Clint Cozier
@ccozier
Clint Cozier
Golden Rule in the Negative Form in Palestinian Jewish Literature
In ancient Jewish Palestinian literature the saying is found only in a negative version;a likewise in the “Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”b The positive version in Jesus’ mouth goes beyond the negative version just as far as, for example, “help and support” goes beyond “do no harm.”
... See moreIf I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 130
Matt 7:2 Measure
The imagery of the second comes from grain contracts in which it was frequently specified that grain delivery and payment therefore would be measured with the same instrument — that of [Matt., p. 319] the purchaser (see Couroyer, RB 77 [1970] 366–70). S
is that we must refrain from judging others; we must humbly acknowledge that we have no access to other people’s hearts and that judging people is the sole prerogative of God.21
Nehemia Polen • Stop, Look, Listen: Celebrating Shabbos through a Spiritual Lens
Hillel and the Golden Rule:
The statement attributed to Hillel, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor; this is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary," appears in the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat 31a. Here's the relevant passage:
> אָמַר הִלְיוּן אַבְטָא רַבּוּת שֶׁמָּה נָבוֹן וּמָה נָבוֹן אֵלֶּה שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר לְךָ בְּשַׁבֶּךָ
... See moreOne must seek Knowledge, but be a little wary of finding it. Perhaps excessive, but one could say the idea of possessing knowledge represents a kind of complacency. This is what Socrates meant: Once you think you know, you stop looking. You cease your wonder.
Simon Sarris • Long Distance Thinking
ISBE on the Intertexts to the Golden Rule
The general principle of reciprocity embodied in the “golden rule” is not unique to Jesus’ teaching. Among the Greeks, Isocrates stated a similar principle: “You should be such in your dealings with others as you expect me to be in my dealings with you” (Nicocles or The Cyprians 49). Similar maxims are found
... See moreHerod the Great
Herod the Great (37–4 BC). In 37 BC, the Idumean ruler Herod the Great captured Jerusalem with Roman support and was designated king of Judea by the Roman Senate. Herod had a significant impact on the life setting of Jesus and the early church.
Herod’s consolidation of power: Herod was a close friend of Mark Antony and sided with
... See moreMatt 7:2 and Lex Tallionis
If we [condemn] others . . . we must expect God to respond in the coinage of strict justice. Mercy and generosity [of spirit] to others is a declaration to God that such is the coinage we wish to have used in his dealings with us as well.