Matthew 8:11

Last updated
Matthew 8:11
←  8:10
8:12  →
SonRoyalHeal.jpg
Joseph-Marie Vien's 1752 depiction of Jesus and the Centurion
Book Gospel of Matthew
Christian Bible part New Testament

Matthew 8:11 is the eleventh verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse is part of the miracle story of healing the centurion's servant, the second of a series of miracles in Matthew. After praising the Gentile Centurion's faith in the previous verse in this one Jesus prophesizes that many form around the world will follow him.

Contents

Content

In the original Greek according to Westcott-Hort this verse is:

λεγω δε υμιν οτι πολλοι απο ανατολων και δυσμων ηξουσιν και ανακλιθησονται
μετα αβρααμ και ισαακ και ιακωβ εν τη βασιλεια των ουρανων

In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads:

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and
shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

The New International Version translates the passage as:

I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their
places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.


For a collection of other versions see BibleHub Matthew 8:11.

Analysis

This verse does not appear as part of the Centurion's miracle story in Luke 7. There is a similar passage in Luke 13:28-29 and it is possible the author of Matthew repurposed content from that section to add here.

Keener sees strong evidence that this is an authentic saying of Jesus as it contains Semitic expressions not found in Greek. [1]

The word translated as sit in the KJV and take their place in the NIV literally translates as recline. [2] The Greek and Roman culture was to recline at a formal banquet on couches known as klinai. The word recline in this verse shows the impact of Hellenization on the Palestine of the period. [3] A divine banquet was a frequent metaphor for the afterlife in both Jewish and Greek culture of the period and is a motif that is found on tombstones of the period. [4]

This verse is strongly eschatological predicting what will happen at the end times. A messianic banquet was a frequent concept in Jewish literature of the time. [2] In attendance are three of the patriarchs of Israel Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What role they are playing at the banquet is not clear, are they the hosts or fellow honoured guests? [3] In Jewish literature of the period there are accounts of meeting one of the patriarchs after death. [3]

That foreigners are coming from east and west to Israel at the end time, making clear that Israel will be the location of the end times. This aligns with the common Jewish belief of the time that Jerusalem would be the centre point of the end of the world. [3] The verse is not clear if these people from the east and west are Gentiles, as contrasted with unfaithful Jews in the next verse. There were many Jews in lands to the east and west and the verse could be referring to them returning to Israel. [3] Sharing a dinner table with a Gentile was in Jesus' time considered ritual defilement. If the foreigners are Gentiles, that the patriarchs themselves are sharing a table with the foreigners shows Jesus' rejection of these rules. [2]

Commentary from the Church Fathers

Jerome: Or perhaps in the person of the centurion the faith of the Gentiles is preferred to that of Israel; whence He proceeds, But I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and from the west. [5]

Augustine: He says, not ‘all,’ I but many; yet these from the east and west; for by these two quarters the whole world is intended. [5]

Haymo of Halberstadt: Or; From the east shall come they, who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west they who have suffered persecution for the faith even unto death. Or, he comes from the east, who has served God from a child; he from the west who in decrepit age has turned to God. [5]

Adamantius (Pseudo-Origen): How then does He say in another place, that the chosen are few? Because in each generation there are few that are chosen, but when all are gathered together in the day of visitation they shall be found many. They shall sit down, not the bodily posture, but the spiritual rest, not with human food, but with an eternal feast, teeth Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, where is light, joy, glory, and eternal length of days. [5]

Jerome: Because the God of Abraham, the Maker of heaven, is the Father of Christ, therefore also is Abraham in the kingdom of heaven, and with him will sit down the nations who have believed in Christ the Son of the Creator. [5]

Related Research Articles

Gospel of Matthew Book of the New Testament

The Gospel according to Matthew, also called the Gospel of Matthew, or simply Matthew, is the first book of the New Testament and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, rejected and crucified by Israel, condemns Israel, and sends the disciples to preach the gospel to the Gentiles instead. Matthew seems to emphasize that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church that was increasingly becoming gentile. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees with the position that through their rejection of Christ, the Kingdom of God has been taken away from them and given instead to the church.

In Christianity, the "exterior darkness" or outer darkness is a place referred to three times in the Gospel of Matthew into which a person may be "cast out", and where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth". Generally, the outer darkness is thought to be hell; however, many Christians associate the outer darkness more generally as a place of separation from God or from the metaphorical "wedding banquet" that Jesus is expected to have upon his Second Coming.

