Most of the miracles performed by Jesus, according to the four canonical gospels, can be shown to be elaborations of miracle performed in the Jewish scriptures by Moses, Elijah and Elisha, or, as in the case of turning water into wine, to Dionysus or other pagan deities. However theres a rather odd one that I haven't, so far, been able to track down. It occurs only in Matthew. In Mt. 17:24, as Jesus and his disciples come to Capernaum, collectors of the half-shekel temple tax ask Peter, "Does not your teacher pay the tax? Peter says, yes, he does. Jesus later says that he is free of the tax, but adds (Mt. 17:27):
"However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."
The "sea" in this case would be the so-called Sea of Galilee, actually a fresh water lake. That's all there is to the story. We are not told whether or not this actually came to pass. However, it is frequently listed as one of the miracles of Jesus. I'm assuming there's a special symbolism involved in this story that explains the rather odd way of providing the needed money. However I can't find much in the way of any parallels on which it might be based.
I've only been able find two things that might be sources of this odd story. First, there's a Feng Shui symbol of a fish not only resting on a pile of coins, but with a coin in its mouth; I find it unlikely that this particular Chinese motif would have found its way into the Gospel of Matthew. The other is an odd bit of natural history. The tilapia fish carries its newly hatched young in its mouth for a time, then expels them by taking pebbles into its mouth to crowd them out. The idea here is that a tilapia could have taken a coin in its mouth as well. I haven't been able to find any images of this from classical or Near Eastern antiquity.
Does anyone have any ideas on this odd passage?
"However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook, and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel; take that and give it to them for me and for yourself."
The "sea" in this case would be the so-called Sea of Galilee, actually a fresh water lake. That's all there is to the story. We are not told whether or not this actually came to pass. However, it is frequently listed as one of the miracles of Jesus. I'm assuming there's a special symbolism involved in this story that explains the rather odd way of providing the needed money. However I can't find much in the way of any parallels on which it might be based.
I've only been able find two things that might be sources of this odd story. First, there's a Feng Shui symbol of a fish not only resting on a pile of coins, but with a coin in its mouth; I find it unlikely that this particular Chinese motif would have found its way into the Gospel of Matthew. The other is an odd bit of natural history. The tilapia fish carries its newly hatched young in its mouth for a time, then expels them by taking pebbles into its mouth to crowd them out. The idea here is that a tilapia could have taken a coin in its mouth as well. I haven't been able to find any images of this from classical or Near Eastern antiquity.
Does anyone have any ideas on this odd passage?
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=263366&goto=newpost
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire