"What Does God Do? Divine Actives and Divine Passives in the Gospel of Matthew"
Robert L. Mowery
Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL 61702
Copyright 2002
Matthew Section of the Society of Biblical Literature
Royal York Hotel, Salon A
Toronto, Ontario – 10:30 a.m., Nov. 24, 2002

 

Many Matthean passages explicitly identify God as the grammatical subject of an active verb which describes a past, present, or future divine act. One such passage is Jesus’ promise that "your Father in heaven will give good things to those who ask him" (7:11). This statement explicitly identifies the Father as the grammatical subject of the future active verb "will give." We will refer to the verbs in such statements as "divine active verbs" or simply "divine actives."

The First Gospel also contains many "divine passives" whose implied agent is God. Such a verb occurs, for example, in Jesus’ words, "Ask, and it will be given to you" (7:7a). Since the passive verb "it will be given" is widely identified as a divine passive,1 these words are commonly read as "Ask, and it will be given to you (by God)." We will refer to the verbs in such statements as "divine passive verbs" or simply "divine passives."

The goal of this study is to identify and compare the divine active verbs and divine passive verbs in Matthean statements which proclaim God’s dealings with human beings. The first section examines the divine actives in positive theological statements which announce God’s gracious acts toward human beings, while the second section reviews the divine actives in negative theological statements which warn about God’s negative judgment of human beings or refer to other divine acts (such as testing or temptation) which could be interpreted as negative acts. The third section surveys the divine passives in positive theological statements, while the fourth section focuses on the divine passives in negative theological statements. The final section offers a series of concluding observations. It will be seen that there are significant differences between the divine actives and divine passives in these theological statements.

Besides the divine actives and divine passives in statements which announce God’s dealings with human beings, the First Gospel contains many divine actives and divine passives which proclaim the divine role in such other acts as speaking through the Scriptures2 or empowering the ministry and resurrection of Jesus.3 The verbs in such statements will be excluded from this study; they deserve separate investigations.

This study focuses on the text of the First Gospel in its final form. No attempt will be made to trace the pre-Matthean history of the verbs which will be discussed.

 
Table 1
Divine Actives and Divine Passives in Statements which Announce
God’s Dealings with Human Beings in Matthew 1-7
 
Divine Actives
Divine Passives
Positive Statements
Negative Statements
Positive Statements
Negative Statements
Matthew 1-4
 
---
---
2:12 having been warned (ptc.)
---
---
---
2:22 having been warned (ptc.)
---
---
3:9 is able to raise up
---
3:10b is cut down
---
---
---
3:10c is thrown
Sermon on the Mount
 
---
---
5:4 will be comforted
---
---
---
5:6 will be filled
---
---
---
5:7 will be shown mercy
---
---
---
5:9 will be called
---
---
---
? 5:19b will be called ? 5:19a will be called
5:45b makes rise
---
---
---
5:45c sends rain
---
---
---
---
[6:1b (indirect statement)
---
---
6:4b seeing (ptc.) … will reward
---
---
---
6:6b seeing (ptc.) … will reward
---
---
---
6:8 knows
---
---
---
6:11 give (impv.)
---
---
---
6:12 forgive (impv.)
---
---
---
6:13b deliver (impv.) 6:13a do not lead (impv.)
---
---
6:14 will forgive 6:15 will not forgive
---
---
6:18b seeing (ptc.) … will reward
---
---
---
[6:26 feeds (birds)]
---
---
---
[6:30 clothes (grass)]
---
---
---
6:32 knows
---
6:33 will be added
---
---
---
---
7:1 may not be judged
---
---
---
7:2a will be judged
---
---
---
7:2b will be measured
---
---
7:7a will be given
---
---
---
7:7c will be opened
---
---
---
7:8c will be opened
---
7:11 will give
---
---
7:19 is cut down
---
---
---
7:19 is thrown
 
 
Table 2
Divine Actives and Divine Passives in Statements which Announce
God’s Dealings with Human Beings in Matthew 8-28
 
Divine Actives
Divine Passives
Positive Statements
Negative Statements
Positive Statements
Negative Statements
9:8 who gave (ptc.)
---
---
---
9:38 may send out (subj.)
---
---
---
---
---
10:19 will be given
---
[10:20 (Spirit) speak- ing (ptc.)]
---
---
---
---
---
10:26b will be revealed
---
---
---
10:26c will be made known
---
---
10:28 the One who is able (ptc.) to destroy 10:30 counted (ptc.)
---
11:25d have revealed 11:25c have hidden
---
---
---
---
12:31a will be forgiven 12:31b will not be forgiven
---
---
12:32a will be forgiven 12:32b will not be forgiven
---
---
12:37a will be justified 12:37b will be condemned
---
---
---
12:39 will not be given
---
---
13:11b has been given 13:11c has not been given
---
---
13:12a will be given 13:12b will be taken away
13:15g would heal
---
---
---
---
---
---
15:13 will be rooted up
---
---
---
16:4 will not be given
16:17 has revealed
---
---
---
---
---
? 16:19b will be bound ? 16:19c will be loosed
--
---
? 18:18b will be bound ? 18:18c will be loosed
---
18:35 will do
---
---
19:4 the One who created (ptc.)
---
---
---
19:4 made
---
---
---
19:6 has joined together
---
19:11 has been given
---
---
---
20:23 has been prepared
---
---
---
21:43b will be given 21:43a will be taken away
---
---
23:12b will be exalted 23:12a will be humbled
---
---
23:37 sent (ptc.) ? 23:38 is left
---
---
24:22a were shortened
---
---
---
24:22c will be shortened
---
---
---
? 24:40b is taken ? 24:40c is left
---
---
? 24:41b is taken ? 24:41c is left
---
---
25:29a will be given 25:29b will be taken away
---
---
? 25:32 will be gathered together
---
---
---
25:34b blessed (ptc.)
---
---
---
25:34c prepared (ptc.)
---
---
---
---
25:41c prepared (ptc.)
 

 

I. Divine Active Verbs in Positive Theological Statements

God is the grammatical subject of a divine active verb in many passages which proclaim a past, present, or future divine action directed toward human beings. This section focuses on the divine active verbs (including deponents with an active meaning) in positive theological statements which announce God’s gracious dealings with human beings.

Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount (SM) has the largest concentration of divine active verbs in the First Gospel. Nine indicative divine actives are in clauses whose subject is the Father. These clauses are listed below, with the divine actives being underlined:

"he (your Father in heaven) makes his sun rise …" (5:45b)

"he (your Father in heaven) sends rain …" (5:45c)

"your Father … will reward you" (6:4b)

"your Father … will reward you" (6:6b)

"your Father knows what you need" (6:8)

"your heavenly Father will forgive you" (6:14)

"your Father … will reward you" (6:18b)

"your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (6:32)

"your Father in heaven will give good things …" (7:11)

While five of these divine actives are in the future tense (6:4b, 6b, 14, 18b; 7:11), the other four are in the present tense (5:45b, 45c) or have a present tense meaning (6:8, 32).4

Two other indicative actives should also be mentioned. Jesus declared that the Father "feeds" the birds (6:26), and he also claimed that Theos 5 "clothes" the grass (6:30). Although these statements proclaim divine care for birds and grass rather than divine care for people, both are parts of an a minori ad maius argument which moves from the lesser (birds and grass) to the greater (human beings). God is the subject of an active verb in each of these passages.

