Marginal Notes on Matthew 3:15 and Habbakuk 1:6

Matt 3:15 (AP)

The problem with this text is: Why should Jesus be baptised? Commentators observe that John baptised with a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins but Jesus was sinless. Christadelphian solutions answer the problem by saying that Jesus had a sinful nature and was baptised for that reason; orthodox commentators are more likely to affirm that Jesus was demonstrating that baptism was essential for anyone who would follow him. The problem with these responses is that they do not arise from Jesus’ answer to John that such a baptism “becometh us to fulfil all righteousness”.

So…

  1. Instead of thinking that John baptised Jesus with a baptism of repentance, a baptism that John objected to performing, let us read “becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” as Jesus’ explanation to John that his baptism was not a baptism of repentance but a different kind of baptism, one that was a prophetic fulfillment of “all righteousness”.
  2. How does this work?
    1. John says to Jesus that he had a need to be baptized by Jesus, but this does not refer to any need of John for a baptism of repentance performed by Jesus; rather, it refers to John’s need for a baptism of spirit and fire which he has just said the Coming One will perform (Luke 3:16).
    2. Jesus’ answer quotes 1 Sam 12:7. The LXX expression (two words) is the same in both Matthew and 1 Samuel for “all righteousness” (pa/san dikaiosu,nhn only occurs in these two places) and the Hebrew is “all righteousnesses” and is unique to 1 Samuel. The KJV interprets as “all righteous acts”, and 1 Sam 12:6 indicates that the Exodus is the example of “righteousness” in focus.
    3. So, Samuel says to Israel that he is going to reason with them about “all righteousness” and these are the acts of the Lord particularly in relation to Moses and Aaron bringing Israel up from Egypt.
    4. The Exodus from Egypt involved crossing the Red Sea and a journey through the wilderness. Elsewhere this is described as God bringing his son out of Egypt (Hos 11:1). In Matthew, Jesus is baptised in the Jordan and then he goes into the wilderness.
    5. So, Jesus’ baptism is not a baptism of repentance but a baptism in type corresponding to Israel’s baptism in the Red Sea (1 Cor 10:2). He is saying to John that they must fulfil in type “all the righteous acts of God”, and in terms of the types in the Law, the crossing of the Red Sea by God’s Son (Israel) required his only begotten son to be baptised. In this scenario, John is “Moses” and Jesus is “Aaron”.
  3. The term “fulfil” secures the case: this is the standard term for fulfilling prophecy and fulfilling scripture:

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Luke 24:44 (KJV)

Jesus could equally have said to John, “suffer it to be so, for it becometh us to fulfil all scripture”, but he doesn’t: by quoting 1 Sam 12:7, Jesus points to the scripture in the Law about the crossing of the Red Sea, when Israel, God’s son, was brought out of Egypt across the Red Sea.

Habakkuk 1:6 (PW)

Although there is great uncertainty over the dating of the book of Habakkuk the consensus among scholarship is that the circumstances found in Judah ca. 605-600 B.C.E are the most likely historical fit for the oracle.[1]

The crux interpretum  is Hab 1:5-11, particularly v. 6 which mentions the Chaldeans and therefore most scholars date the prophecy either slightly before the reign of the reforming Josiah, or just after when Nebuchadnezzar marched into and captured the Palestinian land bridge.

“For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not theirs.” Hab 1:6 (KJV)

In the Habakkuk Midrash (1QpHab II, 10-15) Chaldeans (kasdim) are called kittim, a code name for Rome. This illustrates the principle that the Jews were prepared to re-interpret their ancient prophecies to fit current circumstances and allows the hypothesis to be explored that the expression “the Chaldeans” in Hab 1:6 is a scribal alteration for a prophecy that originally encompassed Assyria.

It is entirely possible that Hab 1:6 was itself adapted by scribes to reflect the “Chaldean” invasion in the time of Jeremiah. This would require a dating of Habakkuk during the Assyrian hegemony. Some points in favour of an Assyrian application include:

  1. Whereas the Assyrians were known for rapacious cruelty, sadism, treachery and greed (Isa 10:5-11, 13), the Chaldeans were the diplomats of Mesopotamia and used violence as a last resort. For example, the conquest of Nineveh by the Chaldeans brought relief rather than oppression to the whole of Western Asia.
  2. The description in v. 6, the “bitter and hasty nation” is more appropriate to Assyria and is reminiscent of Isa.8:3 – Maher-shalal-hash-baz, the name of Isaiah’s son, “swift to the spoil, hasty to the prey” to denote the character of Assyria (cf. Isa.10:6 – “to take the spoil and to take the prey”).

[1] For an introduction, see A. Leslie, “Habakkuk” in Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1982), 3:503-505.