Tribals, Empire and God: A Tribal Reading of the Birth of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel 9780567671318, 9780567671349, 9780567671325

Citation preview

TRIBALS, EMPIRE AND G O D

TRIBALS, EMPIRE AND G O D A Tribal Reading of the Birth of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel

Zhodi Angami

Bloomsbury T&T Clark An Imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc B

L

O

O

M

S

B

U

R

Y

LONDON • OXFORD • N E W YORK • N E W DELHI • SYDNEY

BloomsburyT&T Clark An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Pic Imprint previously known as T&T Clark 50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway London New York WC1B3DP NY 10018 UK USA www. bloomsbury. com BLOOMSBURY, T&T CLARK and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Pic First published 2017 © Zhodi Angami, 2017 Zhodi Angann has asserted hisrightsunder the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work. Allrightsreserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers. No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury Academic or the author. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN:

HB: ePDF: ePub:

978-0-56767-131-8 978-0-56767-132-5 978-0-56767-133-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-i„-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Typeset by Forthcoming Publications Ltd (www.forthpub.com) Printed and bound m Great Britain

Nohosa

CONTENTS

Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: RESEARCH PROBLEM, METHOD AND STRUCTURE

Pretimmary Observations The Tribal Context Method of Research Overview of Research on the Infancy Narratives Structure of the Research

1 7 12 18 20

2 READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM

In Search of a Relevant Method The Bxrth of the Reader Antecedents Reader-Response Criticism The Method of Mark Allan Powell Reader-Response Criticism in Biblical Studies Autobiographical/Personal Voice Criticism Real-T-zing the Reader Reader-Response Criticism as Appropriated for this Study Who Am I? Contextual Hermeneutics Postcolonial Biblical Criticism Conclusion

23 26 30 34 43 49 53 56 59 64 69 72 76

3 THE ORIGIN OF JESUS THE MESSIAH

Introduction Superscription-Matthew 1.1 Reading Matthew 1.2-17 Conclusion

77 84 97 141

viii

Tribals, Empire and God

4 THE BIRTH OF JESUS THE MESSIAH Introduction Reading Matthew 1.18-25 Conclusion

143 143 144 177

5 THE VISIT OF THE MAGI Introduction Readmg Matthew 2.1-12 Conclusion

178 178 181 217

6 THE REFUGEE MESSIAH Introduction Readmg Matthew 2.13-23 Conclusion

219 219 220 258

7 GOD AT WORK The Last Word

260 266

Bibliography Index of References Index of Authors

269 300 309

PREFACE

Why ‘Tribal’? Why is the archaic word 'tribal' with its overtones of colonial mentality being used in this work? Here I offer only a brief clarification in the hope that the work itself will help readers understand more fully the significance of being known as tribal people. Although many communities in India use the word 'tribe' to refer to their community, there is much controversy over this terminology. 1 The classification of indigenous peoples as tribes is essentially a colonial construct. It was a convenient term derived from an evolutionist perspective, for the colonial rulers of the nineteenth century to assert their racial superiority over others; used to imply that non-whites were less evolved, that non-whites were in the lowerorderofhumanity,andthatnon-whitesare stillinapnmitive state. The term tribe also carried false and romantic connotations of a timeless unchanging past. Today, tribe continues to boost distorted stereotypes. 1. For general discussion and theories, see Julian Haynes Steward, Theory of Culture Change: The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1955); Lewis Henry Morgan, Ancient Society (ed. Leslie A. White: John Harvard Library; Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Pres^ 1964); Marshall David Sahlins, Tribesmen (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1968); Morton H. Fried, The Notion of Tribes (Menlo Park, CA: Cummmgs Publishing Company, 1975); June Helm, Essays on the Problem of Tribe (Seattle: American Ethnological Society, 1971);ElmanR. Service, Primitive Social Organization: An Evolutionary Perspective (New York: Random House, 1971); idem, Cultural Evolutionism: Theory in Practice (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971), idem, Origins ofthe State and Civilization: The Process ofCultural Evolution (New York: Norton, 1975); Susan A. Gregg (ed.), Between Bands and States (Occasional Paper; Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Center for Archaeological Investigations, 9; Carbondale: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 1991); R. Brian Ferguson and Neil L. Whitehead (eds.), War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States and Indigenous Warfare (School of American Research Advanced Seminar Series; Sante Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 1992); Lawrence A. Kuznar, Reclaiming a Scientific Anthropology (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 1997); William A. Parkinson (ed.), The Archaeology of Tribal Societies (Archaeological Series, Ann Arbor 15; Ann Arbor, MI: International Monographs in Prehistory, 2002).

x

Preface

A 'tribesman' or 'tnbeswoman' is perceived as someone who is dirty. backward, uncultured, savage, ignorant, primitive, barbaric, naive: ignorant, uncouth, undeveloped, uncivilized, irrational, unintelligent cmd superstitious. Misnaming ethnicity in India has had tragic consequences for the indigenous people. The political movements of ethnic groups in India for self-determination are often labelled as nothing more than tribal conflict, something to be expected from 'savages'. When the language to describe the people is derogatory, it prevents an outsider from empathizing with the people. However, the term tribal has been evolving. For many ethnic communities it now designates their common experience of marginahzation and discrimination. That is why many ethnic groups have appropriated the term as an expression of their identity, a badge of pride and honour. In other words, the word 'tribal' has been given new meanings in the parlance of the people. Some modern anthropologists and social scientists might find it uncomfortable, but the fact is that many indigenous people now use the word without its colonial nuances. However, I do not mean to imply that the word has ceased to be problematic. It is still confusing and prone to be misunderstood. A search for appropriate terminology brings up terms such as 'ethnic group', 'indigenous people'. 'community', 'aborigine', 'nation', 'trans-egalitarian society', 'middle range society' and 'ntuality'. But none of these appellations convey adequately the experiences and socio-political realities of the so called tribal societies, nor do they represent satisfactorily how they see themselves. For the vast majority of tribal people, the term tribal encapsulates how they see themselves as belonging to named clans and tribes Every tribe and clan is believed to have descended from a common ancestor and so members of the community, of clan and tribe, see each other as relatives. Tribal self-perception and sense of kinship cannot be expressed by other terms such as 'indigenous' or 'ethnic group'. The terminology that best reiterates the social, cultural and political consciousness of those communities that are categorized as tribal people is 'tribal'. Matthew 1-2 and the Tribal Context Methodologically, this study is a conversation between Western biblical methods of interpretation and tribal concerns. It employs contextual reader-response criticism to read Matthew's infancy narrative from the perspective of tribal communities of North East India. Insights from historical-critical approaches, postcolonial hermeneutics and contextual readings of marginal and minority communities are also incorporated.

Preface The purpose is to provide an interpretation of the narrative that makes sense to the tnbals by reading it with tribal concerns, sensitive to the spirituality, the culture and the social and political experiences of the tribal people. In the process, this study not only engages social theory to elucidate the socio-cultural realities of the text but also employs various approaches to explicate the social and cultural context of the tribal reader or interpreter. So it is appropriate that the book should appear in The Bible and Social Science series. The tribal interpretation of Matthew's infancy narrative presented in this study arises from an interaction between tribal context and the context of the text. Dividing Matthew 1-2 into four segments, I explore the historical and literary nuances of each section, giving particular attention to the perspective from which a tribal reader might approach the narrative. The tribal perspective articulated here takes its interpretive clue from the tribal political context of military occupation, which is analogous to Matthew's setting of Roman imperial rule. Juxtaposing tribal experiences of political subjugation with that of Matthew's narrative world, a tribal reader is inclined to see Matthew's text as a counter-narrative, resisting imperial occupation and oppression. Another influence on interpretation comes from the tribal experience of being at the margins-socially, politically and academically. Consequently. tribal reading of the narrative is sympathetic towards those who are on the edges of the socio-religious narrative rather than those at the centre. Besides these contextual perspectives, various aspects of tribal worldview are interwoven into the analysis. Reading In context vindicates tribal experiences and inspires hope for redemption out of oppression. discrimination and alienation. The value of this study is that it offers an alternative way of reading biblical narrative for tribal communities of the region, espousing reading through the optic of the oppressed rather than the oppressor.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work would not have been possible without the support and assistance of a number of people and it gives me pleasure to acknowledge them here. First of all, I express my indebtedness to my supervisor, Catherine Playoust, Lecturer in New Testament and Early Christian Literature. Jesuit Theological College, Melbourne, for her wise guidance along the way. I am particularly grateful to her because at the beginning, when I was struggling with tentative notions and uncertain about my thoughts, she listened to me with generous patience and helped me clarify my ideas. I should also like to mention that during the final semester of my research, Catherine was on Sabbatical, yet that did not deter her from meeting me regularly and reading my manuscripts. I am also deeply grateful to Keith Dyer, Professor of New Testament, Whitley Theological College, Melbourne, who accepted to co-supervise my research in the final year. This meant he had to read all my work in a short period of time, which he did, and he offered me valuable input to help improve the content of my thesis. I feel really privileged to have these two wonderful people and incisive scholars mentor my doctoral program. I received a good number of valuable suggestions along with encouraging comments from my examiners Warren Carter, Professor of New Testament, Bnte Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, and Elaine M. Wainwnght, Head of School of Theology, University of Auckland, New Zealand I have incorporated a few of their suggestions in this work. I am appreciative of the research opportunity provided by the University of Divinity through the United Faculty of Theology, my Recognised Teaching Institution. I am deeply indebted to Peter Sherlock, ViceChancellor, University of Divinity, who was the Research Coordinator of UFT at the time of my research work, for his guidance. I also extend my thanks to Mark Lindsay, Director of Research, University of Divinity, for his constant support and encouragement. For the funding of my research for three years, I offer my grateful thanks to the following people and institutions: The University of Divinity for the International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS); Benjamin Chan (Area Director of East Asia and India, International Ministries, ABCUSA)andthe staff at American Baptist Churches, USA. and Ngul Khan Pau (the then General Secretary of the Council of Baptist

xiv

Acknowledgments

Churches in North East India) for the Board of International Ministries. Leadership Development Grant; Randall Prior and the Faculty at Uniting Church Theological College for regular grants from the college. Words fail to express the depth of my gratitude to Jenny Byrnes and Heather Cameron and the staff at the Centre for Theology and Ministry (CTM) for their friendship, assistance and the use of the facilities at CTM. A special word of thanks goes to Stephen Connelly and staff at the Dalton McCaughey Library of me UFT for their readiness to help at all times. The resources of the library are excellent, but the warmth of the staff made it such a pleasure to use the library facilities. I also express my appreciation to the Librarian and staff at the Baillieu Library of the University of Melbourne for the resources made available to me. I cannot forget to thank the communities that have sustained me and my family during my years of research. The Congregation of Mark the Evangelist, North Melbourne, and Hotham Mission were our mainstay in Australia, providing us with a home and a community. The pastor and members of the Ivanhoe Baptist Church were good to me and my family, with their support, encouragement and prayers. Friends and relatives both near and far have helped along the way. My heartfelt thanks go to my church, the Town Baptist Church, Dimapur, and my associated churches Khuzama Baptist Church, Tura Baptist Church, and Shillong Baptist Church for keeping me and my family in their prayers. Special thanks are due to my friends, colleagues and students at Eastern Theological College, Jorhat, for their reassuring prayers and goodwill. I also thank Kiliona and Una Mafaufau, Michael and Proheh Spaull, Visier and Pan Sanyii, and Biju and Susha George, who gave friendship. encouragement and love at critical times. My wholehearted thanks goes to Sheffield Phoenix Press for agreeing to publish this work, and to Bloomsbury T&T Clark for honouring that commitment following their acquisition of Sheffield Phoenix. I wish to thank Miriam Cantwell of Bloomsbury T&T Clark, and my copyeditor, Duncan Burns, for helping to bring the project to completion. In particular, I express my indebtedness to David J. Chalcraft, Professor of Sociology and Head of Sociology at Liverpool John Moores University for giving his personal interest, support and encouragement in the process of getting this published. Finally, appreciation goes to my family members and relatives in Dimapur; Kohima, Khuzama, Shillong, Tura, Jorhat and elsewhere for being the bedrock of my identity and the source of my confidence. To the dearest ones of my heart, my wife Marlene Ch. Marak and my daughter Mima, I offer profound gratitude and renewed admiration for being there with me throughout the ups and downs of this work.

ABBREVIATIONS

AAR ABD ABRL ANRW ASNU ATR BASOR BDAG BECNT Bib BIS BJRL BSac BT CBQ EQ ExpTim FAT HTR JAAR JAOS JBL JBQ JFSR JSJSup JSNT JSNTSup JSOT JSOTSup JSP JSPSup JTS LNTS NICNT NICOT NIDNTT

American Academy of Religion David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992) The Anchor Bible Reference Library Hildegard Temporim and Wolfgang Haase (eds.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1972-) Actasemmanineotestamenticiupsahensis Anglican Theological Review Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Frederick William Danker (ed.), A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 3rd edn, 2000) Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Biblica Biblical Interpretation Series Bulletin of the John Rylands Library Bibliotheca Sacra Biblical Translator Catholic Biblical Quarterly Evangelical Quarterly Expository Times ForschungenzumAlten Testament Harvard Theological Review Journal of the American Academy ofReligion Journal of the American Oriental Studies Journal ofBiblical Literature Jewish Bible Quarterly Journal ofFeminist Studies in Religion Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism Journal for the Study of the New Testament Journal for the Study of the New Testament, Supplement Series Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Senes Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha, Supplement Senes Journal of Theological Studies Library of New Testament Studies The New International Commentary on the New Testament The New International Commentary on the Old Testament Colin Brown (ed.), The New International Dictionary ofNew Testament Theology (3 vols.; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1975-78)

Abbreviations NIGTC NovT NovTSup NTS RBib SBL SBLDS SBLit SBLMS SBLSS SNTSMS TDNT ThZ WBC WTJ WUNT ZAW

The New International Greek Testament Commentary Novum Testamentum Novum Testamentum Supplement New Testament Studies Revue biblique Society of Biblical Literature SBL Dissertation Senes Studies in Biblical Literature SBL Monograph Senes SBL Symposium Senes Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Theologische Zeitschrift Word Biblical Commentary Westminster Theological Journal Wissenschafthche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Zeitschriftfür die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft

1 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: RESEARCH PROBLEM, METHOD AND STRUCTURE

Preliminary

Observations

In this study I propose to read the Matthaean infancy narrative from a particular contextual perspective-that of the tribal communities in North East India.' At present, the practice of biblical interpretation in the region is largely a second-hand version of the Western (European and American) viewpoint. As a whole, tribal biblical reading may be categorized into two groups. One group is the majority, comprising lay pastors/ministers, church workers and Christians in general, who hold a literal interpretation of the Bible with very little reference to context. The other group includes the biblical scholars in theological colleges and theologically trained pastors/ministers and church workers who are familiar with historical-critical and literary methods for interpreting biblical text. The practices of reading in both groups stems from Western influence. The first practice derives from the pietistic teaching of early missionaries from the West. And the second practice derives from theological education inherited from the West. Besides these two, a third emerging group may be identified. This is the group that reads the Bible from the perspective of tribal social realities, political situations, economic concerns and cultural viewpoints. Contextual tribal theology is a mushrooming trend in North East India and there are plenty of academic materials on tribal theology. However, contextual biblical hermeneutics or a tribal approach to biblical interpretation is almost non-existent. One of the earliest proposals for tribal hermeneutics came from an article by Renthy Keitzar in 1982, where he laid down some principles of a tribal approach to hermeneutics in the context of North East India. In it, he argued that making a direct tribal 1. Unless indicated otherwise, the word 'tribal' throughout this research refers particularly to the tribal people of North East India, to be distinguished from other tribal groups in India and elsewhere.

2

Tribals, Empire and God

interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures is more advantageous than an interpretation mediated through Western thought patterns.* Since then, besides a couple of exploratory articles, no substantial work has been done on the subject of tribal hermeneutics. ^ The present project is an attempt to take tribal hermeneutics forward by proposing reading the Bible with tribal socio-political and cultural contexts as the hermeneutical starting point. Christianity came to the region from the West, and even so many years after the end of the missionary era and British colonial rule, the region is still captive to a Western form of Christianity. The Bible is read with the same theoretical, theological and methodological assumptions as Western readers. Consequently tribal readers tend to arrive at the same conclusions as Western readers. This is not a desirable situation for several reasons. Firstly, it perpetuates the colonial domination of the region at the intellectual level. Secondly, it is uncritical of the fact that conclusions arrived at through Western approaches are often not favourable or relevant to tribal interests. And thirdly, looking at the text through Western eyes makes the meaning of the text obscure for the tribal reader, because it is using interpretive categories that are strange and the conclusions are contradictory to tribal worldview. Reading contextual^ offers an alternative way of reading for tribal commumtfes that would make the biblical narrative more comprehensible and more relevant. I do not mean to imply that Western interpretations are wrong or that tribals have privileged knowledge for interpreting biblical text. In fact, this study also employs methods that were developed in the W e s t However, those methods are not applied indiscriminately but in conversation with tribal context. After all, Western hermeneutics is also contextual-based on Western history, Western experiences and Western worldview.* Thus Western-oriented readings make the most sense to 2. Renthy Keitzar, 'Tribal Perspective in Biblical Hermeneutics ToAay\Indian Journal of Theology 31 (1982), pp. 293-313. Other subsequent publications related to this topic are: idem, In Search of a Relevant Gospel Message: Introducing a Contextual Christian Theologyfor North East India (Guwahati: Christian L iterature Centre, 1995); idem (ed.), Good News for North-East India: A Theological Reader (Guwahati: Christian Literature Centre, 1995). 3. An exception is the article by K. Thanzauva and R.L. Hnum, 'Ethnicity. Identity and Hermeneutics: An Indian Tribal Perspective', in Mark G. Brett (ed.): Ethnicity and the Bible (BIS, 19; London: E.J. Brill, 1996), pp. 343-57. The perspective of this essay is particularly from a North East Indian tribal context. 4. The liberation theologian, J. Severino Croatto, Exodus: A Hermeneutics of Freedom (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1981), pp. v-vi, points out that European theology is a contextual discourse.

1. Description of the Project people in the West. Tnbals need to employ a consciously persistent tribal approach to read the Bible in a way that will be sensible to them and speak to their contemporary concerns and issues. Context denotes the world of meanings embedded in a particular culture as well as the sociopolitical environment, economic situation and ethnic tendencies that influence tribal reading of Bible texts.' It is beyond the scope of this research to study tribal culture or to survey the social and political history of the tribal communities. The research has to focus on the interpretive task. Nevertheless, wherever necessary, brief comments will be made about tribal culture and historical experiences in order to clarify the perspective from which tnbals look at the text. The difference between tribal and Western perceptions of biblical narrative becomes most apparent when dealing with miracles and extraordinary accounts such as the infancy narrative. For the tnbals, the numinous element, whether it is known as miracle or supernatural event. is not absurd but a reality in the tangible tenain of lived expenence. On the other hand, Western thought is unwilling to accept things that cannot be explained scientifically. Not surpnsingly, the trend in the West in academic socio-scientific studies as well as in biblical research has been to discredit the supernatural. The assumption is that miracles and extraordinary accounts were created for a gullible audience by pnmitive minds lacking knowledge of modern science. A credible academic method is expected to be sceptical of the miraculous and supernatural. 'Rational' explanations are proffered in place of fantastic and unbelievable accounts such as the virginal conception or virgin birth. The sceptical approach that questions the authenticity of biblical miracles may be traced to the German rationalist movement of the eighteenth century.* Dunng the mid-eighteenth century the German rationalist H.E.G. Paulus argued that miracles just do not happen. The disciples of Jesus, according to Paulus, were pre-enlightened people who 5. The term 'context' has several dimensions (such as the socio-economic and political dimension, the gender dimension, cultural dimensions and ecological dimensions) and scholars place emphasis on one or the other dimension or several dimensions as they deem fit. Cf. Volker Kuster, The Many Faces of Jesus Christ: Intercultural Christology1 trans. John Bowden; London: SCMPress, 2001), pp. 1-6. 6. For formulating the following analysis, the discussions in the following have been helpful: Robert B. Stewart, The Quest of the Hermeneutical Jesus: The Impact ofHermeneutics on the Jesus Research ofJohn Dominic Crossan and N.T Wright (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 2008), pp. 9-25, and David J. Hawkm, Christ and Modernity: Christian Self-Understanding in a Technological Age (Studies in Religion Supplements, 17; Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Launer University Press, 1985), pp. 3-33.

4

Tribals, Empire and God

miscomprehended what they saw. Therefore, walking on the waterwas a wrong visualization of Jesus walking on the shore and raising the dead was resuscitation from a coma.' Similarly, H.S. Reimarus disputed the resurrection of Jesus. He claimed that Jesus taught only the eminence of a Jewish kingdom, but after his failure and death his disciples stole his body and created Christianity around his person because they were averse to resuming the hardship of their forrner lives.' This trend continued in the work of the early nineteenth-century theologian and philosopher Fnednch Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher, who subscribed to a swoon theory and argued that the resurrection of Jesus was really more of a resuscitation.* David Fnednch Strauss, another German theologian. reasoned that the miraculous elements in the Gospels are mythical The miracles in the Gospels, he declared, were derived from Old Testament sources. And the story of the virgin birth of Jesus is a legend added to the biography of Jesus to glonfy him. The historical truth, according to Strauss, is that Jesus is the natural offspnng from a mamage between Joseph and Mary and believed that this explanation restores the dignity of Jesus and respect due to his mother.- In the early twentieth century. T.K. Cheyne argued that the supernatural elements in the life story of Jesus were denved from a mythic tradition of a sun god." And Wilhelm Bousset argued that the Chnstology of the early church was influenced by mystery religions. He delineated the parallels between the Christian Eucharist and the ntuals of the mystery religions and saw this as an indication that Chnstiamty has its origin in the mysteries.- For Martin Dibelius, the birth nanatives, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, Mt. 11.25-30 and the post-resunection accounts are all based on mythology7. Heinrich Eberhard Gottlob Paulus, Das Leben Jesu, als Grundlage einer reinen Geschichte des Urchristentums (2 vols.; Heidelberg: C.F. Winter, 1828). 8. Hermann Samuel Reimarus, Reimarus: Fragments (ed. Charles H. Talbert trans. Ralph S. Fraser; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970). 9. Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Life of Jesus (ed. Jack C. Verheyden; trans. S.M. Gilmour; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975). 10. David Friedrich Strauss, The Life of Jesus, Critically Examined (trans. George Eliot; London: Swan Sonnenschem, 1892). 11. T.K. Cheyne, Bible Problems and the New Material for their Solution: A Plea for Thoroughness of Investigation, Addressed to Churchmen and Scholars (Crown Theological Library, 8; London: Williams & Norgate, 1904). 12. Wilhelm Bousset, Kyrios Christos: A History of the Belief in Christfrom the Beginnings of Christianity to Irenaeus (trans. JohnE. Steely; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1970). 13. Martin Dibelius, From Tradition to Gospel (trans. Bertram Lee Woolf; The Scnbner Library, 124;New York: Scnbner, 1965).

1. Description of the Project Likewise, Rudolf Bultmann sees mythology in the New Testament narratives and stresses the need to demythologize the narratives in order to understand the substance of the earliest k e r y g m a The Western difficulty with miracles is described by Mackie in this way: A miracle is, by definition, a violation of a law of nature, and a law of nature is, by definition, a regulanty-or the statement of a regulantyabout what happens, about the way the world works; consequently, if some event actually occurs, no regularity which its occurrence infringes (or, no regularity-statement which it falsifies) can really be a law of nature; so this event, however unusual or surprising, cannot after all be a miracle. The two definitions together entail thatwhatever happens isnota miracle, that is, that miracles never happen." A tribal contextual approach to biblical narrative has to understand this underlying suspicion of or disbelief in miracles in Western thought. To be sure, many tribal communities do not have an equivalent word for 'miracle'. Usually, phrases such as 'a wonderful work', or 'an amazing thing', or 'an astonishing occurrence' are used instead o f ' m i r a c l e ' - a s also in the biblical narratives. For tnbals, Mackie's explanation of miracle is flawed because for them a miracle is not a violation of the law of nature. When a person believes that the activities of spirits and deities are an essential part of day-to-day life there is an expectation that strange and inexplicable things will happen. This distinction influences how one approaches the narrative that has a virgin conceive and give birth to a Messiah, that has a star telling the magi about that birth and that has its characters seeing dream-visions and receiving angelic messages. Tnbals should no longer engage in a dysfunctional hermeneutics that undercuts the faith that the text brought forth in the first place. I am not saying that the Western perspective is wrong or that the tribal perspective is closer to biblical truth. What I am saying is that our perspectives are different and we have to look at biblical narratives from the perspective that makes sense to us. Thus the problem is not in the methods per se, but in the application of the method. The biblical text is integral to the Christian community. The community is bound together, regardless of the cultural and geographical distance of its members, by the text they share in common. Thus there is reciprocity between the text and the community. However, there is now a

14. Rudolf Bultmann, Jesus Christ and Mythology (London: SCM Press, 1966). 15. J.L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982), p. 19.

6

Tribals, Empire and God

growing recognition that every interpretive community has a different context that influences how the text is interpreted and how the community relates to the text. As such, I believe it is no longer controversial to say that there is no reading that can encompass all contexts, no reading that can claim to be the authoritative one, and no reading that has the prerogative of universal truth. As Kwok Pui-lan writes, No theological system can claim to be universally valid because it is closer to the 'origin'. From the outset theology has been a human construction conditioned by cultural specificity, linguistic option, historical circumstances and theological imagination. Western models of theology are but expressions of this transdural and transcoding process, and should not be the norm for everybody." Therefore, this project takes cognisance of the fact that hermeneutics is a dialectical process in which the reader's context influences the interpretation of the text and at the same time the text challenges, interprets and transforms the reader's context." The meaning of the text is not locked up in the world of the text. It is not inherent in the form, structure, or words of the text. The text has power and potentiality but its full significance comes to life in the process of interaction between the context of the text and the context of the reader.- With this in mind, I will look to elucidate ways of reading the Bible that bring tribal spirituality, tribal culture and tribal history fnto conversation with the world of the biblical text.

16. Kwok Pui-lan, Introducing Asian Feminist Theology (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), p. 35. 17. Paul Ricoeur, Interpretation Theory: Discourse and the Surplus of Meaning (Fort Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1976), pp. 12-13, recognized the mterxelatedness of reader and text: 'Discourse refers back to its speaker at the same time that it refers to the world. Discourse in action and in use refers backwards and forwards, to a speaker and a world.' 18. According to Paul Ricoeur, From Text to Action: Essays in Hermeneutics II (trans. Kathleen Blarney and John B. Thompson; Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1991), pp. 56: 'If we can no longer define hermeneutics m terms of the search for the psychological intentions of another person which are concealed behind the text, and if we do not want to reduce interpretation to the dismantling of structures, then what remains to be interpreted? I shall say: to interpret is to explicate the type of being-in-the-world unfolded in frontof the text'. And Ricoeur again: 'To explain is to bring out the structure, that is, the internal relations of dependence that constitute the statics of the text, to place oneself en route towards the orient of the text'(pp. 121-22).