Several other verbs should be noted. Three of the passages cited above have present participles which declare that the Father "sees in secret" (6:4b, 6b, 18b), and these participles should be classified as "divine actives." Less clear is the status of the aorist imperatives in the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer that ask the Father to "give" us our daily6 bread (6:11), to "forgive" our debts (6:12), and to "deliver" us from evil or the evil one (6:13b).7 Even though none of these petitions states how the Father will respond, all of them reflect the fervent hope that the Father can act and will act as requested.

All of the verbs cited above stand within a comparatively brief span of verses (5:45-7:11) in the central section of the SM, and most of them are concentrated within an even briefer span of thirty-six verses (5:45-6:32). No other portion of the First Gospel has such a concentration of divine active verbs.

Outside the SM. Only five indicative divine actives (or deponents) are in positive statements which identify God’s gracious dealings with people in Matthew 1-4 and 8-28, the twenty-five chapters outside the SM. These five divine actives are identified below:

"you (Father) have revealed them to infants" (11:25d)

"lest … they turn and I (God) would heal them" (13:15g)

"flesh and blood has not revealed (this) to you but my Father in heaven (has revealed it)" (16:17)

"the One who created (them) made them male and female from the beginning" (19:4)

"Therefore what Theos has joined together, let no one separate" (19:6)

It could be argued that these chapters actually contain only four examples of these verbs, since one (16:17) is in an ellipsis.8

These indicative divine actives are in passages which differ in various ways from the passages containing indicative divine actives in the SM. Although the Father is the subject of most of the indicative divine actives in the SM, the Father is the subject of only two of these indicatives (11:25d; 16:17). Both of these indicatives are forms of the verb avpokalu,ptw ("reveal"), a verb not found in the SM. The other three indicative divine actives are either in scriptural material or in a passage which directly follows scriptural material. The verb "I would heal" (13:15g NRSV)9 is in an Isianic quotation in which God speaks in the first person ("I"); in contrast, God never speaks in the first person in the SM10 and never is the subject of an active verb in a scriptural quotation in the SM. The verb "made" in 19:4 is in a scriptural allusion,11 though the appellation "the One who created"12 (which contains a divine active participle) is an addition to this allusion. This appellation never appears elsewhere in this gospel. While the words "what Theos has joined together" (19:6) are not in a scriptural quotation, they stand in the concluding verse of Jesus’ response to the Pharisees which features scriptural material (19:4-5). Unlike the divine actives in 13:15g, 19:4, and 19:6, none of the divine actives in the SM is in a scriptural quotation or directly follows a scriptural quotation.

One other difference between the indicative divine actives in the SM and those outside the SM deserves notice. Though most of the indicatives in the SM are clustered within a comparatively brief span of verses (5:45-6:32), the five indicatives listed above are scattered throughout chapters 11-19. This scattering tends to rob these indicatives of the visibility associated with the concentration of divine actives in the SM.

Three other verbs should be mentioned. After the crowds watched Jesus healing a paralytic, they "glorified Theos who had given such authority to human beings" (9:8). The divine act is announced by an active articular participle ("who had given"). Another active articular participle occurs in Jesus’ assurance that the Spirit of the Father will be "speaking" through the mouths of persecuted disciples (10:20). In this case, however, the agent is the Spirit of the Father and not simply the Father.13 An active subjunctive occurs in Jesus’ words, "Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest that he may send out workers into his harvest" (9:38). Though this saying does not disclose what the Lord will do, the members of Matthew’s community may have assumed that the Lord had already acted as requested.14

Several other statements which explicitly refer to God testify to God’s gracious dealings with human beings. Jesus’ assertion that "there is not a will before your 15 Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost" (18:14) is an indirect way of saying that the Father "does not will" that one of these little ones should be lost,16 and his promise that "it will happen17 (genh,setai) for them from (para.) my Father in heaven" (18:19) is a circuitous way of saying that the Father will cause it to happen. Other examples could be cited.18 But none of these statements names God as the grammatical subject of an active verb.

Comparison. Although the positive theological statements in the SM contain nine indicative divine actives,19 those in the other twenty-five chapters have only five. While all nine of the divine actives in the SM are in clauses whose subject is the Father, only two of those outside the SM are in such statements. Besides these indicative verbs, a number of other verbs and participles proclaim the activity or potential activity of God.20 A reader who focuses on the SM to the neglect of the rest of the First Gospel can easily gain a false impression regarding not only the frequency with which divine active verbs occur in this gospel but also the regularity with which they are associated with the Father.

II. Divine Active Verbs in Negative Theological Statements

Comparatively few divine active verbs are in negative theological statements that warn about God’s judgment or focus on other divine dealings with human beings (such as testing or temptation) that could be interpreted as negative acts. We will first examine the verbs in three passages in the SM (6:1, 13a, 15).

SM. The only indicative divine active in a negative theological statement in the SM is the verb "will forgive" in Jesus’ warning, "But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (6:15). This warning is the second statement in the pair of antithetical statements in 6:14-15. While the positive statement in 6:14 promises that the Father will forgive our trespasses if we forgive the trespasses of others, the negative statement in 6:15 warns that the Father will not forgive our trespasses if we fail to forgive others.

Consider also the active imperative in the sixth petition of the Lord’s Prayer. As translated by the KJV, this petition asks the Father to "lead (eivsene,gkh|j) us not into temptation (peirasmo,n)" (6:13a). Note that this familiar translation suggests that the Father may "lead us into temptation." Since the aorist imperative in this petition can be translated as "lead" or "bring" and since the crucial final word can be translated as "temptation" or "testing," this petition can be translated as "do not lead/bring us into temptation/testing."21 Although many commentators render the final word as "testing" rather than "temptation," they have failed to reach a consensus regarding the interpretation of this petition, for they have variously argued that this petition is asking the Father 1) not to test us (or allow us to be tested) like Abraham, Job, and other scriptural figures were tested,22  2) not to test us so severely during the eschatological woes that we will fall away,23 and 3) not to test us by allowing evil to persist.24 Other readings have also been proposed.25 But unlike the psalmist who prayed, "Try me, O Lord, and test me" (Ps 25:2 LXX), Jesus taught his disciples to beseech the Father not to lead us into testing, and this negative formulation suggests that the testing should be viewed in negative terms. While 6:13a does not say what the Father will do, the wording of this petition intimates that the Father may lead us into testing.

One other negative statement in the SM should be mentioned. After forbidding his hearers to perform their righteous deeds "before people," Jesus warned, "If you do, you do not have a reward with your Father in heaven" (6:1b). These words appear to be equivalent to the warning, "If you do, your Father in heaven will not reward you." But since the Father is not the grammatical subject of the wording found in 6:1b, the verb in this passage ("have") fails to meet the criteria of a divine active verb.

All three of the negative statements examined above contain verbs modified by negative adverbs, for they speak about not having a reward (6:1), not being led into testing (6:13a), and not being forgiven (6:15). Only one of these statements, however, has an indicative divine active verb (6:15). In contrast, as stressed in Section I, the positive theological statements in the SM contain a series of indicative divine active verbs.

Outside the SM. Only four divine active verbs are in negative theological statements located outside the SM. The first of these divine actives is in the words of John the Baptist. When confronting many Pharisees and Sadducees, John preached that "Theos is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham" (3:9). Should this saying be classified as a negative statement? In its Matthean context, this saying stridently warns the religious leaders against exclusivistic claims based on physical descent from Abraham; however, this saying also voices a promise, for it proclaims God’s sovereign ability to raise up children to Abraham in an unconventional way.

