The Historical and Legal Background of Matthew 23:1-12

In today’s turbulent times, the church and synagogue look at each other warily. There have been some welcomed movement towards each other, but due to centuries-old animosity, the two have not become the best of friends. One reason for this, out of many, is the different theological authorities contained within the synagogue and church. This article will present what some might term a radical approach to understanding the different authorities. While perhaps radical, it is grounded in the history of ancient Israel, and later the divided Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and the statutes of the Mosaic Covenant enacted at Mount Sinai. The premise that shall be argued herein is that the statutes governing polygyny (a form of plural marriage where the husband has two or more wives and concubines, and admittedly, a controversial subject), divorce and the authority of the king to regulate the service of Tabernacle and Temple resulted in the institutions of synagogue and church after the destruction of the Second Temple to serve as YHVH’s sanctuary to both groups in exile.

YHVH as King over Israel

In the infancy of the Children of Israel’s nationhood, the united twelve tribes made a covenant with YHVH. Before the covenant was actually made, the Children of Israel said “…all answered as one: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Exodus 19:8 NSRV). This was reaffirmed in Exodus 24:7.

When Balak, King of Moab, wished to curse Israel, he hired Balaam, son of Beor, to cast the curse. But Balaam was forced to say what YHVH wanted him to say. Among the truths he had to say was “He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob; nor has he seen trouble in Israel. The Lord their God is with them, acclaimed as a king among them” (Numbers 23:21 NSRV).

Later, towards the end of the prophet Samuel’s life, the people were dissatisfied with the rulership of the sons of Samuel, and requested that a king be set over them.

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.”But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them”.

1 Samuel 8:4-7 NSRV

The Royal Authority over Tabernacle and Temple

The books of Exodus from chapter nineteen onward, Leviticus and Numbers have many instances where YHVH instructed Moses to relay His Word to the Israelites regarding the ordering of the Tabernacle and its priesthood. A pair of references will suffice to establish this point. Multiple chapters in Exodus record the instructions YHVH gave to Moses for the Tabernacle, and the writer records that “In this way all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished; the Israelites had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses” (Exodus 39:32 NSRV, see also vv. 42-43). YHVH told Moses to take “…your brother Aaron, and his sons with him, from among the Israelites, to serve me as priests—Aaron and Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.” (Exodus 28:1 NSRV, also see Exodus 40:12-15).

The royal authority to regulate was not limited to YHVH alone. David, King of all Israel, also ordered the priests and the Levites. 1 Chronicles 15 tells the story of how David issued commands for the Levites to bring up the Ark of the Covenant to the City of David. Later, 1 Chronicles 23 records how he made his final dispositions with respect to the priesthood and the Levites before he turned over the kingdom to Solomon his son. The diligent student will want to review these two chapters in their entirety.

The Choice of Leaders

YHVH and His servants have not always followed the expected path in their choices of the next generation of leaders. Isaac was chosen over Ishmael. Jacob/Israel was chosen over Esau/Edom, Judah and Joseph were chosen over Reuben. David was chosen over Prince Jonathan, son of Saul, first king of Israel. Solomon was chosen over his many other brothers by David his father. Because of the gross idolatry of Solomon, his son Rehoboam lost ten of the tribes to Jeroboam.

“[T]he prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Ahijah had clothed himself with a new garment. The two of them were alone in the open country when Ahijah laid hold of the new garment he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. He then said to Jeroboam: Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “See, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes. One tribe will remain his, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel”.

1 Kings 11:29-32 NSRV

The Statutes of Polygyny and Divorce

Note to the reader: this essay is not arguing for or against the practices of polygyny or divorce, only that the legal statutes is relevant to understanding the appointment of the scribes and Pharisees as the ruling theological authority for the Jews.

Polygyny was embedded in the heart of the Sinai Covenant which was covered in Exodus chapters 19-24. In the twenty-first chapter of Exodus, YHVH made a point to describe the one of the responsibilities of the husband in a plural marriage: “if he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife” (Exodus 21:10 NSRV).

The procedure of divorce was laid out in Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman, but she does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, and so he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife. Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who married her dies); her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that would be abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

YHVH as Husband

From the time of Moses to the beginning of the reign of Rehoboam, king of Judah, the twelve tribes of Israel were a united Kingdom. But due to Solomon’s idolatry, the Kingdom was divided into two. Of this new state of affairs, YHVH had this to say through the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 23.

The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; they played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; their breasts were caressed there, and their virgin bosoms were fondled. Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem…The Lord said to me: Mortal, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands; with their idols they have committed adultery; and they have even offered up to them for food the children whom they had borne to me”.

Ezekiel 23:1-4, 36-7 NSRV

Through this passage, YHVH is saying that the two sisters, Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) were His and bore to Him sons and daughters, and then later, both committed adultery against Him through idolatry. Therefore, since the terms of marriage and adultery are used for the two sisters, the statutes of polygyny apply with respect to the actions YHVH takes with His people.

