Table Of Contentl i b r a r y o f n e w t e s t a m e n t s t u d i e s
‘WHILE THE
BRIDEGROOM IS
WITH THEM’
Marriage, Family, Gender and Violence
in the Gospel of Matthew
MARIANNE BLICKENSTAFF
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
292
Editor
Mark Goodacre
Editorial Board
John M.G. Barclay, Craig Blomberg, Elizabeth A. Castelli,
Kathleen E. Corley, R. Alan Culpepper, James D.G. Dunn,
Craig A. Evans, Stephen Fowl, Robert Fowler, Simon J. Gathercole,
Michael Labahn, Robert Wall, Robert L. Webb, Catrin H. Williams
To my parents,
Channing and Janet Blickenstaff,
with much love
'While the Bridegroom is with them'
Marriage, Family, Gender and Violence in the Gospel of Matthew
Marianne Blickenstaff
TS.T CLARK INTERNATIONAL
A Continuum imprint
L O N D ON • N EW Y O RK
A Continuum imprint
Published by T&T Clark International
The Tower Building, 11 York Road, London SE1 7NX
15 East 26th Street, Suite 1703, New York, NY 10010
www.tandtclark.com
Copyright © Marianne Blickenstaff, 2005
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
EISBN 9780567041128
Typeset by Data Standards Ltd, Frome, Somerset, BAH IRE
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
THE BRIDEGROOM AND VIOLENCE 10
.1 The Bridegrooms of Lot's Daughters 13
.2 Moses, the Bridegroom of Blood 15
.3 Samson 19
.4 The Levite from Ephraim 21
.5 David 22
.6 Tobiah and the Unnamed Son-in-law of Sanballat 25
.7 The Deity as Bridegroom or Husband 26
.8 The Bridegroom in Pauline Thought 29
.9 The Bridegroom in Revelation 30
.10 Violence as a Literary Trope in Greco-Roman Contexts 31
.11 Violence as a Cultural Foundation for Marriage 34
1.12 Conclusion 37
INTRODUCTION TO THE WEDDING PARABLES 39
Chapter 2
THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING FEAST (Mt. 22.1-14) 46
2.1 Introduction 47
2.2 Violence in the Matthean Redaction 50
2.3 The Wedding Banquet 53
2.4 The King's Slaves 54
2.5 The Call and Refusal 56
2.6 The Second Invitation: 'Come to the Feast' 59
2.7 The Burned City 61
2.8 The Next Group of Guests 64
2.9 The Guest without a Wedding Garment 67
2.10 Many Are Called but Few Are Chosen 75
2.11 Conclusion 76
vi While the Bridegroom is with them'
Chapter 3
THE PARABLE OF THE TEN VIRGINS (Mt. 25.1-13) 78
3.1 Introduction 79
3.2 Ten Virgins Go to Meet the Bridegroom 82
3.3 Wise and Foolish 87
3.4 Ten Virgins: The Full Measure 93
3.5 Lamps and Oil 94
3.6 The Bridegroom's Delay 97
3.7 The Cry at Midnight 100
3.8 Go Buy for Yourselves 102
3.9 The Door 105
3.10 T Never Knew You' 106
3.11 Conclusion 108
Chapter 4
THE BRIDEGROOM'S FICTIVE FAMILY 110
4.1 Introduction 111
4.2 Households in the First Century 113
4.3 Voluntary Associations as Fictive Families 117
4.4 The Bridegroom's Fictive Family and Disruption of Kinship
Bonds 122
4.5 The 'Sons of the Bridal Chamber' 126
4.6 Joseph as Model for Adoptive Fatherhood 131
4.7 Eunuchs for the Kingdom 134
4.8 Fatherhood and Motherhood in Matthew 142
4.9 The Slaughter of the Innocents' and Violence in the
Matthean Family 147
Chapter 5
THE ABSENT BRIDE, ANGELS, AND ANDROGYNY: SEXUALITY IN
MATTHEW 153
5.1 Introduction 154
5.2 The Absent Bride 154
5.3 Like the Angels: No Marriage in Heaven 158
5.4 One Flesh: Gender and Sexuality in Matthew 163
5.5 Except for Porneia: Marriage and Divorce in Matthew 173
5.6 Conclusion 177
Conclusion 179
Bibliography 185
Abbreviations 214
Index of References 217
Index of Modern Authors 239
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My deepest gratitude is given to Amy-Jill Levine for her indefatigable
enthusiasm and encouragement that pushed me to strive far beyond what
I thought I was capable of doing. Her standard of excellence in
scholarship has been a constant inspiration, and her many gifts to me
as mentor are invaluable. I am grateful for the support and inspiration
provided by Annalisa Azzoni, Daniel Patte, Stephen Moore, and Tina
Pippin.