Jesus’ words in 11:25 contain both a positive and a negative statement. Before announcing that the Father had "revealed" (11:25d) things to infants, Jesus warned that the Father had "hidden" (11:25c) these things from the wise and intelligent. Note that this statement does not say that the wise and intelligent had failed to discover these things; it says that the Father had "hidden" them.

Two other divine actives are in statements which voice threats. During his missionary discourse Jesus warned that the disciples should fear "the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna" (10:28). Since the articular participle "the One who is able" probably represents a circumlocution for God,26 this saying appears to affirm the power of God "to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." No other Matthean theological statement explicitly emphasizes God’s power "to destroy."

After telling the parable of the unforgiving servant, Jesus concluded, "So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart" (18:35 NRSV). As in 6:15, the Father’s failure to forgive will parallel the human failure to forgive. Given the harshness of the preceding verse (18:34), which pictures a king angrily handing over the unforgiving servant to the torturers, Jesus’ warning that the Father will act in a comparable manner represents a grim threat. When commenting on 18:35, Lambrecht observes that "Matthew one-sidedly directs his attention to threat and punishment; God’s preceding forgiveness is no longer mentioned."27

One divine "non-act" should also be mentioned. After being told that the Pharisees were offended by his words, Jesus warned, "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted" (15:13). Although this saying identifies the Father as the subject of an active verb ("planted"), it identifies something that the Father did not do: the Father did not plant certain plants. The second verb in this saying, the passive verb "will be uprooted," is a divine passive which will be discussed below in Section IV.

Comparison. In summary, comparatively few divine active verbs are in negative theological statements which announce God’s dealings with human beings. Only one indicative divine active is in such a statement in the SM (6:15), and only four are in such statements outside the SM (3:9; 10:28; 11:25c; 18:35). Indicative divine actives occur much more frequently in positive statements than in negative statements in the SM; however, they occur relatively infrequently in both types of statements elsewhere in the First Gospel.

III. Divine Passives in Positive Theological Statements

Scholars have long claimed that God is the implied agent of many of the passive verbs in the NT. When Dalman discussed the passive verbs in the Synoptics a century ago, he concluded, "Sometimes the passive voice of the verb is preferred, on the ground that, if an active voice were used, it would be necessary to name God as the subject."28 In his monographic study of the passive verbs in the NT, Boehmer agreed that the use of the passive provided a way to avoid God’s name.29 Jeremias called such passives "divine passives," and he described their use as "the use of the passive in place of the divine name." 30 Deer frequently used the term "divine passive" in his detailed Strasbourg dissertation on passive constructions in the Synoptics.31 Pax had earlier claimed that a primary effect of the passive was to highlight the event rather than the agent; however, when discussing specific NT passives, he tended to sidestep the question of whether or not a given passive should be read as a divine passive.32 Reiser has drawn a distinction between "passiva divina," whose intended agent is God and whose subject would be God in an active transformation, and "eschatological passives," whose agent would be God or the angels (and occasionally even the righteous) but whose use was "apparently motivated primarily by the fact that in this form the agent can remain indeterminate." But he concedes that the agent for eschatological passives "is always ultimately God."33

Many commentators agree that the First Gospel contains a large number of passive verbs whose implied agent is God. We have already noted that many scholars identify God as the implied agent of the passive verb "will be given" in 7:7a.34 While scholars variously refer to such verbs as "divine passives,"35  "passiva divina,"36 and "theological passives,"37 they tend to use these terms interchangeably; indeed, some scholars switch back and forth from one term to another. The term "divine passives" will be used throughout this study.

The task of examining the divine passives in the First Gospel is burdened by the problem of determining which verbs should be identified as divine passives. A few passive verbs are in passages which identify the agent as God,38 and a few others are in passages which name the agent as the magi (2:16), the wind (11:7), or various other persons or things;39 however, most Matthean passive verbs are in passages which do not explicitly identify the agent. How can it be determined if a given verb should be interpreted as a divine passive? Before reaching such a conclusion, an exegete must answer a series of questions, such as whether or not the verb should be read as a passive,40 whether or not it should be read as a transitive passive which can take an implied agent, and whether or not its context encourages the conclusion that God is the implied agent.41 Given the problems associated with such a task, it is noteworthy that scholars express a remarkable level of agreement regarding the identification of most of the passives discussed in this paper as divine passives.

Only a few scholars have compiled lists of the divine passives in the First Gospel. Even though Boehmer published a lengthy list of these passives in 1917, he tended to overstate his case.42 Jeremias also compiled a lengthy list of divine passives in the Synoptics, and about seventy of these verbs are in Matthew.43 But since he focused on the divine passives in the sayings of Jesus which he considered to be authentic sayings, he virtually ignored the possible divine passives in other material. Deer discussed all of the passive verbs in the Synoptics, and he attempted to identify the implied agents of all of these passives.44 His work provides the most complete coverage of the Synoptic passives that is available.

To compile a working list of likely Matthean divine passives while avoiding interminable debates concerning the verbs that should be included on this list, we will privilege Deer’s list of passive verbs whose implied agent is God. About seventy of these passive verbs are in Matthean statements that describe God’s dealings with human beings. On a number of occasions, however, it will be necessary to modify Deer’s list to reflect current scholarly opinion.

We will first review the divine passives in positive theological statements which proclaim God’s gracious dealings with human beings.

SM. About two-thirds of these divine passives are in the future tense. Most of these future divine passives fall into three groups: those in the SM, those in the missionary discourse in Matthew 10, and those in pairs of positive and negative statements in Matthew 12-25.

The SM contains eight future passives which Deer and many others identify as divine passives. Four of these future passives are in beatitudes that promise that those who mourn "will be comforted" (5:4),45 that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness "will be filled" (5:6), that the merciful "will be shown mercy" (5:7), and that the peacemakers "will be called" children of God (5:9). The other four are in Jesus’ assurances that the things we need "will be added" (6:33), that what we ask for "will be given" (7:7a), and that the door "will be opened" (7:7c, repeated in 7:8c). These verbs offer impressive testimony to God’s activity.

Two other future passives in the SM should be mentioned. Jesus claimed that the person who observes and teaches all of the commandments "will be called" great in the kingdom of heaven (5:19b). While Deer is uncertain whether or not this verb requires an agent,46 various others claim that this verb is a divine passive.47 More problematic is the future passive in Jesus’ claim that the Gentiles think "they will be heard" because of their many words (6:7b). Though Deer calls this verb a divine passive, this conclusion is not widely accepted.48

The various future divine passives in the SM are in the same discourse (5:3-7:27) which contains many divine actives (see Table 1). Although four of the divine passives are in beatitudes that open the SM (and another may be in 5:19), most of the divine actives are in 5:45-6:32 in the central section of the SM. While the four divine passives in 6:33 and 7:7-8 are also in the central section of the SM, they follow this cluster of divine actives. Divine passives thus testify to God’s gracious dealings with human beings both before and after the cluster of divine actives in 5:45-6:32.

Other future passives. Three future divine passives are in Jesus’ missionary discourse in Matthew 10. Jesus assured the disciples that they need not worry about their testimony before governors and kings, for their words "will be given" to them (10:19). He also declared that nothing is concealed that "will not be revealed" (10:26b) and that nothing is hidden that "will not be made known" (10:26c).49 Since these sayings directly follow Jesus’ command, "Do not fear them" (10:26a), they should be read as words of assurance.