1. Description of the Project Since the interaction between the text and the tribal socio-political context is central to this study, it is necessary to describe briefly the tribal context so that my readers can appreciate better the perspective of the tribal reader. The Tribal Context North East India consists of eight states: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam. Mampur, Meghalaya, Mizoram Nagaland, Tnpura and Sikkim." A narrow corridor or'chicken's neck' of 21 kilometres between Bhutan and Bangladesh connects the region with mainland India. It is known as the 'Mongoloid fringe' of India because the tribal population of the region is of the Mongoloid race.- The word 'tribe' is not a designation that came from the people who are so called. It was used first by the anthropologists and the British colonial authorities to refer to the indigenous inhabitants of the land. The term continued to be used after India gained independence from British rule. Although a full survey of the cultural background and socio-political history of the region is not possible here, a brief sketch of some of the important aspects of the tribal social and political situation is necessary because these are fundamental for understanding the perspective from which tnbals approach the t e x t First of all, it is important to note that North East India is not composed of a homogenous group of tribes. The region has possibly the highest concentration of ethnically diverse tribal groups in the world. It is constituted by over four hundred tribal and sub-tribal communities, although the Indian government recognizes only 160 scheduled tribes in the 2001 Census- Each tribe and sub-tribe has its own distinct and 19. On20September2002JS1kk1mcametobemcludedunderthejmsd1ctionof North Eastern Council (NEC) by the North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act. 2002. 20. SubrrBhaumrk/Indra'sNortheast^obody'sPeoplemNo-Man's-Land'^n Paula Banerjee, Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury and Samir Kumar Das (eds.), Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance ofthe UN’s Guiding Principles (New Delhr: Sage Publications India, 2005), pp. 144-74 (144). 21. Because of the sensitive nature of the political issues I discuss here, I refer only to sources that are available in the public domain such as published books and articles. 22. Ajai Sahm, 'Survey of Conflicts and Resolution in India's Northeast'. Faultlines 12, South Asia Terrorism Portal, 40, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/ publication/faultlmes/volumel2/pdf/article3.pdf (accessed 19 October 2011). Tnbals actually constitute only about 25 to 30% of the total population of the region. The tribal percentages in the various North East states are as follows:

8

Tribals, Empire and God

different language or dialect and culture. Thus the tribals are accustomed to a multiplicity of cultures and have learned to live by negotiating between various cultures and languages. It is not uncommon for people to know five or six languages and use at least three or four of them on a daily basis. The complexity of the ethnic, cultural and linguistic mosaic is extreme because in addition to the numerous indigenous tribes and communities, the British imported large numbers of tea garden workers, cultivators and clerks from other parts of India- Demographic equations were further disrupted after India's independence, with the migration of labourers, cultivators, and traders into the region from other parts of India. The largest influx of immigrants came from Bangladesh. Consequently, the region is beset by simmering ethnic tension that often empts into violent conflictPolitically, the region has been twice colonized. It was first colonized by the British and then by the Indian government. Most of the territory in North East India came under British occupation in the first quarter of the nineteenth century.- However, the British Empire found it prudent to have only limited administration in the hill regions. The region was regarded as a frontier and not a full constituent of the British EmpireThe 'Northeast Frontier' was regarded as a buffer between British India and the perceived threats of the Russian presence in Central Asia and the then Burmese kingdom.- Therefore, once the tribes of the hills accepted British suzerainty, they were left under the care of their tribal chiefs. Arunachal Pradesh 64.20%, Assam 12.40%, Mampur 34.20%, Meghalaya 85.9%, Mizoram 94.50%, Nagaland 89.10%, Sikkim 20.60%, Trrpura 31.10%. The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, 'Census of India 2001'. http://ww.censusindia.gov.in/Tables Pubhshed/A-Senes/A-Senes links/t 00 005 .aspx (accessed 24 October 2011). The"tnbal population of North East Indrais 10.46 million out of a total of 38.85 million. 23. Edward Gait, A History of Assam (repr. 1906, Guwahati: Eastern Publishers. 2008), p. 413. 24. Myron Weiner, Sons of the Soil: Migration and Ethnic Conflict in India (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1978). 25. No foreign power had been able to subdue the region before the British occupation. The Ahom kings of Assam successfully repelled the Mughal invasion and the kings of Tnpura were successful infightingback the Bengal Sultans. 26. Alexander Mackenzie, Northeast Frontier of India (Delhi: Mittal Publishers. 1979). 27. Today the region is seen as a buffer between India and the threat of Chinese expansion. The border conflict with China in 1962 made the threat more apparent. China's open claim that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China has further increased the tension. Sahdev Vohra, The Northern Frontier of India: The Border Dispute with China (New Delhi: Intellectual Publishing House, 1993), pp. 70-113.

1. Description of the Project In 1873, in conformity with the British policy of limited admimstration of the region, the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation was passed. This regulation dubbed an 'Inner Line Regulation'was a geographical demarcation meant to cordon off the North East tnbals into'reservations' and to mark the limits of the British administration. Outsiders were not to enter into the 'unadmimstered areas' without permission from the British agents overseeing the hill regions from a distance. And in 1935. the hill areas were further divided into 'excluded areas' and 'partially excluded areas'.- Thus the policy of the British was to exclude and isolate the region. The policy of limited administration also meant a policy of limited responsibility or indifference towards the wellbeing of the people. The British were always ambivalent aboutthe political status of the North E a s t When India gained independence from the British in 1947, Mountbatten decided that the North East should belong to India. Accordingly, the tribal region passed from one colonial power to another. This happened in spite of repeated appeals by tribal groups such as the Nagas not to make their region a part of India. Not surprisingly, immediately after India's independence Tnpura erupted in violent revolt. But the most resolute dissent against Indian occupation came from the Nagas. who had learned guerrilla warfare to fight the British in the 1940^ Because of their armed resistance, the Naga hills region was declared a disturbed area and placed under military rule.

28. Kyokolnoue, 'Integration of the North East: The State Formation Process', in Mayumi Murayama, Kyoko Inoue and Sanjoy Hazarika (eds.’, Sub-Regional Relations in the Eastern South Asia: With Special Focus on Indias North Eastern Region (Joint Research Programme, 133; Chiba, Japan: Institute of Developing Economics, 2005), pp. 16-30(16). Three categories ofhmited British administration existed: (1) direct administrative control in the tea- and oil-rich Brahmaputra and Surma valley in Assam; (2) excluded and partially excluded areas; and (3) limited control over princely states of Mampur and Tnpura and over Khasi Syiemships (chieftainships). 29. EvenatthepomtofwithdrawalfromIndia,someoftheBritishofficialswere proposing to establish a separate political arrangement the North East including an 'Independent North East' plan and a 'Crown Colony' plan instead of merging with India. The Crown Colony plan was proposed by Reid. Robert Neil Reid, Years of Change in Bengal and Assam (London: Benn, 1966),p. 110. Coupland proposed that the region should be constituted into a 'Trust Territory' and jointly administered by the Indian Government and Burma. Reginald Coupland, The Indian Problem: The Constitutional Problems ofIndia, Part 3 (London: Oxford University Press, 1944). pp. 164-65.The tnbals were not in favour of any kind of colonial rule either by the British or by India.

10

Tribals, Empire and God

India's response to the North East was predictable. It continued the British policy of sequestering the tribals and isolating them. The Inner Line Regulation, originally introduced by the British, is still in effect in some areas. As such, other Indians and outsiders are not allowed to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland without a permit. Faced with the Naga uprising, in 1958, the Indian government imposed The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 (AFSPA) on the tribals, which allows the Indian armed forces to get away with murderThis Act has its roots in the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Ordinance. which the British government had promulgated in 1942 to suppress the Indian freedom movement- It came into force during the height of the Quit India Movement launched by the Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. At that time, the Indian freedom fighters had labelled it the blackest of black laws and worse than martial law, but they did not hesitate to resurrect it by an Act of Parliament to deal with the Naga insurgency. Although the AFSPA was initially applied only to the Naga areas in Assam and Mampur, it was amended in 1972 to include all the states of North East India except Sikkim- Under this Act, the Indian military personnel, including even non-commissioned officers, are given power to enter civilian houses and conduct searches, arrest without warrant and shoot to kill anyone on suspicion with impunity, which means no legal proceedings can be brought against any armed personnelThe region is under virtual military siege and tribals experience gross violations of human rights-third-degree torture, imprisonment, intimidation, detention, rape, extrajudicial killing and acts of terrorisminflicted on them by the Indian armed forces. 30. Human Rights Watch, Getting Away with Murder: 50 Years of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2008); K.G. Kannabiran, The Wages ofImpunity: Power, Justice and Human Rights (Himayatnagar, Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 2004), pp. 114-17. 31. ItsprecursorsaretheBntishlawstorepressthelndrancmldrsobedrenceand non-co-operation movements: Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908, and the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1916. 32. At thrs trme Sikkim had special status as a protectorate of India. It was only on 16 May 1975 that its kingship was abolished and it was merged with India and made the 22nd state of the Indian Union. In 1983 the AFSPA was amended to include Punjab and Chandigarh. And in 1990 this act was promulgated in Jammu and Kashmir. 33. Shimremgam L. Shimray, 'Towards a New Paradigm of Human Rights for Peace in North East India', in Shimremgam L. Shimray and Yangkahao Vashum (eAs,.), A Living Legacy: Essays in Memory ofJonathan H. Thumra (Hamleikhong. Ukhrul: The Tangkhul Theological Association Publication, 2014), pp. 284-314 (312 n. 36).

1. Description of the Project

11

Rather than dissuading people from aspiring to political independence. the repressive rule of India has created greate?resistance towards Indian domination among the tribals. Almost all major ethnic groups of the region are in varying levels of conflict with India. The conflict in Assam. Manrpur, Nagaland and Tnpura has been classified as 'low intensity wars' 34 These 'wars' are embroiled in international politics. The Indian government has blamed foreign powers for fomenting the troubles in North East India. China is said to have trained the Naga, Mizo and Meitei insurgents in the 1960s and 1970s. Bangladesh is known for sheltering separatist groups of North East India. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is also said to have a hand in supplying arms, providing training and giving other logistical support. Burma L d Bhutan are also blamed for providing safe havens and sanctuaries for camping and training.* Over fifty insurgent and militant groups are active in the region. making it a veritable warring z o n e - Ten of thirty-five banned organizations in India are located in North East India.- It has become one of the most turbulent regions in South Asia-socially volatile, politically unstable, a hotbed of insurgency and a seething cauldron of violence34. Sahni, 'Survey of Conflicts & Resolution in India's Northeast', p. 39. 35. Subir Bhaumik, 'Ethnicity, Ideology and Religion: Separatist Movements in India's Northeast', in Satu Limaye, Robert Wirsmg and Mohan Malik (eds.), Religious Radicalism and Security in South Asia (Honululu: Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, 2004), pp. 219-44 (224). 3 6. Fifty-two insurgent groups are listed in Ved Prakash, Encyclopedia ofNorthEast India (New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and Distributors, 2007), pp. 426-36. Prakash admits this is not an exhaustive list. On the other hand, Bmalakshmi Nepram, South Asia’s Fractured Frontier: Armed Conflict, Narcotics and Small Arms Proliferation in India’s Northeast (New Delhi: Mittal Publication, 2002), p. xxvi, lists fifty-eight insurgent groups. 37. Amitav Acharya, Subrat K. Singhdeo and M. Rajaretnam (eds.), Human Security: From Concept to Practice: Case Studies from Northeast India and Orissa (World Scientific Series on Human Security, 1; Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2011), p. 58; Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 'Banned Organisations', http://mha.gov.in/umquepage.asp7Id Pk=292 (accessed 24 October 2011). The ten in the list are not necessarily the most violent or the most active. They appear to be on the list because they are not in a current 'ceasefire agreement'. 'peace accord', or'm negotiation talks' with the Indian Government like someother groups of the region. 38. Sanjoy Hazarika, Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War & Peace from India’s Northeast (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1995); B. Pakem, Insurgency in North-East India (New Delhi: Om Sons Publications, 1997); SajalNag, Contesting Marginality: Ethnicity, Insurgency and Subnationalism in North-East India (New Delhi: Manohar,2002).

12

Tribals, Empire and God

Over the years, the violence in the region has degenerated from people's movements for separation, greater autonomy, or statehood, to forms of terrorism and criminal activities such as random detonation of bombs targeting civilians, abductions for ransom, extortion of money, drugrunning and assassination of rivals.- The ethnic nationalist agenda is still there, but there has been a perceptible loss of political vision. However, blame must be assigned carefully. For the collapse of political ideals (in some) and succumbing to profiteering are consequences brought about by India's deeply flawed approach towards insurgency. Furthermore, the failing of some insurgent groups in no way justifies the use of state-sponsored terror on civilians. However that may be, ordinary people are caught between state terror and insurgent terror. The region is beset with the repercussions of military r u l e - e c o n o m i c underdevelopment, infrastructure deficiency, political instability and the breakdown of social cohesion. People are constantly aware that they live in fragile times. They have no confidence in the current political system to protect their life and property as they teeter on the brink of social and political atrophy. These, then, are the major concerns that will inform a tribal readerresponse analysis of the infancy narrative: (a) an awareness of social unrest, violent political resistance and tribal nationalism, and (b) atnbal worldview and the supernaturalism associated with it in tension with a modern worldview that is sceptical of the unscientific. Reading the infancy narrative with a heightened awareness of these issues wifl not only make Matthew's narrative understandable to the tribal people, but also enable Matthew's narrative to speak to their situation in turn. Reading the text contextual^ is to discover anew the similarities and analogies between the tribal world and that of the world of the text. In a manner of speaking, reading Matthew's narrative in the light of tribal context is to notice the tribal in the text, thereby allowing the text to challenge and transform tribal culture and tribal perception of their sociopolitical experiences. Method of Research When tribals read the biblical text, what influence does their culture and socio-political context have on their interpretation it? This project proposes to engage with Matthew's infancy narrative from the perspective 39. Ramesh Chandra, Global Terrorism: A Threat to Humanity (Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2004), pp. 165-84; Nam G. Mahanta, 'Human Security Mapping in ConflictZones:TheCaseofNortheastIndia',mAcharya,SmghdeoandRajaretnam (eds.), Human Security, pp. 57-98 (89-90, 93).

1. Description of the Project

13

of tribal context, employing a contextual reader-response criticism. The process will involve an intertextual interaction between Matthew's narrative context and tribal context, within the framework of a readerresponse approach on interpretation method. By consciously choosing to read from a tribal perspective, I hope to provide an example of how tribal readers may experience Matthew's narrative by bringing the world of the text to life in a way that is sensible to tribal communities and speaks to their life experiences, culture, history, politics, social practices and the like. The last few decades have seen the growth of diverse methods of biblical interpretation alongside the historical-critical methods, such as New Literary Criticism- and social-scientific approaches/' This trend indicates a movement towards greater interdisciplinary engagement in biblical studies.^ While each method has distinct definitions and works within fixed parameters, more and more scholars opt to incorporate insights from a number of various approaches. For example, Norman Petersen and David B. Gowler integrate literary and social-scientific approaches.^ A combination of literary-rhetorical and social-scientific methods is found in the work of Vernon Robbins." And Ben Witherington mingles social-scientific and rhetorical approaches.- Literary 40. Elizabeth Struthers Malbon and Edgar V. McKmght (eds.), The New Literary Criticism and the New Testament (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994). 41. Anthony J. Blasi, Jean Duhaime and Paul-Andre Turcotte (eds.), Handbook of Early Christianity: Social-Science Approaches (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002); Philip F. Esler, The First Christians in their Social Worlds: SocialScientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation (London: Routledge, 1994). 42. Thrs movement may have been fuelled in part by a growing belief that historical-critical methods fail to explicate the full reality of biblical texts. Francis Watson (ed.), The Open Text: New Directions for Biblical Studies (London: SCM Press, 1993). Various authors in this book explore ways of reading beyond historical-critical methods. In particular the chapters by Mark G. Brett, Werner Jeanrond and Frances Young discuss the ways in which readers bring their interests to the text. 43. Norman Petersen, Rediscovering Paul: Philemon and the Sociology of Paul’s Narrative World (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985); David B. Gowler, Host, Guest, Enemy, and Friend: Portraits of the Pharisees in Luke and Acts (New York: Peter Lang, 1991). 44.' Vernon K. Robbins, The Tapestry of Early Christian Discourse: Rhetoric, Society and Ideology (London: Routledge, 1996); idem, Exploring the Texture of Texts: A Guide to Socio-Rhetorical Interpretation (Valley Forge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1996). 45. Ben Witherington, Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995). Cf

14

Tribals, Empire and God

analysis has to consider the historical context and the social world in which the text evolved. Likewise, historical or social-scientific analysis has to give due attention to the literary character of the text. Thus some hybndity in the application of method is not only unavoidable but necessary. However it is not possible to do critical research without employing a specific method or combination of methods to start with in order to analyze the text. Therefore, while this research employs insights from other methods, its primary method is narrative criticism, and more particularly, contextual reader-response method. I will discuss this method in greater detail in the next chapter, but it is appropriate to make some remarks about the method here. Reader-response criticism is essentially that which the term itself denotes;the response ofareadertoagiven text. Whetherthat response is shaped and guided entirely by norms and expectations in the text or by the reader's environment such as his or her cultural background, social status, level of education, gender, economic situation and religious views, is subject to debate. In this research I will keep to the view that the meaning of a text is produced by the reader in negotiation with the text. Reader-response critics call this approach the bi-active model of reading. This model of reading is a compromise between the text-active model, which assumes that the text controls the response, and the readeractive model, which assumes that the reader alone is responsible for creating meaning.- Furthermore, the reader-response method I will follow will have a strong tribal nuance involving the cultural and sociopolitical context of tribal communities. It would be fair to indicate from the outset that tribal perspective is critical of structural injustice and espouses a marginal viewpoint.

David G. Horrell, 'Introduction: Social-Scientific Interpretation of the New Testament: Retrospect and Prospect', in David G. Horrell (ed.), Social-Scientific Approaches to New Testament Interpretation (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1999). pp. 3-27 (24). 46. This distinction between text-active, reader-active and bi-active models of reader-response is made by Norman N. Holland, The Critical I (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992), pp. 164, 181 and 185; idem, Literature and the Brain (Gainesville, FL: The PsyArt Foundation, 2009), pp. 173-75; Greig Henderson, 'A Rhetoric of Form: The Early Burke and Reader-Response Criticism', in Greig Henderson and David Cratis Williams (eds.), Unending Conversations: New Writings By and About Kenneth Burke (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 2001), pp. 127-42(129-30).

1. Description of the Project

15

The reason for choosing reader-response criticism is pnmanly because it is conducive to contextual studies. Since I intend to interpret the narrative from the perspective of, and for, a particular context, it follows that I should employ a method which is upfront about its contextual bias and by means of which I can bring tribal culture and current issues facing tnbals into conversation with biblical texts. There are two reasons why I chose Matthew's infancy narrative to do this: (a) Matthew's infancy narrative comprises elements of the supernatural or extraordinary, which can be approached from a tribal perspective on the extraordinary or paranormal as a reality of daily human life; and (b) Matthew's infancy narrative presents an imperial situation, which gives room for bringing in the tribal context of living under political domination into conversation with Matthew's imperial context The novelty of this enterprise comes from the way it will draw from tribal stories, songs, myths and history as hermeneutical sources for interpreting the narrative, while paying close attention to the narrative rhetoric employed by the narrator and also to the historical milieu of the narrative itself Attention to my own context for reading demands also a corresponding respect for the context of the text itself The concept of intertextuality is an element of the theoretical framework of this research. Intertextuality is a notion derived from literary theory and post-structuralist theories of sign and applied to biblical studies. However, as there are many definitions of this term, it is necessary to discuss some of them in order to explicate my understanding of intertextuality. Generally, in biblical studies, intertextuality has been reduced to a fancy term meaning literary allusions and quotations, i.e., the allusions to other texts or quotations of other text or texts within a text. But under that broad definition, there are distinct differences between scholars. For Michael Fishbane, intertextuality is evident in the interpretation of early biblical texts in later context within the Scriptures of Israel, i.e., 'exegesis found within the Hebrew Bible'. 47 Fishbane focuses on this process of 'inner-biblical exegesis' and explains it thus: 'Whereas the study of tradition-history moves back from the written source to the oral traditions which make them up, inner-biblical exegesis starts with the received Scripture and moves forward to the interpretations based on i t ' . - Daniel Boyann looks at intertextuality in the use of the Scriptures of Israel in rabbinic midrash. Midrash, according to Boyann, is built on quotations and simultaneously rejects and preserves 47. Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985), p. 3. 48. Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel, p. 7.

16

Tribals, Empire and God

tradition. He is of the view (similar to Julia Knsteva) that every text absorbs and transforms other texts and 'establishes continuity with the past and renews itself for the future'.In New Testament studies, intertextual analyses concentrate on explicit scriptural quotations and obvious allusions to the Scriptures of I s r a e l - For Richard Hays, intertextuality is especially manifested in 'echo', which 'places the reader within a field of whispered or unstated correspondence'- In a later work, Hays contends that 'Paul engaged Scripture [the Old Testament] with great imaginative freedom, without the characteristic modernist anxiety about factuahty and authorial intention'. Paul's way of reading 'summons the reader to an epistemological transformation, a conversion of the imagination'. According to Hays. Paul in his retrospective rereading of Israel's Scripture saw 'numerous prefigurations' of the crucifixion and resurrection of the M e s s i a h Edmund Little and Kenneth Duncan Litwak also study intertextual echoes of the Old Testament in the New Testament* And Christopher A. Beetham does the same but outlines more clearly the distinction between quotation, allusion and echo as literary modes of reference.- A number of these studies refer to Hollander, who distinguished between echo and allusion. A primary idea expostulated by Hollander is that an allusion borrows more words from its predecessor text than an echo, and echo is often too faint or subtle to be easily identified* 49. Daniel Boyarin, Intertextuality and the Reading ofMidrash (Bloomington. IN Indiana University Press, 1990), p. 22. 50. So Steve Moyise, The Old Testament in the New: An Introduction (New York: Continuum, 2001). 51. Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven. CT: Yale University Press, 1989), p. 20. 52. Richard B. Hays, The Conversion of the Imagination: Paul as Interpreter of Israel’s Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2005), pp. ix, x and xvi. 53. Edmund Little, Echoes of the Old Testament in the Wine of Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11) and the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish (John 6:1-15): Towards an Appreciation (Carriers de la Revue Bibhque, 41; Pans: J. Gabalda, 1998); Kenneth Duncan Litwak, Echoes of Scripture in Luke-Acts: Telling the History of God’s People Intertextually (London: T. & T. Clark, 2005). 54. Christopher A. Beetham, Echoes of Scripture in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians (BIS, 96; Leiden: Brill, 2008). 55. According to John Hollander, The Figure of the Echo: A Mode of Allusion in Milton and After (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1981), p. 64, an allusion is intentional-it is a conscious attempt by an author to point the audience to the prior text. In contrast, echo 'does not depend on conscious intention... a pointing to, orfigurationof, a text recognized by the audience is not the point'. The idea that intertextuality is more subtle than direct quotation or allusion is also

1. Description of the Project

17

For my mtertextual model, however, I turn to Julia Knsteva, who has been widely quoted and acknowledged as the one who initiated or advanced the concept of intertextuality into literary studies. Knsteva introduced the term in 1966 while she was discussing Mikhail Bakhtin's literary language for the theorists in F r a n c e - Her main assertion with regard to intertextuality is that texts draw their meaning from other texts and that all texts absorb and transform other texts. She writes: The term inter-textuality denotes this transposition of one (or several) sign-sy stem(s) into another; but since the term has often been understood in the banal sense of'study of sources' we prefer the term transposition because it specifies that the passage from one signifying system to another demands a new articulation of the thetic...« What is significant about Knsteva's approach is that a 'text' is a 'signsystem' . So a text could be a literary text but it could also be a person, an interpretation and any number of influences. Although Jonathan Culler is critical of Knsteva, his basic position is not very different from her view that intertextuality is the 'discursive space' that renders a text intelligible. 58 In The Pursuit of Signs he sees intertextuality as virtually synonymous with 'presuppositions- and argues that intertextuality is 'less a name for a work's relation to pnor texts than a designation of its

expressed by Robert McMahon, 'Satan as Infernal Narcissus: Interpretive Translation in the Commedia', in Madison U. Sowell (eds.), Dante and Ovid: Essays in Intertextuality (Binghamton, NY: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies. 1991), pp. 65-86 (65), who says that intertextuality 'embraces more than the explicit reference or quotation implied by allusion: it includes a common nexus of images and themes informing a whole passage'. 56. Julie Knsteva, 'Word, Dialogue, and Novel', and 'The Bounded Text', in Desire in Language: A Semiotic Approach to Literature and Art (ed. Leon S. Roudiez; trans. Thomas Gora, Alice Jardme and Leon S. Roudiez; New York: Columbia University Press, 1980), pp. 64-91 and 36-63, respectively ('Word. Dialogue, and Novel' is dated 1966 and 'The Bounded Text' is dated 1966-67): Mieke Bal, Narratology (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2nd edn, 1999). p. 64, sees the concept of intertextuality as already present in the work of Mikhail Bakhtm. Roland Barthes also figures prominently in definitions of intertextuality. See Roland Barthes, S/Z (New York: Hill & Wang, 1974); idem, 'Theory of the Text', in Robert Young (ed.), Untying the Text: A Post-Structuralist Reader (Boston: Routledge&KeganPaul, 1981), pp. 31-47. 57. Julia Kristeva, Revolution in Poetic Language (trans. Margaret Waller: New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), pp. 59-60. 58. Jonathan D. Culler, The Pursuit of Signs: Semiotics, Literature, Deconstruction (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981), pp. 106-107. 59. Culler, Pursuit of Signs, p. 102.

Tribals, Empire and God participation in the discursive space of a culture'. 60 And in Framing the Sign he emphasizes the context of the reader as a central element in the processes of 'framing', which is something readers do to make texts Intelligible" But perhaps it is James W. Voelz who articulates a 'reader as text' view most clearly: An mtertextual approach to textual interpretation sees texts... as products of 'various cultural discourses'. This means that mtertextuahty concerns itself, not only wrth the relationship between a text of verbal signs and othertextsofverbalsignsCor^orespecifically^etweenatextofwntten verbal signs and other texts of written verbal signs), but it also and especially concerns itself with the relationship between a text of signs of any sort and other sets of signs as text, whether verbal or non-verbal in nature.6? Voelz proposes that signs or set of signs have to be interpreted by connecting them with other signs or sets of signs, which is called 'matnxing', and goes on to stress the point that 'matnxing for interpretation is not restricted to the same type of text' and that 'the reader must be seen as atext, or, perhaps more accurately, the states, actions, hopes, fears, and knowledge of his \sic\ life-experience comprise atext'. 6 3 This view of intertextuality balances the production of meaning between the text and the reader. Thus a tribal reading of the text of the infancy narrative is an exercise in intertextuality because here the context of the tribal reader is the referential world or the text by means of which the text of biblical narrative is interpreted. Overview of Research on the Infancy

Narratives

In the wake of Raymond Brown's epic commentary on the infancy narratives, The Birth of the Messiah,64 which appeared in 1977, there was a perceptible lull during which research on the infancy narratives

60. Culler, Pursuit of Signs, p. 103. 61. Jonathan D. Culler, Framing the Sign: Criticism and its Institutions (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988), p. ix. 62. James W. Voelz, 'Multiple Signs and Double Texts: Elements of Intertextuality', in Sipke Draisma; (ed.), Intertextuality in Biblical Writings: Essays in Honour of Bas van Iersel(Kampen: Uitgeversmaatschappii J. H. Kok, 1989), pp. 2734(28). 63. Voelz, 'Multiple Signs and Double Texts', p. 31. Italics removed. 64. Raymond E. Brown, The Birth ofthe Messiah: A Commentary on the Infancy Narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, rev. edn, 1993).

1. Description of the Project

19

slowed down to a trickle and almost completely ceased. The Birth of the Messiah was so comprehensive that it appeared to have explored all possible areas of inquiry mto the infancy narratives. But research is a never-ending task. After a brief interlude, the works of Hermann Hendrickx {Infancy Narratives),65 Stephen Farris (The Hymns of Luke ’s Infancy Narratives),66 J.P. Meier (A Marginal Jew)61 and others appeared on the world m a r k e t - All those works rely on the historical-critical method. Another set of studies has applied other approaches, such as literary and sociological criticism, to analyze the infancy narratives: Richard Horsley looks at the infancy narratives from the social context of first-century Palestine- Mark Coleridge studies the Chnstology of the Lukan infancy narrative from a narrative-critical perspective;™ Mark Allan Powell applies reader-response criticism to investigate Matthew's M a g i - and B J. Syiemlieh integrates insights from narrative criticism and social sciences to analyze characterization in the Lukan infancy narrative.- Feminist biblical scholars have also investigated the infancy narratives. There is Jane Schaberg's controversial work proposing that Jesus was an illegitimate child of a biologically normal conception.- Other works include that of Elisabeth Schiissler Fiorenza65. Hermann Hendrickx, Infancy Narratives (London: Geoffrey Chapman. 1984). 66. Stephen Farris, The Hymns of Luke’s Infancy Narratives: Their Origin, Meaning and Significance (JSNTSup, 9; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984). 67. John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. I. Origins of the Problem and the Person (ABRL; New York: Doubleday, 1991), pp. 205-52. 68. Edwin D. Freed, The Stories of Jesus’ Birth: A Critical Introduction (Biblical Seminar, 72; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001). 69. Richard A. Horsley, The Liberation ofChristmas: The Infancy Narratives in Social Contexts York: Crossroad, 1989). 70. Mark Coleridge, The Birth ofthe Lukan Narrative: Narrative as Christology in Luke 1-2 (JSNTSup, 88; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1993). 71. Mark Allan Powell, Chasing the Eastern Star: Adventures in Biblical Reader-Response Criticism (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 2001). 72. A Doctor of Theology dissertation completed under The South Asia TheologicalResearchlnstitute(SATHRI), Senate ofSerampore College, Serampore, India. Now published as B.J. SLiemlieh, God’s Favourites: A Socio-Narrative Analysis of the Characters in the ukan Infancy Narratives (Luke 1:5-2:52) (Delhi: John Roberts Theological Semmary/ISPCK, 2005). 73. Jane Schaberg, The Illegitimacy ofJesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation ofthe New Testament Narratives (New York: Crossroad, 1990); idem, 'Feminist Interpretations of the Infancy Narrative in Matthew', JFSR 13 (1997), pp. 35-62. 74. Elisabeth Schiissler Fiorenza, Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet (New York: Continuum, 1994).