Without the encouragement of friends, I would not have been able to
make the final effort to finish this project. I am grateful to Marian Berky,
Emily Askew, Chris Dungan, Heidi Geib, Alice Hunt, Vicki Phillips, and
the many loving people at Trinity Presbyterian Church for helping to see
me through.
My children, Andrew and Elizabeth, have patiently shared my attention
with the research and writing. Liz was my technical support through a
myriad of computer difficulties, and she often reversed mother-nlaughter
roles to care for me when I was especially discouraged. Andrew's music,
sense of humor, and spontaneity have lifted my spirits many times, and he
showed his solidarity by attending my dissertation defense. This book has
been as much a part of their lives as mine, and I thank them for their
support.
There are no adequate words to express my thanks for the love and
support I have received from my parents. Their faith and personal
integrity are the example that helps me through difficult times. Their sense
of wonder and commitment to lifelong learning started me on the path
toward a career in biblical studies. They never once doubted that I could
achieve my goals, and in countless ways have made it possible for me to
do so.
INTRODUCTION
That Jesus never married and was not a 'real' bridegroom is agreed by
Church tradition and most scholars.1 The saying about Jesus as
'bridegroom' (Mt. 9.15; cf. also Mk. 2.19-20; Lk. 5.34-35; Jn. 3.29; G.
Thorn. 104)2 - 'The wedding guests cannot mourn as long as the
bridegroom is with them, can they? The days will come when the
bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast' - is thus a
metaphor. On the one hand, the Matthean bridegroom signifies joy,
because the 'sons of the bridal chamber' are unable to mourn in his
presence (9.15). But on the other hand, Jesus' statement that 'the days are
coming when the bridegroom will be taken away' (9.15), the motif of
the bridegroom in Jewish and Greco-Roman literature, and the
distinct Matthean wedding parables (22.1-14; 25.1-13) all associate the
1. Among the few exceptions is William E. Phipps, Was Jesus Married? The Distortion of
Sexuality in the Christian Tradition (New York: Harper and Row, 1970); Phipps, 'The Case
for a Married Jesus', Dialogue 7 (1972), pp. 44-49. (See John P. Meier's sustained argument
against Phipps's theory in A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus. I. The Roots of
the Problem and the Person [New York: Doubleday, 1991], pp. 332-45.) See also a one-page
article by Stephen Twycross, 'Was Jesus Married?', Expository Times 107 (1996), p. 334.
James H. Charlesworth's forthcoming 'Is it Conceivable that Jesus Married Mary
Magdalene?' (in Amy-Jill Levine [ed.], A Feminist Companion to the Jesus Movement
[London: T&T Clark]) concludes that Jesus could have been married, although Charlesworth
doesn't go so far to say that he was. Fictional speculations on Jesus' marriage include Niko
Kazantzakis's The Last Temptation of Christ (trans. Peter A. Bien; New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1960), and Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (New York: Doubleday, 2003).
2. The bridegroom saying, in various forms, points to a shared source tradition (Mt.
9.15; Mk. 2.19-20; Lk. 5.34-35; Jn. 3.29; G. Thorn. 104). The bridal motif also appears
extensively in later Gnostic writings, e.g., Exegesis of the Soul 131.29ff; 132.13-14;
Authoritative Teaching 22, 35.1-20, 31.34-32.8; Gospel of Philip 55.6-14; 64; 65.1-26; 67.1-
68.16-26; 69.5-14; 69; 70.10-23; 72.17-23; 74.19-24; Chs 76, 81, 84, 85; Dialogue with the
Savior 120; 138.17-20; Teachings of Silvanus 94.26-27; 105. The Jesus Seminar has awarded
the saying with a rare 'pink' rating: Jesus probably said something very much like this. See
Robert Funk (ed.), The Five Gospels: The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus (San
Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), p. 164. W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison agree that it
is an 'authentic saying' of Jesus, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (3 vols.; ICC;
Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988, 1991, 1997), II, p. 107. I am not interested in the logion's
authenticity but in its function within Matthew's gospel.