What should be said concerning the future passive in Jesus’ promise that the person who endures to the end "will be saved" (10:22b)? Though many scholars assume that this promise refers to eschatological salvation,50 Deer is virtually alone in naming God as the implied agent of this verb.51 Other scholars generally fail to identify the implied agent, and their silence may reflect uncertainty about the translation of this verb.52 Most scholars also fail to name God as the implied agent of three other occurrences of passive forms of this verb (19:25; 24:13, 22).53

Future passives occur in both the positive and negative portions of seven passages in Matthew 12-25. These future passives are listed below:54

Positive                               Negative

12:31a will be forgiven         12:31b will not be forgiven

12:32a will be forgiven         12:32b will not be forgiven

12:37a will be justified         12:37b will be condemned

13:12a will be given            13:12b will be taken away

21:43b will be given             21:43a will be taken away

23:12b will be exalted         23:12a will be humbled

25:29a will be given             25:29b will be taken away

The seven future passives in the positive portions of these passages are widely identified as divine passives.55 While five of these "positive" future passives (12:31a, 32a, 37a; 13:12a; 25:29a) precede the "negative" future passives, the other two (21:43b; 23:12b) follow the "negative" future passives. Another future passive that is widely identified as a divine passive is the verb "will be shortened" in 24:22c.56

Each of Jesus’ two declarations that "whatever you bind on earth will be/have been bound57 in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be/have been loosed in heaven" (16:19bc; 18:18bc) contains a pair of future perfect passive periphrastics. It is unclear if the implied agent is God or the heavenly court.58

Other passives. A few of the Matthean divine passives in positive statements are in other tenses. Each of the logia in 24:40-41 contains two passives, for each claims that someone "is taken" and that someone else "is left."59 Though each of these passives is in the present tense, each refers to an event anticipated in the imminent future. While Jeremias identifies the implied agent as God,60 various others suggest the angels.61 The impulse for these acts, of course, would ultimately come from God. The future passive in 25:32 poses similar hermeneutical problems.62

Only a few other divine passives are in the indicative mood. The perfect passive "it has been given" occurs twice (13:11b; 19:11), and both occurrences are frequently designated as divine passives.63 Another perfect passive is in the words "it is/has been prepared by my Father" (20:23), words which explicitly name the Father as the divine agent. The aorist passive in 24:22a is also frequently designated a divine passive.64 The present passives in 9:2 and 9:5, however, probably are not divine passives.65

Several passive participles should also be mentioned. God is frequently identified as the implied agent of the perfect passive participles "counted" (10:30), "sent" (23:37), "blessed" (25:34b), and "prepared" (25:34c).66 The two occurrences of the aorist passive participle "having been warned" in the infancy narrative (2:12, 22) may also be divine passives.67

Comparisons. The positive theological statements in the First Gospel contain more indicative divine passives than indicative divine actives, for they have nearly two dozen indicative divine passives68 but only fourteen indicative divine actives.69 These two groups of verbs tend to stand in different locations. Though nearly two-thirds of the indicative divine actives are in the SM, nearly two-thirds of the indicative divine passives are located outside the SM, with most being in Matthew 10-25. While the SM has nearly equal numbers of indicative divine actives and indicative divine passives, the rest of the gospel has about three times as many indicative divine passives as indicative divine actives. These divine passives play a crucial role in proclaiming the gracious dealings of God with human beings in these chapters.

Especially notable are the differences between these divine actives and divine passives in their use of the future tense. The positive theological statements in the SM have eight or nine future divine passives70 and five future divine actives;71 however, the positive statements in the rest of the gospel have eleven future divine passives72 but only one future divine active.73 Many of these future divine passives are in statements which proclaim the acts of God at the end time.

The differences between the divine actives and divine passives in their use of other tenses are less dramatic. Eight indicative divine actives are in other tenses, with four being in the SM74 and four others being located after the SM.75 Only four indicative divine passives are in other tenses, and all four stand after the SM.76 Six active participles77 and six passive participles are also used to announce the gracious acts of God.

The totals cited above should be read as approximate numbers rather than absolute numbers, for they would be slightly increased or decreased by differing decisions regarding the verbs (especially the divine passives) which should be included in these totals. It is unlikely, however, that such changes would significantly alter the overall trends.

IV. Divine Passives in Negative Theological Statements

Many divine passives are in negative theological statements which warn about divine judgment or refer to other divine acts which could be interpreted as negative acts. These divine passives can be divided into two groups: those that are located in the SM, and those that are located elsewhere in the First Gospel. But several other passive verbs are in contexts that seem to undercut the possibility that these verbs could be divine passives.

SM. Five divine passives are located in Matthew 7 in the final chapter of the SM. The first of these passives is the final verb in Jesus’ saying, "Do not judge, that you may not be judged" (7:1). The first clause in this saying is often read as a warning against the kind of judging that can be described as unfair and uncharitable judging79 or negative and destructive judging,80 while the second clause is widely read as a warning about the final judgment, with the passive verb ("you may be judged") being a divine passive.81 Two more divine passives are in 7:2. If the two statements in this verse could be read apart from their current context, they could perhaps be read as "neutral" statements rather than negative statements. In their current context, however, these statements receive negative overtones from their location between the warning in 7:1 and the warning in 7:3-5. The two future passives in 7:2 ("you will be judged," "it will be measured") are generally read as divine passives.82

Jesus used two present passives when declaring that every tree that does not bear good fruit "is cut down" and "is thrown" into the fire (7:19). John the Baptist had earlier spoken these two same two verbs when warning the Pharisees and Sadducees (3:10b), and all four of these present passives are frequently read as divine passives.83 Though these verbs are in the present tense, they anticipate imminent divine judgment, and some English versions translate them as future verbs.84

Divine passives are virtually absent from the negative statements in Matthew 5-6, with the only likely exception being the future passive "will be called" in 5:19a. Though Deer is uncertain if this verb requires an agent,85 several other scholars conclude that this verb (like the parallel verb in 5:19b) is a divine passive.86 There are no other likely candidates in the SM.87 Just as the SM has more divine actives in positive statements than in negative statements, it has more divine passives in positive statements than in negative statements (see Table 1).

Other divine passives. Several of the future divine passives that are located after the SM are in warnings about divine judgment. Seven of these divine passives have already been mentioned in Section III, for these seven (12:31b, 32b, 37b; 13:12b; 21:43a; 23:12a; 25:29b) are in the negative portions of passages whose positive portions also have future divine passives.88 All seven have often been called divine passives. Another future divine passive concludes the warning that every plant that was not planted by the Father "will be rooted up" (15:13); this verb is especially graphic. Two other future divine passives are in Jesus’ declarations that a sign "will not be given" to this generation except the sign of Jonah (12:39; 16:4).89

A more problematic future passive occurs in Jesus’ warning that the sons of the kingdom "will be thrown out" (evkblhqh,sontai)90 into the outer darkness (8:12). Although Deer and several others identify the implied agent as God,91 many scholars do not even suggest this possibility. Are these scholars wishing to distance God from the severity of this warning?92

A few divine passives may be in other tenses. When Jesus explained to his disciples why he spoke to the crowds in parables, he said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given" (13:11). While many scholars identify the first passive ("it has been given") as a divine passive, some withhold this identification from the second passive ("it has not been given"). Davies and Allison, for example, argue that Matthew would have assumed "if revelation has not come to all, the fault does not lie with God but with human sin and moral failing."93 Many scholars, however, identify both passives as divine passives.94

During his lament over Jerusalem, Jesus warned that "your house is left (avfi,etai) to you desolate"95 (23:38). While Deer and various others identify this present passive as a divine passive,96 others hold open the possibility of other interpretations.97 A tentative conclusion must also be voiced concerning the two occurrences of the present passive "is left" in 24:40-41.98

Doubtful cases. The contexts of several other passive verbs seem to undercut the assumption that these verbs are divine passives. We will consider the verbs and participles in three sets of verses (5:29-30 and 18:8-9; 2:17 and 27:9; 25:34 and 41).

