The Disciplined and the Damned: Problematic Insiders and Countermeasures to Them in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel of Matthew

This study compares discipline in the Gospel of Matthew with the Essene rules. Scholarly comparison often focuses on individual disciplinary aspects, like rebuke. However, a holistic approach—the study of what behaviors are considered problematic together with the various countermeasures employed against them—illuminates the ideology undergirding the particular disciplinary apparatus of each. Matthew and the sectarian rules from Qumran differ in three significant ways. First, the Essene rules center on the protection of the community, while Matthew prioritizes on individual reform. Second, one’s eschatological fate is fixed and discernible in Essene literature, while it remains fluid and ambivalent in Matthew. Third, there is greater overlap between human disciplinary measures and divine prerogatives in the sectarian Scrolls than in Matthew. This project’s holistic approach also has particular benefit for Matthean studies. Building upon the view that this gospel was intended for a wide audience, I contend that Matthew outlines a disciplinary process that does not depend on a particular communal structure. Instead, eschatological threat is the main countermeasure to infractions. Ambiguity in regard to who will be saved—a phenomenon that sometimes puzzles Matthean scholars—is an intentional feature that ensures Matthew’s eschatological threat can be leveraged continuously.

本研究对比了《马太福音》中的纪律与艾塞尼教规。学术界的比较往往集中于单个纪律方面，如责备。然而，一种整体的方法——即研究被视为问题的行为以及针对这些行为的各种对策——能揭示支撑每个特定纪律机制的意识形态。马太福音与库兰的宗派规则在三个方面存在显著差异。首先，艾塞尼教规以保护社区为中心，而马太福音则优先考虑个人改革。其次，在艾塞尼文献中，一个人的末世命运是固定且可辨识的，而在马太福音中则保持流动和模棱两可。第三，宗派卷轴中的人为纪律措施与神权之间的重叠大于马太福音。本项目整体的方法对于马太福音的研究也具有特殊益处。基于这一福音旨在面向广泛受众的观点，我主张马太福音概述了一个不依赖于特定社区结构的纪律过程。相反，末世威胁是针对违规行为的主要对策。关于谁将被拯救的不确定性——这一现象有时会令马太福音学者感到困惑——是有意为之的特征，确保马太福音的末世威胁能够持续不断地被利用。