Due to their gross idolatry, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was divorced and destroyed and her people exiled among the nations. Jeremiah echoes the statute of divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1-4 and described YHVH as putting Israel away with a bill of divorce.

If a man divorces his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man’s wife, will he return to her? Would not such a land be greatly polluted? … The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and played the whore there? And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me”; but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it. She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce; yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she too went and played the whore.

Jeremiah 3:1, 6-8 NSRV, see Hosea 1:8

Isaiah indicates there had been a bill of divorce:

“[t]hus says the Lord: Where is your mother’s bill of divorce with which I put her away?”

Isaiah 50:1 NSRV

From the time of the Assyrian exile to the Second Temple period, which covered approximately seven centuries, there were two groups: those who were near and still “married” to YHVH, and those who were divorced and “far off” (see Daniel 9:7). To those who were far off, YHVH told Ezekiel

“though I removed them far away among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a little while in the countries where they have gone”.

Ezekiel 11:16 NSRV

Yeshua as the King of the Jews

Yeshua’s earthly ministry took place towards the end of the Second Temple period, when the Temple was still standing. His lineage as a descendant of David was documented by Matthew in chapter 1, verses 1-17. A slightly different genealogy is recorded in Luke 3:23-38. During His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He was acknowledged as a royal son of David and as king of Israel, as the prophet foretold “[t]ell the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey’” (see Zechariah 9:9).

The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Matthew 21:19 NSRV

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

Mark 11:9-10 NSRV

So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord— the King of Israel!”

John 12:13 NSRV

Like Balaam son of Beor acknowledged YHVH as King over Israel, the Romans acknowledged Yeshua as King of the Jews when they crucified Him: “Over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37 NSRV).

Yeshua Appoints Judah’s Shepherds

After Yeshua had been acknowledged as King by the crowds at Jerusalem, in his foreknowledge that the Temple would be destroyed (Matthew 24:1-2), He transferred the theological authority for the Jews to the scribes and Pharisees from the Sadducees (chief priests). We read in Matthew 23:1-12 the transfer of authority to the scribes and Pharisees who eventually became the rabbis of the subsequent twenty centuries.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi.

But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Matthew 23:1-12 NRSV

The audience were the crowds and the disciples. Looking closely at this passage with these two groups in mind, I believe a case can be made that verses 1-7 is addressed to the crowd and 8-12 is addressed to the disciples. If this is correct, this explains the divided authority and why the disciples did not obey the Sanhedrin and held their own Beit Din in Acts 15.

Why Did Yeshua Do This?

Now, given that Jesus’ royal authority as an acknowledged King of the Jews, would seem on its own merit to be sufficient to establish this new arrangement, why then did I bring up the statutes of polygyny and divorce? The answer is that the disciples, like Yeshua, were sent to the lost House of Israel (Matthew 10:6; 15:24, see Isaiah 49:6) who had been divorced. After Yeshua’s death and resurrection, He was free to once more betroth his divorced people (see Romans 7:3). In essence, where Judah had been the sole wife for seven centuries, now she was no longer the only wife and her husband was newly betrothed to a woman (Ephraim/ten-tribed Israel). Here is where the statute of polygyny applies. If a second woman be taken to wife, the first wife’s food, raiment, and duty of marriage shall not be diminished. Consider what Yeshua said His food was to his disciples at the well of Sychar: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work: (John 4:34 NSRV). Therefore, with the foretold destruction of the Temple (see John 4:21), Yeshua had to make provision for Judah, and He did that by appointing to them the scribes and Pharisees to be their shepherds and sanctuary through the synagogue, while He fed reclaimed Israel through the church system (see John 21:15, Acts 15).

Putting It All Together

Meditating on these things brings several realizations. First, Yeshua wasn’t starting a new religion because He was acting within the legal structures set up by the Sinaitic Covenant and in foreknowledge of the destruction of the Temple. While His primary mission as described by Isaiah was to restore the tribes to YHVH, it was extended to be a light to the whole world.

And now the Lord says, who formed me in the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him,
for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God has become my strength—
He says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel;
I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Isaiah 49:5-6 NSRV

Surely, the Jews of the House of Judah exist as one of those nations. Why then should not Yeshua be their light while He is bringing back Jacob? How traumatic would the loss of the Temple be? The raison d’etre for the priesthood and Levites was Temple service, and many of them were full-time workers in the Temple. The rest taught the people in the synagogue when not otherwise engaged in the Temple. I think it is from this latter group that Yeshua identified the future shepherds of Judah. Again, Yeshua’s primary mission was to find and restore the lost Israelites from the destroyed northern Kingdom, but out of His great love and concern for His own House, He appointed to them shepherds in the persons of the scribes and Pharisees to feed them for the future, just as He appointed the apostles led by His brother, James the Just, to the House of Ephraim. Knowing this, the synagogue and church need to realize and affirm that they are both loved by YHVH and His Yeshua. The heirs of both the scribes and the Pharisees and those of the apostles should look at each other, not as rivals for the affections of the One Who Loves them both, but as family.