During the SM, Jesus declared that it is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body "be thrown" (blhqh/|) into Gehenna (5:29b). Although the verb "be thrown" is a passive verb, most scholars do not call this verb a divine passive.99 The text seems to support their reluctance. While 5:29b and 5:30b are virtually identical, 5:30b switches to an active verb when expressing the hope that your whole body may not "go away" (avpe,lqh|) into Gehenna. The fact that the passive verb "be thrown" (5:29b) is paralleled by the active verb "go away" (5:30b) seems to undercut the grounds for designating the former verb as a divine passive.100

The message of 5:29-30 is essentially repeated in 18:8 and 18:9. Although both of these verses contain the passive infinitive "to be thrown," most scholars do not call these infinitives divine passives.101 While these scholars do not explain their silence (scholars often do not say why they decline to identify a verb as a divine passive), they may have been influenced by the presence of an active verb in the parallel passage in 5:30.

Although all of the Matthean fulfillment formulas contain the passive verb "fulfilled," the language of two of these formulas seems to distance God from the events being mentioned. While most of these formulas claim that certain acts occurred "in order that (i[na or o[pwj) what was spoken … through … the prophet(s) may be fulfilled,"102 the formula in 2:17 (which follows Herod’s slaughter of the innocents) and the formula in 27:9 (which follows the priests’ purchase of the Field of Blood) declare that "then (to,te) was fulfilled what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet" (2:17; 27:9). Davies and Allison suggest that these different wordings maintain an implicit distinction between two types of fulfillment, with the former wording referring to "what God actively wills and makes come to pass" while the latter refers to "what God forsees and permissively wills." According to these scholars, the events described in 2:16 and 27:6-8 fulfill the Scriptures "not by the direct action of God or Jesus but by human beings whose motivation cannot have been the carrying out of prophecy."103 God is thus subtly distanced from both the slaughter of the innocents and the purchase of the Field of Blood.104

It is especially instructive to compare the perfect passive participles in two passages in the parable of the sheep and the goats. When the king addressed the sheep, he refer to them as "the ones who are blessed (oi` euvloghme,noi) of my Father" (25:34b). Since the genitive "of my Father" identifies the Father as the divine agent, this construction can be translated as "the ones who are blessed by my Father"105 and the participle "blessed" can be identified as a divine passive. Another perfect passive participle is in the king’s command to the sheep to inherit the kingdom "prepared" for them from the foundation of the world (25:34c). God is frequently identified as the implied agent of this passive participle.106

Although two more perfect passive participles occur in 25:41, only one of these participles can be designated a divine passive. When the king addressed the goats, he used a perfect passive participle when calling them "(the) accursed ones" ([oi`] kathrame,noi). Unlike the address in 25:34b, this address does not mention the Father. This omission seems to distance the Father from the act of cursing the goats,107 and most commentators decline to identify this participle as a divine passive.108 The king used another perfect passive participle when ordering the goats to go away into the eternal fire "prepared" for the devil and his angels (25:41c). This participle should be read as a divine passive; surely God was the agent who prepared the eternal fire for the devil and his angels.109 Note, however, that while the kingdom named in 25:34 was specifically prepared for the sheep ("for you"), the eternal fire described in 25:41 was not originally prepared for the goats. This difference suggests that the punishment for the goats may not have been part of the Father’s original plan.110

Comparisons. Although there are nearly twenty indicative divine passives in the negative theological statements in the First Gospel,111 the indicative divine passives in positive theological statements slightly outnumber those in negative statements in both the SM and the chapters outside the SM. The vast majority of the indicative divine passives in both positive and negative statements are in the future tense, and these statements play a crucial role in identifying the anticipated activity of God in salvation and divine judgment.112 In addition, a few of the indicative divine passives in both types of statements are present-tense verbs which refer to the imminent future. Comparatively few of the indicative divine passives in both types of statements are in a past tense.113

The negative theological statements contain more than three times as many indicative divine passives as indicative divine actives. Warnings about divine judgment occur much more frequently in statements that have divine passives than in those that have divine actives.

V. Concluding Observations

This study has surveyed the divine active verbs and divine passive verbs in the Matthean theological statements which announce God’s past, present, and future dealings with human beings. These theological statements do not represent all of the references to God’s acts in this gospel. Other statements, for example, proclaim the divine role in speaking through the Scriptures or empowering Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. The various Matthean parabolic and allegorical references to God’s acts have also been excluded from this study,114 as well as implicit references to divine activity which have neither an explicit reference to God nor a divine passive.115 Nevertheless, this study has considered a significant number of verbs, for it has reviewed nearly twenty indicative divine actives, more than forty indicative divine passives, and more than a dozen other verbs and participles in passages which proclaim God’s dealings with human beings. A series of concluding observations can be made.

1. The cluster of indicative divine active verbs in positive theological statements in 5:45-6:32 is without parallel in the First Gospel.116 There are nearly twice as many indicative divine actives in these verses as in the other twenty-five chapters of this gospel combined.

2. Most of the indicative divine actives in 5:45-6:32 are in statements which identify God as the heavenly Father. The reader encounters statement after statement whose subject is the Father and whose active indicative verb announces what the Father is doing or will do. In contrast, the indicative divine actives outside the SM are in statements which identify God in a variety of ways.117

3. The cluster of indicative divine actives in 5:45-6:32 occupies a highly visible location within the First Gospel. The first two verbs in this cluster are in the concluding clauses of the memorable saying opened by the words "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you …" (5:44-45), a saying which inaugurates the Matthean introduction of God as our Father.118 The visibility of the other divine actives in this cluster is enhanced by their location near the center of the central section of the SM.119

4. The message proclaimed by the theological statements which contain these indicative divine actives is augmented by not only the divine passives in four of the Beatitudes (5:4, 6, 7, 9)120 but also the divine passives in 6:33 and 7:7-8 and the divine active in 7:11. All of these active and passive verbs are in positive theological statements. An indicative divine active occurs in the negative statement in 6:15, and several divine passives are in negative statements in chapter 7. But the SM contains many more divine actives and divine passives in positive statements than in negative statements.

5. Comparatively few indicative divine actives occur in either the positive theological statements or the negative theological statements in Matthew 1-4 and 8-28.

6. The positive theological statements located outside the SM have many more indicative divine passives than indicative divine actives. This trend is especially marked in Matthew 12-25; most of the statements which announce God’s gracious dealings with human beings in these chapters do not explicitly mention God.121

7. The negative theological statements which warn about divine judgment have many more indicative divine passives than indicative divine actives. This tendency, which is already evident in the SM, is especially marked in Matthew 12-25.122

8. Many of the indicative divine passives are in portions of the text which have no indicative divine actives. Eleven indicative divine passives are in Jesus’ words in 12:31-13:12, where most are in both the positive and negative portions of antithetical statements, and an even larger number are in chapters 20-25, where many are again in both the positive and negative portions of matched statements. Neither 12:31-13:12 nor chapters 20-25 have any indicative divine actives in statements which announce God’s dealings with human beings.

