View source for Matthew 8:11

{{Short description|Verse of the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew}}
{{Bible chapter|letname= Matthew 8:11 |previouslink= Matthew 8:10 |previousletter= 8:10 |nextlink= Matthew 8:12 |nextletter= 8:12 |book=[[Gospel of Matthew]] |biblepart=[[New Testament]] |filename= Christus en de hoofdman over honderd, SK-A-733.jpg |size=220px | caption=<div style="width: 220px; text-align: center; line-height: 1em">"Christ and the Centurion of Capernaum", by Adam Camerarius (1644-1665).</div>}}

'''Matthew 8:11''' is the eleventh [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|verse]] of [[Matthew 8|the eighth chapter]] of the [[Gospel of Matthew]] in the [[New Testament]]. This verse is part of the [[miracles of Jesus|miracle]] story of [[healing the centurion's servant]], the second of a series of miracles in Matthew. After praising the Gentile Centurion's faith in the previous verse in this one Jesus prophesizes that many from around the world will follow him.

==Content==
In the original Greek according to [[Westcott-Hort]] this verse is:
:  λεγω δε υμιν οτι πολλοι απο ανατολων και δυσμων ηξουσιν και ανακλιθησονται 
: μετα αβρααμ και ισαακ και ιακωβ εν τη βασιλεια των ουρανων

In the [[King James Version]] of the [[Bible]] the text reads:
: And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and 
: shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

The [[New International Version]] translates the passage as:
: I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their 
: places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.{{efn|For a collection of other versions see [http://biblehub.com/matthew/8-11.htm BibleHub Matthew 8:11].}}

==Analysis==
This verse does not appear as part of the Centurion's miracle story in [[Luke 7]]. There is a similar passage in [[Luke 13:28]]-[[Luke 13:29|29]] and it is possible the author of Matthew repurposed content from that section to add here. 

[[Craig S. Keener|Keener]] sees strong evidence that this is an authentic saying of Jesus as it contains Semitic expressions not found in Greek.<ref name="Keener1999">{{cite book|author=[[Craig S. Keener]]|title=A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew|year=1999|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing|isbn=978-0-8028-3821-6|page=268}}</ref>

The word translated as ''sit'' in the KJV and ''take their place'' in the NIV literally translates as ''recline''.<ref name="France1985">France, R.T. ''The Gospel According to Matthew: an Introduction and Commentary''. Leicester: Inter-Varsity, 1985. pg. 155-156</ref> The Greek and Roman culture was to recline at a formal banquet on couches known as [[klinai]]. The word ''recline'' in this verse shows the impact of [[Hellenization]] on the Palestine of the period.<ref name="Davies(Jr.)1988">{{cite book|author1=[[W. D. Davies]]|author2=[[Dale C. Allison]] (Jr.)|title=Matthew Vol 2.|year=1988|publisher=Clark|page=28-30}}</ref> A divine banquet was a frequent metaphor for the afterlife in both Jewish and Greek culture of the period and is a motif that is found on tombstones of the period.<ref>{{cite book|author=Francis Wright Beare|title=The Gospel according to Matthew : translation, introduction and commentary|year=1981|publisher=Harper & Row|page=208-209}}</ref>

This verse is strongly eschatological predicting what will happen at the end times. A messianic banquet was a frequent concept in Jewish literature of the time.<ref name="France1985"></ref> In attendance are three of the patriarchs of Israel [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]]. What role they are playing at the banquet is not clear, are they the hosts or fellow honoured guests?<ref name="Davies(Jr.)1988"></ref> In Jewish literature of the period there are accounts of meeting one of the patriarchs after death.<ref name="Davies(Jr.)1988"></ref>

That foreigners are coming from east and west to Israel at the end time, making clear that Israel will be the location of the end times. This aligns with the common Jewish belief of the time that Jerusalem would be the centre point of the end of the world.<ref name="Davies(Jr.)1988"></ref> The verse is not clear if these people from the east and west are Gentiles, as contrasted with unfaithful Jews in the next verse. There were many Jews in lands to the east and west and the verse could be referring to them returning to Israel.<ref name="Davies(Jr.)1988"></ref>  Sharing a dinner table with a Gentile was in Jesus' time considered ritual defilement. If the foreigners are Gentiles, that the patriarchs themselves are sharing a table with the foreigners shows Jesus' rejection of these rules. <ref name="France1985"></ref>

==Commentary from the Church Fathers==
[[Jerome]]: Or perhaps in the person of the centurion the faith of the Gentiles is preferred to that of Israel; whence He proceeds, But I say unto you, Many shall come from the east and from the west.<ref name="Commentary"/>

[[Augustine]]:  He says, not ‘all,’ I but many; yet these from the east and west; for by these two quarters the whole world is intended.<ref name="Commentary"/>

[[Haymo of Halberstadt]]: Or; From the east shall come they, who pass into the kingdom as soon as they are enlightened; from the west they who have suffered persecution for the faith even unto death. Or, he comes from the east, who has served God from a child; he from the west who in decrepit age has turned to God.<ref name="Commentary"/>

[[Adamantius (Pseudo-Origen)]]:  How then does He say in another place, that the chosen are few? Because in each generation there are few that are chosen, but when all are gathered together in the day of visitation they shall be found many. They shall sit down, not the bodily posture, but the spiritual rest, not with human food, but with an eternal feast, teeth Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven, where is light, joy, glory, and eternal length of days.<ref name="Commentary"/>

[[Jerome]]: Because the God of Abraham, the Maker of heaven, is the Father of Christ, therefore also is Abraham in the kingdom of heaven, and with him will sit down the nations who have believed in Christ the Son of the Creator.<ref name="Commentary">{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/p1catenaaureacom01thomuoft/page/n19/mode/2up|title=Catena Aurea: commentary on the four Gospels; collected out of the works of the Fathers. Oxford: Parker, 1874. Thomas Aquinas}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
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{{sequence
| prev = [[Matthew 8:10]]
| list = [[Gospel of Matthew]]<br />[[Matthew 8|Chapter 8]]
| next = [[Matthew 8:12]]
}}
{{Matthew 8}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthew 08:11}}
[[Category:Matthew 8|08:11]]