Promised Land

The Promised Land is the land which, according to the Tanakh, God promised and subsequently gave to Abraham and to his descendants. In modern contexts the phrase "Promised Land" expresses an image and idea related both to the restored Homeland for the Jewish people and to salvation and liberation.

Jacobs Ladder Ladder leading to heaven, dreamed by Jacob

Jacob's Ladder is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis.

Zabūr is, according to Islam, the holy book of Dawud (David), one of the holy books revealed by Allah before the Quran, alongside others such as the Tawrat (Torah) of Musa (Moses) and the Injil (Gospel).

Matthew 1

Matthew 1 is the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains two distinct sections. The first lists the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham to his legal father Joseph, husband of Mary, his mother. The second part, beginning at verse 18, provides an account of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

Bosom of Abraham

"Bosom of Abraham" refers to the place of comfort in the Biblical Sheol where the righteous dead await Judgment Day.

Matthew 3:2

Matthew 3:2 is the second verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. John the Baptist has just been introduced and this verse describes the message that he is preaching. Through John's message, Matthew introduces the "Kingdom of Heaven".

Matthew 3 Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 3

Matthew 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It is the first chapter dealing with the ministry of Jesus with events taking place some three decades after the close of the infancy narrative related in the previous two chapters. The focus of this chapter is on the preaching of John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus.

Matthew 3:9

Matthew 3:9 is the ninth verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. The verse describes an incident where John the Baptist berates the Pharisees and Sadducees. He has previously called them a brood of vipers and warned them of the wrath to come and has urged them to repent. In this verse he warns that their links to Abraham will not save them.

Matthew 4

Matthew 4 is the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament of Christian Bible. Many translations of the gospel and biblical commentaries separate the first section of chapter 4 from the remaining sections, which deal with Jesus' first public preaching and the gathering of his first disciples.

Matthew 5

Matthew 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount, which will also take up chapters 6 and 7. Portions are similar to the Sermon on the Plain in Luke 6, but much of the material is found only in Matthew. It is one of the most discussed and analyzed chapters of the New Testament. Warren Kissinger reports that among Early Christians no chapter was more often cited by early scholars. The same is true in modern scholarship.

Matthew 5:48

Matthew 5:48 is the forty-eighth and final verse of the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the final verse of the final antithesis, and it is a summary of Jesus' earlier teachings.

Matthew 6:33

Matthew 6:33 is the thirty-third verse of the sixth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament and is part of the Sermon on the Mount. This verse continues the discussion of worry about material provisions.

Matthew 8:7

Matthew 8:7 is the seventh verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse continues the miracle story of healing the centurion's servant, the second of a series of miracles in Matthew.

Matthew 8:10

Matthew 8:10 is the tenth verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse continues the miracle story of healing the centurion's servant, the second of a series of miracles in Matthew.

Matthew 8:9 is the ninth verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse continues the miracle story of healing the centurion's servant, the second of a series of miracles in Matthew.

Matthew 8:12 is the twelfth verse of the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse is part of the conclusion to the miracle story of healing the centurion's servant, the second of a series of miracles in Matthew. This verse warns that many Jews are lacking in faith after praising the Gentile Centurion in the previous verse for his.

Matthew 27:11

Matthew 27:11 is the eleventh verse of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. This verse brings the narrative back to Pilate's Court, and the final trial of Jesus.

Healing the centurions servant

Healing the centurion's servant is one of the miracles said to have been performed by Jesus of Nazareth as related in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. The story is not recounted in the Gospels of either John or Mark.

References

  1. ↑ Craig S. Keener (1999). A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 268. ISBN   978-0-8028-3821-6.
  2. 1 2 3 France, R.T. The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985. pg. 155-156
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 W. D. Davies; Dale C. Allison (Jr.) (1988). Matthew Vol 2. Clark. p. 28-30.
  4. ↑ Francis Wright Beare (1981). The Gospel according to Matthew : translation, introduction and commentary. Harper & Row. p. 208-209.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Catena Aurea: commentary on the four Gospels; collected out of the works of the Fathers. Oxford: Parker, 1874. Thomas Aquinas".PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
Preceded by
Matthew 8:10 		Gospel of Matthew
Chapter 8 		Succeeded by
Matthew 8:12
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.