Clint Cozier
@ccozier
Clint Cozier
Because Wants to Hear the Prayers of His People
Genesis Rabbah 45 (28C): Why were the matriarchs (of Israel) barren? R. Levi (ca. 300) said in the name of R. Shela of Kefar Temarta (the village of dates; ca. 280) and R. Helbo (ca. 300) in the name of R. Yohanan († 279), “Because God desired their prayers and their words.”—The same is found in Midr.
... See moreMatt 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). SHillel 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 בְּשַׁבּ
... See moreIsaiah 11:1-2
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
who write oppressive statutes,
2 to turn aside the needy from justice
and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
and that you may make the orphans your prey!
On Judging
Augustine comments that here “we are taught nothing else, but that in the case of those actions respecting which it is doubtful with what intention they are done, we are to put the better construction on them” (p. 154).
The Golden Rule—the principle of treating others as one would like to be treated—is found in many different faith traditions and philosophies outside of Christianity. This widespread occurrence suggests that it may have originated independently among various cultures or evolved naturally from basic human empathy and ethics. Here are some examples:
1
... See moreThe Golden Rule and the Sophists
Some have concluded (e.g., R. G. Hammerton-Kelly, IDB Supp., p. 369) that the “golden rule” originated in the Sophist movement in Greece (5th cent. b.c.), was taken over by Hellenistic Judaism, and from there found its way into early Christian teaching. It is incontestable that Christianity derived this principle fro
... See moreGolden 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 moreTobit 4:15 and the Golden Rule:
15 And what you hate, do not do to anyone
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Tob 4:14–15.