20

Tribals, Empire and God

and Elaine Wainwnght," who underline issues about the infancy narratives that had been neglected in biblical studies. And there are also contextual studies on the infancy narratives. Three contextual studies on Lk. 2.1-20 are found in The Bible in a World Context edited by Walter Dietrich and Ulnch Luz. One is by Elsa Tamez from a Latin American perspective,- another is by Justin Upkong from an African perspective," and the third is by Senchi Yagi from an Asian perspective Structure of the Research The present volume is divided into seven chapters. In this first chapter I have given a description of the research project. Here I have provided justification for why I chose this particular research project (tribals have a different perspective from the West especially with regard to supernatural phenomena, and their socio-political context) and why I think it is important (tribals ought to read it in a way that is sensible to a tribal worldview and speaks to tribal socio-political experiences). I have highlighted the method of research (contextual reader-response criticism: intertextually linking biblical narrative and tribal context) and the reasons why I chose this method (interpretation is made by the reader in negotiation with the text). I have also outlined the tribal context in order to throw some light on the perspective from which tribal contextual reading arises. In the second chapter I will seek to elucidate the method of research in greater detail. Methodology is a major concern of this project and thus careful attention will be given to the influences behind the rise of readerresponse criticism and its various theoretical assumptions as they have been understood by prominent reader-response critics. I will also briefly discuss personal/autobiographical criticism in order to show where the method of this project fits in within the spectrum of reader-response criticism. I will then consider some of the recent contextual biblical research, because the present study is ultimately a contextual reading and 75. Elaine Mary Wainwright, Towards a Feminist Critical Reading ofthe Gospel according to Matthew (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1991). 76. ElsaTamez/AStarlllummatestheDarkness'^nWalterDretnchandUlnch Luz (eds.), The Bible in a World Context: An Experiment in Contextual Hermeneutics (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002), pp. 53-58. 77. Justin Upkong, 'The Story of Jesus' Birth (Luke 1-2): An AfncanReadmg', in Dietrich and Luz (eds.), The Bible in a World Context, pp. 59-70. 78. Seiichi Yagi, 'Mary and Maya', in Dietrich and Luz (eds.), The Bible in a World Context, pp. 71-76.

1. Description of the Project

21

draws inspiration and insights from the burgeoning contextual interpretations of the Bible, particularly readings from the marginal or minority perspective. From Chapter 3 to Chapter 6,1 will analyze units of the Matthaean infancy narrative. In each chapter I will attempt to establish the context from which the tribal reader will read the narrative. In the analysis of the text, I will dwell on the socio-political circumstances of Matthew's narrative world that is analogous to the socio-political situation of the tnbals. To do this, it will be necessary to employ findings from socialscientific approaches and historical criticism to shed light on the historical context of the narrative and some understanding of the interaction between imperialism and the narrative. I will also be using insights from postcolonial biblical hermeneutics and marginal readings to bring out the subversive nature of the narrative. In the reading, I will attempt to look at the text from the perspective of the margins, aiming to be sensitive to the underside of the community and cognisant of the powers against which the narrative struggles. In other words, I will approach the text as a place of struggle, as counter-imperial narrative. Some questions, common to each chapter, will be in the back of my mind while doing the reading/interpretation: What presuppositions influence tribal interpretation of the text? How do tribal stories of the past and the present social and political circumstances of the tnbals impinge on the reading? How may tnbals interpret the text and how may the text interpret the tnbal community in turn? In the concluding chapter, I will give a summary of the project and bring together the main findings of the research, highlighting in particular those features of the nanative that reflect and speak to the socio-political expenences and cultural dimensions of tnbal communities. I will consider how the contextual reading of the infancy nanative deepens tribal understanding and expenence of the biblical text. I will also note how the nanative interweaves the account of the events sunounding the birth of the Messiah with the interventional activities or work of God and, in effect, produces the imagery of a heavenly canopy™ 79. I believe it is clear even through this brief prehmmary statement that the 'heavenly canopy' here is not the 'sacred canopy' metaphor, originating with Peter L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1969). Others have used Berger's metaphor to refer to structures that 'provide a sheltering fabric of security' and 'provide an overarching vision of the universe as well as a perception of how best to organize individual and collective life'. Lester R. Kurtz, Gods in the Global Village: The World’s Religions in Sociological Perspective (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge

22

Tribals, Empire and God

or cover sheltering and protecting the characters of the narrative from the clutches of the Roman Empire and Rome's instrument, Herod.

Press, 2nd edn, 2007), p. 13. Note also the distinction made by Ruether between 'sacred canopy' reHgionlhat reinforces prevailing ideologies and prophetic reHgion that protests against the sacred canopy. Rosemary Radford Ruether, 'Feminism and Patriarchal Religion: Principles of Ideological Critique of the Bible', JSOT 22 (1982), pp. 55-56; idem, 'Religion and Society: Sacred Canopy vs. Prophetic Critique', in Mark H. Ellis and Otto Maduro (eds.), The Future of Liberation Theology: Essays in Honor of Gustavo Gutiérrez (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books. 1989), pp. 172-76.However,Idonotuse the term 'heavenly canopy' as therehgious and cultural overarching structure that gives sense to a particular culture, but rather as a paradigm of meaning withm which the Matthaean narrative creates hope in the midst of oppression.

2 READER-RESPONSE CRITICISM

Reader-response criticism is not a unified theory but encompasses a cluster of disparate postmodern literary theories that seek to explain the diversity of readers'responses to a text. Biblical reader-response criticism stems from general literary theory that came into prominence during the 1960s and 1970s. However!generally speaking, biblical scholars are not comfortable with the more radical forms of reader-response proposed by secular literary theorists and they tend to stay within the boundaries of historical criticism. In this chapter, I propose an eclectic method that is based principally on reader-response criticism but which adds insights from historical criticism, social-scientific approaches, contextual hermeneutics, marginal/minority readings, cultural criticism and postcolomal biblical interpretation.' Such an approach, I believe, will help bring out the contribution of the author, the text and the reader of the narrative. In Search of a Relevant

Method

Modern biblical hermeneutics, in the form it is known in academia, has its roots in the Enlightenment movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.'More specifically, critical biblical studies arose from the impact of the German Enlightenment, English Deism and French scepticism that had the singular effect of introducing 'reason' as the critical principle of scholarship in place of unquestioning acceptance of dogmatic tradition. 1. A responsible reader-response analysis cannot exclude insights from historical and sociological works. Edgar V. McKmght, 'Reader-Response Criticism', in Steven L. McKenzie and Stephen R. Haynes (eds.), To Each its Own Meaning: An Introduction to Biblical Criticisms and Their Application (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1999), pp. 230-52(240). 2. Werner Georg Kiimmel, The New Testament: The History ofthe Investigation of its Problem (trans. S.M. Gilmour and Howard C. Kee; Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1972); William Baird, History of the New Testament Research. I. From Deism to Tübingen (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992).

24

Tribals, Empire and God

Rene Descartes (1596-1650), the father of modern rationalism, wrote: 'My first rule was to accept nothing as true which I did not clearly recognize to be so; to accept nothing more than what was presented to my mind so clearly and distinctly that I could have no occasion to doubt i t - Descartes introduced doubt as the criterion of his method. He proposed the use of intellect. According to him, to arrive at truth one must free one's mind of everything except pure reason. Doubt, the sceptical approach as opposed to uncritical piety, found increasing favour among intellectuals. More and more, human fallibility in the composition of Scripture came to be acknowledged. The Deists alleged that the biblical narratives were nothing more than fables and insinuated that their authors were guilty of deception. The influence of the Deists had an impact on biblical scholarship for many years as Christian scholars tried to respond to the criticism either by stressing the supernatural nature of Scripture or by playing down the supernatural elements and emphasizing the teaching of Jesus. Over the years, critical biblical scholarship continued to evolve out of particular intellectual interests, social persuasions, political exigencies and religious climate. When it found a fertile ground to grow in American academies, it continued to develop its theoretical assumptions and methodological procedures in response to the needs and priorities of its audience/ These needs and priorities were determined largely by white North American male academics. However, there have been voices from marginal groups intruding their perspectives into biblical methodological considerations and these have been successful to some extent. Thus in the last several decades, there has been a growing understanding that social, cultural, economic, ethnic, gender and other differences have a bearing on the practice of interpretation.

3. Rene Descartes, Discourse on Method (New York: Dutton, 1912), quoted in J. Bronowski and Bruce Mazlish, The Western Intellectual Tradition: From Leonardo to Hegel (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970), p. 257. 4. Thomas H. Olbncht, 'Biblical Interpretation in North America in the Twentieth Century', in Donald K. McKim (ed.), Dictionary of Major Biblical Interpreters (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), pp. 88-102 (88), divides the history ofmodern biblical scholarship m North America into four periods: (1) the Germamcpenod,1900-1915;(2)the British period, 1916-1945; (3) the Continental period, 1945-1980; and (4) the North American period, 1981-1999. Olbncht adds this observation: 'Scholars in North America, utilizing previous approaches but adding social, sociological, anthropological, feminist, rhetorical, narrative and imagmist criticism, seem well on the way to the status of being leaders among international biblical scholars'.

2. Reader-Response Criticism

25

When I started my theological training in the small town of Jorhat, in Assam, I was struck by the disconnection between theological discourse and the life of the people. What shocked me most was the fact that with regard to the Bible I had to suppress the emotions and beliefs that brought me to the theological college in the first place. Rather than finding out what a text of the Bible means to me, I had to endeavour to discover what it meant to the original recipients. The application of historical criticism was primarily aimed at discovering two things: (1) the primitive or original meaning of a text, that is, to understand the meaning of a text in its actual historical context; (2) the historical situation of the author and the recipients of the text in order to better understand the events which the text describes.^ I had to go by a circuitous path to find its relevance for me. There is nothing wrong with deciphering the meaning of the Bible that way. However, the problem was that I did not find out what the biblical text means to me. What I discovered instead was what it means to the Western reader. So I learnt to read the Bible from the perspective of mainstream biblical critics, which means from the viewpoint of Western scholars. Yet it was painfully evident that the churches back home were not impressed by the rhetoric of 'scholarly' exegesis. The most common criticism of the churches with regard to theological education is thatthe theologies being taught are irrelevant. Theological graduates have admitted to me that they promptly forget everything they have learnt in college once they graduate. This is because the issues discussed in theological circles are issues that come from the West and have no connection with the realities of local people. Clearly, there is a need to find a relevant method of interpreting the Bible, an alternative way of reading, for tribal communities. Instead of attempting to look at biblical narrative through an incomprehensible prism, tnbals need to develop practices of reading that allow the text to come alive to and speak to their particular contexts. This does not necessarily mean that tnbals have to forsake the approaches that have become part of the Christian tradition at large. It would be more prudent to enter into dialogue with the existing hermeneutical approaches and appropriate them for reading from a tribal context. I expect that the versatility and the vitality of Scripture will become more evident when it takes on local flavour and texture.

5. Richard N. Soulen and R. Kendall Soul en, Handbook of Biblical Criticism: Now Includes Precritical and Postcritical Interpretation (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 3rd edn, 2001), p. 79.

Tribals, Empire and God The theoretical principle of the method that I intend to follow is based on the assumption that one's cultural background determines one's perception of a text of Scripture. Someone who comes from a culture that is rooted in rationalism would read the infancy narrative of Matthew's Gospel in a very different way from someone who comes from a culture that regards spirit beings, mediums and uncanny dreams as natural or normal in human life. Differences would exist even if readers use the same method, because their cultural background, life experiences and perspectives are different. In this section, I will discuss the approach that literary theorists call reader-response criticism. The focal point of the method is the role of the reader in creating the meaning of a text. The Birth of the Reader Historical criticism arose in the seventeenth century and came into prominence in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was purported to be the essential tool for investigating the Bible. The general understanding was that any respectable study of the Bible must apply histoncalcrftical method because the biblical texts are products of historical moments of times and places. Historical criticism operates with the use of critical methods such as source criticism, tradition criticism, form criticism and redaction criticism. While they each are independent approaches, they were applied to the study of biblical text to augment and further the findings of historical analysis. So, no real disharmony was perceived in the use of critical methods. Rather, the strength of one method was deemed to be a complement to the weakness of the other approach. A persistent difficulty with historical-critical method has been the question of objectivity. Reservations about the historical critic's ability to engage in 'disinterested scholarship'* gave way to serious doubt as to whether the quest for objective history is feasible. Some scholars question whether it is possible or even desirable to seek objectivity in interpretation.? Others insist that objectivity must be considered as a 'regulative ideal'.- Whichever way one may look at the issue, there is

6. John Barton, 'Historical-Critical Approaches', in John Barton (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), pp. 9-20 (12). 7. Fred W. Burnett, 'Historiography', in A.K.M. Adam (ed.), Handbook of Postmodern Biblical Interpretation (St Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2000), pp. 106-12. 8. Michael Stanford, An Introduction to the Philosophy of History (Oxford: Blackwell,1998),p.55.

2. Reader-Response Criticism

27

now almost general consensus that pure objectivity cannot be achieved. although that does not mean the historical critic should give up objectivity as an ideal. More and more scholars now accept that it is not possible to approach a text objectively.* Rudolf Bultmann, a staunch proponent of historical criticism, asked the question, 'Is exegesis without presuppositions possible?' His answer was an emphatic ' N o ' . - A reader cannot but approach a text from a certain point of reference, with certain presuppositions which colour his or her interpretation of the text. The growing realization that some amount of subjectivity is unavoidable in interpreting any text shifted the focus of biblical critics from the text to the interaction that takes place between the reader and the text. Consequently, a school of readeroriented criticism developed which regards the reader as the primary interpreter and active participant in 'meaning-making'." 9. According to Edgar V. McKnight (ed.), Reader Perspectives on the New Testament(Semeia, 42; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1989), p. 15, 'A radical readeronented criticism is postmodern in that it challenges the critical assumption that a disinterested reader can approach a text obj ectively and obtain verifiable knowledge by applying certain scientific strategies'. My own view is that attempting to read biblical narrative from a purely objective point of view or to try to present a valuefree interpretation is to try to keep the reading experience at arm's length, to detach oneself from the world of narrative. It is to try to keep biblical narrative from intersecting with our own narrative. I do not point this out to indicate that this researchwillnotbeobjective,buttoputacrossthat reading, especially fromatnbal perspective, is an encounter. Reading takes place as a dialogue between the biblical narrative and tribal stories. 10. Rudolf Bultmann, 'Is Exegesis without Presuppositions Possible?', in Existence and Faith: Shorter Writings of Rudolf Bultmann (trans. Schubert M. Ogden; New York: Meridian Books, 1960), pp. 281-96. The German original was published in 1957 as '1st voraussetzunglose Exegese moglich?', ThZ 13 (1957). pp. 409-17. 11. In creating the following survey, I draw from: Robert Detweiler (ed.), Reader Response Approaches to Biblical and Secular Texts (Semeia, 31; Decatur, GA: Scholars Press, 1985); Elizabeth Freund, The Return of the Reader: ReaderResponse Criticism (New York: Methuen, 1987); Michael Vander Weele, 'ReaderResponse Theories', in Clarence Walhout and Leland Ryken (eds.), Contemporary Literary Theory: A Christian Appraisal (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), pp. 125-48; John G. Lodge, Romans 9–11: A Reader-Response Analysis (International Studies in Formative Christianity and Judaism, 6; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1996), pp. 1-32; Raman Selden, Peter Widdowson and Peter Brooker, A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory (London: Prentice-Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 4th edn, 1997); Jane P. Tompkins (ed.), Reader Response Criticism: From Formalism to Post-Structuralism (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980); Charles E. Bressler, Literary Criticism: An Introduction to

28

Tribals, Empire and God

The credit for giving primacy to the reader is often accorded to Louise Rosenblatt, who, in her work Literature as Exploration, which appeared first in 1938, expostulated that 'what the student brings to literature is as important as the literary text itself P However, it may not be appropriate to give credit to any single individual. Other writers, such as the feminist Virginia Woolf, writing ten years before Rosenblatt, also held readerresponse views." In fact, reader-response criticism follows a long tradition that acknowledged the role of the reader or audience of a literary work or performance. For instance, Plato discerned that poetry has atendency to overcome people with irrational passions by appealing to the baser human instincts And Aristotle believed that literature has a positive psychological influence. He argued that a properly structured tragedy purges the spectators of negative emotions and brings about a cathartic effect in the audience by eliciting emotions of fear and pity - In both cases, the audience appears to be captive to the power of the text. However, it must be understood here that the power of the text arises from its readers interacting with it, finding echoes of their life-experience. longings, love, or loss, in the text. The process is akin to 'overbading' because of an innate human tendency to read more into a text than what it says." Theory and Practice (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 3rd edn, 2003); Wilfred L. Guerin, et al, A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature (New York: Oxford University Press, 5th edn, 2005); M. A.R. Habib, A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present (Maiden, MA: Blackwell, 2005); Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2nd edn, 2006); Anthony C. Thiselton, Thiselton on Hermeneutics: Collected Works with New Essays (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 3 95-521; Gregory Castle, The Blackwell Guide to Literary Theory (Maiden, MA: Blackwell Pubhshmg,2007). 12. Louise M. Rosenblatt, Literature as Exploration (New York: Modem Language Association of America, 5th edn, 1995), p. 82. 13. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. 1945). First published in 1928. 14. Habib, A History ofLiterary Criticism, pp. 708-709. 15. Carla Kaplan, The Erotics of Talk: Women’s Writing and Feminist Paradigms (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 33, explains that 'overreading' or 'over-reading', as it is sometimes called, refers to 'a strategy for reading between the lines, deciphering silence, decoding double-talk, and filling in gaps to correct and compensate for the double silence of repressed expression and critical misunderstanding that we might identity with all revisionary, recuperative work'. Cf. Nancy K. Miller, ' Arachnologies: The Woman, the Text, and the Critic', in Nancy K. Miller (ed.), The Poetics of Gender (New York: Columbia University Press, 1986), pp. 270-96; idem, Subject to Change: Reading Feminist Writing (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988).

2. Reader-Response Criticism

29

The mid-twentieth century saw an unprecedented interest by critics in the reader or audience. An increasing number of literary critics questioned the role of the author in literary studies, saying that the author oughtto be removed in orderto pursue exclusively literary concerns. In essays dating from 1959to the late 1970s, the semiotician Umberto Eco anticipated aspects of reader-response theory when he asserted that some texts are 'open', while others are 'closed' . - O p e n texts invite the reader to collaborate with them in producing meaning but closed texts have codes that predetermine the response of the reader. Thus critics were beginning to move away from an exclusive focus on the text and its aufhor and moving towards the reader. Following this trend, Roland Barthes made a dramatic announcement in 1967 about 'the death of the a u t h o r ' . ' ^ the essay underthat same title, Barthes asserted that 'thetext is atissue of quotations drawn from innumerable centres of culture', and as such, 'to give a text an Author is to impose a limit to that text, to furnish it with a final signified, to close the reading'. He concluded that 'the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the author'.Finally, during the 1970s, Wolfgang Iser and Hans Robert Jauss, along with some others at the University of Constance, began to put together thetheoreticalframeworkforareader-responseorreceptiontheoryThis group came to be known as the 'Constance School'. By the 1980s readeroriented theories had a firm foothold in literary studies.

16. Umberto Eco, The Role ofthe Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts (Bloommgton: Indiana University Press, 1984). 17. Roland Barthes, 'The Death of the Author', in Image, Music, Text (trans. Stephen Heath; Glasgow: Fontana/Collms, 1977), pp. 142-48. The article was originally written in 1967 tor Aspen nos. 5 and 6, an American maéazine. A year later, it was republished in France as 'La mort de l'auteur' in Mantia (1968). Cf. Sean Burke, The Death and Return of the Author: Criticism and Subjectivity in Barthes, Foucault and Derrida (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2nd edn. 1998), p. 20 n. 2. For other views about the author's demise in literary theory, see Burke, The Death and Return of the Author, and Eugen Simion, The Return of the Author (ed. James W. Newcomb; trans. James W. Newcomb and Lidia Vianu: Rethinking Theory; Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1996), originally pubHshed in Romanian inl981. 18. Barthes, 'The Death of the Author', pp. 146-48. The death of the author implied a susceptibility to all sorts of ideological interpretation. Thus some scholars call for a return of the author to provide an anchor to the meaning of the text. Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? The Bible, the Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge (Landmarks in Christian Scholarship; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1998).

30

Tribals, Empire and God Antecedents

Before proceeding further, it is pertinent to point out the historical antecedents of reader-response criticism to help understand the context within which the birth and rise of the reader takes place. A systematic form of reader-response theory developed as a reaction to and an outgrowth of Russian formalism, New Criticism and Structuralism. Russian Formalism Formalism is a term denoting the theoretical position of giving prominence to the formal aspects of art and literature. The R u s s L formalists produced much of their work during the early twentieth century. However, most of their critical works came to be translated into English several decades later. Russian formalism comprises two schools. One school, called The Moscow Linguistic Circle, was formed in 1915 and led by Roman Osipovich Jakobson. The other school, called the Society for the Study of Poetic Language (Opoyaz), was formed in 1916 and included Viktor Shklovsky (often spelled as Victor Shklovsky and as Viktor Bonsovich Shklovskn), Boris Eichenbaum and Yun Tynyanov" The seeds of a reader-response theoretical framework were sown by Jakobson. In his paper 'Linguistics and Poetics', written in 1958, Jakobson identified six elements in any communication process! addresser (sender), context (a referent, the signified), message (the verbal act, the sigmfier), contact (aphysical channel, psychologicafconnection), a common code (shared mode of discourse, shared language) to decipher the message, and addressee (receiver, hearer, or reader) » Subsequent literary critics and theorists reduced Jakobson's theory of communicative functions to three fundamentals, viz.: source, message and receiver- The growing appreciation of text as a message between an author and a Lipient/reader/audience ultimately led to the development of reception theories or reader/audience-onented criticism. Mikhail M. Bakhtin- is often associated with the Jakobsoman school. although he is also known as a poststructurahst. While Bakhtin composed 19. Habib, A History ofLiterary Criticism, pp. 602-603. 20. Roman O. Jakobson, 'Closing Statements: Linguistics and Poetics', in Thomas A. Sebeok (ed.), Style in Language (Cambridge, MA: M.I.T. Press, 1960). pp. 350-77. 21. Mark Allan Powell, What Is Narrative Criticism? (Guides to Biblical Scholarship, New Testament Series; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), pp. 8-9. 22. Tzvetan Todorov, Mikhail Bakhtin: The Dialogic Principle (trans. Wlad Godzich; Theory and History of Literature, 13; Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1984).

2. Reader-Response Criticism

31

his major works during the 1930s and '40s, they were translated into EngHsh only in the 1970s and '80s. Bakhtin questioned the assumption that a text had one true meaning to convey. He believed that reading had a bearing upon the meaning of the text. Thus, according to Bakhtin, the author could not have the final say about the meaning of his own work. but could only be one of its many interpreters. Viktor Shklovsky in his earliest work, an essay entitled 'Art as Technique' (1917), 23 espoused the concept ofostraneniye, or 'defamilianzation' and 'estrangement', a way of making strange, in literature. By estrangement and defamilianzation Shklovsky meant the function of art to change our familiar modes of perception. The removal of automatic or habitual responses that had become ingrained in us through years of habit enables us to focus on details that we would normally ignore. For Shklovsky, story is that part of the narrative that seeks easy recognition whereas plot increases the complexity, prolongs the perception, or estranges. Extending Shklovsky's theory of the perceiver in art, Jan Mukafovsky- asserted that a work of art and its interpretation are separate things. He broached the idea that the art mediates between the artist and the reader/audience and that it is the reader/audience and/or particular circumstances that determines the aesthetic value of the art. Several of these notions continue to be echoed in discussions of the process of reading in reader-response criticism. In particular, the notion of defamilianzation influenced theorists such as Hans Robert Jauss in formulating reception theory. New Criticism New Criticism came into prominence during the mid-twentieth century through the theory of literary analysis advanced by scholars such as John Crowe Ransom,-Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate,- and Robert Penn

23. Viktor Shklovsky, 'Art as Technique', inRussian Formalist Criticism: Four Essays (ed. and trans. Lee T. Lemon and Marion J. Reis; Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1965), pp. 5-24; idem, Theory of Prose (trans. Benjamin Shen Normal, IL: Dalkey Archive Press, 1990). 24. Jan Mukaf ovsky, Aesthetic Function: Norm and Value as Social Facts (Ann Arbor: Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literature, University of Michigan Press, 1979). 25. John Crowe Ransom, The World’s Body (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1938); idem, The New Criticism (Norfolk, CT: New Directions, 1941). 26. Caroline Gordon and Allen Tate (eds.), The House ofFiction: An Anthology of the Short Story, with Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2nd edn. 1960).

32

Tribals, Empire and God

Warren and Cleanth Brooks.- Other major New Critics include William Empson - LA. Richards,- W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe C Beardsley» and Yvor W i n t e r s - These and other New Critics regarded the work of literary art as an object. In doing so, they called attention to the organic form of the text and practiced a manner of 'close reading',- which was essentially an intensive analysis of the text. They sought consistency in the structural interrelationship between various parts of the text and coherence of the parts with the whole; a coherence seen in how everything falls into place towards the end. They, particularly W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe C Beardsley, spoke of the 'intentional fallacy', to refer to the error critics and readers make of not separating the literary work from the author's intention. Its corollary came to be called the 'affective fallacy',- which is the mistake of confusing the meaning of the work with the emotional effect it has on the reader Thus New Critics saw the literary work as a complete entity, having an existence of its own, autonomous of the biography or psychology of the author, the historical situation and all matters outside the work. More specifically, New Critics ruled out the reader maintaining that the meaning of the text cannot be dependent on the reader and that readers cannot be relied upon as sources ofinterpretation. Reacting to the New Critics' emphasis on the text to the exclusion of the reader, reader-response critics argue that the reader, far from being extraneous to the meaning of the text, should be treated as the protagonist. They say that the text by itself has no meaning until somebody

27. Cleanth Brooks and Robert Perm Warren, Understanding Poetry (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 4th edn, 1976); Cleanth Brooks, The Well-Wrought Urn: Studies in the Structure ofPoetry (London: Methuen Books, 1968). 28. William Empson, Seven Types of Ambiguity (Penguin: Penguin in Association with Chatto & Wmdus, 3rd edn, 1995). 29. LA. Richards, Practical Criticism: A Study of Literary Judgment (New Brunswick, NJ: Lransaction Publishers, 2004). 30. W.K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley, The Verbal Icon: Studies in the Meaning ofPoetry (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1989). 31. Yvor Winters, In Defense of Reason (New York: Lhe Swallow Press & W. Morrow and Co., 3rd edn, 1947). 32. Bressler, Literary Criticism, p. 263, explains that close reading is '... a close and detailed analysis of the text itself to arrive at an interpretation without referring to historical, authorial, or cultural concerns'. 33. Lhe essays on 'Lhe Intentional Fallacy' and 'Lhe Affective Fallacy' originally appeared in The Sewanee Review 54 (1946), pp. 468-88; and The Sewanee Review 57 (1949), pp. 31-55 respectively. Both essays are reprinted in Wimsatt and Beardsley, The Verbal Icon, pp. 3-18 and 21-39.

2. Reader-Response Criticism

33

reads it. Meaning is not to be found in the bare text but is to be found in the reader who brings his or her viewpoint and experiences to the text and gives it its meaning. In a sense, what the text means is what the reader says it means.Structura lism Unlike New Criticism, structuralism gave primacy to the systems that created the t e x t - Structuralists insisted that any phenomenon or artifact should be studied in relation to the broader systems that produced it. Although structuralism has its roots in Voltaire, the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and others, its emergence in academia in the second half of the twentieth century was galvanized by the theory of structural linguistics developed by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure* Saussure expounded a linguistic sign system that distinguished between la langue (French for 'tongue', language), language as the underlying system of signs which make communication possible, and la parole (French for 'word', speech), language as it is spoken or written. Saussure's theories were appropriated and applied by Vladimir Propp to the study of Russian folktales - Propp identified particular types of character and sequence of actions in folktales and opened the possibility of applying such structural units to the investigation of literary works

3 4. Guerin, et al.,A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature,pp.350-51. 35. Some of the prominent structuralists include Michel Foucault (though he later denied affiliation with structuralists), The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences (Routledge Classics; repr. 1970, London: Routledge, 2006), translated from the French Les Mots et les choses: Une archéologie des sciences humaines, originally published in 1966; idem, The Archaeology ofKnowledge (trans. A.M. Sheridan Smith; New York: Pantheon Books, 1972), translated from the French L’archeologie du savoir; Jacques Lacan, Literature and Psychoanalysis: The Question of Reading: Otherwise (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1982); Jakobson, 'Closing Statement'; Roland Barthes, S/Z; idem, Mythologies (London: Jonathan Cape, 1972); idem, The Rustle of Language (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986); and Noam Chomsky, Reflections on Language (New York: Pantheon Books, 1975). 36. Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in Linguistics (trans. Roy Harris; New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965). 37. Vladimir Propp, Morphology of the Folktale (trans. Laurence Scott; Austin: University of Texas Press, 2nd edn, 1977), translated from the Russian Morfologiya Skazki, originally idem, Theory and History of Folklore (ed. Anatoly Liberman: trans. Ariadna Y. Martin and Richard P. Martin; Theory and History of Literature Series, 5; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984).

