The Fourteen Triads of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-7:12)

(ProQuest Information and Learning: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) (ProQuest Information and Learning: ... denotes formula omitted.) Gunther Bornkamm's seminal essay "Der Aufbau der Bergpredigt" rightly pointed out that the Sermon on the Mount is carefully constructed and symmetrically ordered.1 Where we do not see the order, he argued, it is likely that it is we who are not seeing it; the orderly Matthew likely has an order there. He pointed out several unsolved puzzles and said we should look again more carefully. To look again more carefully is what I should like to do. I. The Triadic Structure within Each Pericope in 5:21-7:12 Proposals for understanding the structure of the Sermon on the Mount have focused more on how to group the pericopes than on the structure within each pericope. Commentators see a high degree of careful craftsmanship and striking symmetry in the way the pericopes are grouped. My thesis is that the same is true within each pericope. Each pericope in the central section, 5:21-7:12, has a carefully crafted triadic structure, consistent across the pericopes, with one intriguing partial exception, and this unites them all as members of one family. The main section of the sermon, from 5:21 through 7:12, is composed of fourteen triads. The first member of each triad is traditional righteousness. The second member is the diagnosis of a vicious cycle and its consequence. The third member is a transforming initiative that points the way to deliverance from the vicious cycle. The internal triadic structure of each unit has been missed largely because scholars have been thinking of a dyadic structure-antitheses. Commentators typically arrange most of the units in 5:21-48 as "antithesis proper" and then "illustrations." This implies that the basic meaning is in the antithesis proper, composed of a traditional teaching and Jesus' authoritative antithesis. For example, the traditional teaching is "Thou shalt not murder," and Jesus' authoritative teaching is to prohibit anger. Some "illustrations" of the basic prohibition against anger are added, but the basic meaning is the prohibition. Several difficulties result: 1. A dyadic structure-antitheses-would be atypical for the Gospel of Matthew, which has about seventy-five triads but very few dyads.2 2. Placing the emphasis on the prohibition of anger, lust, and so on, makes the teachings primarily negative prohibitions and impossible ideals rather than positive ways of deliverance, as would fit the good news of the kingdom announced in the beatitudes. 3. Calling the antitheses "prohibitions"-as in Jesus' alleged commands against anger, lust, and so on-seems strained, since not one of the verbs in these "prohibitions" is an imperative. It is not that the sermon lacks imperatives; the central section of the sermon is well supplied with thirty-seven Greek imperatives. They occur, however, not in the "antitheses proper"3 but in the "illustrations." I suggest that these are more than illustrations; they are the climaxes. 4. Not seeing the triadic structure makes it difficult to see the symmetrical structure in 6:19-7:12, which we are led to expect by the thoroughly symmetrical 5:21-48 and 6:1-18. 5. Not seeing the triadic structure causes hopeless bafflement about the context and meaning of 7:6-the mysterious verse-without-context about dogs, pigs, and holy things. 6. Emphasizing the prohibition of anger, lust, and so on, places the importance on the hard human effort not to be angry rather than on the good news of the gracious deliverance of the reign of God. Then, though commentators often may emphasize the theme of grace-in the latter part of ch. 4, in the beatitudes, in the theme of forgiveness-it seems lacking in the teachings of the main section of the sermon. 7. Placing the emphasis on the prohibition of anger, lust, and so on, leads to an interpretation of Jesus' good news as high ideals, hard teachings, impossible demands. …