is best to understand Matthew’s self-description as the combination of a royal, Torah, and sapiential scribe.66 To put it more precisely, Matthew becomes wise by learning how to interpret the Torah from his sage-king.
In the OT, scribes were described as “scribes of the king” and “royal scribes” (cf. 2 Kings 12:11; 2 Chron. 24:11). Scribes would “chronicle the kings of Israel” (cf. 1 Kings 11:41; 14:19, 29).67 In the OT we also learn that kings are faithful by following the Torah. Ezra was a “scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven” (Ezra 7:12), who was filled with wisdom concerning God’s law (7:25). Kings who were faithful to the Torah also produced wisdom. Matthew’s role was modeled on these portraits. He was a learned Torah-royal-sapiential scholar who penetrated prophecies and studied the hidden meanings of the Hebrew Scriptures.68 He did so through the new Torah, the new king, or the royal law of Christ.
Though it can be tempting to think of scribes merely as those who wrote, most scribes in both Matthew’s time and before Matthew’s time engaged in at least four activities that mirror and illuminate Matthew’s composition: (1) learning (2) writing/interpreting, (3) distributing, and (4) teaching.69
The first activity of a scribe can be described as learning.70 All of the rest of these roles and capacities depend on scribes being learned or educated.71 A scribe is one who knows things. They learned these things from their sages, kings, or public rulers. The OT evidence indicates that scribes were valued for the wisdom and understanding they possessed (1 Chron. 27:32), and they were known as “wise” (Isa. 33:18; 1 Cor. 1:20). Horsley confirms this, saying that the increasing information about scribes in the ancient Near East confirms that the cultivation of wisdom was integrally related to their function.72 Ezra, one of the most well-known scribes, is introduced as “a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the LORD, the God of Israel, had given” (Ezra 7:6), and “learned in matters of the commandments of the LORD and his statutes for Israel” (7:11). Ezra was responsible not only for reading the Torah to the people (Neh. 8:1–8) but also for its study (8:13). Ezra’s fundamental commission sounds similar to Matthew’s, especially with the emphasis on the “secrets of the kingdom” (Matt. 13:11). Ezra was to “write all these things that you have seen in a book; . . . and you shall teach them to the wise among your people, whose hearts you know are able to comprehend and keep these secrets” (2 Esd. 12:37).
One of the most famous descriptions of the ideal scribe is provided by Ben Sira, who attributes to scribes all areas of knowledge, government, and fame. The scribe “seeks out the wisdom of the ancients, and is concerned with prophecies” (Sir. 38:24–34; 39:1–11, esp. v. 1). The key thing for a scribe was to seek understanding, to become wise. Ben Sira’s consistent description of scribes includes the fervent search for understanding. According to He
brew sages, there were three ways to gain wisdom: “(1) Careful scrutiny of nature and human nature; (2) learning from the traditions of one’s elders, the accumulated wisdom of previous generations; and (3) through encounter with God or a special revelation (Prov. 8 and Job 40–41).”73
These three points nicely typecast Matthew’s wisdom and what it means for him to be learned or educated.74 Matthew himself has a special revelation of God through the man Jesus Christ (point 3 above). “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:27). Wisdom is a divine gift—it comes from above—and Jesus has come to bequeath this gift to his followers as the son of David. Notably Sir. 39:1–11, when describing the ideal scribe, says, “If the great Lord is willing, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding” (v. 6, emphasis added). The implication is that the scribe needs to enjoy some kind of inspiration. When he pours out this knowledge, the scribe does so in a prophetic sense in that he conveys information and wisdom granted to him.
Matthew is also well known as the most Jewish of the Gospel writers. He intersects the Jesus story with the traditions of the elders (point 2 above). This mirrors what Ben Sira’s grandson says about his grandfather in the Prologue: “So my grandfather Jesus, who had devoted himself especially to the reading of the Law and the Prophets and the other books of our ancestors, and had acquired considerable proficiency in them, was himself also led to write something pertaining to instruction and wisdom, so that . . . those who love learning might make even greater progress in living according to the law.”
Matthew, Disciple and Scribe Page 3