Isaiah 22 and Matt 16: Is Scott Hahn the first person in the history of the Church to draw a parallel?

[steve_b]

Is the connection between Isaiah 22:
I will place the key[j] of the House of David on his shoulder;
what he opens, no one will shut,
what he shuts, no one will open.
and Matthew 16:
I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.[n] Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
something only Scott Hahn has been able to associate?

Or have there been other theologians, church fathers, popes and councils who have also drawn this connection?

Looking at just biblical similarities, for keys, & David,

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: `The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens. (Revelation 3:7 RSV)

And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David; he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. And I will fasten him like a peg in a sure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father’s house. (Isaiah 22:20-24 RSV)

Matthew quotes Jesus, who is son of God, son of Mary, Son of Joseph, & son of David giving to Peter
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,h] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 16:19 RSVCE)

 

[pablope]

For sure. His view in no way represents a consensus of the Church any more than

Well…how would you know? What would be your basis saying it does not?

That is to say, an individual’s interpretation is important but is not a determining factor in whether the entire church believed it.

 

[irenaeuslyons]

Its been around a lot longer than Dr. Hahn. Cornelius Lapide (AD 1567-1637) talks about the connection between Isa22:22 and Mt16:19 in his commentary…

|Holy Bible (Douay Rheims)

.​

Isa 22:22 • “And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open.”

.​

Reference**Job 12:14** • “If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he shut up a man, there is none that can open.”

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Mt 16:19 • “And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”

.​

Rev 3:7 • “And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write: These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth:”

.​

CommentaryVer. 22. Shoulder. Here the marks of dignity were worn. Eliacim was appointed master of the palace, over all the other servants. C. — Thus we may gather what power Christ conferred on S. Peter, when he gave him the keys of heaven. Mat. xvi. 19. Apoc. iii. 7. H.

.​

|

 

[OraLabora]

For sure. His view in no way represents a consensus of the Church any more than Jerome’s rejection of the deuterocanonical books, though. That is to say, an individual’s interpretation is important but is not a determining factor in whether the entire church believed it.

Yes but: the question of the OP is whether someone sparked this idea before Scott Hahn. You mentioned John Cassian, who was well before Scott Hanh!

So it isn’t an original idea, and eventually the juxtaposition of the two readings in the Mass lectionary suggests that theologians sometime around Vatican II (and probably before as reforms of the Mass started to be discussed in the '40s) also not only thought about it, but realized its significance.

 

[GaryTaylor]

What is the purpose of the keys?

St. Peter alone, apart from the other Apostles, denoted his primacy among the twelve (Optatus, “De Schism. Don.”, vii, 3, in P.L., XI, 1087). Origen dilates at length on this point, but teaches erroneously that the power conferred upon the Twelve in Matthew 18:18, could only be exercised within certain restrictions of place, while that conferred upon St. Peter in Matthew 16:18, was of universal extent (Comm. in Matt., P.G., XIII, 1179).

He taught at Alexandria, his teaching would have been well known, much of the same comes from around this period with ECFs.

The gift of ecclesiastical authority.

 

[TimothyH]

There is no doubt in my mind that St. Peter himself was the first to recognize the connection between the two verses.

-Tim-

 

[Randy_Carson]

Is the connection between Isaiah 22:

I will place the key[j] of the House of David on his shoulder;
what he opens, no one will shut,
what he shuts, no one will open.

and Matthew 16:

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.[n] Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

something only Scott Hahn has been able to associate?

Or have there been other theologians, church fathers, popes and councils who have also drawn this connection?

Edmund Gibson

II. The truth of this will further appear, in the explication of the next words, which expound those of which I have now treated: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth, it shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.”

