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Measure for Measure

Data

(1) 1Q: Luke 6:38c = Matt 7:2b
(2) Mark 4:24b
(3a) 1Clem 13:2g
(?3b) PolPhil 2:3d

 

Texts

(1) 1Q: Luke 6:38c = Matt 7:2b

/6:37/ "Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; /38/ give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

= Matt 7:2b
/7:1/ "Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. /2/ For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.


(2) Mark 4:24b

/4:24/ And he said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. /25/ For to those who have, more will be given; and from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."


(3a) 1Clem 13:2g

Let us therefore, brethren, be of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy Spirit saith, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, neither let the rich man Story in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing judgment and righteousness"), being especially mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus which He spake, teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He spoke: "Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven to you; as ye do, so shall it be done unto you; as ye judge, so shall ye be judged; as ye are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what measure ye mete, with the same it shall be measured to you." By this precept and by these rules let us stablish ourselves, that we walk with all humility in obedience to His holy words. For the holy word saith, "On whom shall I look, but on him that is meek and peaceable, and that trembleth at My words?" [ANF]


(?3b) PolPhil 2:3d

"Wherefore, girding up your loins," "serve the Lord in fear" and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and "believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory," and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things" in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him. But He who raised Him up from the dead will raise up us also, if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, falsewitness; "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing," or blow for blow, or cursing for cursing, but being mindful of what the Lord said in His teaching: "Judge not, that ye be not judged; forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you; be merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again; and once more, "Blessed are the poor, and those that are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God." [ANF]

 

Notes

John Dominic Crossan

Item: 60
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Triple
Historicity: -

Crossan views this saying as closely related to the radical debt-related poverty that was endemic in Galilee in Jesus' time. He notes:

"Bread and debt were, quite simply," in the words of John Kloppenborg, "the two most immediate problems facing the Galilean peasant, day-labourer and non-elite urbanite. Alleviation of these two anxieties were the most obvious benefits of God's reign" (1990:192). The debt petition is especially significant, since 27 Forgiveness for Forgiveness [1/4], 60 Measure for Measure [1/3], and 118 Judgment for Judgment [1/2] all bespeak a close interaction between the way humans treat each other and the way God treats them. This is an even more radical suggestion than 33 The Golden Rule [1/3]. Those three aphorisms suggest that we do unto others as God does unto us and that God does unto us as we do unto others. The point, however, is not sequentially or causality, "we do in order that God does," but rather simultaneity and mutuality, "we do and God does." God forgives us our debts, that is offerings or punishments due for our sins, and we forgive our neighbors their debts, that is, the returns or penalties due for their loans. [Historical Jesus, 294]

 

IQP

The International Q Project reconstructs the original Q saying as follows:

[And] with the measurement you use to measure out, it will be measured out to you.

 

Jesus Seminar

Text

Item

 Source

JS Mtg

%Red

%Pink

%Gray

%Black

W Avg

Color
Luke 6:38c
181
Q
89Son
13
13
23
50
0.30
Gray
Matt 7:2b
181
Q
89Son
13
13
23
50
0.30
Gray
Mark 4:24b
181
Q
89Son
13
13
23
50
0.30
Gray
1Clem 13:2g
181
Q
89Son
13
13
23
50
0.30
Gray
PolPhil 2:3e
181
Q
89Son
13
13
23
50
0.30
Gray

The commentary in The Five Gospels (p. 57) reads:

This saying is basically a legal precept announcing God's judgment. Sayings that express a correspondence between acts and their consequences ... are common in the wisdom literature of the period. Without some modification, the saying appears inimical to Jesus' fundamental announcement of God's unlimited love and expansive mercy.

The commentary notes that both Luke and Mark have made some addition to the core saying.

 

Samuel T. Lachs

Lachs [Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, 136f] cites a number of rabbinic parallels to the principle that underlies this saying, including the following:

R. Simeon b. Abba said: "All the measures have ceased [presumably four modes of execution], yet the rule of measure for measure has not ceased." [Gen. R. 9:13]

Gerd Luedemann

Luedemann [Jesus, 150] concludes that this is not an authentic saying from jesus, although he notes that it represents sound Old Testament theology with God rewarding people according to their own actions.

 

John P. Meier

Meier does not consider this saying in the first 3 volumes of A Marginal Jew.

 

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