34

Tribals, Empire and God

Saussure's theones were also used by the French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss in his structural analysis of mythology.* Tostmcturalists^hetexthadnoindependentmelming^thadmeaning only in terms of its relation to the bigger structure. They believed thai structures underlie all human behaviour and that the order we perceive in the world is not inherent to the world but is engendered by the human mind. The mind, per se, is a structuring mechanism that invariably organizes units into order, files them according to grammar-like rules. and forms meaningful systems. Specifically, stmcturalism's idea that the systems of relationships that create meaning are related to community consensus had a bearing on reader-response theones propounded by Wolfgang Iser and Stanley Fish.Reader-Response

Criticism

A basic premise of reader-response theory is the assumption that a text is mute, lifeless and non-existent until a reader breathes life into the text. The logic is akin to the philosopher's hypothetical question: If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? This quotation is attributed to Bishop George Berkeley, who proposed that ideas and the mind are interdependent; something can exist only if someone knows it. Thus if a tree fell in the forest and there is really no one to hear it, not only would it not make a sound, but there would be no tree, and no forest.- Reader-response critics maintain the text has no meaning without a reader. It is the reader who creates, shapes and imparts meaning to the text from his or her gamut of experiences and state of mind. The reader is not a consumer of meanings found in a text but a producer of meanings. Accordingly, the most important component in interpretation is not the text but the reader. Reader-response critics reject the notion of autonomy of the text of New Criticism, the idea that texts are selfcontained entities, and focus on the effect of the literary work on the reader. And whereas New Critics appealed to objectivity in interpretation, reader-response critics believe that there is no such thing as objectivity. 38. Claude Levi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology, II (trans. Monique Layton: New York: Basic Books, 1976). 39. Lon Hope Lefkovitz, 'Creating the World: Structuralism and Semiotics', in G. Douglas Atkins and Laura Morrow (eds.), Contemporary Literary Theory (Amherst, MA: The University of Massachusetts Press, 1989), pp. 60-80. 40. See the Editor's Introduction in George Berkeley,A Treatise Concerning the Principles ofHuman Knowledge (ed. Kenneth Winkler; Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Co., 1982), p. xi. Originally published in 1710.

2. Reader-Response Criticism

35

Having said that, it would be incorrect to assume that reader-response criticism is a unified body of literary theory. The approach comprises a broad spectrum of critical positions. It is a multifarious group glued together by the idea that the reader is the creator of meaning. However, there are aspects of the theory that stress the text more than the reader For instance, the word 'response' implies that the reader is simply responding to triggers that are inherent in the text. This is the general position of most practitioners of reader-response criticism in the biblical guild. Yet theorists such as Stanley Fish and Norman Holland, who hold tlie reverse view that the text is the product of the reader, identify themselves as reader-response critics. Wolfgang Iser appears to have reservations but accepts the term as the English equivalent for the German Wirkung, which signifies both effect and response.41 The principal reader-response theorists who have shaped readerresponse theory are Wayne C Booth, Hans-Robert Jauss, Wolfgang Iser, Michael Riffaterre, David Bleich and Stanley E. Fish. Wayne C. Booth Investigating the transaction that takes place between the reader and the text during the reading process establishes a relationship between readerresponse criticism and rhetoric, the art of persuasion. This aspect is emphasized by Wayne C. Booth who calls attention to the perennial presence of the author in the commentary of the text and the inevitability of rhetoric stating, 'the author cannot choose to avoid rhetoric, he can choose only the kind of rhetoric he will employ. He cannot choose whether or not to affect his readers' evaluations by his choice of narrative manner; he can only choose whether to do it well or poorly Isic].'42 This theoretical assumption runs throughout Booth's work. The author-reader transaction is seen in Booth's concept of the 'implied author'. The 'implied author' is a representation of the 'official scribe' constructed by the reader. The implied author is the author's 'second self, so to speak." L l k e w l s e , h l s n o t i o n o f t h e 'postulated reader' reflects the tandem relationship between author and reader at several levels. The 'postulated reader' is the image of the reader created by the author. The person who is 'reader' is not the same person who pays bills and does repairs around the house. To quote Boofli again:

41. Terence R. Wright, 'Reader-Response Under Revrew: Art, Game, or Science?', Style 29.4 (1995), pp. 529-48. 42. Wayne C. Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2nd edn, 1983), p. 149. 43. Booth, Rhetoric ofFiction, pp. 70-71.

36

Tribals, Empire and God The author creates, in short, an rmage of himself and another image of his reader; he makes his reader as he makes his second self, and the most successful reading is one in which the created selves, author and reader, can find complete agreement."

He argues that 'even the greatest of literature is radically dependent on the concurrence of beliefs of author and readers'.« More specifically, the reader subordinates his or her mind to make it compatible with the author's beliefs. Booth stands midway between text as an artifact (New Criticism) and the supremacy of the reader (reader-response criticism). along with thinkers such as Louise Rosenblatt- and Walker G i b s o n who also affirmed the importance of the reader but did not ascribe the primary place to the reader. Hans-Robert Jauss Another rhetorically grounded version of reader-response criticism is thatof reception theory. Reception theory is pertinent to reader-response because it deals with the reader's reception of literary text. It is associated with the 'reception aesthetics' (Rezeptionsästhetik) of the 'Constance School', a reference to the critics who developed a systematic reader-response theory at the University of Constance in Germany in the 1970s, and particularly with Hans-Robert Jauss, who argues that literary history should be studied as 'reception history' (Rezeptionsgeschichte).48 Existing interpretations have a tendency either to ignore history or to ignore the text in preference of social theories. Jauss seeks to fix the problem by employing a category called 'horizons of expectations'. According to Jauss, the public receives literary works against an existing horizon of expectations consisting of the public knowledge about genre and conventions of literature and their presuppositions about it. Thus Jauss is able to explain why some literature is acclaimed by one generation and decried or denounced by another generation-the meaning of a literary work changes as people's 'horizons of expectations' shift.

44. Booth, Rhetoric ofFiction, p. 138. 45. Booth, Rhetoric ofFiction, p. 140. 46. Rosenblatt, Literature as Exploration. 47. Walker Gibson, 'Authors, Speakers, Readers, and Mock Readers', College English 11.5 (February, 1950), pp. 265-69, reprinted in Tompkins (ed.), Reader Response Criticism, pp. 1-6. 48. Hans-Robert Jauss, Toward an Aesthetic ofReception (trans. Timothy Bahi: Theory and History of Literature, 2; Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 1982):

2. Reader-Response Criticism

37

Wolfgang Iser The p h e n o m e n o l o g y method of Wolfgang Iser is often regarded as a seminal reader-response approach. Phenomenology is the philosophical method developed by Edmund Husserl that is concerned with the structures of consciousness or experience of things (the reading experience) from a 'first-person' (the reader's) viewpoint. Iser outlined this approach in the final chapter of his The Implied Reader, a chapter entitled 'The Reading Process: A Phenomenological Approach'.- According to him. literary analysis must consider not only the actual text but 'the actions involved in responding to that text' .*> When considered in this manner, the literary work appears as having two poles: the 'artistic' pole which is the text created by the author, and the 'aesthetic' pole which is 'the realization accomplished by the r e a d e r ' - The literary work, then, is neither the text created by the author alone nor the realization of the text by the reader, but 'halfway between the two'. To quote Iser: The work is more than the text, for the text only takes on life when it is realized, and furthermore the realization is by no means independent of the individual disposition ofthereader-though this m turn is acted upon by the different patterns of the text. The convergence of text and reader brings the literary work into existence... * Iser sees a 'virtuahty' in literary work that gives it its dynamic nature. Literary text switches on the reader's imagination and creativity. The 'unwritten' part of the text, the 'unspoken dialogue', leads the reader to use his or her imagination to work out for himself or herself those things that have been left unsaid and animate the outlines that have been suggested by the given situations." In his other major work, The Act of Reading, Iser fleshes out his concept of the 'implied reader'.« Here he discusses the use of two categories of readers: the 'real' reader and the 'hypothetical' reader. The real reader refers to an actual reader whose reactions have been documented, 49. Wolfgang Iser, The Implied Reader: Patterns of Communication in Prose Fiction from Bunyan to Beckett (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974), pp. 274-94. Originally published in 1972 as Der Implizite Leser: Kommunikationsformen des Romans von Bunyan bis Beckett. 50. Iser, The Implied Reader, p. 274. 51. Iser, The Implied Reader, p. 274. 52. Iser, The Implied Reader, pp. 274-75. 53. Iser, The Implied Reader, pp. 275-76. 54. Wolfgang Iser, The Act of Reading: A Theory of Aesthetic Response (London: Routledge & KeganPaul, 1978), pp. 27-38. Originally published in 1976 as Der Akt des Lesens. Theorie Ästhetischer Wirkung.

38

Tribals, Empire and God

and the hypothetical reader is the composite projection of all possible actualizations of the t e x t - Iser finds both of these categories to be restrictive. He then surveys other models of the reader that sought to overcome the limitations of traditional restrictive models. He regards the 'psychological reader' of Norman Holland and Simon Lesser as having qualities that are more than heuristic, and he considers them in some detail. He does not explain what he meant by 'more than heuristic' but seems to imply 'more than experience-based' or 'more than intuitive guessing' strategies of learning. Other heuristic constructs of readers Iser examines are: the 'superreader' of Michael Riffaterre, the 'informed reader' of Stanley Fish, and the 'intended reader' of Erwin Wolff. Although all of these attempt to break free from the traditional mould and its limitations, Iser says they still carry restrictions that undermine their general application. To overcome these restrictions, he proposes an 'implied reader'. He argues that to understand the effects of reading 'we must allow for the reader's presence without in any way predetermining his character or his historical situation'. To quote Iser again: We may call him, for want of a better term, the implied reader. He embodies all those predispositions necessary for a literary work to exercise its effect-predispositions laid down, not by an empirical outside reality, but by the text itself. Consequently, the implied reader as a concept has his roots firmly planted in the structure of the text; he is a construct and in no way to be identified with any real readers [sic].56 Iser's concept of the implied reader anticipates the presence of actualizing conditions embedded in the text, structures that invite the reader to assemble its meaning, and which also 'prestructures' the role of the recipient. Thus for Iser, the potentials of a text are realized in a dialogue between the reader and the literary work. In various places across his works, Iser propounds the notion of 'gaps' or 'empty spaces' that disturb the 'good continuation' of a text and which the reader has to fill." The gaps are not the result of an absence of detail; in fact, too many details produce more gaps.- The gaps conceal things that are of vital importance and the reader has to fill them in such a way as to lead to the actualization of the t e x t -

55. 56. 57. 58. 59.

Iser, The Act ofReading, p. 27. Iser, The Act ofReading, p. 34. Iser, The Act ofReading, pp. 124, 185-90. Iser, The Act ofReading, pp. 206-207. Iser, The Implied Reader, p. 33.

2. Reader-Response Criticism

39

Out of all theoretical principles that Iser propounded, the notions of 'implied reader' and 'gaps' have become the most widely used by biblical reader-response scholars. These theories have often been purloined and applied in biblical studies without fully understanding Iser's position." However, by and large, his theory has enlivened biblical interpretation. Biblical scholars, who hold the view that the scriptural text has supremacy over everything else, are comfortable with his theory. For according to Iser, although the meaning of a text is the production of a conversation between the text and reader, it is the text that leads the conversation. Thus radically subjective reader-response approaches are rejected on the premise that me interpretation of the text is determined by controls imbedded in the text. Michael Riffaterre Michael Riffaterre is a Semiotician who believes that poetic language is used differently from ordinary language" In its ordinary usage, language refers to 'reality' of some sort, while the language of poetry focuses on the message as an end in itself. In his critique of Jakobson and LeviStrauss's interpretation of Baudelaire's voem Les Chats, he reasons that even a reasonably informed reader cannot perceive all the features Jakobson and Levi-Strauss discover in the poem. Riffaterre put forward his theory in Semiotics of Poetry,61 where he draws attention to the frequent 'ungrammaticalities' that we encounter in reading a poem. If a poem is read as a series of statements the reader cannot proceed beyond its surface meaning. A competent reader begins a true response by noticing departures from normal grammar or ungrammatical elements and those which obstruct normal mimetic interpretation. Once the ungrammaticalness becomes apparent, the reader is compelled to explain those features by uncovering a structural 'matrix'. which could be expressed as a single statement or a word. The matrix is not really a sentence or word in the poem but is to be derived from 'hypograms', which are versions of the matrix found in the form of familiar statements, cliches, quotations, or conventional associations.

60. Zoltan Schwab, -gl k-q vgmss (syr1™8) cop sa . me «. bo arm eth geo (Epiphanius"2); Ambrose. Aodoi)c cnkoO etrl Trie ^oi™eBKp^voe. Josiah was the father of Jechomah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

120. The book of Kings does not record the Assyrian invasion, Manasseh's captivity, repentance and restoration. It is possible that the record of the Chronicler is not historical but a theological explanation of why the king who is known for his evil deeds ruled for so many years. It is to be noted that in subsequent accounts of his son and successor Amon, Manasseh is regarded as an evil king, which would not have been the case if he had a true change of heart midway through his rule. Furthermore, even the Chronicler could not avoid saying that Amon sacrificed to the imagesthathisfather Manassehhad made. Those images would not have been there if Manasseh had destroyed them after repenting and turning to God. 121. The use of Amos instead of Amon could be an orthographical variation or confusionof names. However, some commentators think thatMatthew intentionally spelled thename 'Amos' to allude to the prophet. This view gams strength m light of the factthatmv.l7too,Asa was also changed to Asaph (the psalmist). See Gundry, Matthew, p. 16. 122. Other witnesses add: xbv 'IuaKiu., 'IuaKiu. 8e evewipev (0 S f 33 205 1006 1342 1505 syrh ** * «* (Irenaeus1*) (Epiphamus). ( D L * has 'EXICK^. 'IcjaKELn). However, the textual evidence is in favour of the shorter text I have provided here. It is supported by K B C L W Af13 28 157 180 565 579 597 700 892 1010 1071 1241 1243 1292 1424Byz [E] Lectita'aur'c'f'fp'g,'k'qvg syrc-s-p cops^ ^.bcfcy a r m e t h g e o s k v (Hippolytus) Ps-Eustathms; Ambrose Jerome Augustine. Cf. Metzger, A Textual Commentary; p. 2.

Tribals, Empire and God Josiah After his father Amon is murdered, eight-year-old Josiah is made king. He ushers in a reign of reforms. He scatters the dust of the idols over the graves of their worshippers and burns the bones of the priests on their altars. He purges the land of alien altars and idols in the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon and as far as Naphtali (2 Chron. 34.3-7). While carrying out Josiah's order to repair the temple, the priest Hilkiah discovers 'the book of the law' in the t e m p l e . - Following this discovery, Josiah undertakes an extensive reformation throughout his kingdom (2 Kgs 22.3-23.27; 2 Chron. 34.8-35.19; Josephus, Antiquities 10.47-80). Josiah removes all abominations and the emblems of alien cults and celebrates the passover as a sign of renewal of covenant and of return to centralized temple worship and worship of God as found in the book of the law. The recorders claim that no passover like it had ever been kept since the days of the judges and of the kings before Josiah (2 Kgs 23.22; 2 Chron 3 5 . 1 8 ) Josiah comes to his end when he enters into conflict with Neco, the Pharaoh of Egypt. Exactly how Josiah dies is unclear. According to 2 Kings, Josiah and Neco meet in the plain of Megiddo and Neco kills Josiah when he sees him (2 Kgs 23.29-30). But according to 2 Chronicles, Josiah and Neco meet in battle and Josiah is shot by archers (2 Chron. 35.23-24). According to 2 Kings, Josiah's servants carry him dead in a chariot and bring him to Jerusalem where he is buried in his own tomb. But according to 2 Chronicles, he is wounded and is brought to Jerusalem where he dies and is buried in the tombs of his ancestors. His death contradicts Huldah's prophecy that he would die in peace (2 Kgs 2 2 . 1 8 - 2 0 ) 123. Scholars think that 'the book of the law' found in the time of Josiah is the book of Deuteronomy or an earlier form of the book of Deuteronomy. See J. Maxwell Miller and John H. Hayes, A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (Louisville, KY: Westmmster/John Knox Press, 1986), pp. 393-96; Peter C. Craigie, The Book ofDeuteronomy (NICOT; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1976), pp. 48-49. Others think that it is not Deuteronomy but a compilation of different law-books, a lost'bookofthelaw'whichmighthavemcludedDeuteronomy.SeeB.J.Oosterhoff, Jeremia, I (Commentaar op het Oude Testament; Kampen: Kok, 1990), pp. 39-49, referred to in H. Lalleman-de Winkel, Jeremiah in Prophetic Tradition: An Examination of the Book ofJeremiah in the Light of Israel’s Prophetic Traditions (Biblical Exegesis and Theology, 26; Leuven: Peeters, 2000), p. 42. 124. For a critical view about this passover, see John Rogerson and Philip R. Davies, The Old Testament World (London: T. & T. Clark, 2nd edn, 2005), p. 83. 125. Matthew J. Suriano, The Politics ofDead Kings: Dynastic Ancestors in the Book of Kings and Ancient Israel (FAT, 2/48; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010). pp. 89-92.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

123

Jechoniah According to 1 Chron. 3.15-16, Josiah has four sons: Johanan, Jehoiakim (given name was Eliakim), Zedekiah (given name was Mattamah) and Shallum (throne name Jehoahaz). Jechomah (also Comah; throne name Jehoiachin or Joiachin), is not Josiah's son but his grandson by his son Jehoiakim.- Between Josiah and Jehoiachin, Josiah's sons Jehoahaz and Jehoiaknn occupy the throne of Judah. Omitting these two kings from the genealogical list and counting Jehoiachin as Josiah's son enables Matthew to keep the genealogy to a scheme of 3 x 14 generations. After Josiah's death, first his youngest son Jehoahaz rules for three months. Pharaoh Neco removes him and makes Josiah's second son Ehakim king over Judah, changing his name to Jehoiakim (2 Kgs 23.3135;2Chron36.1-4).Jehoiakimrulesforelevenyears.Heturnsouttobe an evil ruler whose heart is after dishonest gain, and who sheds innocent blood and practices oppression and violence (Jer. 22.17). Biblical tradition is silent about the manner of Jehoiakim's death and carries no notice of his burial. It is possible that he may have been killed in a coup d’état or assassinated by his own nobles in an attempt to appease NebuchadnezzarJehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son, succeeds his father (according to 2 Chron. 36.9, he was eight years old at this time but 2 Kgs 24.8 says he was eighteen years old). Soon after Jehoiachin begins his reign, the Babylonians encamp against the city of Jerusalem. He rules only for a few months (three months according to 2 Kings, three months and ten days according to 2 Chronicles) before he surrenders to the Babylonians. Despite his brief reign, he is identified as doing evil.

126. The use of a personal name and a different throne name can become confusmg. For easier reading, I will use the form Jehoiachin instead of Jechomah. 127. According to 2 Kgs 24.6, it is reported that he slept with his ancestors. In 2 Chron. 36.6, he is bound with fetters by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to take him to Babylon. But the report does not say that he was actually taken into exile to Babylon. Thus scholars infer from Jeremiah's oracle that Jehoiakim was killed by his own people, dragged through the streets and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem. Others assume that he might have been killed by one of the marauding troops of Arameans,Moabites and Ammonites sent by Nebuchadnezzar to lay siege to the city of Jerusalem, or by Nebuchadnezzar's army. The absence of Jehoiakim's name from Matthew's genealogy inadvertently solidifies Jeremiah's oracle that his dynasty would come to an end. Christopher R. Seitz, Theology in Conflict: Reactions to the Exile in the Book of Jeremiah (BZAW, 176; Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1989). p. 116.

124

Tribals, Empire and God

The phrase 'and his brothers' interrupts the 'A was the father of B' pattern. This phrase also appeared at the beginning of the first set of names in 1.2 It indicates that the line of God's blessing is continued through the one chosen out of several brothers. At the same time, the acknowledgement of the brothers allows the reader to think beyond the person who is named, to those others who are also participants in the history of God's salvation. One problem with the use of the phrase here is the plural te^, for Jehoiachin has only one brother, Zedekiah (not the one who became king after Jehoiachin, who is Jehoiachin's uncle). The plural is probably a narrative tool to cover the omission of the two sonsofJosiah Deportation to Babylon Upon surrendering, Jehoiachin is taken into captivity to Babylon along with his mother, his wives, his nobles, his officials and his warriors. A numberofJeremiah'soracles relate to the exile of Jehoiachin (Jer. 13.1819; 22.24-30). In all, ten thousand captives are taken to Babylon, including all the elite of the city and all the artisans and smiths (2 Kgs 24.14; Jer. 52.28 has 3023 carried into exile). Only the poorest people are left in the land. Nebuchadnezzar appoints a vassal king for Judah, Jehoiachin's uncle Mattamah, changing his name to Zedekiah (2 Kgs 2 4 . 1 7 ) . - Zedekiah rules in Jerusalem for eleven years. However, Matthew skips the account of the fall of Jerusalem that takes place under Zedekiah, which is actually the event that is regarded as the beginning of the Babylonian exile. It is possible that Matthew is following a tradition that saw Zedekiah as an interim regent while the Jewish people await the return of Jehoiachin from e x i l e . - The fact that Jehoiachin is called 'the

128. 2 Chron. 36.10 has 'brother' instead of 'uncle'. The identification of Zedekrah as Jechomah's brother may be a mistake caused by the fact that both Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin had brothers named Zedekiah(l Chron. 3.15-16). Allison and Davies, Matthew, p. 178. 129. Jechomah'snameappearsas'Yauki^kmgofthelandofYahud'mtablets discovered from excavations near the Ishtar Gate in Babylon. Evidently, he continued to carry the royal title in Babylon. See J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950), p. 308; Enid B. Mellor, 'The Literature of the Ancient Near East', in Enid B. Mellor (ed.), The Making of the Old Testament (Cambridge Bible Commentaiy onlheNewEngHshBible; London: Cambridge University Press.1972), pp. 1617. Furthermore, the handles of clay jars excavated from Judaean sites bear seal stamps with the inscription 'Belonging to Ehakim, the steward of Yaukm [Jechomah/ Jehoiachin]'. This suggests that some portion of the palace property continued to be

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

125

captive' supports such a view (1 Chron. 3.17). This is further supported by Ezekiel's refusal to give importance to Zedekiah's succession by dating his oracles after me time of the deportation (Ezek. 1.2; 33.21: 40.1) Mass deportation of people is a policy of various imperial regimes intended to break peoples and nations.™ It is an evil practice that goes beyond conflict and war to a ruthless process for the systemic removal of people from their land and eradication of their culture. The Assyrian deportation led to the legends about the ten lost tribes of Israel because they were assimilated into other cultures and lost their national identity. The Babylonians took away the cream of the Israelite society, leading Jeremiah to refer to the Jews in dispersion as 'very good figs, like firstripe figs' and the Jews who were left in Judah as 'very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten' (Jer. 24.2). The reference to the Babylonian exile would, of course, remind the reader also of the destruction of Jerusalem and the diaspora of the Jews following the Jewish revolt (66-73 CE).- In particular, the diaspora Jews would connect it to the pain and the consequences of imperial domination. In its context, the Babylonian deportation was viewed as a punishment from God for the failure of the kings and the people to live according to the ways of justice kept for Jechomah in anticipation of his return from exile. See W.F. Albright, 'King Jehoiachin in Exile', in David Noel Freedman and G. Ernest Wright (eds.), The Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1 (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1961), pp. 106-12. 130. The Israelites went through several deportations by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. On imperial policies, see R.J. van der Spek,' Assynology and History: AComparative Study ofWar and Empire m Assyria, Athens, and Rome', m Mark E Cohen, Daniel C. Snell and David B. Weisberg (ed.), The Tablet and the Scroll: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William W. Hallo (Bethesda, MD: CDL Press. 1993), pp. 262-70. On the deportation policy of the Assyrians, see Bustenay Oded! Mass Deportations and Deportees in the Neo-Assyrian Empire (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1979). Referring to Bustenay, Oded Lipschits, The Fall and Rise of Jerusalem: Judah under Babylonian Rule (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2005), p. 61. writes: 'Assyrian deportation consisted of a mass two-way deportation, the objective of which was to break the spirit of the conquered peoples by mixing diverse populations, causing them to assimilate culturally, and transforming them into part ofthe mosaic of the Assynan-Aramean nations thatthe Empire comprised'. On the Babylonian deportation, see David Stephen Vanderhooft, The Neo-Babylonian Empire and Babylon in the Latter Prophets (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1999). 131. Cassms Dio, Roman History 69.14, reports about the Jewish Revolt of 6673 CE: '580,000 men were slam in the various raids and battles, and the number of those that perished by famine, disease, andfirewas pastfindingout'. Thefinalblow is dealt after the Bar Kochba revolt (132-135 CE), after the time when Matthew was written.