The sense of which is not so plain and obvious as Bellarmine pretends, but we agree that they are a plain allusion to the words of the prophet Isaiah concerning Eliakim, Is. 22:23: “I will give thee the keys of the house of David,” i.e. make thee – not High-priest, as he [Bellarmine] grossly mistakes – but steward of the royal family, to take in and thrust out whom thou shalt think fit. Such was the power here promised to peter by our Lord, who saith of himself, “that he hath the key of David,” Rev. 3:7 i.e. of the house or family of David, which he alone governs by an absolute power; but tells Peter he intended to make him, under himself, his supreme Lord and Master, such a steward in the Church as Eliakim had been in the court (Against the Doctrine of the Papal Supremacy, edited by Edmond Gibson, p. 10, 1738).

Ephraim the Syrian (c. 350)

1. Accordingly, the Son came to the servant; not that the Son might be presented by the servant, but that by the Son the servant might present to His Lord Priesthood and Prophecy, to be laid up with Him. For prophecy and priesthood, which were given through Moses, were handed down, both of them, and reached to Simeon. For he was a pure vessel, who sanctified himself that he might be like Moses, capable for both of them. There are small vessels which are capable for great gifts. There are gifts for which one is capable, by reason of their grace; yet many are not capable for them, by reason of their greatness. Thus, then, Simeon presented our Lord, and in Him offered both these things; so that that which was given to Moses in the wilderness, was received from Simeon in the Temple. But seeing that our Lord is the vessel wherein all fullness dwells, when Simeon was offering Him before God, he poured over Him (as a drink-offering) those two (gifts), priesthood from His hands and prophecy from His lips. Priesthood continued on the hands of Simeon, because of his purifications; and prophecy dwelt in operation upon his lips, because of revelations. When then these two powers saw Him who was Lord of both, they two united together and poured themselves into the vessel that was capable of both; that could contain priesthood and kingdom and prophecy. That Infant then, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes, because of His graciousness, clothed Himself in priesthood and prophecy because of His Majesty. For Simeon clothed Him in these, and gave Him to her who had wrapped Him in swaddling clothes. For when he gave Him to His mother, he gave along with Him the priesthood; and when he prophesied to her concerning Him, This (child) is set for the fall and rising again, Luke 2:34 he gave prophecy also with Him.
2. Then Mary received her firstborn and went forth. He was outwardly wrapped in swaddling clothes, but secretly He was clothed with prophecy and priesthood. Whatsoever then was handed down from Moses, was received from Simeon, but continued and was possessed by the Lord of both. So then the steward [Isaiah 22:22], first, and the treasurer lastly, handed over the keys of priesthood and prophecy to Him who has authority over the treasurer of them both. Therefore, His Father gave Him the spirit not by measure, [John 3:34] because all measures of the spirit are under his hand. And that our Lord might show that He received the keys from the former stewards [Isaiah 22:22], He said to Simeon: To you I will give the keys of the doors. [Matthew 16:19] But how should He have given them to another, had He not received them from another? So, then, the keys which He had received from Simeon the priest, them He gave to another Simeon the Apostle; that even though the People had not hearkened to the former Simeon, the Gentiles might hearken to the latter Simeon.

 

[GaryTaylor]

Edmund Gibson

II. The truth of this will further appear, in the explication of the next words, which expound those of which I have now treated: “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on Earth, it shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.”

The sense of which is not so plain and obvious as Bellarmine pretends, but we agree that they are a plain allusion to the words of the prophet Isaiah concerning Eliakim, Is. 22:23: “I will give thee the keys of the house of David,” i.e. make thee – not High-priest, as he [Bellarmine] grossly mistakes – but steward of the royal family, to take in and thrust out whom thou shalt think fit. Such was the power here promised to peter by our Lord, who saith of himself, “that he hath the key of David,” Rev. 3:7 i.e. of the house or family of David, which he alone governs by an absolute power; but tells Peter he intended to make him, under himself, his supreme Lord and Master, such a steward in the Church as Eliakim had been in the court (Against the Doctrine of the Papal Supremacy, edited by Edmond Gibson, p. 10, 1738).

