I would like to deal with the next two mini-parables as one unit. (Wait, what? Two mini-parables together again?) We should be used to the process by now, so let’s jump right in, shall we?
To start with, here is the Text:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
P’SHAT
The teaching that likely lies on the surface of the parable is that the Kingdom of Heaven deals with things of great value. It’s worth giving everything you have to obtain it. Pretty straightforward and quite profound.
REMEZ
This is a little tricky, but what did you find? Did you do any digging (pun intended)? It would seem that the most obvious remez (backed up by the use of the word in the Septuagint) would be Proverbs 2:
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you,turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding,and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure,then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Combine this remez with the fact that a “pearl” is a Hebrew idiom for a proverb and you have a very convincing case for the remez of these two parables.
DRASH
This would mean at least part of Jesus’s drash surrounding this teaching is that the wisdom and understanding of the Kingdom is something that must be sought after and dug for. In other words, if you aren’t willing to do the work of preparing your soil, you aren’t going to find the wisdom buried in the field. The wisdom is buried. Notice the emphasis in Proverbs 2 about “understanding”; now, go back and think about the parable of the soils. What was the difference for the learner who was the good soil? “… the one who hears the word and understands it.” The understanding comes because somebody is willing to break up their unplowed ground, clear it of rocks, and burn away the thorns; it comes to the one who searches for truth as for hidden treasure.
If there’s one glaring issue remaining with all of this, it’s that the characters in these parables are off. Notice, with every parable told in this teaching, “the man” is the God character. The sower is God. The land owner is God. The farmer is God. Why are these parables different?
In short, I don’t think they are.
I used to argue with one of my colleagues (Aaron Couch) about the remez of this parable (again, this is the beauty of rabbinic teaching — we argued, in good spirit, about the Text). Aaron was convinced the remez is Proverbs 2, and I was convinced it is Ezekiel 16. While I now believe, looking at the language in Matthew and in the Septuagint, Aaron is correct about the direct remez, consider the following:
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.
“ ‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!” I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.’ ”
In the passage above, the phrase “entered puberty” can also be translated as “beautiful jewel.” Also, in Hebrew thought, there is plenty of wiggle room to use the term “pearl” and “jewel” interchangeably. Notice, then, this additional remez allows us to see the man/merchant as the God character. This also adds a significant layer to the teaching in that the Kingdom of Heaven is like the truth that when God found His people (i.e., you), He found a treasure — a true gem, a pearl — in a field. You were important enough to God that when He found you, there is nothing He wouldn’t do to acquire you. He sees your true value and is willing to sell everything in order to buy you as His own.
No comments:
Post a Comment