Dude, Where’s my Cloak? How the Gospels, Talmud, and Archaeology Reflect a Similar Story about Debt

           Did you ever wonder why Jesus made examples of things he did? One opinion is that because Jesus grew out of an agricultural society, a lot of his parables and wisdom sayings hinge on this context.

Much of what we find in the Sermon on the Mount has some place in the customary practices of ancient Judea. This defies the notion that Jesus’ words were so astounding that people were in awe of some form of new wisdom. This is particularly important if we understand that had Jesus been saying things that were completely new, it would have sounded strange and foreign to the people he was trying to reach. A more moderate view is that Jesus spoke the things that people already knew, but he did so with authority.

One reason we know Jesus repeated things often heard was because we see the traditions discussed often paralleled in the writings of Rabbinic Judaism that developed alongside Christianity. I have spoken about some of these in past posts, including the more dubious practice of mesirah. There are a few important lines in the Sermon on the Mount that talk about this practice with regard to the believer’s orientation to judicial proceedings, and as I argued, Paul and Jesus have very different ideas about its usage.

Extracting Jesus from his Jewish background is a sophisticated task. Sometimes it is required (for example, because the gospel writer is working in another culture and language). But other times, it takes away from the story’s grounding, especially when we spiritualize a passage without reason.

A typical accusation against the Bible is its lack of archaeological witness. I’m not sure where I first heard this or why, except that many archaeologists don’t appreciate being brought into the service of the bible or having their profession marginalized as the measuring stick that reinforces biblical insights. They simply want to do their job, which at times, does seem to confirm some facts found in biblical narratives. And so I guess one may consider it a territory war. What archaeologists do, however, is important. Indeed, their work does not always complement biblical knowledge and so one understands when they are offended by such sweeping claims.

Conversely, Near East archaeology confirms that the bible is not a book of fairytales, written out of time, or oblivious to its cultural surroundings. This is not surprising, because most religious books are contextually constrained to the environs of their development!

One particular case that can be found in the gospels, archaeology, and the Talmud, is a story about the importance of a cloak.

Jesus said with food and clothing let us be content. But when a man loses his cloak or garment, should he continue to be content? Jesus doesn’t tell us, but given that in the culture he lived in, these kinds of things were the sum total of much of a person's belongings, this statement doesn’t appear as ascetically (not aesthetically) pleasing  as we tend to spiritualize.

Let's look at what the Talmud tells us first. In a story concerning debt reconciliation, a rabbi deprives workers of their garments when they accidentally break wine vases they are hired to transport for him. Bava Metzia 83a records:

Rav was one of the first rabbis who, after the publication in approximately the year 180 C.E. of the Mishnah, the oldest part of the Talmud, opened the first academy to study and expound on the Mishnah.  Rav's colleague, Rabbi Rabbah bar Bar Hanan, hired porters to move a barrel of wine that the rabbi had purchased.  The porters were negligent and dropped and busted the barrel, emptying its contents.  Rabbah bar Bar Hanan not only refused to pay the workers, but took their cloaks as compensation for the lost wine.  The workers went to Rav and told Rav what had happened.  

Rav told Rabbah bar Bar Hanan, "Give them back their cloaks."  

Rabbah bar Bar Hanan asked Rav, "Is this the law?"  

Rav answered, "Yes."  And, quoting Proverbs 2:20, "That you may walk in a good way, and may keep the paths of the just."

Rabbah bar Bar Hanan accepted Rav's ruling and returned the cloaks to the workers.  The workers then asked again for their wages and Rabbah bar Bar Hanan again refused to pay them.
The workers returned to Rav and said to him, "We are poor, we have worked all day, we are hungry, and we have nothing."

Rav then said to Rabbah bar Bar Hanan, "Go, and give them their wages."

Rabbah bar Bar Hanan asked Rav, "Is this the law?"  

Rav replied, "Yes."  And he again quoted Proverbs 2:20 - "That you may walk in a good way, and may keep the paths of the just."

               One of the problematic aspects of this text is that nowhere is it mentioned that Proverbs is the law (halakhic or torah - biblical law). Proverbs is wisdom literature, nothing more. Even bar Hanan knew this was not the law. But this is not really the point, just something to point out.

Archaeology tells a similar story. The Mesad Hashavayahu Ostracon (dated to the 7^th century BCE, around the time of King Josiah) contains an inscription in which a fieldworker appeals to the governor about the conduct of one Hashavayahu, an officer who apparently took his garment and would not return it. He cites a law concerning holding one’s belongings past sundown as collateral for a debt. The passage reads:

"Let my lord, the governor, hear the word of his servant! Your servant is a reaper. Your servant was in Hazar Asam, and your servant reaped, and finished, and he has stored (the grain) during these days before the Sabbath. When your servant had finished the harvest, and had stored (the grain) during these days, Hoshavyahu came, the son of Shobi, and he seized the garment of your servant, when I had finished my harvest. It (is already now some) days (since) he took the garment of your servant. And all my companions can bear witness for me - they who reaped with me in the heat of the harvest - yes, my companions can bear witness for me. Amen! I am innocent from guilt. And he stole my garment! It is for the governor to give back the garment of his servant. So grant him mercy in that you return the garment of your servant and do not be displeased."

So Jesus too has something to say about debts.  And again, he does so in the context of cloaks. In the Sermon on the Mount he asserts:

“And if a man will sue you at law, and take away your coat. Let him have your cloak as well.” – Matthew 5:40

The gospel of Matthew is typically portrayed as the most Jewish of the gospels, so it is not a wonder when he works within Jewish custom to bring out a custom most of his audience would recognize. Luke on the other hand, simply speaks to non-resistance.

“…and to him that takes away your cloak, do not resist given him your coat as well.” – Luke 6:29

In both cases, Jesus does do something unique. He teaches love over law. In the first part, perhaps a form of "shaming one's enemy"(bosheth), and in the second "demonstrating non-resistance." Putting Jesus in the context of his surroundings often reveals a level of continuity that continues to be of interest to scholars and laity alike.