Ephraim the Syrian (c. 350)

1. Accordingly, the Son came to the servant; not that the Son might be presented by the servant, but that by the Son the servant might present to His Lord Priesthood and Prophecy, to be laid up with Him. For prophecy and priesthood, which were given through Moses, were handed down, both of them, and reached to Simeon. For he was a pure vessel, who sanctified himself that he might be like Moses, capable for both of them. There are small vessels which are capable for great gifts. There are gifts for which one is capable, by reason of their grace; yet many are not capable for them, by reason of their greatness. Thus, then, Simeon presented our Lord, and in Him offered both these things; so that that which was given to Moses in the wilderness, was received from Simeon in the Temple. But seeing that our Lord is the vessel wherein all fullness dwells, when Simeon was offering Him before God, he poured over Him (as a drink-offering) those two (gifts), priesthood from His hands and prophecy from His lips. Priesthood continued on the hands of Simeon, because of his purifications; and prophecy dwelt in operation upon his lips, because of revelations. When then these two powers saw Him who was Lord of both, they two united together and poured themselves into the vessel that was capable of both; that could contain priesthood and kingdom and prophecy. That Infant then, who was wrapped in swaddling clothes, because of His graciousness, clothed Himself in priesthood and prophecy because of His Majesty. For Simeon clothed Him in these, and gave Him to her who had wrapped Him in swaddling clothes. For when he gave Him to His mother, he gave along with Him the priesthood; and when he prophesied to her concerning Him, This (child) is set for the fall and rising again, Luke 2:34 he gave prophecy also with Him.
2. Then Mary received her firstborn and went forth. He was outwardly wrapped in swaddling clothes, but secretly He was clothed with prophecy and priesthood. Whatsoever then was handed down from Moses, was received from Simeon, but continued and was possessed by the Lord of both. So then the steward [Isaiah 22:22], first, and the treasurer lastly, handed over the keys of priesthood and prophecy to Him who has authority over the treasurer of them both. Therefore, His Father gave Him the spirit not by measure, [John 3:34] because all measures of the spirit are under his hand. And that our Lord might show that He received the keys from the former stewards [Isaiah 22:22], He said to Simeon: To you I will give the keys of the doors. [Matthew 16:19] But how should He have given them to another, had He not received them from another? So, then, the keys which He had received from Simeon the priest, them He gave to another Simeon the Apostle; that even though the People had not hearkened to the former Simeon, the Gentiles might hearken to the latter Simeon.

Beautiful, adds depth!

 

[Randy_Carson]

Beautiful, adds depth!

:tiphat:

 

[Mintaka]

Here’s some parallel passages talking about these:

Caesarius of Arles, In B. Joannis Apocalypsim, Expositio.

From Homily 2. (PL 35, 2420, 22-30.)

The “glassy sea” is the gift of Baptism, which therefore is said to be “before the throne” - because [Baptism] is given before the Judgment.

Indeed, for this reason, He says afterward, “I have the keys of death and hell.” For He says this because one who believes and is Baptized is freed from death and from hell; and because His Church, even as she holds the keys of life, so she also holds those of hell. For it is said to her, “Whose sins you dismiss, they are dismissed; and whose sins you retain, they are retained.” (John 20:23)

From Homily 3 (PL 35, 2421, 60-74.)

Just now, dearest brothers, we heard blessed John terribly rebuking the human sinner; and therefore we ought to have been confident with huge fear. And let us fear with a shudder what was said: “I know your works, for you have the name of being alive, but you are dead.” (Rev. 3:1)

One does not die unless one has committed a mortal crime, according to that which was said: “The soul which has sinned, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:20) For it is worse; many in living bodies are known to carry dead souls. “Be vigilant and strengthen the rest, who are dying.” (Rev. 3:2)

“The holy and true One says these things, He Who holds the Keys of David” - that is, the royal power. “He Who opens and no one shuts, shuts and no one opens.” It is manifest that Christ would open to those who knock, and would close the door of life to hypocrites - that is, to fakers.

“Behold, I give an opened door before you.” This was said for this reason - so that none would say that anyone else could close, even in part, the door which God opens for the Church into the whole world. “For you have a little strength.” The praise is from God, that the door should open to the little faith of the Church.