126

Tribals, Empire and God

and godliness that was expected of them. In reading about the Babylonian exile (or any other exilic experience for that matter), it must be remembered that it is written from me standpoint of the victims of imperial rule, from the perspective of people trying to make sense of why such a tragedy had befallen them. Thus if the prophets denounced the people because of their apostasy and wickedness, they also gave assurance that the crisis would be temporary. Babylon, the agent of God's punishment, would be punished in turn, and with a worse catastrophe. The prophet Jeremiah already hinted at this, saying that Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would be used to punish Israel but in the end Babylon would be punished in turn and the land turned into an everlasting waste (Jer. 25.9-12). Thus the suffering of the people is tempered with an unwavering confidence that God will rescue them. Empires ought to tremble even more than the subjects of imperial power. for the judgment of God comes swiftly. 1.12 Mera 5e rnv lieroiKeaiav BaBuA,d)voc

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechomah was the father of Salathrel: Salathrel was the father of Zerubbabel; This begins the third of the three sets of fourteen generations. The deportation to Babylon may have been tragic but it is not the end of the story. Big political shifts have taken place. Babylonian rule has been replaced by Persian rule when Cyrus occupied Babylon in 539 BCE. Cyrus is sympathetic to the Jews and allows them to return to their homeland.- The phrase 'after the deportation to Babylon' signals the continuity ofGod's providence for the people. Jeremiah had pronounced an oracle that God would treat Jehoiachin (Jechomah) as though he were childless and that none of his sons would sit on the throne of David (Jer. 22.24-30). This turns out to be true and, not counting Zedekiah, Jehoiachin becomes the last king of the old form of Davidic d y n a s t y . -

132. Giovanni Garbini, History and Ideology in Ancient Israel (trans. John Bowden; New York: Crossroad, 1988), p. 134. 133. PlayoustandArtken/LeapmgChrld'^.ieS^orxectlynotethat'thebrrth of Jesus signals the rise of a new form of Davidic monarchy'.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

127

Salathiel Jehoiachin has seven sons: Shealthiel/Salathiel, Malchiram, Pedaiah. Shenazzar, Jekannah, Hoshama and Nedabiah (1 Chron. 3.17-18). The pedigree continues with his firstborn Salathiel (also Shealthiel).- Since he was exiled to Babylon along with his father and brothers, he was seen as a king-in-exile but he never functioned as a king. Zerubbabel ZerubbabelisthesonofShealthiel(Ezra3.2,8;5.2;Neh. 12.1;Hag. 1.1. 12, 14; 2.2, 23). However, in 1 Chron. 3.19 he is called the son of Pedaiah, Jechoniah's third son, which has prompted some scholars to suggest that Zerubbabel could have been the son of Pedaiah but became linked to Shealthiel by a levirate marriage. He succeeds Sheshbazzar as governor of postexihc J u d a e a Zerubbabel takes on the task of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. The rebuilding of the temple is completed in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. The euphoria of returning home and rebuilding the cifyand the temple generates fresh hopes for the restoration of Israel's monarchy under Zerubbabel. Haggai prophesies that God is about to overthrow the kingdoms and that God has chosen Zerubbabel to be like a signet ring (Hag. 2.20-23).'* Zechanah calls Zerubbabel 'the Branch' (Zech. 3.8 6 . 1 2 ) . - This connects Zerubbabel with the messianic expectation for a 134. Luke 3.27 names Salathiel as the son of Neri. 135. Some have attempted to identify Zerubbabel with Sheshbazzar because they appear around the same time to perform similar functions including laying the temple foundation (Zerubbabel lays the foundation in Ezra 3.8-13 but Sheshbazzar does itmEzra5.16).However,most commentators consider them to be two distinct individuals. Peter Ross Bedford, Temple Restoration in Early Achaemenid Judah (JSJSup, 65; Leiden: Brill, 2001), p. 96 n. 15; Sara Japhet, From the Rivers of Babylon to the Highlands of Judah: Collected Studies on the Restoration Period (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2006), pp. 204-208. Some believe that Sheshbazzar is none other than Jehoiachm's son Shenazzar. Ephraim Stern, 'The Persian Empire and the Political and Social History of Palestine in the Persian Period', in W.D. Davies and Louis Finkelstein (eds.), The Cambridge History of Judaism. I. Introduction: The Persian Period/Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984). p. 70. 136. Sara Japhet, 'Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel: Against the Background of the Historical and Religious Tendencies ofEzra-Nehemiah', ZAW 94 (1982), pp. 77-78. An extensive discussion of the interpretation of the meaning of the signet ring is found in Wolter H. Rose, Zemah and Zerubbabel: Messianic Expectations in the Early Postexilic Period (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), pp. 218-38. 137. AnotherviewisthatJoshua,ratherthanZerubbabel,isseenbytheprophet as the branch. See R.J. Coggins, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi (OTG; Sheffield:

128

Tribals, Empire and God

'BranchofDav 1 d'(cf.Isa.ll.l;Jer.23.5-6;33.14-16).-Th 1 shopedoes not materialize with Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel is not mentioned in the accounts of the events of the completion and dedication of the temple (Ezra 6.13-18). The absence of Zerubbabel is conspicuous because Zechanah had prophesied: 'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it' (Zech. 4:9). It is possible that he did not participate in the celebration of the temple dedication because the Persians saw him as a threat to the empire and removed him before that e v e n t 1.13 Zopopop&&M™p€VT6v'Apio,55. 'Apioi,5&4YW€VT6v'EWn,' •EWn&Mwwriv'Atrip, Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud: Abiud was the father of Ehakrm; ' Eliakim was the father of Azor;' 1 Chronicles 3.19-20 lists seven sons and one daughter of Zerubbabel but Matthew does not connect the genealogical list to any of them. From Abiud until Jacob, there is no parallel genealogical list in Jewish Scriptures.- It is significant that Luke and Matthew agree in diverging from 1 Chronicles 3 after Zerubbabel. This gives reason to assume thai Mt. 1.13-15 is based on a source of Davidic ancestry that is now l o s t JSOT Press, 1987), pp. 44-46. Yet another view is that Zech. 3.8b is a later addition when the expression 'branch' no longer referred to Zerubbabel but to a future Messiah. See Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, Priestly Rites and Prophetic Rage (FAT 2/19: Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006), pp. 30-32. 138. Mowmckel, He that Cometh, pp. 119-22,155-62; Mark J. Boda, 'Figuring the Future: The Prophets and Messiah', in Stanley E. Porter (ed.), The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 35-74. However. it is also argued that neither Haggai nor Zechanah indicates that Zerubbabel would be reinstated onDavid's throne. Anthony R. Patterson,Behold Your King: The Hope for the House ofDavid in the Book of Zechariah (New York: T. & T. Clark, 2009). pp. 63-65, 83-86. 139. Benjamin Uffenheimer, 'Zerubabbel [sic]: The Messianic Hope of the Returnees', JBQ 24 (1996), pp. 221-28 (225). 140. Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, p. 179, refers to this third set of the genealogy as'unknown names'. 141. France, Gospel of Matthew, p. 39; Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 181: Luz, Matthew 1-7, pp. 107-108. Gundry, Matthew, pp. 17-18, maintains that Matthew is working with a genealogy like the one recorded in Luke, but that Matthew also freely substituted names from the LXX to create the genealogy.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

129

Similar names occur in Jewish Scnptures but Matthew does not appear to be referring to those same people because they cannot be placed in the chronological order found in Matthew. The only thing clear about the genealogical list from here on until Joseph is that they are Jewish names. Theologically, they are crucial for they represent the margins who are left out of social and cultural narrative, people who are nothing more than shadows, whose stones are forgotten. One Abiud (LXX for Abihu) is a son of Aaron (Exod. 6.23; Num. 3.2: 1 Chron. 6.3). Another Abiud is named as the son of Bela (1 Chron. 8.3): An Ehakim is the son of Hilkiah and in charge of the palace during the time of King Hezekiah (2 Kgs 18.18, 26, 37; 19.2). The name is shared by the son of Josiah who is made king over Judah by Pharaoh Neco (2 Kgs 23.34; 2 Chron. 36.4). Obviously these people are not in view in Matthew's genealogy. 1.14 'Atrip & M ^ O € v r i v a x S a k , A%i|_i 5e kyh>vr\o£v xbv 'EA,IOVJ5: Azor was the father of Zadok; Zadok was the father of Achrm: Achrm was the father of Ehud;' The name Azor is not found in the Jewish Scnptures but there is mention of an Ezer son of Jeshua (Neh. 3.19) and an Azzur who is the father of the prophet Hananiah (Jer. 28.1). The name Zadok is fairly common in the Old Testament. The most well-known is Zadok the priest (2 Sam. 15.24-37), who is priest with Abiathar during the time of David and chief priest under Solomon (1 Kgs 2.35). One Zadok is commander of a division of Saul's army (1 Chron. 12.28), another is the grandfather of King Jotham (2 Kgs 15.33; 2 Chron. 27.1) and four persons bear the n a m e i n N e h e m i a h ( N e h . 3 . 4 , 2 9 ; 10.21; 13.13). Achim is not found in the Old Testament. The closest is Ahiam in 1 Chron. 11.35. Ehud (or Elihu) is the name of a person who was among the Manassites who deserted David (1 Chron 12.20). Once again, it is evident that these diverse personalities from different periods of Israel cannot possibly be the ones Matthew has in mind in the genealogy.

130

Tribals, Empire and God 1.15 Map^vvwrovMcaeco, Elmd was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan: Matthan was the father of Jacob;'

The name Eleazar occurs frequently in the Old Testament. One is the son of Aaron (Exod. 6.23) who succeeds Aaron as priest (Num. 20.25-28; Deut. 10.6; cf Exod. 28.1; Num. 3.1-4). Some other people who bore the name Eleazar are: a son of Abinadab (1 Sam. 7.1), a son of Dodo (2 Sam. 23.9-10; 1 Chron. 11.12-14), ason of Mahli (1 Chron. 23.21-22; 24.28). a son of Phinehas (Ezra 8.33), a son of Parosh (Ezra 10.25) and a Levite musician (Neh. 12.24). Matthan (or Mattan) is found in 2 Chron. 23.17 and Jer. 38.1. The man Jacob who is named as the father of Joseph is another unknown figure- The most well-known Jacob is, of course, Jacob the son of Isaac. Naming Jacob as the father of Joseph evokes the Genesis story of the other Jacob who fathers a son named Joseph (Gen. 37.1-4). The allusion to Jacob and Joseph of the Jewish Scriptures becomes more evident as the narrative progresses. It is obvious that Matthew's genealogy at 1.13-15 is not referring to any of the known people of the Old Testament. These names are probably drawn from a source, butthat source is now lost. The names are those of obscure people whose existence is not attested by any other extant source. They are people whose life stones, whether good or bad. are no longer available. This is consistent with a premise of this reading that Matthew's genealogy consists not only of outstanding people, but is a mixture of the great and the despicable, the faithful and the faithless, and the outstanding and the unremarkable. 1.16 'IaKcbp 8e kyh>vr\o£v xbv 'Ia)af|4> xbv avSpa Mapiac, kl f\Q kyiwr\Qr\ 'IrpoOi; 6 A,6yo|i6voi; xpLoroc.143 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus who is called the Messiah. 142. 32

Matthew disagrees wrth Luke, who names Eh as the father of Joseph (Lk.

' 143. Here, I follow the wrtness of most major Greek MSS $ ft B C L W 28 33 157 180 205 565 579**597 700 892 1006 1010 1071 1241 1243 1292 1424 1505

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

131

The genealogy has a number of surprises, such as the inclusion of the names of highly reproachable men, the appearance of four women all of whom are most probably of gentile origin rather than prominent women such as Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel and the insertion of unknown personalities. However, the biggest surprise is kept for last-breaking the rhythm of fathers 'begetting' sons, the narrator says that it is a woman who brings forth the M e s s i a h . - This verse introduces the main characters of the narrative that follows the genealogy-Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Jesus' name was already introduced in v. 1, but the names of Joseph and Mary appear for the first time. Joseph the husband of Mary Joseph appears in Matthew, Luke, John and the apocryphal gospels as the 1 ™ father of Jesus. He plays a central role in the infancy narratives. However, Joseph is curiously absent in accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, leading scholars to assume, though cautiously, that he might have died early or at least before the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. The description of Joseph as xov Sv6pa Map taC, 'the husband of Mary', renders an important aspect of the narrative. The narrator does not refer to Joseph as the father of Jesus. He is defined in his relation to Mary and not to the child Messiah. In fact, the narrator maintains this distinction throughout the narrative. Conversely, Mary is never referred to as the wife of Joseph but as the mother of the child. Making this distinction ensures that the reader makes no mistake about the extraordinary manner in which the child Messiah is born.

„ ( a m ) (eth) Byz [E P S^] Lect i t - < ff vg syr^ * «* slav ( D l d y m u s ) Ps-Eustathms (Cyril) Nestonus; (Tertullian) (Jerome) Augustine. Some variants avoid rov av5pK. Instead, these variants emphasize the role of Mary and refer to her as a betrothed virgin, implying that Joseph is not Jesus' father: c3 ^o^Qeloa ™p64voc Mapi&n bfivv^v 'IriooCv rov Xeyd^ov xpiarov, 'to whom being betrothed the virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah' (0 f13 l 547 l f , (b), c (d), g. W, q ( A m b r o s l a s t e r ) Gaudentius. Some related readings have kocev instead of kytvv^v. Another variant is the syr*, which has: Icoo^f, c3 ^vrpraXh, ™p64voc Mapi&n, kytvv^v 'I.ooCv rov X6yo^vov xptorov ('Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the virgin, gave birth to Jesus who is called the Christ'). The Smaitic Syriac version states that Joseph brought forth (kyevv^v) Jesus. However, the textual attestation for this version is weak. A slight variation of the syr* version is found msyr*. 144. Montague, Companion God, p. 21.

132

Tribals, Empire and God

From whom was born Jesus who is called the Messiah Throughout the genealogy, it is the father who has primacy in the act of begettfng sons. This pattern was broken four times by the introduction of a w o m a n - T a m a r , Rahab, Ruth and 'the one of Uriah' (Bathsheba). Here, for the fifth time, the pattern is broken once again. The connection between the five women in the genealogy is expressed eloquently by PlayoustandAitken: Considered individually, these instances are at least anomalous, and some have the taint of scandal. Gathered into a genealogy full of great Israelites, however, these apparent embarrassments are shown to have been providential moments in the history of Israel, occasions when God took special care for the future of the Jews. They invite the inference that Jesus' conception, which is similarly troublesome because his mother's husband has not fathered him in the normal sense, is also under God's gracious care and is to be beneficial to the Jewish p e o p l e The focus of the narrative is directed on Mary & fc, 'from whom'). emphasizing her role in bringing forth Jesus And the passive verb kiLm, replacing the active J y ^ p v used throughout the genealogical list, further shifts the attention away from Joseph. For the passive verb implies that the active agent of the generation of Jesus is not Joseph but God. Thus the narrator avoids saying who the father is and leaves itto the readerto formulate who is responsible for the conception and birth of Jesus from hints supplied in the narrative. The passive here is regarded by most scholars as a 'divine p a s s i v e ' , - and it points to the role of the Holy Spirit in the conception and birth of Jesus The phrase bX^vo, 'who is called the Messiah', indicates XP^6Q, that the messianic connotation is never far from the narrator's m i n d The centrality of the title 'Messiah' is seen in the fact that the genealogy begins with a reference to the Messiah (1.1) and closes with a similar reference (here and especially in v. 17). The significance of this politically charged title has been discussed above, in the consideration of v. 1.

145. Playoust and Aitken, 'Leaping Child', p. 166. 146. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 184; Hagner, Matthew, p. 12. 147. Thephrase'whoiscalled'isnotusedtothrowdoubtonthemessiahshipof Jesus. It is used frequently in Matthew for the purpose of identification (1.16; 2.23: 4.18; 10.2; 13.55; 26.3, 14, 36; 27.16, 17, 22, 33).

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

133

1.17 IKocu oflv al Yeveal du6 A P p c ^ &* AcuA5 yeWi 5 6 ™ O K p 6 e , ml fori AcuA5 &* rflc ^oiKeotoc B c ^ v o e Yeveal 5 6 ™ a K p 6 e , KCU fo6 rflc ^oiK^tac B a p i ^ o c &* roC XpiaroO ye^cd 5 6 ™ a K p 6 e . So all the generations from Abraham until David are fourteen generations. and from David until the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon until the Messiah, fourteen generations. The key ancestors of Jesus who were mentioned in 1.1 reappear in this verse. This inclusio, bracketing Mt. 1.1-17 and giving it a sense of closure, indicates that the passage is an independent pencope. Matthew 1.1 coupled with 1.17 also has a chiastic structure. Matthew 1.1 has Messiah...David...Abraham and 1.17 has Abraham...David... M e s s i a h . - It is evident that v. 17 is the concluding summary of the genealogy. With this summary, the narrator shows that the entire history from Abraham to Jesus finds its completion in the coming of the Messiah. The careful arrangement of this history into three equal periods of fourteen generations emphasizes the impression that God has directed the course of events towards a climactic fulfilment in the arrival of the Messiah. The phrase yeveil ^ K a x l o o o p ^ 'fourteen generations', is stated three times, indicating thatthis is a central feature of this verse. Some scholars reckon that the claim of a tnadic set of fourteen generations is not consistent with the data provided in the passage. For instance, Hagner arranges the data as follows: I. II. III.

(w2-6a)'App K ^-A K ,l5:4y^r 1 o 6 v(13x);namesmclus 1 ve: 14 (w 6a-11) Aaul5 —> 'Ieyovica;: eyevvriaev (14*); names inclusive: 15 (repeating AcuA5) (w 12-16) Novice - -IuxrtH,: M w w (12*); names inclusive: 13 (repeating Novice) kl [Mapiac] eyeyvriGri (lx) TriaoOc149

According to Hagner, the first two sets can be counted as fourteen if David's name is not counted again with the second g r o u p . - However, the third group has only twelve names because Jechoniah's name is counted with the second group and should not be repeated. If Jesus' 148. Hagner,Matthew,p.5. 149. Hagner,Matthew,p.5. 150. However, note that some MSS add the name of Jehoiakim as the father of Jechomah. If Hagner's method is followed, this addition would make Matthew's passage agree with 1 Chron. 3.15-16but enlarge the second group tofifteenwithout counting David and sixteen counting David.

134

Tribals, Empire and God

name is counted with the third group, we get thirteen. Thus, according to Hagner, the third group is one or two names short of fourteen.- Several theories have been suggested to explain the numerical inconsistency of the third group: (1) a nSne was mistakenly left out from the third group; (2) Mary should be counted in addition to Joseph; (3) Jesus is the thirteenth and the returning Christ is the fourteenth; (4) the sum of the genealogy has been rounded up rather than bring stated exactly. Examples of rounding up of figures are found in 1 Chron. 3.22; Ezra 1.911; 2.2-64; Neh. 7.7-66; 1 Esd. 5 . 9 - 4 1 But it is possible to arrive at three times fourteen if the count is made carefully. Matthew appears to count inclusively, i.e., counting the start of the range as well as its end and those in between, rather than as one generation from Abraham to Isaac, two from Isaac to Jacob and so on. The count proposed here is straightforward. It follows the clues provided in 1.17: (1) Abraham to David; (2) David to the deportation to Babylon; (3) deportation to Babylon to the Messiah. First set: fourteen names from Abraham to David (1.2-6): Abraham. Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, Aram, Aminadab, Nahshon, Salmon: Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David. Second set: fourteen names from David to Josiah at the time of the deportation to Babylon (1.7-11): David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abyah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh. Amos, Josiah. Third set: fourteen names from after the deportation to Babylon (Jechomah) until the Messiah (1.12-16): Jechomah, Salathiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud, Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim, Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, Joseph, Jesus. Although the numbers can be balanced (admittedly some issues remain unresolved), other problems arise. Matthew achieves the tabulation by omitting a good number of generations. Between Joram and Uzziah, three successive kings, Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah, together with the usurping queen-mother Athaliah, are left out. Between Josiah and Jechomah, the brothers who ruled after Josiah, Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim are omitted. And after Jechomah, his uncle Zedekiah, who ruled for eleven years, is not counted. Some scholars propose that Matthew omitted certain kings because their wickedness disqualified

151. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 186, count fourteen generations in the first two groups and thirteen in the third group. 152. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 186; Hagner, Matthew, pp. 5-6; Luz, Matthew 1-7, p. 110.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

135

them from being named in the genealogy. A related view is that Matthew felt it necessary to exclude Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah because of the curse placed on Ahab to the fourth generation (1 Kgs 21.20-21).'* However, this theory is unconvincing because there are many in the genealogy who are as bad as, or worse than, those who have been left out of the genealogy. It appears probable, therefore, that Matthew (or his source) was in fact motivated by a strategy to arrange the genealogy into three sets of fourteens. Arranging the genealogy to fit a pattern indicates that the interest is not on presenting historical statistics but on theological reflection.- In approximate estimation of time-scale, the period from Abraham and David could be about 700-800 years, from David to the exile could be about 400 years, and from the exile to the birth of Jesus could be about 600 y e a r s . - Even after taking into consideration the purported long lifespan of the patriarchs, the time spans involved (particularly the first and third) are too great to contain only fourteen generations. In comparison, Luke's genealogy for the third period has twenty-two names to Matthew's thirteen or fourteen. Overall too, Matthew's genealogy is shorter than Luke's. In Matthew, there are 42 names from Abraham to Jesus, while in Luke there are 56 names. The improbability of the timescale, together with the fact that the genealogy does not fit easily into the pattern of three sets of fourteen generations, signifies that this is not a statistical observation but a theological statement meant to underscore the divine agency in the history of the salvation of God. Furthermore, the asymmetrically arranged number of names points to the possibility that Matthew was scrupulously following a source. If he had been artificially creating a genealogical list, as suggested by G u n d r y , - he could have easily added names to make it exactly three times fourteen.

153. M.D. Gou\der,Midrash and Lection in Matthew (London: SPCK, 1974). p. 229; Gundry, Matthew, p. 16. 154. France, Gospel of Matthew, p. 29,states: 'That Matthew's three fourteens are not srmply a matter of historical observation is indicated by the imbalance between the three periods in terms of the actual historical time-scale involved'. 155. France, Gospel ofMatthew, p. 29. Brown Birth of the Messiah, p. 74, has 750, 400 and 600 respectively for the three segments. Carter, Matthew and the Margins, p. 568 n. 2, has 800, 400 and 600. According to Carter, the biblical reckoning of a generation is forty years, making fourteen generations 560 years. Thus the span of time covered by fourteen generations is either too long or too short. The purpose of these calculations is not to show that Matthew made a mistake but that his focus was on theological reflection rather than historical information. 156. Gundry, Matthew, pp. 17-18.

136

Tribals, Empire and God

What is the significance of three times fourteen? The narrator does not explain the tnadic schema of the genealogy. Therefore, modern scholars offer various explanations or s p e c u l a t i o n s 1. The number fourteen is related to the number seven (two times seven is fourteen). Seven derives its importance in Jewish thought from the seven days of creation (Gen. 41.2-7, 26-30). Creation took six days and is followed by the day of rest, the sabbath. Likewise, the six periods of 'days' are to be followed by the sabbath of eternal rest, the messianic a g e 2. i e e times fourteen is the seventy weeks of Dan. 9.24-27. According to this prophecy, seventy weeks of years are decreed for the people to end transgressions and bring in everlasting righteousness. It further pronounces that there shall be seven weeks before the time of an anointed prince to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Seventy weeks of years is 490 years (70x7 = 490). If each generation is reckoned as 35 years the total is 490 years (14x35 = 4 9 0 ) . - The theory does not adequately explain the numerical connection between Matthew's three times fourteen and Daniel's seventy weeks. Counting 35 years for a generation is convenient but not justifiable. 157. For an overview of eight theories, Davies and Allison, Matthew, pp. 161 65. A discussion of ten different parallels in Jewish sources is found in Johnson. Purpose of Biblical Genealogies, pp. 190-208. These are not exhaustive. For instance, they do not cover the theorâ proffered by J.T. Milik (ed.), The Books of Enoch: Aramaic Fragments of Qumrn Cave 4 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976). p. 257. According to Milik, who places emphasis on the forty generations before Jesus rather than three times fourteen (42 generations), the forty generations before Christ symbolize the forty years of Israelite wandering in the desert. Christ, then, is the new Joshua who will secure entry into the promised land. 158. Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, p. 202. 159. James Hardy Ropes, The Synoptic Gospels (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1934), pp. 46-47; Adolf Schlatter, Der Evangelist Matthäus: seine Sprache, sein Ziel, seine Selbständigkeit: ein Kommentar zum ersten Evangelium (Stuttgart: Calwer, 3rd edn, 1948), p. 7, referred to in Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, p. 200. George F. Moore, 'Fourteen Generations: 490 Years: An Explanation of the Genealogy of Jesus', HTR 14 (1921), pp. 97-103, calculated that if a generation has 35 years, 14 times 35 will be exactly 490 years. Thus the coming of Jesus may be seen as fulfilment of DameF s prophecy. Karl Bernhard Bornhauser, Geburts- und Kindheitsgeschichte Jesu: Versuch einer zeitgenössischen Auslegung von Matthäus 1 und 2 und Lukas 1-3 (Beitrage zurForderung christlicher Theologie. 2, Sammlung wissenschafthcher Monographien, 23; Gutersloh: C. Bertelsmann: 1930), pp. 16-20, sees an apocalyptic parallel is seen in 1 En. 91 and 93, referred to in Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, p. 195.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

137

3.

Fourteen is associated with the apocalyptic style dividing history into sevens, or weeks' of years (cf. seventy weeks in Dan. 9.2427). Matthew's genealogy envisages Israel's history as periods of two 'weeks' (2x7 = 14) of highs and lows: two weeks from Abraham to its high point in David, two weeks from its high point to its low point in the deportation to Babylon, and two weeks of ascent from the low point to the culmination in Jesus the Messiah. Hence, Matthew is using apocalyptic language to convey that God has arranged history in such a way that it moves towards its fulfilment in the M e s s i a h 4. Since the important number is seven and not fourteen. Matthew's three fourteens should be regarded as equivalent to six times seven. Calculated thus, Jesus stands at the beginning of the seventh seven, the culmination of h i s t o r y - The argument against this view is that Matthew divides his genealogy into three fourteens and not six sevens. 5. The number is associated with the cycle of waxing and waning of the m o o n - The cycle has twenty-eight days-fourteen days of waxing and fourteen of waning. It is proposed that the Matthaean genealogy conveys the alternating waxing and waning of Israel's history. David is a high point while the deportation is a low point. After this, a high point is reached with the appearance of the Messiah. This theory has some virtue as Matthew configures Israel's history into periods of highs and lows. However, in Exod. R. on 12.2, each cycle has fifteen days rather than fourteen. 6. The number fourteen is based on t r a d i t i o n - The calculation of fourteen generations from Abraham to David is found in 1 Chronicles 1-2, Exod. R. on 12.2 and the source behind Luke 3. Matthew linked this tradition with three, which is a

160. John P. Meier, Matthew (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1990), p. 3; idem, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church and Morality in the First Gospel (New York:PaulistP reSS ,1979),p.53. 161. N.T. Wright, The New Testament and the People ofGod: Christian Origins and the Question of God, I (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992), pp. 385-86. 162. CharmKaplan/SomeNewTestamentProblemsmtheLrghtofRabbrmcs andthePseudeprgrapha: The Generation Schemes mMatthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:24ff.', BSac 87 (1930), pp. 465-71, referred to in Davies and Allison, Matthew, pp. 161-62 and Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, pp. 199-200. 163. W.D. Davres, 'The Jewrsh Sources of Matthew's Messramsm', in Charlesworth et al. (eds.), The Messiah, pp. 494-511 (500).

138

Tribals, Empire and God popular number in the G o s p e l , - resulting in the structure of three times fourteen. The weakness of this view is that the counting of fourteen names from Abraham to David is not the only reckoning in tradition. For instance, another traditional calculation has ten generations between Noah to Abraham (Gen. 11.10-32; 4QAges Creat.; m. ’Abot 5.3).165 Furthermore, this theory does not consider the possibility that the mathematical construction could have symbolic connotations. 7. The number fourteen has a messianic significance that recapitulates the history of Israel. In the 'Messiah Apocalypse' of 2 Baruch 53-74, world history is divided into fourteen epochs. The epochs are symbolized by thirteen alternating black and white waters followed by the messianic age symbolized by lightning.'" The problem with this view is that Matthew does not divide Israel's history into fourteen periods but three times fourteen. 8. The number is related to the Talmudic speculation about the three sacrifices of Balak and Balaam in Num. 23. In b. Sanh. 105b and b. Hor. 10b (cf. b. Sot. 47a), Balaam commanded Balak three times to build seven altars and sacrifice seven bulls and seven rams, making 42 sacrifices. Because of this, Balak became privileged to have Ruth as his descendant.167 This theory fails because the connection between Balak's 42 sacrifices and Matthew's 42 generations is tenuous.

164. For instance, in the infancy narrative alone there are three names in the title (Jesus, David, Abraham), three gifts, movement around three geographical places (Bethlehem, Egypt, Nazareth), three angelic appearances, and three episodes (1.1825; 2.1-12; 2.13-15). Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 163 n. 12. 165. Davies and Allison, Matthew, pp. 162-63 n. 11. 166. Herman C. Waetjen, The Origin and Destiny of Humanness: An Interpretation of the Gospel according to Matthew (Corte Madera, CA: Omega Books, 1976), pp. 207-12; Leopold Sabourin, The Gospel according to St Matthew. I. General Introduction & Commentary 1:1-7:27 (Bombay: St Paul Publications. 1982), p. 192. 167. Joseph Michael Heer, Die Stammbäume Jesu nach Matthäus und Lukas. Ihre ursprungliche Bedeutung und Textgestalt und ihre Quellen. Eine exegetischkritische Studie (Biblische Studien, 15; Freiburg: Herdersche Verlagshandlung, 1910), pp. 121-22, referred to in Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 163, and Johnson, Purpose ofBiblical Genealogies, p. 195. See also Meier, Matthew, p. 3.

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

139

9.

The number is based on the Jewish interpretive method which assigns numerical value to the Hebrew letters, known as gematria,168 The numerical value of the three consonants of David's name is fourteen: n + 1 + n = 4 + 6 + 4 = 14. Thus Matthew's three times fourteen is based on David's name, which has three consonants adding up to fourteen. David's name is important in the narrative (repeated in 1.1, 1.6 and 1.17) and it appears in the fourteenth position of the genealogy. Some critics argue against this view because Matthew does not make an explicit link between the letters and their numerical v a l u e . - However, it is a popular theory because it explains both the number three and the number fourteen. The combination of evidence for gematria—the three letters of the name David. their numerical value of fourteen, and the placement of the name of David in the fourteenth position-suggests something more than mere coincidence. Thus gematria should not be ruled out. 10. Another theory draws a parallel between Isaac and Jesus. According to this view, the offering of Isaac took place at the beginning of the forty-second jubilee after the creation of the world (Jub. 13.16; 17.15; 19.1). Matthew's assertion that Jesus lived forty-two generations (3x14) after Abraham draws a parallel between the sacrifice of Isaac and the sacrifice of Jesus.™ This view appears to place much more emphasis on Isaac than is warranted by the text. Moreover, the focus of the genealogy is not on the sacrifice of Jesus.

168. Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus: An Investigation into Economic and Social Conditions during the New Testament Period'(London: SCM Press, 1969), p. 292; Davies and Allison, Matthew, pp. 163-65. According to Joel Kennedy, The Recapitulation of Israel (WUNT, 2/257; Tubingen: Mohr Siebeck. 2008), pp. 59-65, the number fourteen comes from Ruth 4. Kennedy argues that (1) Matthew's genealogy can be classified as a quotation of Ruth's genealogy, and (2) Ruth employed a teleological genealogy, giving numerical significance to Boaz and David, and Matthew adapted it to give numerical significance to point beyond David to Jesus the son of David as the fulfilment of Israel's history. 169. France, Gospel ofMatthew, p. 31. 170. Roy A. Rosenberg, 'Jesus, Isaac, and the Suffering Servant', JBL 84 (1965), pp. 381-88 (387).

140

Tribals, Empire and God 11. Yet another theory is that the number is a rabbinic technique meant to aid memorization in oral recitation- Certainly the triple structure would ease memorization but it is doubtful that a verse (v. 17) would be added to a unit or a genealogical list simply to serve a mnemonic purpose.