9. While most of the indicative divine passives in both positive and negative statements are in the future tense, only a few of the indicative divine actives are in this tense. Future divine passives play a crucial role in proclaiming the acts of God at the end of time.

Many modern readers have named the SM as one of their favorite sections. One such reader was Harry S. Truman, who said that he "spent a lot of time" on the SM.123 While most of the theological statements in the SM are positive statements which proclaim God’s gracious dealings with human beings, many of the negative theological statements which warn about divine judgment are located in other portions of the First Gospel, especially chapters 12-25. The verbs in many of these statements are divine passives. Many twenty-first century readers may need assistance in recognizing that God is the implied agent of these verbs.124

Endnotes

            1 Gustaf Dalman, The Words of Jesus: Considered in the Light of Post-Biblical Jewish Writings and the Aramaic Language (Edinburgh: Clark, 1902) 224; Str-B 1.443; BDR par. 130 n. 3; Joachim Jeremias, New Testament Theology: The Proclamation of Jesus (New York: Scribner’s, 1971) 11 n. 3; W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew (ICC; 3 vols.; Edinburgh: Clark, 1988-97) 1.679; Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew (SacPag 1; Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1991) 103; Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 (WBC 33A; Dallas: Word, 1993) 174; Warren Carter, Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical and Religious Reading (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2000) 183.

            2 Cf. 1:22; 2:15; 15:4; 22:31, 43.

            3 Cf., e.g., 11:27; 12:18; 15:24; 22:44; 26:53; 28:18.

            4 The present tense verb "is" occurs in the statement "your heavenly Father is perfect" in 5:48. Since this verb does not indicate what God "does," it was excluded from consideration, both here and elsewhere in the First Gospel (cf. 19:17; 22:32a, 32b; 23:9).

            5 The word "Theos" is used throughout this paper for occurrences of the Greek noun qeo,j so that the word "God" can be reserved for general references to God.

            6 Concerning the Greek word translated here as "daily," see BDAG 376-77.

            7 The divine active in 6:13a will be discussed below in Section II. While a divine active also occurs in 6:10a, this petition does not mention people.

            8 Another possible candidate is the construction "is able to raise up" in 3:9. Although this construction appears in a warning which will be discussed below in Section II, this warning has a positive dimension, as will be noted below.

            9 Though functioning like a subjunctive, this verb is a future indicative deponent, as in Isa 6:10 LXX.

            10 In addition to 13:15g, God speaks in the first person in 2:6, 15; 3:17; 9:13; 11:10; 12:7, 18; 13:35; 15:7; 17:5; 21:13; 22:31, 43; 26:31.

            11 Gen 1:27 LXX; 5:2 LXX.

            12 Concerning this text, see TCGNT, 2d ed., 38.

            13 Although two active participles describe acts of the Spirit in 3:16, these participles describe the Spirit’s dealings with Jesus rather than human beings in general.
 
            14 Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.149-50.

            15 Many manuscripts read "my" instead of "your."

            16 BDAG 325.

            17 For this translation, see Ulrich Luz, Matthew 8-20: A Commentary (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001) 458. This verb is a middle deponent.

            18 Cf. 10:29b; 19:26c and perhaps 12:28a.

            19 This total excludes the verbs in 6:26 and 6:30.

            20 These words appear in 6:4b, 6b, 11, 12, 13b, 18b; 9:8, 38; 10:20. Cf. also 6:26, 30; 18:14, 19.

            21 Joachim Jeremias (The Prayers of Jesus [SBT 2/6; Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1967] 104) translates this petition as "let us not fall into temptation," while Davies and Allison (Matthew, 1.613) propose the translation "do not let us fall victim to testing." For a critique of such translations, see M. Gielen, "‘Und führe uns nicht in Versuchung’: Die 6. Vater-Unser Bitte – eine Anfechtung für das biblische Gottesbild?," ZNW 89 (1998) 201-16.

            22 See the scriptural examples gathered by Hans Dieter Betz, The Sermon on the Mount (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) 406-07; Gielen, "Und führe," 204-07.

            23 Jeremias, Prayers, 105-06; Harrington, Matthew, 95. But see also Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.613-14; Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999) 224.

            24 Betz, Sermon, 411; Carter, Margins, 168.

            25 For a recent survey of interpretations of this petition, see Betz, Sermon, 405-11.

            26 Joachim Gnilka, Das Matthäusevangelium (HTKNT 1; 2 vols.; Freiburg: Herder, 1986) 1.387; Blaine Charette, The Theme of Recompense in Matthew’s Gospel (JSNTSup 79; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1992) 142; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 286; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 102. A few scholars identify "the one who is able" as the devil. See Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.207 n. 31.

            27 Jan Lambrecht, Out of the Treasure: The Parables in the Gospel of Matthew (Louvain Theological & Pastoral Monographs 10; Louvain: Peeters, 1991) 67. His reference to "God’s preceding forgiveness" is to 18:27.

            28 Dalman, Words, 224.

            29 Julius Boehmer, Die neutestamentliche Gottesscheu und die ersten drei Bitten des Vaterunsers (Halle: Mühlmann, 1917).

            30 Jeremias, Theology, 9-14. The quotation is from p. 9.

            31 Donald S. Deer, Les constructions à sens passif dans le Grec des Évangeiles Synoptiques: Problèmes d’interprétation et de traduction: The Interpretation and Translation of Constructions with a Passive Meaning in the Greek of the Synoptic Gospels (Strasbourg: Université des Sciences Humaines, 1973), esp. 50-273. He had previously authored "The Implied Agent in Greek Passive Verb Forms in the Gospel of Matthew," BT 18 (1967) 164-67.

            32 Elpidius Pax, "Beobachtungen zum biblischen Sprachtabu," Studii Biblici Franciscani: Liber Annus 12 (1961-62) 66-112, esp. 92-112.

            33 Marius Reiser, Jesus and Judgment: The Eschatological Proclamation in Its Jewish Context (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997) 266-73. Both quotations are from p. 272. While Jeremias (Theology, 12-14) stresses the influence of apocalyptic usage (after recognizing the possible influence of the LXX) and Christian Macholz ("Das ‘Passivum divinum,’ seine Anfänge im Alten Testament und der ‘Hofstil’," ZNW 81 (1990) 247-53) points to the influence of the scriptural language of the royal court, Reiser (Jesus, 266-73) underlines the desire of an author to emphasize the event rather than the agent. For other discussions of these passives, see R. W. F. Wootton, "The Implied Agent in Greek Passive Verbs in Mark, Luke and John," BT 19 (1968) 159-64; E. M. Sidebottom, "The So-called Divine Passive in the Gospel Tradition," ExpTim 87 (1975/76) 200-04.

            34 See note 1.

            35 Daniel Marguerat, Le Jugement dans l’Évangile de Matthieu (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1981) 417; Robert A. Guelich, The Sermon on the Mount: A Foundation for Understanding (Waco: Word, 1982) 348; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.448; 3.186; Ulrich Luz, Matthew 1-7: A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989) 378; Harrington, Matthew, 86; Charette, Recompense, 123; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 92; Keener, Matthew, 167; Carter, Margins, 165; John Paul Heil, The Transfiguration of Jesus: Narrative Meaning and Function of Mark 9:2-8, Matt 17:1-8 and Luke 9:28-36 (AnBib 144; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 2000) 204.

