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This kind of language and presentation (poetic) is Tanakh style and not the way Jesus is portrayed by the greek bible.

Any findings on why Jesus is projected to have used this language.

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.

Yeddu
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Let there be no doubt that Jesus was thoroughly Jewish in his appearance, customs and language. The passage in Matt 23:37 is neither unique nor surprising.

First, Jesus said the same thing on a previous occasion in Luke 13:34, 35

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! “Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’”

Further, Jesus wept over Jerusalem as recorded in Luke 19:41.

Second, Jesus alludes to several OT passages in this brief speech in Matt 23:37, 38.

  • Matt 23:35 - “On you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah”. (See 2 Chron. 24:20–21). There were many more.
  • Ps 91:4 - He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
  • Deut 32:11 - As an eagle stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, He spread His wings to catch them and carried them on His pinions.

It is one of the great ironies of history that Jerusalem, the "City of Peace" has experienced more wars that most other places. Jesus wept over Jerusalem for two reasons:

  • the bloodshed that would occur there, eg, Acts 7:60, 12:2, see also 1 Thess 2:14, 15, James 5:10, etc.
  • The fact that the Jews had effectively rejected their long-awaited Messiah and thus -

Look, your house is left to you desolate (v38)

Matt 21:43 - "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

Dottard
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  • Dottard, Agree that Jesus was a Jew and probably spoke Aramaic. Jesus himself did not write anything except once in the sand when they brought the woman caught in adultery. So clearly someone used this poetic language compared to a prosaic text used in the rest of the Greek text. was wondering why?

    Matt 23:35 referring to the Jews killing the first man and the last prophet in Tanakh a bit of exaggeration don't you think? Abel was killed even before God made a covenant with Abraham leave alone with Jacob to form Israelites. Hope you are not saying the Jews are accountable for every death?

     – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 04:40
  • Again in Matt 23:35 Matthew quotes the killing of Zechariah the son of Barachiah but if you read the text King Joash kills Zechariah the son of Jehoiada (note he is a priest, not a prophet) Ps 91:4 This is such an amazing Psalm where David talks about how God protects the people who love God. If you read Psalm 91:9 it is clear that it is about people who call God their refuge. How is this relevant to Jesus? – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 04:51
  • @YedduPrasad - I have far too much love and respect for Jews to accuse them of causing all deaths. However, Jesus was referring to a number of martyrs during the history of the Israelite nation (Abel was well before that). If the Gospel writers recorded Jesus words (as they claim) then I believe that is what Jesus said, albeit in a different language perhaps. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 04:52
  • @YedduPrasad - there is at least one or two questions about that discrepancy on this site alone. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 04:53
  • Deut 32:11: This is a song of Moses to Israel before he is to die. Verse 11 is about how God brought Isreal out of Egypt through the desert. Please see the below verses that this is about Israel and not about Jesus. 9 Because the Lord's portion is His people Jacob, the lot of His inheritance. 44 And Moses came and spoke all the words of this song into the ears of the people he and Hoshea the son of Nun. In this tool, I am seeing responses to questions with verses that are out of context from Tanakh. Why is this happening? (I am asking you as I think you are an owner of this tool. Maybe?) – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 05:03
  • My submission to you is to read the accounts of the 5 prophets that were killed out of 1000s of prophets Israel had. Listing 3 from the top if my head.
    1. Isaiah was killed by Manasseh because he opposed him for his doings. Manasseh was the worst Idolator. 2. Jeremiah prophesied to the people not to rebel against Babylon and be killed. This was about freedom not rebellion against God.
    2. Micah was killed by Joram son of Ahab as he criticized his father for not walking according to the law. Others I can share, but don't you think these generic broad brushing the jews is not right?
     – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 06:04
  • Your quote of Matt 21:43 replacement theology is not believed by most Christians today. ON the contrary the belief is that jesus will not come unless the jews accept that Jesus is the messiah. I am also sure you read the writings of John Nelson Darby. See the verse that Jesus said. Matthew 23:39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c]” – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 06:22
  • Dottard, Why are there so many contradictions in the greek text? Is it OK to have such issues? I was always told not to question it as it is god-breathed. – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 06:34
  • @YedduPrasad - there are no real contradictions - only misunderstandings. The text is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16, 17) but if you notice contradiction, make that the subject of a question to receive some good answers. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 08:02
  • Dottard, I am reading the answers line by line and seeing the same pattern of addressing the "misunderstanding" with what is being called "Type", "Simily", "Parallel", "Foreshadow" etc... With 22K verses in Tanakh, I can prove any action done by anyone in the greek text as a type, parallel, simily etc. But that is not how prophecies work. They need to be in context of who is telling what is to happen when. Please read this ticket as a case in point "Out of Egypt I called my son" --- https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/165/my-son-in-hosea-111-quoted-in-matt-214-15/59687#59687 – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 08:11
  • @YedduPrasad - I am sorry but I clearly have no idea what you are trying to say. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 11:21
  • Dottard, How can the greek text refer a verse from Tanakh out of context and say that a prophecy is fulfilled – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 11:25
  • @YedduPrasad - you need to quote a specific example and make that the subject of its own question - comments are NOT for discussion nor answering questions. Suffice to say here that the NT writers were just as inspired as the OT writers and so, as with Jesus Himself, could quote creatively. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 11:27
  • Dottard, The link I shared has my response with a Specific use case. I guess I did not call it out clearly.

    https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/165/my-son-in-hosea-111-quoted-in-matt-214-15/59687#59687

     – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 11:29
  • @YedduPrasad - I am sorry that I did not (and still do not) understand that answer either. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 11:33
  • Dottard, Below is Hosea 11:1-2. It is says Israel was a child and God broght him out of Egypt. Verse 2 says Israel went after Baalim. How can this be used to say the Prophecy of Jesus coming out of Egypt fulfilled. Hosea 11:1 For, when Israel was young, I loved him, and from Egypt I called My son. Hosea 11:2 The more they called to them, the more they went away from them; to the baalim they would slaughter sacrifices, and to the graven images they would burn incense. – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 11:40
  • @YedduPrasad - PLEASE make this the subject of its own question - there is a HUGE literature on this topic of "creative" Bible prophecy that you sense. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 11:41
  • Dottard, I did but my question was closed as Duplicate and pointed to this question. – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 11:43
  • https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/59676/jesus-coming-out-of-egypt-prophesied – Yeddu May 06 '21 at 11:45
  • @YedduPrasad - I agree that it was a duplicate - if the answers there did not help then launch a bounty and attract more attention to it to get more answers. – Dottard May 06 '21 at 11:47