The proliferation of theories about the significance of Matthew's tnadic schema reveals that it is near impossible to determine precisely what it signifies. There can be little doubt that the numerical structuring of the genealogy is important. However, what that significance is can no longer be ascertained with confidence.- What is unmistakable though is that the three epochs of fourteen generations penodize and sum up the history of Israel. The arrangement of the history into a discernible order heightens the impression that God is in ultimate control of the events of history, guiding its course towards a time of completion in Jesus the Messiah. Furthermore, the orderly list of names shows that God is weaving another story that is contrary to the messy human s t o r y Linking Jesus particularly with David, in the chiastic construction in 1.1 and 1.17, implies that the ancient promises of a Davidic Messiah will be fulfilled in Jesus. The predominance of David's name, which is the first name to be said (1.1) in the genealogy and appears in 1.6 and 1.17, points to a redefined Davidic Messiah as the culmination of the history of salvation.

171. Alan Hugh McNeile, The Gospel according to St. Matthew: The Greek Text with Introduction, Notes, and Indices (London: Macmillan, 1961), p. 5; Stanley D. Toussaint, Behold the King: A Study of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1980), p. 41; Keener, Gospel of Matthew, p. 74; Montague, Companion God, p. 20, 41. 172. Bruner agrees with Meier, Matthew, p. 4, who says that the purpose of v. 17 is to show the believer that 'when you "add up" the meaning of history, the "bottom line" is Jesus Christ, the son of David'. Bruner, Matthew, p. 22, asserts: 'One can derive pleasure, but, in my opimon, not much profit from other honorable attempts to understand the three times fourteen'. 173. Matt Woodley, The Gospel of Matthew: God with Us (Resonate Series: Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), p. 26, states: 'Matthew's selection of names is bittersweet, beastly-angehc-and human. As this history illustrates, the human story is messy, unfaithful, complicated and inconsistent. And yet with his predictable, measured, orderly lists of names, Matthew also weaves another story... No matter how dark and bloody we make our own histories, Matthew wants us to know that three times fourteen means there's a story and a storyteller, a plot and a plot-weaver. Behind the mess and unpredictability of the human story, God is weaving another story, a story of harmony and redemption.'

3. The Origin of Jesus the Messiah

141

Conclusion This chapter attempted to look at Matthew's genealogy of Jesus in its entirety and not select elements or personalities which have traditionally been the centre of scholarly attention. The purpose was to underline the presence of people in the genealogy who were deeply flawed and also of people who were at the margins of society, such as women and unknown individuals. The full implication of the genealogy is clearer (particularly for the tribal reader) when it is viewed as explicating the identity of Jesus. Just like tnbals base their identity on their family, clan, tribal and ethnic lineage, Jesus' identity is seen to be based on his connection to his forebears, including the unexpected emphases and not excluding the 'unknowns'. In conclusion, it can be said with some confidence that the genealogy is a subversive text. It recapitulates the entire history of Israel (from Abraham to David, from David to the Babylonian exile, and from the exile to the Messiah Jesus) and revises it. If Matthew's intention was simply to show that Jesus is a descendant of David and that he is the long-awaited Messiah, he could have achieved that with the superscription alone. The fact that the genealogy is an extensive and wellstructured list of three sets indicates that its purpose is not only to recall the significant epochs of the history of Israel but to transform it in its recollection. There is a connection with the old story, but that story must be seen in the light of the work of the Messiah Jesus, which new entity gives fresh meaning to the ancient stones. The genealogy stores a number of surprises. It is pertinent to point out a few of these One surprise has to do with the language of 'origin' or 'beginning' in the beginning of the passage. A 'beginning' is important theological vocabulary. It evokes the story of creation, and indicates that once again God is at creative work. The surprise here is not the allusion to a new creation but its taking place in complete silence about Rome. It conveys to the reader that although Rome might appear to be a solid block of unyielding power, it has no place in the longer scheme of God's plan being actuated in the birth of the Messiah. Another surprise comes from the inclusion of four women from Jewish Scrrptures-Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba)-each of whom break the 'A was the father of B ' pattern. It is astonishing because they are women in a patriarchal narrative and because they displace prominent matriarchs like Sarah, Rebekah and Leah. Yet the full impact of the presence of women in the genealogy comes at the end with the ultimate disclosure that it is Mary, the fifth woman in the genealogy, who brings forth the Messiah. Another surprise stems from the tribal understanding

142

Tribals, Empire and God

that the genealogy reflects a culture in which the identity of an individual is derived from his or her relationship to his or her ancestors. John Mark Jones rightly observes that 'the very names David and Abraham create character for Jesus'.™ However, that fact hardly comes as a surprise because the reader already knows Jesus as Messiah. The surprise is lodged in the other side of the genealogical p e n d u l u m - t h e ancestors of Jesus who are not so heroic, downright wicked, or just unknown. How do they add to the character of Jesus? That question must challenge and disturb the reader. As a subversive text, the genealogy utilizes typology from the Jewish Scriptures but at the same time redefines it. In a sense. Jesus is not the expected Davidic Messiah but the unexpected Davidic Messiah. And Jesus' birth is synonymous with the birth of a new creation, an inclusive world that places the marginalized within the realm of redemptive discourse.

174.

Jones, 'Subverting the Textuality of DavKhc Messramsm', p. 265.

4 THE BIRTH OF JESUS THE MESSIAH

Introduction The first section of the Gospel, Mt. 1.1-17, traced the origin of Jesus in the history of Israel by means of a genealogy. The genealogy concluded with a revelation that overturned the androcentric paradigm that dominated the rest of the g e n e a l o g y - t h e Messiah was born of Mary, a woman. The statement was carefully constructed to show that Joseph was not the father of Jesus (1.16). What was the purpose of the genealogy if a direct bloodline to Jesus was not the objective? The next section, Mt. 1.18-25, explains how Jesus came to be a'son of David' and the 'son of God'. Jesus is not Joseph's biological son but he becomes a 'son of David' when Joseph accepts him as his own son and names him. At the same time, his conception from the Holy Spirit shows him to be the son of God.' Thus Matthew argues that Jesus is not just the Messiah from the line of David simply because Joseph adopted him. Jesus is the Messiah by the will of God. God made it possible for a virgin to become pregnant from the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Messiah. By his obedience to the will of God, revealed to him in his dreams. Joseph fulfils the prophecy concerning the Messiah. Indeed, his faith in God proves Joseph to be a son of Abraham more than anything else. In contrast, Mary's character is never developed. She takes no decision and expresses no thought or emotion. She is strangely silent throughout the narrative. Her silence could be construed as her unimportance in the narrative. But her repeated identification as the mother of Jesus indicates otherwise. As mother of Jesus, she is shown to be a person who is held in uncommon esteem and her silence increases that impression. 1. Cyrus H. Gordon, 'Paternity at Two Levels', JBL 96 (1977), p. 101; Harrington, The Gospel ofMatthew, p. 35; David E. Garland, Reading Matthew: A Literary and Theological Commentary on the First Gospel (New York: Crossroad, 1993), pp. 21-22; Novakovic, Messiah, Healer of the Sick, p. 47.

144

Tribals, Empire and God

A few comments must be made to clarify the perspective from which a tnbal reader may look at the narrative During the course of the analysis of the text, I will be referring to those aspects of tribal history and tribal culture that are pertinent Those references will speak for themselves. So here, at the beginning, I will not be telling those stones. so as to avoid repetition. Instead, I will reiterate that the basic difference between tribal reading and Western reading arises from a dissimilarity of view about extraordinary or supernatural elements in the biblical narrative. A tnbal 'pre-critical' viewpoint is unavoidable for a tribal reader. This implies some kind of unquestioning acceptance of accounts such as the conception and birth of the Messiah through a virgin, appearances of an angel or angels, and God communicating through dreams. I do not mean by this that the tnbal reader should not test biblical narrative on the grid of known facts and available evidence. What I mean to stress, rather, is that tribals understand there is more going on than is evident on the surface of the story. Tribal stories weave fegends with historical events and places and thereby place their history in the collective memory of the entire tribe or tribes. Thus the tribal reader is familiar with narratives which have multiple layers of meaning. He or she can use that skill to negotiate the layers of meaning in biblical narrative rather than look for scientific or rational explanations behind the miracles. Reading Matthew

1.18-25

1.18 2

ToC 5e 'IriooC XptoroC f\ yivtoic, oikax; fjv. |_ivr|ara)6eiar|i; if\Q |_ir|rp6c avkoO Map tac T($ Iwaifa, irplv f\ avjveA,6eiv KVIOVQ ei)pe6r| kv yaorpl 6%ouaa IK •\\vi\)\i.u.xoc, ayiov.

2. Some MSS have XpiaroO (it— ^ « ^ ^ * v g syr-Irenaeus1-Cliromatms Jerome Augustine) but the majority of textual witnesses read 'IriooC XptoroC / (^p1 K C L Z D Qf f3 28 33 157 180 205 565 579 597 700 892 1006 1010 1071 1241 1243 1292 1424 1505 Byz IE P El Lect syr R^P 31 copsa> meg> bo arm (eth) geo slav Dratessaron- Irenaeus^ Origen Eusebms Didymus** Eprphamus Chrysostom Theodotus-Ancyra Nestonus). The majority reading is to be preferred. George M. Soares-Prabhu, The Formula Quotations in the Infancy Narrative ofMatthew: An Inquiry into the Tradition History of Matthew 1-2 (Analecta Biblica, 63; Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1976), p. 177. From the point of view of the narration, it makes sense not to introduce the name Jesus at this point for the name will be made known only in 1.21. However, the name was already used m 1.1 and 1.16. Thus the use of the name here does not cause any real conflict.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

145

Now the origin' of Jesus the Messiah was like this. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit' Several words and allusions tie this section with the previous section. The words Y lv«,i C and 'I.aoC Xpurcau connect it to the opening of the previous section (1.1). There is also a chiastic connection with the concluding lines of the genealogy where the words Icomfo, M o p t a and XPLOTOC appear in 1.16 against Xpumrf), Moploc and Tcooifo in 1.18. These links to the previous section serve to provide continuity to the narrative. They also carry forward the several motifs noted in the previous s e c t i o n - n e w creation, anti-imperialism, fulfilment of messianic hope and God's involvement in the events narrated. Now the origin of Jesus the Messiah was like this yb*oit is a word alluding to the creation story of Genesis.* The narrator linked the story of Jesus to creation in Mt. 1 1 and repeats it here. The repetition of the word here indicates its importance and shows that the story of the 'origin' is continued. It evokes God's activity of creating at the beginning of time but also indicates the new direction or signification 3. The same Greek word for 'origin' was also used in 1.1. Both y lva9, 'in a dream', is another favourite Matthaean term in the infancy narrative. It occurs five times in the infancy narrative (here and in 2.12, 13, 19, 22) and once in the passion narrative (27.19). Of these six references, only three are full dream reports: 1.18b-24. 2.13-15 and 2.19-21.- These dream reports correspond to the formal pattern of dream in Greco-Roman literature.^ But the similarities with dream reports found in Jewish Scriptures are more pertinent. Dream accounts occur mostly in those sections that are identified as Elohist. Some think that this is because of an Elohist tendency notto referto God in anthropomorphic terms, so dreams feature prominently in Elohistic accounts^ Gnuse points out close similarities between Matthew's dreams and features of the Elohist dreams in Genesis: 20.3-8 (Abimelech), 28.12-16 (Jacob), 31.10-13 (Jacob), 31.24 (Laban) and 46.2-4 (Jacob/Israel).« It is worth noting that in Elohist tradition, dream accounts feature prominently in the narrative of another Joseph. On two occasions Joseph receives revelation through dreams (37.5-7; 37.9). Joseph also interprets the dreams of the royal cupbearer and baker (40.123) and the Pharaoh's dreams (41.1-57). Non-biblical texts concerning figures from the Jewish Scriptures also associate dreams with birth accounts. Moses' birth is heralded by 39. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 206. 40. Derek S. Dodson, Reading Dreams: An Audience-Critical Approach to the Dreams in the Gospel of Matthew (LNTS, 397; London: T. & T. Clark, 2009). p. 134. 41. Some of the correspondences between Matthew's dream accounts and GrecoRoman literary practice include: similarities of the scene-setting such as a sketch of the dreamer's character and the dreamer's mental state, the use of terminology such as KKr' ovep, which appears extensively in Greek inscriptions, the appearance of a figure identified as an angel in the dream proper, and the obedient response of the dreamer to the message received in the dream. See Dodson, Reading Dreams. pp.l34-47.However,theevidenceDodsonprovidesmdicatesthatthesefeaturesare not found together in one single dream report in the Greco-Roman literature. 42. Jean-Marie Husser, Dreams and Dream Narratives in the Biblical World (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), pp. 91-96. 43. Robert Gnuse, 'Dream Genre in the Matthean Infancy Narratives', NovT 32 (1990), pp. 97-120.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

161

revelatory dreams (Ant. 2.212-17; Tg. Ps.-J. on Exod. 1.15). And in 4Q'Amram b , Amram, the father of Moses, sees dreams and visions." In Pseudo-Philo (Biblical Antiquities 9.10), Miriam is told by an angel in a dream, 'I will do signs through him, and I will save my people'. Awaking from the dream she prophesies to her parents what has been revealed to her. Also note that Elijah's birth is accompanied by Sobak, his father, having amazing dreams of him (see Epiphanius, Vitae Prophetarum).45 In some instances, dream appears to be synonymous with sleep in Jewish Scriptures. The similarity of sleep and dreaming is reflected in the translation of the Hebrew n ^ n , 'dream', as K«6' iWov, 'during sleep', in the LXX at Gen. 20.6 and 31.11. In other places, the Hebrew nra 'sleep', is translated with iWo C , 'sleep' (Gen. 28 16). So there is no real distinction made between God's communication to human beings during their sleep or dreams. God's covenant with Abraham is made partly in m r a , 'vision' (Gen. 15.1), and partly in n o r m , 'deep sleep' (Gen. 15.12). Elihu, in Job 33.14-17, refers to God's ways of speaking: For God speaks, in one way and in two, though people may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on mortals, and they slumber in their beds, then God speaks in their ears and terrifies them with warnings, to turn them aside from their deeds, and keep them from pride. John Hanson uses the hyphenated expression 'dream-vision' because reports of dreams and reports of visions cannot be distinguished from each other: Evidence to support the difficulty of distinguishing terms for dream or vision is found in the lack of consistent discrimination between waking and sleeping in connection with any particular term... Experience, apparently, either confirms or underlies this fluidity, since the ancients themselves could not always distinguish between waking and sleeping in connection with the dream-vision phenomenon. In short, as far as form 44. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 207. 45. V'ermes, Scripture and Tradition in Judaism, pp. 91-93. Vitae Prophetarum (Lives of the Prophets) is attributed to various early church figures but mostly to Epiphanius, bishop of Salamis in Cyrus (315-403 CE). It is believed to incorporate material from Jewish texts written before the destruction of the Second Temple. See David Satran, 'Biblical Prophets and Christian Legend: The Lives of the Prophets Reconsidered^, in Ithamar Gruenwald, Shaul Shaked and Gedaliahu A. G. Stroumsa (eds.),Messiah and Christos: Studies in the Jewish Origins ofChristianity (Texte und Studien zum Antiken Judentum, 32; Tubingen: J.C.B. Mohr, 1992). pp. 144-46. Vitae Prophetarum is included in James H. Charlesworth, The Pseudepigrapha and Modern Research with a Supplement ( Septuagint and Cognate Studies, 7S; Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1981), pp. 175-77.

162

Tribals, Empire and God or content is concerned, dreams and visions cannot readily be separated on the basis of the evidence. The rather rigid modern distinction between the terms dreams (a sleeping phenomenon) and vision (a waking phenomenon) is not paralleled in antiquity.«

Joseph's dream is best understood as a dream-vision. Both the narrator and the character (Joseph) do not see any difference between dream and reality and this is shared by the reader. The veil between dream and reality is removed. What Joseph sees in his dream is as good as seeing it for real. The ancient Jewish idea about dreams has some affinities with tribal perception of dreams. In many tribal communities, people believe that dreams are messages from the unseen world to guide the living. That is why tribal people consider it important to consult their dreams before starting any important project.- Spirits know things that humans don't know They speak to us in our dreams and they provide the crucial guidance that humans are unable to give. Dreams are regarded as portents of things to come. Not all dreams are equally valid. Dreamers usually know when a dream is significant and when it is just a dream. Joseph, son of David Thetitle 'son of David' is usually used for Jesus. Only at this point in the New Testament is the title used for somebody other than Jesus. The designation of Joseph as son of David gives a clue to the reader about his role I n the narrative The genealogy of Jesus cannot be traced to David unless Joseph takes Mary as his wife and gives his name to her son. Thus in using this title for Joseph, the narrator prepares the reader for 'engrafting' Jesus into the family of David." The Davidic lineage is imperfect, as noted in the discussion of the genealogy. More often than not, the ancestors of Joseph were sinful people. The narrator did not take the easy way out and invent a list of exemplary people. It is probable that in laying out the ugly facts of the genealogy the narrator went contrary to current expectations of the 46. John S. Hanson, 'Dreams and Visions in the Graeco-Roman World and Early Christianity', mANRWll, 23.2, pp. 1395-427 (1408-409). 47. J.H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas (London: Oxford University Press, 1969). pp. 254-55. A spiritual movement among the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh known as Nyedar Namlo, meaning 'spiritual house', was started by a man who had regular dreams about a particular location in his village, which disturbed him until he found a solution in the formation of the spiritual movement. See Nabam Tadar Rikam, Emerging Religious Identities of Arunachal Pradesh: A Study of Nyishi Tribe (New Delhi: Mittal Publications, 2005), pp. 130-31. 48. Luz, Matthew 1-7, p. 120.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

163

messianic bloodline. The paradoxes of the genealogy and the difficulties they pose are circumvented by a twist in the narrative whereby Jesus' ancestry is determined not only by his adoption by Joseph but also by his conception by the Holy Spirit He is given dual paternity. This narrative move is theologically significant because the legal paternity links Jesus to the earthly sphere of the life of the ancestors with their flaws, struggles and complexities, as well as their admirable qualities, while his virginal conception allows him to stand out above his ancestors and be recognized as one who is able to effect redemption beyond that which any ruler on earth could do. Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife Since Joseph and Mary are already engaged, this is obviously a reference to the second stage of the Jewish wedding during which the groom would enter the bridal canopy and marriage blessings would be recited. It is remarkable that God does not explicitly command Joseph to take Mary as his wife. Instead of a command, he is given a gentle nudge pointing him towards the right direction. The narrative expects that once Joseph comes to know of his role in bringing up the Messiah he would follow what has been outlined-take Mary as his wife and give juridical recognition to the child as his own son. < J k 'fear', is the first human response when confronted by a manifestation of God or an act of God. The Hebrew K T IS generally translated c f c in the LXX. The word is used whenever God approaches humans either in dreams or visions: when God comes to Abram in a vision to promise him his descendants would be like the countless stars (Gen. 15.1); when the angel of God calls to Hagar from heaven to assure herthather son will be saved (Gen. 21.17); when God comes to Isaac at mghtto tell him his offspring will be numerous (Gen. 26.24); when God tells Joshua that he will be vfctonous over the king of Ai (Josh. 8.1); and when the angel of God visits Gideon and Gideon sees the face of the angel of God (Judg. 6.23). Sometimes the word is used in a divine message to tell a human not to fear a perceived danger or a strong enemy (2Kgs 1.15; Jer. 1.7-8; Ezek. 2.6; Dan. 10.12). However, in this passage. it is clear that Joseph's disquiet is caused by reverential fear of God: Joseph's fear as reverential apprehension of God fits the contention of this reading that Joseph was not contemplating divorce because he thought Mary had cheated on him but because he was in awe of God. If he thought Mary had been unfaithful he would have felt righteous indignation and not fear.

164

Tribals, Empire and God

For that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit According to the reading being followed, this sentence is not to be regarded as a disclosure of new information to Joseph to convince him that Mary was innocent. The extraordinary nature of the conception was already known to Joseph. Thus the particle yap may be translated in conjunction with 6^ of the next verse. One possibility is: 'Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for of course (yap) that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit, but ( * ) she will bear a son...' Or: 'Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because (yap) that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. But she will bear a son...'« Emphasizing the 6^ of the following sentence highlights the fact that the angel's message directs Joseph's attention away l o r n his fear (because the child is generated from the Holy Spirit) to the future that will see him playing an important role in the fulfilment of God's plan of salvation. 1.21 re^erat 5e ulov, KCU KaAiaeicTOovo|_ia cnkoO TrpoOv avioQ yap aaksei xbv Xuhv MJTOO OCTTO X&V a|_iapri(3v ahx&v.

But she will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins'. The narrative moves on to explain Joseph's role in the plan of God for the salvation of his people. Joseph is told to name the child Jesus. The angel also explains why the child should be named Jesus. It is because he will do what his name s a y s - ' h e will save his people'. In Jewish narrative (and also in tribal narratives), the names of characters reveal who they are. The fact that it is God who gives the name through an angel indicates that this particular name has more power than other names that are given by human beings. But she will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus The angel's words to Joseph have some affinity with Gen. 17.19 (LXX). with which it shares verbal and syntactical correspondence. x W and ulov KCU KaXirei; TO o v o , a rikoO also occur in Gen. 17.19. The name 'Isaac' in Gen. 17.19 is substituted by 'Jesus'. There is a parallelism of personages: angel, Joseph, Mary and Jesus in Matthew is paralleled by God, Abraham, Sarah and Isaac in Genesis 17. Both Joseph and 49. Against similar interpretations by X. Leon-Dufour and M. Kramer, see Sabourin, The Gospel according to St Matthew, pp. 199-200.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

165

Abraham are associated with righteousness (Mt. 1.19; Gen. 5.6; 18.19: 24.27 LXX). Both Mary and Sarah give birth outside the natural boundaries of childbeanng and birthing And both Jesus and Isaac are born as sons of promise.- While the birth of Jesus is foreshadowed by the birth of Isaac the reader understands that Jesus is superior, recapitulating Israel's history and bringing it to completion. But the sentence could also be alluding to the Davidic heir of Isa. 7.14, with which it also corresponds. Isaiah 7.14 ends with the words x W ulov KCU K ^ L C rb OVOLICC cakou guLiavouriA. Except for the substitution of 'Jesus' for 'Immanuel', the clause is the same. The fact that this passage is quoted as having been fulfilled in Mt. 1.23 indicates that Isa 7.14 rather than Gen. 17.19 could be in view. At the same time, the appearance of the formula-like sentence in various points of Jewish Scriptures means that the Matthaean language would have been familiar to the implied reader. The etymology of the name Jesus/Joshua is found in Sir. 46.1: Kpamifc kv m J ^ l.aoCc Naur, KCU 6La6oXoc Mcuo^ kv ^ o ^ l a c , Be Mveco KKTCC TO 8 v i a alkoO ^kyaQ M a^pia IKXEKTCSV rikaO ('Mighty in war, Jesus/Joshua son of Nun and successor of Moses in prophecies. who became, according to his name, great at [the] salvation ofhis elect')' The name Jesus comes from the Hebrew row, which means 'God is salvation', or m«r, which means 'he will s a v e ' - Thus the name itself invites the reader to associate the child with the legendary Joshua of Jewish Scripture who led the Israelites into Canaan. The association with the ancient personage as well as the meaning of the name itself causes the reader to think of the child as one who will fulfil God's promise of salvation. Names and naming are important in Jewish culture. Parents give meaningful names to their children because the name represents the person. Noah is so named because 'he shall bring relief (Gen. 5.29). Ishmael, meaning 'God hears', is named so because God heeded Hagar's affliction (Gen. 16.11). Abram's name is changed to Abraham because he is to be 'ancestor of a multitude' (Gen. 17.5). Jacob is so named because 'he supplants or he takes by the heels' (Gen. 25.26; 27.36). Moses' name indicates that he is 'drawn out of the water' (Exod. 2.10). Moses' two sons by Zipporah are Gershom, meaning 'stranger or alien'. and Eliezer, meaning 'God is my help' (Exod. 18.3-4). Samuel's name 50. Leroy A. Huizenga, The New Isaac: Tradition and Intertextuality in the Gospel ofMatthew (NovTSup, 131; Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 144-45. 51. Incidentally, Srrach's name is also Jesus/Joshua Ben Siia. Charlene McAfee Moss, The Zechariah Tradition and the Gospel of Matthew (Berlin: W. de Gruyter. 2008),pp.l5n.ll,16.

166

Tribals, Empire and God

means 'heard of God' because Hannah asked for him from God (1 Sam. 1.20). Personal names reflect the circumstances of birth, the nature of the person, or the mission for which the child is born. The levirate marriage is specifically established in order that a dead man's name may not be blotted out of Israel (Deut. 25.5-6). Joseph is told that he will name the child. This could be a command. but it is phrased like a prophetic utterance referring to an inevitable event, 'You will call his name Jesus'. The sentence highlights Joseph's role as the legal father of the child Messiah. Naming could be done either by the father (Gen. 4.26; 5.3) or the mother (Gen. 4.1,25). Assigning the duty of naming the child to Joseph is an invitation to take the role of father of the child. In tribal culture, too, names are important. A name is not just an identifier; it is also a form of blessing. People believe that you are what your name is. Parents and relatives consider it an important task to choose good words to name a baby. Among some tribes, it is believed that if there are several deaths of babies in a family, it must be because the spirits are attracted to babies and take them away. When this happens, parents choose the worst possible name (such as 'dogexcrement' or 'bitter') for their baby in order to cheat the spirits into thinking that the baby is not lovable. Some parents give two names to their children. One name is for common use but the other is kept secret from society. This is done in order to preventthe spirits and humans with bad spiritual powers from using the name to trap the owner's spirit and cause sickness or death to come upon the o w n e r « In Mt. 1.23, another name will be associated with the child-Immanuel. However, this name is not used again in the Gospel (except for the phrase 'I am with you always', which occurs at the end of the Gospel) A tribal reader might interpret 'Immanuel' as the secret name whereas 'Jesus' is the common name by which the child is known to everyone. For he will save his people from their sins hzoQ is, strictly speaking, a reference to the people of Israel. alkoO can refer either to God or to Jesus. Thus xov W a6ioo could mean 'the 52. Tabooing of a private name for fear that enemies or evil spirits may use it to harm the person is a custom found in many cultures. Ancient Egyptians gave two names to every person, a little (or good) name and a great (or true) name. The little name was public while the great name was hidden from the public. The aborigines of Australia are also said to have two names, a personal name for common use and a secret or sacred name known only to the fully initiated members of the tribe. James George Frazer, The Golden Bough (New York: Touchstone, 1996), pp. 284-85.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

167

people of God' or 'the people of Jesus'. Since the narrative is addressed to a mixed community it could mean the followers of Jesus, both Jews and Gentiles. Anti-imperial assertion is never far from the surface of the narrative. The clues are in 'to save' and 'sins'. Often interpreters have tended to take the narrative out of its narrative and historical context and transpose modern notions into the interpretation of the text. Thus traditionally. especially in conservative circles, 'to save' has been interpreted as 'saving the souls of people'. Likewise 'sins' has been interpreted with a strong spiritual and personal emphasis to mean 'wrong, unethical, or immoral conduct', 'evil acts' and 'breaking God's commandments'. However, the primary meaning of the word for ancient Jews is the rejection of Israel's covenant witn God and turning away from the social. economic, political and personal responsibilities that the covenant imposes on them. Placed in the context of imperial occupation, 'to save' becomes much more than the saving of souls, the rewards of which the faithful receive after death in heaven. That aspect is present in 'to save'. but the immediate meaning has to do with God saving his people in the present time. In Jewish Scripture, the salvation of God consistently meant God saving the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, God bringing them back from Exile and God liberating them from foreign Empires. 'Sin' too must be placed within the context of imperial rule. Psalm of Solomon 17.21-46 also makes a connection between imperial oppression, sin and the Messiah's role in restoring Israel: With wisdom, with righteousness to drive out sinners from the inheritance, to smash the arrogance ofthe sinner, like a potter's vessel. (Ps. Sol. 17.23) In the first century, Jewish hope revolved around liberation from political subjection. Read from this perspective, the sinner is one who participates in the imperial domination ofthe Jewish people. It must include those J e w s - t h e elite, the priests and s c n b e s - w h o collaborate with Rome and its rulers. 'Sin' in this context could refer to the sin of suppressing a people against their will. Doubtless, the Jewish Scriptures refer time Sid again to the sins ofthe individual but they also refer to the communal sin of groups, cities and nations. God's intention to save the people from sin through Jesus is, then, a divine plan to save a people who are suffering from the oppressively sinful rule o f t h e Roman Empire. This reading acknowledges that the people could themselves be sinful but the powers that manipulate and make their life a living hell are the greater evil.