            36 Johannes Friedrich, Gott im Bruder?: Eine methodenkritische Untersuchung von Redaktion, Überlieferung und Traditionen in Mt 25,31-46 (Stuttgart: Calwer, 1977) 263; Alexander Sand, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (RNT; Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet, 1986) 262; Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 1.326; Migaku Sato, Q und Prophetie: Studien zur Gattungs- und Traditionsgeschichte der Quelle Q (WUNT 2/29; Tübingen: Mohr, 1988) 137; Betz, Sermon, 124; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 89.

            37 Maximilian Zerwick, Biblical Greek (Scripta Pontificii Instituti Biblici 114; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1963) 76; Sand, Matthäus, 109; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.661; Dorothy Jean Weaver, Matthew’s Missionary Discourse: A Literary Critical Analysis (JSNTSup 38; Sheffield: JSOT, 1990) 200 n. 126; Hubert Frankemölle, Matthäus: Kommentar (2 vols.; Düsseldorf: Patmos, 1994-97) 2.330. Pax ("Beobachtungen," 92) uses the term "passivum theologicum."

            38 These agents include the Lord (1:22; 2:15), Theos (22:31), the Father (6:10b; 11:27a; 20:23; 25:34), and the Spirit (1:20, 4:1). We have included these passives among the divine passives discussed below, even though Jeremias (Theology, 11) claims that they do not meet the strict definition of divine passives since the divine agent is explicitly identified.

            39 See, e.g., 3:13-14; 5:13; 6:2; 8:24; 10:22; 19:12.

            40 Only the aorist and future tenses have distinctive passive forms.

            41 For a detailed discussion of these and other related problems, see Deer, Constructions, 1-49, 281-83, 293-96.

            42 Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 20-34, 78-88. For criticism of his work, see Str-B 1.443; Deer, Constructions, 13-14.

            43 Jeremias, Theology, 10-11. Curiously enough, Jeremias never cited Boehmer’s work.

            44 Deer, Constructions, esp. 50-273.

            45 Concerning the identification of this verb as a divine passive, for example, see Deer, Constructions, 102; Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 25; Str-B 1.443; Jeremias, Theology, 10-11; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.448; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 92; Betz, Sermon, 124; H. Benedict Green, Matthew, Poet of the Beatitudes (JSNTSup 203; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 2001) 37. Even though Reiser (Jesus, 270) calls this verb an eschatological passive, he admits that "the author would have thought in the first place of God as the comforter."

            46 Deer, Constructions, 107. According to BDAG 503, the passive of this verb may closely approach the meaning "to be."

            47 Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 4; John P. Meier, Law and History in Matthew’s Gospel: A Redactional Study of Mt. 5:17-48 (AnBib 71; Rome: Biblical Institute, 1976) 96-97; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.495; Carter, Margins, 142. The future passive of the same verb in 5:9 is widely identified as a divine passive.

            48 Deer, Constructions, 112. Note that 6:7b voices an erroneous expectation.

            49 Contra Deer (Constructions, 143), many scholars call the two verbs in 10:26bc divine passives. Cf. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.202; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 285; Carter, Margins, 240; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 100-01.

            50 E.g., Weaver, Missionary, 99; Eung Chun Park, The Mission Discourse in Matthew’s Interpretation (WUNT 81; Tübingen: Mohr, 1995) 138.

            51 Deer, Constructions, 141.

            52 BDAG (983) gives the passive form of this verb two meanings, one an active meaning ("attain salvation") and one a passive meaning ("be saved"). Cf. also Wolfgang Schenk, Die Sprache des Matthäus: Die Text-Konstituenten in ihren makro- und mikrostrukturellen Relationen (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1987) 438.

            53 Cf. also 9:21-22. Most scholars do not identify the future passive in 11:23a as a divine passive.

            54 In addition to these pairs of future divine passives, 13:11 has a pair of perfect divine passives.

            55 Scholars are more hesitant to express this judgment concerning the future passive in 12:37a than concerning those in the other passages, perhaps because of uncertainty whether the implied agent is God or the Son of Man. Nevertheless, God is named as the implied agent of this verb by Deer, Constructions, 158; Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 28; Str-B 1.443; Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 4; Schenk, Sprache, 194.

            56 Although the subject of this verb is "those days" rather than people, 24:22c explicitly associates this divine act with God’s concern for the elect.

            57 For the translation "will have been bound," see the works cited by Keener, Matthew, 454 n. 22. For a critique of this translation, see Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.638-39.

            58 Deer, Constructions, 182; Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 2.67; Raymond F. Collins, "Binding and Loosing," ABD 1.743; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 365. While two of these acts are listed in Table 1 as positive acts, the other two are listed as negative acts; however, these allegedly negative acts have a rather different character than most of the negative acts mentioned in Section IV.

59 Concerning the assumption that the righteous are "taken" while the others are "left," see Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.382-83; Carter, Margins, 480.

60 Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 3.

61 Cf. 24:31 and Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 2.338; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.382-83; Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28 (WBC 33B; Dallas: Word, 1995) 720; Ulrich Luz, Das Evangelium nach Matthäus (EKKNT 1; 3 vols.; Zürich: Benziger; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener, 1985-97) 3.450-51.

62. Although Harrington (Matthew, 356), for example, calls this verb a divine passive, he states that "God (or the Son of Man and his angels) will do the gathering."

63. Deer, Constructions, 162, 219; Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 1.482, 2.155; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 245, 500. There is broader support for designating the verb in 13:11b as a divine passive than the verb in 19:11.

64. Like the future passive in 24:22c, this passive is included in this study because it is in a passage that mentions people ("the elect"). Other eschatological passives in passages that do not mention people (e.g., 24:29b, 29e, 36) were excluded.

65. Davies and Allison (Matthew, 2.89) correctly find in 9:6 the evidence that the Son of Man is the implied agent of these passives. Cf. also Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 232.

66. Deer, Constructions, 145, 210; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.209, 3.320; Carter, Margins, 241, 463. The two participles in 25:34 will be examined below in Section IV. There is little scholarly sentiment for naming God as the implied agent of the imperative passives in 21:21, perhaps because of the hyperbolic character of this passage.

67. Deer, Constructions, 64, 68; BDR par. 312 n. 1; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.251.

68. 5:4, 6, 7, 9; 6:33; 7:7a, 7c, 8c; 10:19, 26b, 26c; 12:31a, 32a, 37a; 13:11b, 12a; 19:11; 20:23; 21:43b; 23:12b; 24:22a, 22c; 25:29a. Other possible divine passives are in 5:19b; 24:40b, 41b; 25:32.

69. 5:45b, 45c; 6:4b, 6b, 8, 14, 18b, 32; 7:11; 11:25d; 13:15g; 16:17; 19:4, 6. Cf. also 6:26, 30.

70. 5:4, 6, 7, 9, 19b (?); 6:33; 7:7a, 7c, 8c. The future passive in 6:7 was excluded from this total.

71. 6:4b, 6b, 14, 18b; 7:11.

72. 10:19, 26bc; 12:31a, 32a, 37a; 13:12a; 21:43b; 23:12b; 24:22c; 25:29a. The future passives in 10:22; 11:23a; 24:13; 25:32 were excluded from this total, as were the future perfect passives in 16:19b; 18:18b.

73. This verb ("I would heal") is in the scriptural citation in 13:15g. The future deponent in the indirect statement in 18:19 was excluded from consideration.

74. 5:45bc; 6:8, 32; cf. 6:26, 30.

75. 11:25d; 16:17; 19:4, 6.

76. 13:11b; 19:11; 20:23; 24:22a. Two other possibilities are in 24:40b, 41b. Non-indicative divine passives occur in 2:12, 22; 10:30; 23:37; 25:34b, 34c.

