Third Sunday of Ordinary Time (January 21, 2018)
Gospel (Mar 1:14-20)
Jesus Announces the Gospel
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,
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Mat 4:12
Jesus Begins His Ministry
Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, he withdrew into Galilee;
Mat 9:35
Jesus was going through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Mat 11:2
Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the deeds of Christ, he sent word by his disciples
Mat 14:2
and said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
Luk 3:20
Herod also added this to them all: He locked John up in prison.
Luk 4:17-19
17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. And he opened the book and found the place where it was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he anointed me
to proclaim the Gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the prisoners
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”
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Luk 4:43-44
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43 But he said to them, “I must proclaim the kingdom of God to the other towns also, for I was sent for this purpose.” 44 So he kept on preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Luk 8:1
Soon afterwards, He began going around from one town and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him,
Joh 3:22-24
John’s Last Testimony
22 After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
Act 20:25
And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.
Act 28:23
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When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.
Eph 2:17
And he came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near;
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel!”
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Gen 12:3
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3 And I will bless those who bless you,
and the one who curses you I will curse.
And all the peoples of the earth will be blessed in you [i.e., in your name].
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Rashi’s Commentary
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Will be blessed in you—There are many aggadoth concerning this but the plain sense of the text is as follows: A man says to his son, “May you be like Abraham.” This, too, is the meaning wherever the phrase “will be blessed in you” occurs in Scripture, and the following example proves this: (Gen 48:20): “By you Israel shall bless, saying: May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.”
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Deu 30:11-14
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The Offer of Life or Death
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11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.
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12 It is not in heaven [if it were, you would have to go up after it to study it], that you should ask, “Who will go up for us to heaven and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may obey it?”
been given in writing and by word of mouth]; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.
Eruvin 54a:11
Rabbi Yitzḥak said that this idea is derived from here: “Rather, this matter is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it” (Deu 30:14). When is it very near to you? When it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it, i.e., when you articulate your study of the law.
Rashi’s Commentary
Rather, this word is very near to you—The law has been given to you in writing and orally.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
16 As he was going along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the lake, for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
18 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
19 Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were also in a boat, preparing the nets.
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Eruvin 55a:1
And this idea, that one must exert great effort to retain one’s knowledge of the law, is in accordance with what Avdimi bar Ḥama bar Dosa said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “It is not in heaven . . . nor is it beyond the sea” (Deu 30:12-13)? “It is not in heaven” indicates that if it were in heaven, you would have to ascend after it, and if it were beyond the sea, you would have to cross after it, as one must expend whatever effort is necessary in order to study the law.
Rashi’s Commentary
It is not in heaven—For were it in heaven it would still be your duty to go up after it and to learn it (Eruvin 55a).
13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should ask, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and get it for us and proclaim it to us, so that we may obey it?”
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14 Rather, this word is very near to you [the law having
20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went away to follow him.
Deu 33:9
who said [in the episode of the golden calf, when Levi was commanded to kill those who had served it] of his father [i.e., his mother’s father (the tribe of Levi not having sinned)] and of his mother,
“I have not seen them”;
and he did not recognize his brothers [i.e., his maternal brothers (by an Israelite)]
nor did he acknowledge his children [i.e., his daughter’s sons (by an Israelite)],
for they kept your word [“You shall have no other gods”]
and guarded [the Levites, unlike the other tribes, having circumcised their sons in the desert] your covenant [of circumcision].
Rashi’s Commentary
For they kept your word, viz., You shall have no other gods before me (Exo 20:3).
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And guarded your covenant viz., the covenant of circumcision (Sifrei Bamidbar 67). For the ordinary Israelites who were born in the desert did not circumcise their sons, whereas the Levites were not only circumcised themselves, but they also circumcised their sons.
Responsorial Psalm (Psa 25:4-9)
5 Guide me in your truth and teach [it to] me,
for you are the God of my salvation,
in you have I trusted all the day [i.e., all my life].