168

Tribals, Empire and God 1.22 ToCro 5e oA,ov yeyovev iva TrA-TipcoefiTOpr|6ev imo Kupiou 5ia roC TTpo^iiTOi; A.6Y0VTOC, Now all this happened in order that it might be fulfilled what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying,

The narration is interrupted by this remark from the narrator who informs the reader that these events happened in fulfilment of God's promise to the people through the prophet* This is the first of the 'formulaquotations', which are a distinctive feature of the Gospel. Four formulaquotations are found in the first two chapters-Mt. 1.22-23; 2.15; 2.1718; 2.23.- Matthew 2.5-6 quotes Mic 5.1 and 2 Sam. 5.2 but is not preceded by the usual fulfilment formula found in other quotations. The formula-quotation invites readers to look at the narrative as the fulfilment of what was written in the Jewish Scriptures. Obviously, formulaquotations are integral to Matthew's framework because each of them culminates a scene of the narrative. The wordings of formula-quotations have small variations but the typical form is: Iva irAripGoGfi TO priGev UTTO KUDLOU 5ia TOG TTpoArkovj iyovxoc ('in order that it might be fulfilled what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying'). Sometimes the prophet is named (Jeremiah is named in Mt. 2.17; 27.9; Isaiah is named in Mt. 4.14; 8.17; 12.17; 13.35) and in one case the word 'prophet' is in the plural (Mt. 2.23). In some places, the word OTTGOC is used instead of LVCC. The formula-quotations refer to texts that, in their own contexts, are not actually predictions of the coming future Messiah. They are texts that are about a pivotal moment in Israel's history (Hos. 11.1 refers to the exodus, Jer. 31.15 refers to the exile). Thus fulfilment in Matthew is not predictive fulfilment but typological fulfilment. Typological fulfilment, according to Hamilton, 'refers to the fullest expression of a significant

53. There is some uncertainty about whether the words of the angel end at Mt. 1.21 or continue up to 1.23. Joseph wakes up from sleep in 1.24 so it appears as though the angel's message should continue until that point of the narrative. However, the phraseology indicates that 1.22-23 is a narrative aside, the narrator's commentary about the event being narrated. 54. Outside the Infancy Narrative, the formula is found in 4.14; 8.17; 12.17: 13.35; 21.4; 27.9. Other quotations not following the formula and therefore not included among Matthew's 'formula-quotations' are found in 3.3; 11.10; 13.14-15; 15.7-9; 21.42.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

169

pattern of events7.55 It implies looking at the events of the narrative as not only corresponding to earlier events in salvation history but also intensifying their significance. 1.23 16oi, f, ™P6evoc kv yaorpl i&i KCU * : a i ul6v. KCU latfiaoixHVTOovo^ KUTOO T ^ o D i f t , o ksnv |_ie6ep|_ir|va)6|_ievov |j.e9' f]|_u3v 6 9eoc. 'Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son. and they will call his name Immanuel'* which is translated,'God is with us'. ' The prophecy is from Isa. 7.14, the MT and LXX versions of which read: :b* ma mo reopi p m'ri mn nn'rrn ran niK oa1? xin -STK yr p ^ L5oi) firapGevocjev yacupl e^et Kal rental ulov Kai KaAiaeicTOovoiaaaiiroC In one reconstruction of its possible historical context, this is not a prediction of the coming of the Messiah in the f u t u r e - it is God's reassurance to King Ahaz of Judah through the prophet Isaiah (Isa. 7.14). It so happened that King Rezin of Aram of Syria and King Pekah of Israel had formed an alliance to mount an attack against Judah in order to set up the son of Tabeel as a vassal king instead of Ahaz, in Judah. Ahaz and his people were shaken by this development. God sends Isaiah and his son Shear-jashub to reassure him that Judah will not fall. Instead, the enemies of Judah will be shattered within sixty-five years (Isa. 7.1-9). Then Isaiah gives the sign of Immanuel to Ahaz (Isa. 7.14). The sign of Immanuel continues from Isa. 7.14 through the rest of the chapter and through ch. 8. Before the child learns to refuse the evil and choose the

55. James M. Hamilton, "The Virgin Will Conceive": Typological Fulfilment in Matthew 1:18-23', in Daniel M. Gartner and John Nolland (eds.), Built upon the Rock: Studies in the Gospel ofMatthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2008), pp. 228-47 (233). See also France, Gospel ofMatthew, pp. 10-14. 56. The Greek is T^voDift, which can be transliterated Emmanuel (starting withanE).However,Ifollowthe common convention oftransliteratmg the Hebrew name. 57. John J. Collins, 'The Sign of Immanuel', in JohnDay (ed.), Prophecy and the Prophets in Ancient Israel: Proceedings ofthe Oxford Old Testament Seminar (New York: T.& T.Clark, 2010), pp. 225-44.

170

Tribals, Empire and God

good, the two kingdoms that Ahaz dreads will be deserted. Syna and Ephrarm will be defeated by the king of Assyria (Isa. 7.15-25). Thus in its immediate context, Immanuel is someone who will be born during King Ahaz's lifetime. Look, the virgin will conceive and bear a son Following the LXX, Matthew uses the word ™ P 9 ^ to translate the Hebrew rrobs. The word n o 1 * is used in Jewish Scriptures to refer to 'a young girl' or 'an unmarried woman'. Some say it also means 'a young recently married woman' but this is disputed- Thus, strictly speaking, rrobs does not connote virginity. The Hebrew word for virgin' is n ^ m . However, the LXX does not maintain a strict distinction between a virgin and a young woman. It uses ™ P 9 ^ to translate n o 1 * , 'an unmarried woman' (Isa. 7.14 etc.), n ^ n a , 'a virgin' (Deut. 22.23 etc.), and m m , 'a girl, maiden' (Gen. 24.14 etc.). Greek v,avK is closer in meaning to n o 1 * and in fact the LXX uses it to translate n o 1 * in some places (Exod. 2.8; Ps. 6 8 . 2 5 ) - This loose use of the word ™P9evoc indicates that in antiquity any young woman was regarded as a virgin. The emphasis of the word, in its usage in the ancient world, does not appear to be on whether the woman had 'known' a man but on her tender age. If a normal childbirth within marriage had been in view, the word n m . meaning 'woman' or 'wife', would have been used. The use of the word nobs in Isa. 7.14 in reference to childbirth is unusual and suggests that the birth is not a normal childbirth within marriage. The text suggests that rrobs conceives and gives birth as n o 1 * . " Who is the young woman or virgin who will bear a son?" In the historical context of Isa. 7.14, it could be Ahaz's young wife Abyah (2 Chron. 29.1). If the virgin is Abyah, then Immanuel would be her son Hezekiah« But there is also a possibility that the woman could be Isaiah's wife who is known as 'the prophetess'. According to Isa. 8.3, 58. Robert H. Gundry, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthew’s Gospel: With Special Reference to the Messianic Hope (NovTSup, 18; Leiden: E.J. Brill. 1975), p. 227. 59. Sabourin, Gospel according to St Matthew, p. 205. 60. France, Gospel ofMatthew, pp. 55-56; Gundry, Use of the Old Testament. pp. 226-27. 61. A discussion is found in Edward P. Sri, Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology ofMary’s Queenship (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2005), pp. 5458; and Collins, 'The Sign of Immanuel', pp. 225-44. 62. Christopher R. Seitz, Isaiah 1-39 (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching; Louisville, K Y: John Knox Press, 1993), pp. 60-75; Laato, A Star Is Rising, pp. 123-25.

4. The Birth of Jesus the Messiah

171

following the giving of the sign of Immanuel to Ahaz, Isaiah went to the prophetess and she conceived and gave birth to a son. God tells Isaiah to name the son Maher-shalal-hash-baz. Then a statement is made about Maher-shalal-hash-baz that parallels the statement made about Immanuel: before the child learns how to call 'my father' or 'my mother', Damascus and Samaria will be taken by Assyria. It appears, at least in the context of Isaiah 7-8, that the promise of Immanuel was fulfilled with the birth of Maher-shalal-hash-baz. If this is the case, Immanuel is Isaiah's Maher-shalal-hash-baz.« Furthermore, Isa. 8.18 states that the children of Isaiah are signs and portents in Israel from God, giving the impression that the children of Isaiah were the ones God gave as signs to Ahaz. Shear-jashub and Maher-shalal-hash-baz are referred to as Isaiah's sons (7.3; 8.3). But it is possible that Immanuel is another son of the p r o p h e t What is clear from the context of Isa. 7.14 is that it does not envisage the birth of a child from a virgin in the modern sense of the term. It is not a messianic prophecy either % However, the narrator is not constrained by Isaiah's historical context. It is not because the narrator is unaware of the context in which Isaiah spoke the prophetic words to King Ahaz. Rather, the narrator sees the historical correspondence and evokes it to inform the reader that it is typologically fulfilled in the conception and birth of Jesus by the virgin Mary In its historical setting, Isa. 7.14 may not have a virgin in view but there is no doubt that it is interpreted and applied to the virginal conception and birth of Jesus through Mary. And they will call his name Immanuel, which is translated, ‘God is with us’ Kaaioaix,iv, 'they will call', deviates from both the LXX and the MT. The LXX has KoXioJ;, 'you will call', whereas the Hebrew has n m p i , 'she 63. Walter Mueller, 'A Virgin Shall Conceive', EQ 32.4 (1960), pp. 203-207 (206);HerbertM. Wolf, 'ASolutiontotheImmanuelProphecy mIsarah7:14-8:22', JBL9X (1972), pp. 449-56. 64. J.J.M. Roberts, 'Isaiah and His Children', in A. Kort and S. Morschauser (eds.), Biblical and Related Studies Presented to Samuel Iwry (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1985), pp. 193-203 (198-99); Ronald E. Clements, Old Testament Prophecy: From Oracles to Canon (Louisville, K Y: Westminster/John Knox Press. 1996), p. 70. 65. Sabourin, Gospel according to St Matthew, p. 206, states, 'It should not be saidthatitis the prophecy ofIs7:14 which shaped Matthew's account of an angelic passage to Joseph; the text was notregardedasmessiamcprophecym Jewish circles: nor was the Messiah expected to be born of a virgin. Only in looking back from the life of Jesus could Is 7:14 be seen in its true light.'

Tribals, Empire and God will call'. With the plural 'they will call' the narrator appears to be looking ahead to what people will say about Jesus. 'God is with us' in Isaiah meant that God had not forsaken his people and that he would deliver King Ahaz and his people from the plans of Syria and Israel to vanquish Judah. But for the reader of Matthew's narrative, 'God is with us' means far more than a reassuring 'sign' of God's activity to save his people. It means, profoundly, that God is literally with the people in Jesus himself.« God's actual presence with the people becomes even more consequential when the historical correspondence between Isa. 7.14 and Matthew's narrative is noted. The Isaian passage arose in the face of imperial threat from Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. 'God is with us', 65pa. When they saw the star, they rejoiced wrth exceedingly great joy. Do the magi see the star that is going before them (v. 9)? The narrative implies that they see it and are following it from Jerusalem all the way to Bethlehem. L&£« C appears to be a wording applied by the narrator to underline the act of seeing the star, presumably as it stands over the place where the child Messiah fs. 1 6 6 ^ ties the narrative with vv. 2 and 9 and closes the subject of the star; after this comment, the star disappears from the narrative. The combination of two words, k^oav ('rejoiced') and Xapav ('joy') with another pair of words of emphasis, w&Xw ('great') and a^pa ('exceedingly') conveys the response of the magi on seeing the star. The number of words associated with joyfulness and rejoicing connotes a sense of being 'deliriously joyful' 'absolutely delighted' or 'enormously thrilled'. This response of the magi appears to be superfluous and misplaced. The magi are not seeing the star for the first time and therefore the sight itself should not elicit such excessive delight on their part. The exceedingly great joy of the magi appears even more inappropriate when it is taken into account that although the reader knows what lies inside the house over which the star stands still, the magi themselves do not know. Or maybe they do know it, but it has not been confirmed by a sighting of the child yet. It can be assumed that the magi know instinctively that the newborn king lies beyond the doors of the house. That would give them reason to rejoice. But does it warrant rejoicing with exceedingly great joy? The focus of the narrative is not on the joy of the magi vis-a-vis the star but the joy that will permeate the next verse. The statement is made as though the magi have seen Jesus and not the star. For the implied

Hutton, Sema Nagas, p. 250.

5. The Visit of the Magi

213

reader, the star and Jesus could mean the same thing, because the star stands for the Davidic Messiah. By expressing the exceeding joy of the mag! at this point, the narrator enables the reader to anticipate the joy that is to come when the magi enter the house and see the child Messiah." 2.11 ml kXQovztc etc rnv oiKiav el5ov TO raiSiov i_iera Mapiac rfic larirpoc KCU u6oovTCc upooeKwnoav a^ KCU dvofcu^ rok 6 W o k rikfiv upoarjve^v a k ^ 5c3pK, xpuaov ml H|tevov KCU o^pvav. KuroO,

And going into the house they saw the child with Mary, his mother. And fallmg down they paid homage to him and opening their treasure boxes they brought him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The 'place' over which the moving star comes and stands still indeed turns out to be the o k l a , 'house', of Jesus, for upon entering it the magi see the child Messiah with his mother Mary.- The reader has to assume that the house of Jesus is just like one of the peasant houses in the tiny village. As the magi congregate within the modest peasant home, the dissimilarity between the group of distinguished visitors and the austere dwelling place of the child Messiah and his unassuming parents is evident. The contrast becomes conspicuous as the magi surprise the reader by greeting the child of the ordinary peasant family as they would a king.- The thrill the magi must feel at the confirmation of their calculations about the significance of the star as signalling the birth of a new king of the Jews is not recorded. But the burst of exuberant joy in v. 10 is transmitted to this scene of the magi paying their respects to the child of their quest.

73. Other interpreters have likewise hinted that the exceeding joy of the magi points forward to an imminent joy. For instance, Gundry, Matthew, p. 31, notes: 'Matthew can hardly restrain hisjoy m contemplating the messiamc salvation (cf his multiplication of beatitudes in 5:4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10; 16:17), all found only in this gospel'. Gundry believes that the story of the magi is fashioned after Luke's account of the shepherds; that the shepherds' visitation by night explains the starry journey of the magi and the 'great joy' of the shepherds in Luke 2.10 lies behind the 'great joy'of the magi. 74. Here and in 2.13, 14, 20, 21, 'the child and his mother'; the child is always mentioned first. 75. France, Gospel of Matthew, p. 23, sees in the homage of the magi an illustration of a reversal of the world's values, which will become an important feature of the Messiah's mission (Mt. 18.1-5; 20.25-28, etc.).

Tribals, Empire and God Cunously, Joseph is not mentioned.- The narrative simply reports that the Magi see the child with his mother, Mary. Some interpreters think that the reference to Mary while Joseph is omitted is evidence of the special place of Mary as the virgin mother.- Others think that it is a narrative construct to emphasize the virgin birth of Jesus and his d e i t y However, far from promoting Mary, the text actually only mentions Mary obliquely in a prepositional phrase. The focus of the narrative is not on Mary or Joseph; it is on the child Messiah. Perhaps the magi exchanged greetings with Joseph and Mary, as was the custom. But that scene, if it did occur, is not included in the narrative, so that attention may be given to the essentials. The eyes of the narrator and those of the magi are on the child Messiah. The magi have not come all the way from thefr faraway lands to meet the parents of the child. Their quest is only for the child, and what they do when they find him leaves the reader stunned with its unexpectedness and awestruck by the implication of those actions. For finding the child of their pilgrimage, the magi fall on their knees and prostrate themselves before him in homage, as is appropriate before royalty. Earlier, the magi have hinted that the purpose of their expedition is precisely to do this (2.2). Yet it catches the reader by surprise when it happens. Then the magi open their treasure chests and offer gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh to the child-gifts for a king. Both the reader and the magi have no doubts about who the real king is. Just a short time back, the magi had an audience with Herod, the king of the Jews, and the contrast between that meeting and the present one could not be sharper. The narrator is silent about how the magi might have greeted the reigning king. In fact, the meeting appears to have been secret business conducted at night, with none of the pomp and ceremony that would normally accompany an audience with a king. Certainly, the effusive obeisance expressed in the spontaneous prostration before Jesus with which the magi paid homage to Jesus is not given to Herod. Their respect and their gifts are for Jesus alone. Thus, already in the narrative. the reigning king has been ousted from the place of honour and prestige without Jesus having to lift a finger.

76. France, Gospel of Matthew, p. 75, observes from the complete absence of Joseph inthe story ofthe magr that thrs pencope rs an independent tradition and does not come from the same source as 1.18-25 and 2.13-23. 77. Luz, Matthew 1-7, p. 137. 78. Gundry, Matthew, p. 31.

5. The Visit of the Magi

215

The word ^ p o o W c , 'to pay homage' or 'to do obeisance', implies prostrating oneself before a superior and kissing the ground, or kneeling down before a superior with head to the ground. It occurs now for the third time (previously in 2.2 and 2.8). Although 'worship' is a strong possibility because of the religious nature of the text, the word itself as well as the context of the narrative does not require such a distinct nuance.™ In the context of the narrative, the homage of the magi substantiates the identity of Jesus as the king of the Jews and the expected Messiah. While this has a religious import, it is really more political than religious.- It is a snub to Herod and a declaration that the real king is the child. Three gifts are specifically mentioned: gold, frankincense and m y r r h These very expensive gifts show that the magi are affluent people The narrative does not give the impression that the magi offer their gifts as individuals, bringing different gifts one after the other. In 2.2 the magi speak as one, now they offer their gifts as one. W»obv K ai l l f W KCU a^pvav implies a heaping of gifts. XP»o6Q, 'gold', then as now, is a precious article, often used as money. Atpavoc, 'frankincense', is an 79. 'Worship' appears to be a later Christian perspective on the text. The combination of upooio^u, and ueoovrec occurs also in 4.9 where the devil says to Jesus, 'All these thmgs I will give to you if you fall down (ueoaiv) and do me homage ( u p c o . ™ ^ ) ' . Here it is not certain whether religious homage is meant. The combination also occurs in Acts 10.25: 'And as Peter was entering, Cornelius met him and falling down (ueocSv) at his feet, paid homage ( u p o a ^ v w ) to him'. The contexthere makes it obvious that religious worship is not meant, although most translations state that Cornelius 'worshipped' Peter. But the combination also appears in 1 Cor. 14.25, 'The secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so falling down ereoaSv) on his face he will worship (upooK^oei) God declaring, "Certainly God is among you".' In this case, religious worship is appropriate. In all these instances the interpretation of this combination of words depends on the context of the text. 80. During his lifetime, different people knelt before him not to worship but to make requests for help (Mt. 8.2; 9.18; 15.25). In the account of the worship of Jesus by his disciples after he walked on water (Mt. 14.33) 'falling down' is not mentioned. 81. Traditionally, these –ifts have been interpreted as having symbolic significance. Luz, Matthew 17, p. 138, has noted a number of them in the history of interpretation. The most common interpretation, since the time of Irenaeus and Ongen, is that gold was offered to show that Jesus is king, frankincense because Jesus is God, and myrrh to point to Jesus' humanity seen in his passion and death. Interpretations attributing symbolic significance to the gifts are not derived from exegeses of the text but from other hermeneutical grounds. The three gifts are never mentioned together in the Jewish Scriptures elsewhere.

216

Tribals, Empire and God

aromatic resin that is extracted from several kinds of trees of the genus Boswellia in Arabia and used for medicinal and sacral purposes. 82 And o^pva, 'myrrh', is the aromatic resin of the herb balsamodendron myrrhaP These are not ordinary gifts but gifts fit for a king.84 If these gifts are given as lavishly as the narrative appears to suggest and not as small tokens, it is reasonable to think that these valuables would be sufficient to provide the financial needs of Jesus and his family for years. if not set them up for life. The implied reader who knows the Jewish Scriptures has to notice the similarity between the homage of the magi and the imagery of the nations paying tribute to the Messiah. In Ps 72.10-11, 15, the kings of Tarshish and of the isles and the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts to Solomon, the son of David, who is described in Song 3.6 as perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and whose bride is also described with metaphors of myrrh and frankincense in 4.6, 14. Likewise, in Isa. 60.3, 5-6, nations come to Israel bringing gold and frankincense. And in 1 Kgs 10.1-10, the Queen of Sheba visits Solomon with camels bearing spices, much gold and precious stones.- Thus by alluding to either one or a combination of these texts the narrator presents the child Messiah as the son of David who receives tributes from the nations. 2.12 ml xpr||_iaria6evre; Kar' ovap |_if| &vaKd|_n|fai TTpoi; 'Hpa)5r|v, 5i' uXkx^ 65oC Kvexo)pr|aav etc xx\v %a)pav avkuv. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their own country by another way. What religion the magi followed, or what God or gods they believed in. is of no concern. In the world of the narrative, the God of the narrative is the one who shows the star to the magi and this same God is the one 82. BDAG. Frankincense came not only from Arabia but also from India and Somalia. See Luz, Matthew 1-7, p. 138. 83. BDAG. The balsamlike myrrh trees grew in Arabia and Ethiopia. See Luz, Matthew 1-7, p. 138. The association of myrrh with death and burial comes from Jn 19.39 but traditionally it was used as fragrance for cosmetic purposes (Est. 2.12: Ps. 45.8; Prov 7.17; Song 1.13; 5.1, 5). 84. Neyrey, Honor and Shame, pp. 59-60. The gifts imply royal honours. 85. For Matthew's allusions to these texts in Jewish Scriptures, see A. W. Argyle, The Gospel according to Matthew (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1963), p. 31; Soares-Prabhu, Formula Quotations, p. 281; Davies and Allison,Matthew, pp. 228, 253; Gundry, Matthew, p. 32.

5. The Visit of the Magi

211

who 'warns' them in a dream not to go back to Herod, w ^ o - 0 ^ . 'having been warned', carries the idea of divine communication or revelation- Unlike in Joseph's dreams (1.20 and later in 2.13 and 19). where an angel appears so as to deliver God's message, there is no mention of an angelic messenger in the dream of the magi. There is also no indication about who among them has the dream or if they have a collective dream. What is clear, though, is that they regarded dreams as a form of divine communication, just as Joseph did, and just as the readers are expected to do. So, on receiving the message in a dream, they obeyed it and returned to their country by a different route. AvaXcop&> in Matthew signifies not just a 'going away' but of strategic 'withdrawal' from some peril or oppositionComing right after the homage of the magi, the flight of the magi is the reverse of the euphoria of jubilation and fulfilment of mission that was evident in v. 11. The return of the magi 'by another way' conveys the presence of an element of danger. By weaving together both the menace presented by Herod and the consciousness of God's mightier hand at work, the narrative presents the stark political reality of the time of the birth of the Messiah and God's involvement in that world to bring salvation to the people. The legend of the magi closes with the brief note that they returned to their country by another route. They depart from the narrative but they leave behind an explosive political situation, for the reigning king of the Jews now knows of the birth of the Messiah and he is not one who will put up with a contender for his kingdom. Conclusion The account of the visit of the magi continues the counter-imperial arguments from the previous sections. Herod is called 'king', but the magi who come looking for the king of the Jews come not for Herod but for the child king Jesus. Throughout the narrative, the reader can discern a subtle distinction between those who are with the Roman E m p i r e Herod and the religious leaders who side with H e r o d - a n d those who are zealous to do the will of G o d - J o s e p h , Mary, the magi and the ordinary people. In a sense, the narrative presents a struggle between the powerful centre (Jerusalem) and the periphery (Bethlehem). Tribal reading of the passage is particularly aware of the political interplay between those

86. See further Morris, Matthew, pp. 41-42 n. 35. 87. Deirdre Good, 'The Verb ANAXQPEQ in Matthew's Gospel', NovT 32 (1990), pp. 1-12.

218

Tribals, Empire and God

in power and those who have been disempowered. Bethlehem reminds the tnbals of their own tiny hamlets and villages, which become bases for their struggle against big powers at the centre. Intertextual readings further convey the notion that the Messiah will remove the enemy from Jerusalem and make it a safe place. But the liberating works of the Messiah he somewhere in the future. In the immediate context of the time of his birth, the narrator informs the reader, God is at work to make the ancient promise come to fruition. The narrative is replete with instances of God's intrusions in the events: God causes the magi to observe the appearance of the star of the Messiah and directs them to Jerusalem; God makes the star reappear and lead the magi to Bethlehem; God warns the magi in a dream so they do not report back to Herod: With these interventions God thwarts Herod's plot and protects the child Messiah. The magi are participants in the subversion of Rome by their obedience to God.

6 THE REFUGEE MESSIAH

Introduction Matthew's Christmas story is not a quiet and peaceful story. Rather than the carol 'Silent Night', it evokes a lament 'Violent Night'. And extraordinarily, there remains a 'weeping and wailing' in Bethlehem to this day. The sense of dread and unsettledness of the previous sections reaches its climax here. Herod's intention is revealed for the first time; murder is on his agenda. God warns Joseph of the danger to the child's life and Joseph takes his family and flees to Egypt. There are strong intertextual links between this account and the story of Moses who was also threatened at the time of his birth by the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Messiah relives the life of many people who, in the past, sought refuge in Egypt and also returned from Egypt. But unlike the previous voluntary exile of the people to Egypt, the Messiah's family flees from Herod's tyranny. The uprooting of an ordinary peasant family from their home, turning them into refugees in a foreign nation, unmasks the inhumanity of imperial rule. The fdea that the Messiah was a fugitive refugee is a symbol of hope for the displaced, the exiled and for those living in diaspora. Tribal reading will emphasize this particular perspective as many tnbals find themselves in a similar situation.'

1. 'The emigre Holy Family,fleeinginto Egypt, is the archetype of every refugee family. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, living in exile in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for all times and places, the models and protectors of every migrant, alien and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear or persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved parents and relatives, his close friends and to seek a foreign soil' (Exsul Familia, Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII, 1952). Quoted in Martin O'Kane, 'The Flight into Egypt: Icon of Refuge for the H(a)unted', in Martin O'Kane (ed.), Borders, Boundaries and the Bible (London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2002), pp. 15-60 (18).

220

Tribals, Empire and God

The evilness of imperial rule is most fully revealed in the massacre of children. This event also discloses the disparity between the centre and the margin, good and evil, God and empire. The massacre is difficult to understand because it raises the uncomfortable question of why God did not prevent it* However, the account is true to what the reader knows aboutthe world-war, murder and injustice are part of human existence. Especially in the context of imperial rule, these are the consequences of oppressive structures. God, in contrast, offers an alternative marginal existence. Reading Matthew

2.13-23

2.13 'Avaxcjpriodyrcjy 5e am&v [Sou'tiyytloc,Kupiou 4>aiverai Kar' ovap ru 'Ia)af|4> Xiyw eyepGeli; TiapdXaPdTOirai5iov Kal rpv |_ir|TCpa avkoO Kal (beOve tic, AIVVJTTTOV Kal LO6L EKEL eax; &v ELTTCJ aor ueAAei yap 'Hpa^ric

Cr^ivTOua^vTOOaTO^aaiauTO. Now, when they had withdrawn, look, an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying, 'Get up, take the child and his mother andfleeto Egypt and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to seek the child to kill him'. The menace posed by Herod is real and present. The furtive flight of the magi back to their country by another route following divine warning through a dream is immediately followed by another dream forewarning Joseph of the danger to the child Messiah. This is the third dream of the infancy narrative. Jewish sensitivity to and reverence for God made intermediaries such as dream-visions and angels ideal as modes of divine revelations The dream here follows the typical structure of fuller dream reports in Matthew's infancy narrative-an angel of the Lord appears in a dream, delivers a message that warns and/or gives a command to the recipient, the dream ends and the dreamer obeys the instruction/

2. Richard J. Enckson, 'Divine Injustice? Matthew's Narrative Strategy and the Slaughter of the Innocents (Matthew 2.13-23)', JSNT 64 (1996), pp. 5-27. 3. Cf.Gnuse,'Dream Genre', p. 116. 4. Soares-Prabhu, Formula Quotations, p. 185; Edgar W. Conrad, 'The Annunciation of Birth and the Birth of the Messiah', CBQ 47 (1985), pp. 656-63 (656). Gnuse, 'Dream Genre', p. 107, points out many more structural similarities. Gnuse says that the command is always to travel somewhere but this is true only for Mt. 2.13 and 2.20, not for Mt. 1.20-21.