77. 6:4b, 6b, 18b; 9:8; 10:20; 19:4.

78. 2:12, 22; 10:30; 23:37; 25:34b, 34c.

79. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 169.

80. Betz, Sermon, 490.

81. Str-B 1.443; Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 3; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.669; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 169; Carter, Margins, 181.

82. BDR par. 130 n. 1; Harrington, Matthew, 103; Robert H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Handbook for a Mixed Church under Persecution (2d ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1994) 120; Carter, Margins, 181.

83. Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 4; Charette, Recompense, 123; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 184; Carter, Margins, 99, 190. What should be said concerning the verb kei/tai in 3:10a? Does this verb have a transitive meaning ("is laid"), which invites an identification of the implied agent, or an active meaning ("lies"), which does not involve an implied agent? Although Deer (Constructions, 72) chooses the former option and identifies God as the implied agent, this reading is not widely shared.

84. NIV on 3:10; NAB on both passages. The two occurrences of the verb "is left" in 24:40-41 are also in the present tense; however, the implied agent, as noted above, may be the angels.

85. Deer, Constructions, 107.

86. See the discussion of 5:19b in Section III above.

87. The passive verb in 5:29 will be considered below.

88. Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 22, 26, 86-87; Deer, Constructions, 157-58, 199, 230, 235;

Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.345, 3.186, 3.279, 3.411; Carter, Margins, 274, 430, 455, 491. As in the case of 12:37a, some scholars are hesitant to say if the implied agent in 12:37b is God or the Son of Man.

89. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.355; Carter, Margins, 277, 330; Luz, Matthew 8-20, 217.

90. Some ancient sources have the deponent evxeleuvsontai which has an active meaning, and Bruce D. Chilton (God in Strength: Jesus’ Announcement of the Kingdom [Freistadt: Plochl, 1979]) 181-83) defends this reading.

91. Deer, Constructions, 124; Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 3; Sato, Q und Prophetie, 137. Reiser (Jesus, 271 n. 48) calls this passive an eschatological passive.

92. This warning is sterner than the warnings to Israel in contemporary Jewish literature. See Joachim Jeremias, Jesus’ Promise to the Nations (SBT 24; Naperville, IL: Allenson, 1958) 51; Siegfried Schulz, Q: Die Spruchquelle der Evangelisten (Zürich: Theologischer, 1972) 328; Gundry, Matthew, 146.

93. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 2.390. Cf. also Carter, Margins, 284.

94. Joachim Gnilka, Die Verstockung Israels: Isaias 6,9-10 in der Theologie der Synoptiker (SANT 3; München: Kösel, 1961) 91; Jacques Dupont, "Le point de vue de Matthieu dans le chapitre des paraboles," in L’Évangile selon Matthieu: Rédaction et théologie (ed. M. Didier; BETL 29; Gembloux, Belgium: Duculot, 1971) 234; Jack Dean Kingsbury, The Parables of Jesus in Matthew 13 (St. Louis: Clayton, 1977) 43; Alexander Sand, Reich Gottes und Eheverzicht im Evangelium nach Matthäus (SBS 109; Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 1983) 54; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 372.

95. The word "desolate" is textually uncertain.

96. Deer, Constructions, 211; Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 2.304; Hagner, Matthew 14-28, 681; Luz, Matthäus, 3.382. None of these scholars claims that the passives in 24:2 are divine passives.

97. David E. Garland, The Intention of Matthew 23 (NovTSup 52; Leiden: Brill, 1979) 200-02; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.321-23; Green, Poet, 150 n. 301.

98. These logia are discussed above in Section III.

99. Exceptions include Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 79; Str-B 1.443; Deer, Constructions, 109.

100. Note the oscillation between active and passive verbs in Mark 9:43, 45, 47.

101. Exceptions include Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 84; Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 2 (referring to Mark 9:45, 47); Deer, Constructions, 191.

102. For the texts of these formulas, see George M. Soares Prabhu, The Formula Quotations in the Infancy Narrative of Matthew (AnBib 63; Rome: Biblical Institute, 1976) 48-49. Since these formulas refer to the fulfillment of "what was said" by the prophets concerning events in the conception, early life, ministry, and passion of Jesus, they lie outside the scope of this study.

103. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 1.266.

104. Cf. also Soares Prabhu, Formula, 50-51; Luz, Matthew 1-7, 147; Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 37.

105. NAB, NIV, NRSV, BDR par. 183 n. 3; Luz, Matthäus, 3.534; Carter, Margins, 494.

106. Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 2.372; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.425; John Paul Heil, "The Double Meaning of the Narrative of Universal Judgment in Matthew 25.31-46," JSNT 69 (1998) 3-14, esp. p. 11; Carter, Margins, 495.

107. Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.431 n. 67; Luz, Matthäus, 3.540.

108. Two exceptions are Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 4; Deer, Constructions, 243. Cf. also Deut 21:23; 1 Clem. 30:8.

109. Boehmer, Gottesscheu, 30; Jeremias, Theology, 11 n. 4; Deer, Constructions, 243; Harrington, Matthew, 357; Heil, "Double Meaning," 11.

110. Lambrecht, Out of the Treasure, 263; Gnilka, Matthäusevangelium, 2.376; Davies and Allison, Matthew, 3.431 n. 67; Luz, Matthäus, 3.540. One other difference should be noted. Though the kingdom mentioned in 25:34 was prepared "from the foundation of the world," a parallel claim is not made regarding the eternal fire in 25:41.

111. 3:10 bis; 7:1, 2a, 2b, 19 bis; 12:31b, 32b, 37b, 39; 13:11c, 12b; 15:13; 16:4; 21:43a; 23:12a; 25:29b. Other possible indicative divine passives are in 5:19a; 23:38; 24:40c, 41c.

112. Cf. Jeremias, Theology, 179 n. 2.

113. Exceptions are in 13:11b, 11c; 19:11; 20:23; 24:22a.

114. Cf. the discussions of the relevant Matthean passages in Kurt Erlemann, Das Bild Gottes in den synoptischen Gleichnissen (BWANT 126; Berlin: Kohlhammer, 1988); Warren Carter and John Paul Heil, Matthew’s Parables: Audience-Oriented Perspectives (CBQMS 30; Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association, 1998).

115. Implicit references to divine activity are suggested, e.g., by phrases like "the day of judgment" (e.g., 10:15) and words like "blessed" (e.g., 5:3-11), "called" (22:14), and "chosen" (e.g., 24:22). For a list of the Matthean references to divine judgment, see Marguerat, Jugement, 31.

116. Does this factor support the conclusion of Betz (Sermon, 42-44) that the SM existed as a unit prior to its inclusion in the First Gospel?

117. These statements variously identify God as Theos (9:8; 19:6), Lord of the harvest (9:38), the Father (10:20; 11:25; 16:17; cf. 18:14, 19), the One who created (19:4), and "I" (13:15g).

118. Robert L. Mowery, "From Lord to Father in Matthew 1-7", CBQ 59 (1997) 642-56.

119. See the outline of the SM proposed by Luz, Matthew 1-7, 212.

120. Cf. also 5:19b.

121. See Table 2. Note that Matthew 12 is the chapter which first announces the religious leaders’ intention to destroy Jesus (12:14).

122. See Tables 1 and 2.

123. Margaret Truman (Bess W. Truman [New York: Macmillan, 1986] 128), who adds that he also "spent a lot of time" on Exodus 20.

124. This paper was read before the Matthew Section at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Toronto on Nov. 24, 2002.