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In Matthew 12:33-37 ("Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad ...") there are 3 precisely patterned pairs. The pattern in each case consists of 2 consecutive clauses where the first one has a word for good in some sense and the second one is identical except that good is replaced with its opposite.

It seems to me that this strict, repetitive pattern is not typical of Hebrew, which uses parallelism, where pairs of similar ideas are placed in sequence with variation in vocabulary. The thought here is similar to Proverbs 14:30 (A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones), where parallelism with change of vocabulary is used to show contrast.

Does anyone know enough about the development of Jewish literature to be able to say whether this sort of logical purity is homegrown or from Hellenistic influence?

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  • Doesn't the fact Matthew's writing in Greek (or Hebrew then translated) show the influence of Greek thought? It's not that the use of pattern doesn't, or that this question deserves a trite answer. My point is that if Matthew 12:33-37 is brought as evidence to a question of the author's thought, it's too small an exhibit not to be drowned out by the author's language(s). Before checking if the exhibit fits in to the history of ideas, it first needs to be shown it's not isolated. "Do these twenty similar examples fit into the development of Jewish literature" would seem more askable.
    – FelixLXX
    Commented Jul 30 at 6:26

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From my perspective, narrow answer is that there are no good evidences which state that the use of strict pattern in Matt 12:33-37 show influence of Greek thought. But there is the opposite, at least, one. It can be found in the book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 24:16 (KJV):

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

Isaiah 24:16 (YLT):

From the skirt of the earth we heard songs, The desire of the righteous. And I say, 'Leanness is to me, Leanness is to me, wo is to me.' Treacherous dealers dealt treacherously, Yea, treachery, treacherous dealers dealt treacherously.

Isaiah 24:16 (WLC), with vertical separators of related fragment:

מִכְּנַף הָאָרֶץ זְמִרֹת שָׁמַעְנוּ צְבִי לַצַּדִּיק וָאֹמַר רָזִי־לִי רָזִי־לִי אוֹי לִי | בֹּגְדִים בָּגָדוּ | וּבֶגֶד | בּוֹגְדִים בָּגָדוּ | ׃

I am a novice to the Hebrew grammar, but even now I can say, that in this fragment, there is more complex structure of sense, than the pattern which is mentioned by the original poster.

It is not one-to-one example, but, from my perspective, it is not big of a deal to get from this one to the one mentioned in Matthew 12:33-37.

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    Commented Jun 30 at 2:59

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