6. The Refugee Messiah

221

In essence, the dream continues the theme of divine intervention in human affairs. Joseph's dream underlines the divine protection of the child Messiah. The accounthas several parallels in Jewish Scriptures and other ancient literature.^ The dream of Joseph has its counterparts in the dreams in Jewish Scriptures, such as the dream of Abraham (Gen. 15.1220), the dream of Jacob (Gen. 28.10-22) and particularly the dreams of another called Joseph (Gen. 37.5-11).« But it resonates most closely with the story of Moses.' Like Jesus, Moses was in danger from a ruler at the time of his birth. Like the killing of male children at the time of Moses' birth, there is a massacre of children at the time of Jesus' birth. Moses grew up in Egypt and the flight of Joseph and his family to Egypt results in Jesus also growing up in Egypt, though not for many years. On the other hand, the flight to Egypt echoes Moses' flight from Pharaoh to Midian (Exod. 2.15; the word for 'flee' in LXX Exod 2.15 is the same as in Mt. 2.13). In rabbinic tradition, Moses' birth was predicted by astrologers.* Others say a scribe predicted his birth and Moses' father was warned in a dream to protect him (Ant. 2.205-17, 234-36). 9

5. Luz, Matthew 1-7, pp. 152-55, gives a lengthy list of rescued royal children as background of Mt. 1.18-2:23: Moses, Abraham, Rev. 12, Cypselus, Mrthndates, Romulus and Remus, Augustus, Nero, Gilgamesh, Sargon I, Cyrus, Zoroaster legend, Fredun, Krishna. 6. Gundry, Matthew, pp. 22, 33,findsthe background of Joseph's dreams in the dreams of the patnarchs Jacob and Joseph. 7. The Moses typology is discussed in detail in Dale C. Allison, The New Moses: A Matthean Typology (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993). Also, among many, Gundry, Use of the Old Testament, p. 209. In a departure from the usual Moses parallel, J.O. Tuni, 'La tipologia Israel-Jesus en Mt \-2\Estudios Eclesiásticos 47 (1972), pp. 361-76, regards Herod's desire to kill Jesus as a parallel with Laban's desire to kill Jacob. Referred to in Keener, Gospel ofMatthew, p. 107. An ancient midrashonDeut. 26.5-8 interprets Jacob's departure to Egypt as aflightfrom Laban, who is depicted as being more wicked than Pharaoh. See Louis Fmkelstem, 'The Oldest Midrash: Pre-Rabbinic Ideals and Teachings in the Passover Haggadah', HTR 31 (1938), pp. 291-317; David Daube, The New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism (repr. 1973, Salem,NH: Ayer, 1992), pp. 189-92; KarinHednerZetterholm,.Portrait ofa Villain: Laban the Aramean in Rabbinic Literature (Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Culture and Religion, 2; Leuven: Peeters, 2002), p. 183. 8. b. Sanh. 101a; b. Sot. 12b; Exod. Rab. on 1.12. See Keener, Gospel of Matthew, p. 107 n. 103. 9. Noted in Soares-Prabhu, Formula Quotations, pp. 289-90; Brown, Birth of the Messiah, pp. 114-15; Meier, Matthew, p. 13; John Andrew Overman, Matthew’s Gospel and Formative Judaism: The Social World of the Matthean Community (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1990), pp. 77-78; Keener, Gospel of Matthew, p. 107.

222

Tribals, Empire and God

Now, when they had withdrawn, look, an angel of the Lord appears in a dream to Joseph, saying 4vaxcop&> links this section of the narrative wrth the previous section which ended with the same word. Although it is not stated how much time had passed between the departure of the magi and Joseph's dream, the context of the story makes it likely that the dream happened right after the magi left for their country. Indeed, the events appear to happen very quickly. The arrival and departure of the magi, Joseph's dream and flight by night, all appear to happen in a single night or two nights, an impression aided by the narrator's brevity. A favourite word of the narrator, l6ou, which was used to introduce the magi (2.1) and the reappearance of the star (2.9), is used once again. It draws the reader's attention to the action taking place within the dream. Although the narration now describes Joseph's dream, it is narrated lucidly and vividly, as though it is happening in real time. The reader's perception of the dream as something not merely happening in Joseph's sleep but an event that can be seen is heightened by the use of the word L6ou together with the historical present dxttv^ai. The narrator appears to be describing an actual vision that the reader can see along with the character of the narrative. In fact, 6vaP in Matthaean usage is not just a dream but a vision.- From the perspective of the tribal reader too, dreams are regarded as divine revelation. The tribal view about dreams is not too different from that of the first-century biblical world. Tribals consider some particularly vivid dreams as communications from God or the spirits to instruct, to protect from future dangers, or to guide human activity. Thus gvap as a vision-dream appears reasonable to fhe tribal reader. An angel, avYeAoc too is an acceptable concept to the tribal reader. While there is no developed angelology in tribal worldview, tribals do believe in the existence of helpful spirit-beings who look after the welfare of humans. There are spint-beings who bless people with good harvest, and spints-beings who make people prosper. Sometimes, departed loved ones reappear to instruct those still living abouthow they should conduct their life. Unlike the images found in modern Western cultures, these 'angel-like' beings do not dress in white robes and have no wings. Thus tribals have a more down-to-earth image of angelic beings than the representations of angels that have become the standard of Christian tradition. The important thing is that tribals can appreciate

10. DerekS.Dodson/Dreams^heAndentNovels^ndtheGospelofMatthew: An Intertextual Study', PRS 29 (2002), pp. 39-52 (40).

6. The Refugee Messiah

223

the appearance of angels in dreams or in day-to-day life, and therefore the tribal reader can get immersed within the narrative world of the story. ‘Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you’ kyzpQd, could mean waking up from sleep or getting up in order to do something or go elsewhere. In a previous narration of a dream in 1.24. ^ p f e f c is used but there it is specified that Joseph got up from sleepi l Y 6 pfek 6^ 6 Icoofa ckb xoC i W Here, however, the word ikvoc is not used and so the latter meaning is likely. Except for the statement that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, the rest of the story is narrated as though ft is happening m a state of alert wakefulness. In the next verse, the reader will notice that Joseph 'gets up' and follows the divine command. Nothing is said about awaking from sleep. The absence of a specific statement that Joseph wakes has the effect of blending the world of vision-dream and the concrete world so as to make the two indistinguishable. Sentence construction in which the child is named prior to the mother occurred first in 2.11, where it is said that the magi came and saw the child with his mother Mary." In 2.11, the non-reference to Joseph was awkward, as the reader would have expected both parents to be present when the magi came. Here, the phrase is much more natural because the presence of Joseph is already indicated by the fact that he was the one doing the dreaming. Joseph is the active character and the child and the mother are the subjects of his action. The non-mention of Joseph in 2.11 and the phrase 'the child and his mother', TO ™UHOV KCU 4 HT^pa rikoO, here and on three other following occasions (2.14, 20, 21) can only be explained as a reluctance on the part of the narrator to refer to Joseph as the father of the child. The expression relates Mary to Jesus rather than to Joseph as spouse of Mary. Joseph is never referred to as the father of the child in the entire narrative. This is probably because Joseph is not Jesus' biological father. However, it could also be a technique to strengthen the idea of the Messiah's supernatural origins.

11. Some suggest thatTOTTCU5LOV Kal rfiv i_mrepa MJTOO echoes Exod. 4.20 where it is stated that Moses took the woman and the child back to Egypt on a donkey. The connection is tenuous as Matthew's account does not have a donkey. Cf. France, Gospel ofMatthew, p. 78 n. 8.

224

Tribals, Empire and God

Joseph is commanded to take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. 4*CY6 IS the same word used in LXX Exod. 2.15 to narrate the flight of Moses from Pharaoh in Egypt. Although it is Joseph who performs the actions, the reader understands that it is Jesus who relives the story of Moses. But the account also brings to mind an even older tradition of another Joseph who is sold by his brothers to the Midiamtes who in turn sell him to the Egyptians (Gen. 37.12-36). Joseph's story is interspersed with several dream accounts (his own dream, Gen. 37.5-11; the dreams of two prisoners, Gen. 40; the dream of the Pharaoh, Gem 41). The narrative goes on to reveal that Joseph was sent to Egypt by God in order to save the family of Jacob (Gen. 45.7-8). Thus Jacob/ Israel's entire family migrates to Egypt (Gen. 46). Granted, this migration was not because of persecution However, if the family had not moved to Egypt they would have perished because of the famine that ravaged the land everywhere. This account of settlement in Egypt also prepares for the subsequent exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses. The flight to Egypt is connected with historical data that confirm a long tradition of Jewish immigration to that country (1 Kgs 11.17,40; 2 Kgs 25.26; Jer. 26.21; 42.13-44.30; 2 Mace. 5.8; Ant. 12.387-88; 14.21; 15.45-46; War 7.409-10). n Egypt is often the land of oppression but at other times it is a land of sanctuary. In the first century BCE, Egypt had a large Jewish population that constituted approximately one-third of the population. There were as many as a million Jews in and around Alexandria.» Thus Egypt was a country where Jews traditionally sought refuge or political asylum, when there was trouble in Palestine. In the first century BCE, many had sought sanctuary in Egypt from oppression of Roman and Herodian rule. The command to stay 'there' in Egypt until further command from God underlines the fact that God is in charge, directing events, looking after the safety of the child Messiah. For people like the tnbals of North East India who are caught in a perilous political situation across three national borders and facing economic ruin, the story of God who takes care of events for the salvation of dispossessed people raises hope for a better future. 12. France, Gospel ofMatthew, p. 79 n. 10. 13. John E. Stambaugh and David L. Balch, The New Testament in Its Social Environment (Library of Early Christianity, 2; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), pp. 165-67. Philo (Flacc. 43) estimates that during his time there were no less than one million Jews living in Alexandria and the country. He claims that two of Alexandria's five residential sectors were Jewish {Flacc. 8).

6. The Refugee Messiah

225

‘For Herod is going to seek the child to kill him’ The sentence is bnef and direct. Herod, the brutal king, is out 'to destroy' (A™Xio«u), that is, 'to kill', the child. The message is not about a possibility but a certainty, if the child stays where he is. The LXX Exod. 2.15 has iLteiv for A ™ L « u at this point. But an allusion to Moses typology is possible, for in the LXX the word occurs together with / v ^ P W as it does here. It is through the words of the angel of Joseph's dream that the reader is now able to unravel what Herod has been planning all along. The undercurrent of grave danger that is hinted at on many occasions but not s t a t e d - t h e troubled Herod at the arrival of the magi, his careful questioning about the time of the appearance of the star, his dubious declaration that he wanted to pay homage to the child, and the warning to the magi in a d r e a m - n o w becomes apparent. The reader's suspicion of Herod's motive is confirmed. Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. 2.14 6 5e eyepGeli; TTapeA,aBev TO raiSiov Kai zbv Lrnrepa auroO VVKIOQ Kal ^pwdeAiyuuTOV, So he got up, took the child and his mother by night and withdrew to Egypt Joseph's actions-getting up, taking the child and his mother, and going to Egypt-follow exactly the command of the angel in Mt. 2.13 The obedience of Joseph recalls that of his ancestors who obeyed divine command to become sojourners. VUKXOC, 'by night', does much more than indicate the time of departure. It points to the time the Jews fled by night. Exod. 12.30-41 reports that the Pharaoh arose in the night, summoned Moses and Aaron in the night, and said, 'Rise up, go away from my people... Take your flocks and your herds, as you said and be gone.' - I n addition to being an allusion to the exodus, VUKXOC serves to highlight the gnmness surrounding the narrative. Darkness pervades tfcf narrative. The setting of the narrative in the dark of night fittingly points to the darkness of the political situation of the Jewish people and especially the plight of the peasants. The scene of the arrival of the magi was enveloped in darkness. 14. Anne M. O'Leetry, Matthew ’s Judaization of Mark: Examined in the Context of the Use of Sources in Graeco-Roman Antiquity (London: L. & L. Clark, 2006). p. 141.

226

Tribals, Empire and God

That darkness was broken by the light of the star signalling the birth of the child Messiah and showing the place where he lay. The magi receive a dream, most presumably at night warning them of danger and they go back home in secret. Now Joseph receives his vision-dream and escapes 'by night'. The narrative implies that Joseph went away to Egypt by night not just because he wanted to obey God's command immediately but also because going by night would have lessened the danger of being caught by the spies and soldiers of Herod. As in 2.13, kytpQtlc, is not accompanied by a reference to sleep. The effect is as though Joseph saw the angel in a state of wakefulness and now'gets u p ' t o obey the command. Once again, the narrative alludes to Moses and the first Passover. When the Israelites fled from the land of Egypt, they fled by night (Exod. 12.42).- Besides that connection, the ninth plague that God sent to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let Israel go was a plague of darkness. This was just before the death of the firstborn. While this is not a direct parallel, the setting of the narrative at night to be followed by a massacre of children makes a comparison possible at this point. dveYGopriaev el, 'to go away, withdraw', as noted in 2.12, points not just to an act of going away but of escape from opposition and persecution. Since they had to escape suddenly in the middle of the night, it must be assumed that they had no time to pack. Perhaps they bundled the gifts of the magi together with a few essentials for making a long journey flung them on a donkey (as some later tradition suggests), and set out towards a strange land and an uncertain future. Certafnly, it would have been deeply upsetting to abandon everything they knew and cherished and to run away People of North East India have first-hand knowledge of refugees and immigrants and the problems they f a c e - First of all, most of the North East ethnic groups recognize that somewhere in the forgotten past their 15. Allison, New Moses, p. 156. 16. I use the term 'refugee' to refer to someone whofleeshis or her own country and seeks refuge in another country due to persecution, fear of persecution, war. natural or human created disaster, discrimination because of race, religion, social group, or because he or she holds a different political opmion. By 'immigrant' I refer to someone who relocates to another country from his or her own country of nationality to seek better economic life, pursue higher education or to try to find life in community.

6. The Refugee Messiah

227

ancestors migrated from distant lands. The Naga tribes think they could be descendants of the head-hunters of Malay, or the races of the Southern Seas, or from mainland China." The Garos believe they migrated from Tibet.- The Tarn group of tribes which includes Nyishis, Tagins, Hill Mins, Adis and Apatanis claim their homeland lies to the North in Tibet, or to the East, in Northern Burma and Southwest China." The Tai Ahom identify their roots to Dependency Mao in South-western Yunnan, in China, and trace their migration to different regions such as Myanmar (Shan), Thailand (Thai) Laos (Lao), China (Dai and Zhuang) and Vietnam (Tay-thai)- The Mog tribe could have come from the ancient Mogadha Empire or else they could have migrated from Arakan to Tnpura in 957 CE as some of them c l a i m - And the 'tea garden' and 'ex-tea garden' tribes, which includes the Santal, Munda, Khana, Ho, Bhumji, Oraon, Khond, Gond, Mai, Pahana, Khamer, Gor, Kul and Bhil tribes collectively called Adivasis, were brought from Jharkand and Bihar by the British in 1840s as indentured, immigrant labour. The practice of labour migration from Central and Eastern India continued even after World War II and added three million migrant labourers to Assam.17. Hutton, Angami Nagas, p. 8. Additionally, among many, other theories place the Nagas as descendants of Jurchen Manchus whofledthe Mongol conquest of the Chin Dynasty in 1234 CE, or as the people of the Kiratas in the Vedas, compiled some ten centuries before Christ. Cf Ezamo Murry, Tribal Spirituality Reconsidered: A Psychological Study of Religion (Development Education Series, 51: Delhi: NavdmPrakashanKendra of the ISPCK, 1995), pp. 50-55. 18. A. Playfair, The Garos (Gauhati: United Publishers, 1975), p. xxxi. 19. For the Burma/China hypothesis, G. van Driem, Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook ofthe Greater Himalayan Region (2 vols.; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001): SachinRoy,^Aspects ofPadam-Minyong Culture (Itanagar: Directorate of Research, 3rd edn, 1997). For the Tibetan hypothesis, T. Nyori, History and Culture of the Adis (New Delhi: Omsons, 1993); J. Nath, Cultural Heritage of Tribal Societies. I. The Adis (New Delhi: Omsons, 2000). For a discussion of the hypothesis, see Stuart Blackburn, 'Memories of Migration: Notes on Legends and Beads in Arunachal Pradesh, India', European Bulletin ofHimalayan Research 35/36 (2003/2004), pp. 15-60, www.soas.ac.uk/tnbaltransitions/ pubhcations/file32489.pdf (accessed 3 March 2011). 20. Old Assam, 'The Tai Expedition into Assam under Sm-Ka-Pha (12151268)', http://www.oldassam. com/assam_history6.htm (accessed 2 March 2011). 21. S.C. Bhatt and Gopal K. Bhargava (eds.), Land and People ofIndian States and Union Territories: Pondicherry (Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2006), p. 184. 22. Bert Suykens, 'Internal Borders and Conflict: Lessons from Bodoland. Assam (India)', Conflict Research Group, Working Paper 5, June 2005, www: psw.ugent.be/crg/publications/.../workmgpaper_suykens. pdf (accessed 2 March 2011). Further on the Adivasi situation of North East India: Umananda Phukan, The

228

Tribals, Empire and God

Butthe tribal understanding of refugee and immigrant life derives not only from their history of migration but also from several other factors. The region is overflowing with migrant workers from Bihar, Kerala. Punjab Rajasthan, West Bengal and other states of India, whereas some indigenous tribes don't have a place to call their own. For instance, the Kuki-Chin group are scattered over Arunachal Pradesh, Mampur, Nagaland and Tnpura. Some tribes are internally displaced due to development projects, violent conflicts, counter-insurgency operations, natural disasters and the occupation of land by migrating communitiesAccording to the US Committee for Refugees report of 1998, the total number of displaced persons in North East India was between 170,000 and 2 3 0 , 0 0 0 - Furthermore, many non-indigenous communities in North East India are refugees or immigrants from neighbouring countries. They are ethnic groups from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal who have been forced by persecution and discrimination to flee from their homelands and seek refuge in the region. In particular, a policy of genocide against hill tribals by the government of Bangladesh pushed millions of tribals into North East India. For instance, in the 1980s the Chakma tribe of the Chittagong Hill Tracts had a total population of 550,000. Due to mass genocide massacres, tortures and rapes by the Bangladesh military forces and the Islamic fundamentalist group known as Jamat-e-Islami, 250,000 Chakma tribals fled to North East IndiaThere are numerous other tribes in the Sylhet Hills and in the hilly regions North of Mymensingh who share historical and social affinities, Ex-Tea Garden Labour Population in Assam: A Socio-Economic Study (Delhi: B. R. Publishing Corp., 1984); Thomas Pulloppillil (ed.), Identity of Adivasis in Assam (Delhi: Indian Publishers Distributors, 1999); Sarthak Sengupta, The Tea Labourers of North East India (New Delhi: Mitttal Publications, 2009). 23. Forabnefovervrew^eeBhaumrk/Indra'sNortheast^.MT.Forathorough discussionoftheproblem of cross-border migration and mternal displacement m the region, see Omprakash Mishra, Forced Migration in the South Asian Region: Displacement, Human Rights, and Conflict Resolution (New Delhi: Manak Publications, 2004); Uddipana Goswann, 'Internal Displacement, Migration, and Policy in Northeastern India', East-West Center Washington Working Papers 8 (April 2007). http://www.eastwestcenter.org/fileadmm/stored/pdfs/ EWCWwp008.pdf (accessed 3 March 2011). 24. South AsiaHumanRightsDocumentationCentre, 'NoRefuge: ThePhghtof Conflict-Induced Internally Displaced Persons in India', Human Rights Features 3 3 (March 2001). 25. Jagadish K. Patnaik, 'The State and Civil Society in Mizoram: The PostAccord Syndrome', in idem (ed.), Mizoram: Dimensions and Perspectives: Society, Economy and Polity (New Delhi: Concept Publishing, 2008), pp. 74-90 (89 n. 24). Cf. Prakash, Encyclopedia of North-East India, pp. 1803-10.

6. The Refugee Messiah

229

and geographical contiguity with North East India, and who also face persecution and discrimination in Bangladesh and seek refuge in North East India. But the largest number of refugees is the economy migrants who have crossed over to North East India from Bangladesh to escape an impoverished existence in Bangladesh. According to a report made by the Task Force on Border Management made in August 2000, there were 15 million Bangladeshi immigrants in India, with 300,000 Bangladeshis crossing the border into India every month. However, on 28 September 2003, the then Indian Defence Minister stated in a seminar that about 100,000 Bangladeshi migrants enter India every month.- As North East India is closest to Bangladesh, the region bears the brunt of immigrants and refugees from Bangladesh." The change in demographic profile brought about by successive migrations has reduced the indigenous tnbafs in Tnpura to a minority in their own land. The already fragile social and political situation of the region has become more volatile and ethnic tension and prejudices often erupt into violent confrontationsAs a result of the socio-histoncal circumstances of North East India. the problems and issues that refugees and immigrants face are familiar to the tnbals of the region. Tnbafs of the region are particularly aware of the sort of political suppression and socio-religious persecution that make families and communities leave hearth and home and seek refuge elsewhere, away from their country of birth. Thus for the tribal reader. the situation of the family of the child Messiah would be seen not simply as the consequence of a king who wanted to safeguard his throne, but also as a reflection of the system of oppression earned out by an impenal power. The nanative speaks of deliverance from imperial p o w e r - t h e child is hounded out of his ancestral home and out of his country by the foreign ruler, but he is protected by divine intervention. A child Messiah who was a refugee himself, who therefore knows the depths of despair refugees face, has deep theological significance and inspires hope for refugees. 26. Ramtanu Maitra, 'India's Ticking Immigrant Time Bomb', Asia Times Online (14 January 2005), http://www.atimes.com/atimes/SouthAsia/ GA14Df05.html (accessed 2 March 2011). 27. Dipankar Senguptaand Sudhir Kumar Singh (eds.), Insurgency in North-East India: The Role ofBangladesh (Delhi: Authorspress in association with the Society for the Promotion of Activities for National Development and Nation Building. 2004). 28. LopitaNath, 'Migrants in Flight: Conflict-Induced Internal Displacement of Nepalis inNortheast India', Peace and Democracy in South Asia 1 (2005), pp. 5772, deals with the Nepalis. Many other communities face similar situation in the region.

230

Tribals, Empire and God 2.15 KCU f,v fctf '&* die ^ircffc 'Hptfioir LVK ^pcoGfl ro pr^v fori Kupio, 5iaTOCTTpo^iiTOU lAyovxoQ' k£ ALYUTTTOU 6KdA,eoa rov ulov |_iou. and he was there until Herod had died, in order that it might be fulfilled what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying: 'Out of Egyptlhave called my son'.

The narrator moves forward to the future, anticipating the coming return of the Messiah from Egypt after the death of H e r o d - For the implied reader, the reference to Egypt as the place of refuge from persecution recalls a world hostile to the Messiah. But beyond that, Egypt also brings to mind the followers of Jesus, who were not treated any better by the rulers of the land and who found refuge in cities populated by Gentiles. And he was there until Herod had died The narrative jumps from the flight to Egypt to the rc^, 'end' or 'death', of H e r o d - Although the actual length of time that elapsed between the flight to Egypt and the death of Herod is not mentioned, the brief sentence allows for the passage of time. The implied reader can assume that the stay in Egypt would have been brief as the narrative continues to refer to Jesus as a child (™L6LOV; Mt. 2.20). With the death of Herod, the immediate threat to the life of the Messiah is over and safe return becomes possible. The narrator does not focus on what Joseph's family did during that period but only in the fact that their lives, and particularly the life of the child Messiah, are preserved in Egypt. Additionally, the narrator is interested in the call of the Messiah out of Egypt.

29. Some interpreters think that the escape to Egypt is not based on an actual historical event but that it was invented by the evangelist in order to accommodate the formula quotation. See, e.g., Gundry, Matthew, p. 32; Joe Nickell, Relics of the Christ (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2007), pp. 5-6. Others think that the fulfilment formula quotation appears in the text precisely because the Messiah and his family spent some time in Egypt. M.J. Down, 'The Matthean Birth Narratives', ExpTim 90 (1978-79), pp. 51 -52, commenting on the collection of five fulfilments of prophecies in Mt. 1.18-2.23, states: 'We must conclude that the evangelist did not start with prophecy and invent a story; he started with a story and slipped in certain prophecies, in some cases not too cleverly'. Morris, Matthew, p. 42, believes that it is a historical account because Egypt 'was almost the traditional country to which to flee when there was trouble in Palestine'. 30. According to BDAG, s.v., reXeurri is 'that which marks the point at which something ceases to exist, end, a euphemism for death'.

6. The Refugee Messiah

231

The Moses typology is continued. Exodus 4.19 states: 'After these many days the king of Egypt died. The Lord said to Moses in Midian. "Go back to Egypt for all those seeking your life have died".' The first part of this verse referring to the death of the king of Egypt appears in the LXX and not in the MT The difference between Exod 4.19 and this text is that the immediate quotation that follows in Matthew is about coming out of Egypt whereas Exod. 4.19 speaks of returning to Egypt. Yet the parallel is too close to be ignored. Perhaps at this point, the narrator's interest is in the preservation of Jesus in E g y p t - K ai ^v tei stresses residence in Egypt. However, the quotation from Hos. 11.1 that follows indicates that the narrator is also interested in the significance of Jesus' call out of Egypt. Thus the text possibly alludes both to a preservation of life in Egypt and to a calling out of Egypt. In order that it might be fulfilled what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet saying The fulfilment formula is exactly the same as Mt. 1.22. W , 'in order that', and ^ r p o c , 'to fulfil', point to the fulfilment of divine purpose. 6™ Kuptou, 'by the Lord', occurs only here and in 1.22. The fonnula reflects the view that the words of Scripture are God's words mediated through prophets. What is said by a prophet is as good as words spoken by the Lord. The flight to Egypt accomplishes two purposes. Firstly, it saves the child Messiah from the clutches of Herod. He and his parents have to live as refugees, but at least they survive. Secondly, the flight enables the fulfilment of ancient prophecy. For the narrator, and hence for the reader too, the events of history are not random happenings but follow a trajectory set by God. Especially where the Messiah is concerned, the outworking of the divine purpose is evident in the Messiah's life. ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son’ The sentence from Scripture is quoted without naming the prophet who spoke it. For the implied reader, and possibly for Matthew, the words of the prophets and all Scripture stem from God. Here the prophet is reporting God's direct speech. God is the ' I ' who called the son out of 31. Gundry, Matthew, p. 34, states: 'Matthew is not highlighting Jesus' later departure from Egypt as a new Exodus, but God's preservation of Jesus in Egypt as a srgn of his divine sonship'. He arrives at this conclusion however, not from Exod. 4.19 but from the fact that the quotation from Hosea takes place before the return to Palestine from Egypt and also from the emphasis onresidence in Egypt in Ihe clause preceding the quotation.

232

Tribals, Empire and God

Egypt. The Scripture quotation comes from Hos. 11.1 where Israel is addressed as the son of God. In its Matthaean form, the text agrees more with the MT than with the LXX: MT: 'When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son(^)'. LXX: 'Because Israel was a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt I summoned his children (neraoOeoa rcc ™ KuroO)'. The LXX has the plural 'his children' whereas the MT has 'my son'. The quotation in Matthew has 'my son'. Thus in its proper context, 'my son' is not Moses but Israel.32 The narrative has echoes of the stories of Jacob and Laban. Laban was known as a deceiver and a half-foreigner like Herod. Jacob escaped to Egypt following advice from God in a dream like Jesus. Moses, on the other hand, fled to Midian and returned to Egypt. Furthermore, the Moses account is not interspersed with dream reports. However, the Moses motif should not be ruled out entirely from the reading. The promise to call all Israel out of Egypt was given to Jacob but that promise was seen as fulfilled through Moses. As noted earlier (2.13), in Jewish Midrash, Moses' birth was predicted by astrologers. which parallels the announcement of the birth of Jesus by the chief priests and scribes and the magi. This quote is preceded by a distinct allusion to the command given to Moses to return to Egypt because all those who sought to kill htm were dead (Exod. 4.19), as noted above in the discussion of Herod's death. Thus the text should not be read as only alluding to Jacob/Israel or only to Moses. Rather, it is appropriate to read the text as having allusions to multiple narratives of Israel's history. Another close scriptural connection is found in Num. 24.8 LXX, which says, 'God led ( c i & W * , ) him out of Egypt'. This passage in Numbers is Balaam's oracle concerning Jacob/Israel. Just before this statement is made, the text (Num. 24.7 LXX) reads: 'A man will come out of his seed, and he will rule over many nations'. The MT text has: 'Water shall flow from his buckets, and his seed shall have abundant water'. The LXX has messianic undertones at 24.7, which adds to the possibility of messianic reference in 24.8. As such, Num. 24.7, indicating that God led the Messiah out of Egypt, resembles Matthew's quotation.33 But although an 32. Daube, New Testament and Rabbinic Judaism, p. 191, argues that this is the case not only in its original context but is attested by the LXX, the Targum and the rabbinic exegetes (e.g. Deut. R. on 16.18). 33. Davies and Allison, Matthew, p. 262, believe that the story of the magi and the star led Matthew to Num. 24.7 and then to 24.8, which led him to Hos. 11.1.

6. The Refugee Messiah

233

allusion to Num. 24.8 is possible, Matthew's quotation is closer to the Hebrew text of Hosea or a Greek version of Hosea that is closer to the Hebrew than the LXX. In its original context, the Hosean text refers to the historical exodus. It is not realfy a prophecy about the future. However. this does not pose a problem as the exodus was viewed as a type that would be repeated in the messianic redemption (cf Isa. 11.11; 40.3-4; 42.14-55:13; Ezek. 20.33-44; Hos. 2.14-15; 12.9; Mic. 7.15; 1 Mace! 2.29-30). By drawing a parallel between Jesus and the exodus and developing an Israel-Jesus typology, the narrator places Jesus at the centre of Israel's history. Exodus is repeated anew. Jesus embodies Israel, recapitulates its history, and fulfils the full potential of the exodus. 2.16 Tore