"Finding a Treasure: The Treasure Motif in Jewish, Christian, and Graeco-Roman Narratives in the Context of Rabbinic Halakhah and Roman Law". (original) (raw)

forthcoming in: Parables and Fables in the Graeco-Roman World, ed. Albertina Oegema et al., WUNT, Tuebingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2019.

The motif of finding a treasure appears in parables in the gospels of Matthew and Thomas as well as in rabbinic parables and stories. Finding a treasure or jewellery seems to be a stock motif in ancient Jewish and Christian sources of diverse literary forms. In the respective literary contexts, the motif is expanded and used for a variety of purposes. The focus is usually on the finder's reaction and its moral and theological implications. In ancient Jewish society, finding a valuable object or money would have been considered a divine blessing, At the same time, the proper handling of a find, that is, whether it had to be announced publicly and who had ownership rights, was regulated by both rabbinic halakhah and Roman law. An investigation of the legal rules concerning finds can indicate which of the reactions and behaviours mentioned in the parables and stories can be considered transgressive and/or morally improper. The meaning of the literary texts can be understood properly only if the social reality and the legal issues concerning finds are taken into consideration. 1. The Treasure Parable in Matthew 13:44. The gospel of Matthew transmits the following parable: ------------1 I would like to thank Jonathan J.J. Pater, Martijn Stoutjesdijk, and Albertina Oegema for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this text.