6 Remember, O Lord, your mercy and your lovingkindnesses,
for they are from of old [i.e., from the day you created Adam, telling him that he would die on the day he ate from the tree of knowledge, and granting him one of your (thousand-year) days].
Gen 24:27
And he said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not abandoned his kindness and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the journey [that I required] to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Rashi’s Commentary
In the journey—The journey i.e. the designated journey—the right journey—that way which I really required. In the same manner wherever ב or ל or ×” are prefixed to a word and are punctuated with a pattach, they speak of some object that is quite definite in sense, having been already mentioned in another passage, or of some object where it is quite clear and evident about what one is speaking.
Exo 15:13
With your unfailing love you led
the people you redeemed.
You led them with your strength
to your holy abode.
Rashi’s Commentary
You led—Heb. × Öµ×”Ö·×œÖ°×šÖ°×ªÖ¼Ö¸, an expression of leading. Onkelos translated it in the sense of bearing and carrying, but he was not particular to translate according to the Hebrew expression (i. e., to translate literally).
7 Do not remember the sins of my youth
and my offenses;
according to your love [i.e., my good deeds] remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord [and desirous of vindicating his creations];
therefore he instructs sinners in the way [of repentance].
9 He guides the humble in[the] justice [of their way],
and he teaches the humble his way.
to himself: While I am sacrificing him they will guard the supplies.
Rashi’s Commentary
And . . . arose early—He was alert to fulfil the command (Pesachim 4a).
And he loaded—He himself: he did not order one of his servants to do so, for love disregards the rule imposed on one by his exalted position in life. (“Love” here means love of God as displayed in obedience to his command.) (Genesis Rabbah 55:8)
Two of his servants—Ishmael and Eliezer. For a man of high standing should not travel without two men as attendants (Leviticus Rabbah 26:7) so that if one needs to ease himself and goes aside for this purpose the other will still remain with him (Midrash Tanchuma, Balak 8).
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Reading 1 (Jon 3:1-5, 10)
Jonah Goes to Nineveh
1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying:
2 “Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the message which I am going to give you.”
3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was a very large city, a three days’ walk.
Gen 22:3
And Abraham arose early in the morning [in haste to perform the command] and he [himself] loaded his donkey, and he took two of his servants [Ishmael and Eliezer] with him and Isaac his son; and he cut wood for the burnt offering, and he arose, and he went to the place which God had told him.
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22:9
And he took two of his servants with him—He said
4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day’s journey; and he cried out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.
Exo 9:18-21
18 Behold, about this time tomorrow [when the sun reaches this mark that I have inscribed on the wall], I will send a very sore hailstorm, the like of which has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
Rashi’s Commentary
כָּעֵתמָחָר means about this time tomorrow—He scratched a mark on the wall, saying, “Tomorrow when the sun reaches here the hail will descend” (Exodus Rabbah 12:2; cf. Rashi on Genesis 21:2).
19 Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every person
Jonah goes to the city of Nineveh by the Moody Publishers/Free Bible Images All rights reserved.
Jonah went into Nineveh by the Moody Publishers/Free Bible Images All rights reserved.
interdicted not for this generation alone but eternally (just as I am eternally present)].
This work is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0
and animal that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.
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20 The one among the officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his slaves and his livestock flee into the houses.
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Rashi’s Commentary
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×”Öµ× Ö´×™×¡ means flee.
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21 But he who did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
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10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their evil way, then God relented concerning the destruction which he had declared he would bring upon them. And he did not do it.
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Reading 2 (1Co 7:29-31)
29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; 30 and those who mourn, as though they did not mourn; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; 31 and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
Gen 48:20
He blessed them that day, saying,
“By you Israel will bless, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”
Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Exo 20:3
You shall not have [you may not keep them even if you do not make them] the gods of [i.e., made by] others before me [i.e., idolatry is