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It draws attention to Jesus' community as the true Israel, because Jewish literature had traditionally used sheep and wolf imagery of Israel and the nations. Because this verse follows on Jesus sending the twelve to the Israelites exclusively, the Jews hostile to his kingdom are now implicitly cast as wolves. [5]
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. The New International Version translates the passage as: I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
In the King James Version of the Bible the text reads: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. The World English Bible translates the passage as: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. The Novum Testamentum Graece text is:
The Bible contains 13 references to wolves, usually as metaphors for greed and destructiveness. In the New Testament, Jesus is quoted to have used wolves as illustrations to the dangers His followers would have faced should they follow him (Matthew 10:16, Acts 20:29, Matthew 7:15) [68]
The Gospel of Matthew never uses that title to refer to Jesus, though the Gospel of Luke does so. [6] This verse contains a collection Matthew favourite phrases, such as "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Father in Heaven." Gundry notes that "enter the kingdom of heaven" appears three other times in the Gospel, at Matthew 5:20, 18:3, and 23:13. [7]
In Matthew 12:40, Jesus compared his own burial to Jonah's entombment in the forestomach of a whale. [18] Wild dogs, Ezekiel 13:4; Wolf — In the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), the Tribe and figure of Benjamin were compared to a wolf, owing to the tribe's warlike character and heroic tribal members such as King Saul and Mordecai. [23]
Michael Licona suggests that John has redacted Jesus' authentic statements as recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Where Matthew and Mark have Jesus quote Psalm 22:1, John records that "in order that the Scripture may be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty'." Jesus' final words as recorded in Luke are simplified in John into "It is finished." [12]
Jesus here presents no arguments for man's evil nature: he appears to take it as a "given". This is true throughout the New Testament, the essentially evil nature of humanity is simply assumed. Theologian Eduard Schweizer notes that this passage is somewhat hopeful, as even the inherently evil man will in some situations almost always do good.