Monday, January 12, 2009

Matthew 04:04 By Bread Alone

CANON

Deuteronomy 08:02-03 - And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. 3 And he humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Jehovah does man live.

OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA

Wisdom of Solomon 16:26 - That your children, O Lord, whom you love, might know, that it is not the growing of fruits that nourishes man: but that it is your word, which preserves them that put their trust in you.

PHILO

Allegorical Interpretation III – Exodus 16:15
(173) Therefore, the souls inquire of one another, those, that is, that have clearly felt the influence of the word, but which are not able to say what it is. For very often, when sensible of a sweet taste, we are nevertheless ignorant of the flavor which has caused it, and when we smell sweet scents, we still do not know what they are. And in the same manner also the soul very often, when it is delighted, is yet unable to explain what it is that has delighted it; but it is taught by the hierophant and prophet Moses, who tells it, "This is the bread, the food which God has given for the Soul,"{Exodus 16:15.} explaining that God has brought it, his own word and his own reason; for this bread which he has given us to eat is this word of his.

On Mating With The Preliminary Studies – Deuteronomy 8:2
(170) Does not, then, the prophetic word, by name Moses, very rightly speak in dignified language when he says, "Thou shalt remember all the road by which the Lord God led thee in the wilderness, and how he afflicted thee, and tried thee, and proved thee, that he might know what was in thy heart, and whether thou wouldest keep his commandments. Did he not afflict thee and oppress thee with hunger, and feed thee with manna which thy fathers know not, that he might make thee know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?"{Deuteronomy 8:2.}

ANTE-NICENE CHURCH FATHERS

Clement of Alexandria -The Instructor Book III.7. For he who has the almighty God, the Word, is in want of nothing, and never is in straits for what he needs. For the Word is a possession that wants nothing, and is the cause of all abundance. If one say that he has often seen the righteous man in need of food, this is rare, and happens only where there is not another righteous man. Notwithstanding let him read what follows: “For the righteous man shall not live by bread alone, but by the word of the Lord,” who is the true bread, the bread of the heavens. The good man, then, can never be in difficulties so long as he keeps intact his confession towards God. For it appertains to him to ask and to receive whatever he requires from the Father of all; and to enjoy what is his own, if he keep the Son. And this also appertains to him, to feel no want.
This Word, who trains us, confers on us the true riches. Nor is the growing rich an object of envy to those who possess through Him the privilege of wanting nothing. He that has this wealth shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Tertullian - On the Resurrection of the Flesh 26. You will reckon, (I suppose) onions and truffles among earth’s bounties, since the Lord declares that “man shall not live on bread alone!” In this way the Jews lose heavenly blessings, by confining their hopes to earthly ones, being ignorant of the promise of heavenly bread, and of the oil of God’s unction, and the wine of the Spirit, and of that water of life which has its vigor from the vine of Christ. On exactly the same principle, they consider the special soil of Judea to be that very holy land, which ought rather to be interpreted of the Lord’s flesh, which, in all those who put on Christ, is thenceforward the holy land; holy indeed by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, truly flowing with milk and honey by the sweetness of His assurance, truly Judean by reason of the friendship of God. For “he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, but he who is one inwardly.”

Tertullian - On the Resurrection of the Flesh 61. Now you have received your mouth, O man, for the purpose of devouring your food and imbibing your drink: why not, however, for the higher purpose of uttering speech, so as to distinguish yourself from all other animals? Why not rather for preaching the gospel of God, that so you may become even His priest and advocate before men? Adam indeed gave their several names to the animals, before he plucked the fruit of the tree; before he ate, he prophesied. Then, again, you received your teeth for the consumption of your meal: why not rather for wreathing your mouth with suitable defense on every opening thereof, small or wide? Why not, too, for moderating the impulses of your tongue, and guarding your articulate speech from failure and violence? Let me tell you, (if you do not know), that there are toothless persons in the world. Look at them, and ask whether even a cage of teeth be not an honor to the mouth. There are apertures in the lower regions of man and woman, by means of which they gratify no doubt their animal passions; but why are they not rather regarded as outlets for the cleanly discharge of natural fluids? Women, moreover, have within them receptacles where human seed may collect; but are they not designed for the secretion of those sanguineous issues, which their tardier and weaker sex is inadequate to disperse? For even details like these require to be mentioned, seeing that heretics single out what parts of our bodies may suit them, handle them without delicacy, and, as their whim suggests, pour torrents of scorn and contempt upon the natural functions of our members, for the purpose of upsetting the resurrection, and making us blush over their cavils; not reflecting that before the functions cease, the very causes of them will have passed away. There will be no more meat, because no more hunger; no more drink, because no more thirst; no more concubinage, because no more child-bearing; no more eating and drinking, because no more labor and toil. Death, too, will cease; so there will be no more need of the nutriment of food for the defense of life, nor will mothers’ limbs any longer have to be laden for the replenishment of our race. But even in the present life there may be cessations of their office for our stomachs and our generative organs. For forty days Moses and Elias fasted, and lived upon God alone. For even so early was the principle consecrated: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” See here faint outlines of our future strength! We even, as we may be able, excuse our mouths from food, and withdraw our sexes from union. How many voluntary eunuchs are there! How many virgins espoused to Christ! How many, both of men and women, whom nature has made sterile, with a structure which cannot procreate! Now, if even here on earth both the functions and the pleasures of our members may be suspended, with an intermission which, like the dispensation itself, can only be a temporary one, and yet man’s safety is nevertheless unimpaired, how much more, when his salvation is secure, and especially in an eternal dispensation, shall we not cease to desire those things, for which, even here below, we are not unaccustomed to check our longings!

More info is available from the notes in The Comprehensive New Testament: http://www.cornerstonepublications.org/prod01.htm

3 comments:

Eastcoastdweller said...

And let us not forget the wonderful symbolism of Christ's birth in Beth-lehem, the House of Bread.

Eastcoastdweller said...

Philo, BTW, is a library unto himself, a massive author whom I am ashamed to say I have not yet begun to read.

It is truly astounding how much literary material such as Philo has been preserved from ancient days, in spite of war, disaster and the rise and fall of nations.

It is also truly sad how few of us read any of it, opting instead for the latest fiction on the NYT bestseller list -- here today, forgotten tomorrow.

clontzjm said...

Yes the symbolism between the Bread of Life being born in the House of Bread. Unfortunately, much of the linguistic information doesn't make its way to the English speaking reader.