Why does Jesus use the analogy of a fish and a snake in Matthew 7:10? Immediate Context of Matthew 7:10 Matthew 7:7-11 forms the culmination of Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount. Verses 9-10 present two rapid-fire questions: “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” . The son’s requests are normal staples of a Galilean table; the alternatives are objects that appear superficially similar yet are worthless or harmful. Jesus’ point: if even fallible human fathers instinctively give beneficial things, “how much more” (v. 11) will the heavenly Father give good gifts. The fish/snake pair sharpens that contrast. Literary Device: Qal wa-Ḥomer (“How Much More”) Rabbinic argument often moved from lesser to greater. Jesus employs the qal wa-ḥomer pattern already in Matthew 6:30 (“will He not much more clothe you?”). Here, the reasoning is: • Minor premise: Earthly fathers do not thwart their children’s legitimate physical needs. • Major premise: God’s goodness infinitely exceeds theirs. • Conclusion: He will unfailingly answer petitions that align with His will. The fish/snake analogy dramatizes the absurdity of a father knowingly substituting harm for nourishment; it therefore magnifies divine benevolence. Cultural Geography and Diet of Galilee First-century excavations at Magdala (A.D. 1-70 salting installations unearthed in 2009) and Capernaum (fishhooks, net weights, and boat fragments) confirm a thriving fishing economy on the Sea of Galilee. Families commonly ate tilapia galilaea (“St. Peter’s fish”) or sardines from nearby spring waters (Josephus, War 3.10.8). Thus a child’s request for fish was ordinary; listeners could easily envision the scene. Dietary Law Contrast: Clean vs. Unclean (Leviticus 11:9-12, 41-42) Fish with fins and scales were declared clean, while land-dwelling serpents were unclean and, to the Hebrew mind, repugnant for food. By invoking a clean staple and an unclean predator, Jesus leverages existing Torah categories: what nourishes vs. what defiles. The antithesis deepens the theological truth that the Father never violates His own holiness by providing what corrupts His children. Symbolic Thread of Fish in Scripture • Provision and life: God “appointed a great fish” to rescue Jonah (Jonah 1:17). • Mission: “I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). • Abundance: Feeding of the 5,000 features two fish (Matthew 14:17-21). Early Christian graffiti in the catacombs (ΙΧΘΥΣ acronym) employ the fish as a creed: “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” The positive connotations of sustenance, salvation, and mission converge in Matthew 7:10. Symbolic Thread of Snakes in Scripture From Genesis 3 the serpent embodies deceit and lethal danger. Moses’ bronze serpent (Numbers 21:8-9) foreshadows Christ’s substitutionary elevation (John 3:14-15), yet still points to deadly venom. In Luke 11:11 (synoptic parallel), “scorpion” appears alongside “egg,” reinforcing the danger motif. By pairing fish with snake, Jesus calls attention to the moral polarity between God’s gifts and the adversary’s destruction (John 10:10). Rhetorical Power: Visual and Tactile Similarity A rolled-up fish and a coiled snake can look alike in dim light; so can a stone and a loaf (v. 9). Jesus exploits this superficial similarity to highlight paternal motivation. A loving father inspects reality, not appearances. Likewise, the disciple can trust God to discern true good from deceptively packaged evil. Theological Outcome: Assurance in Prayer Matthew 7:10 anchors the larger promise: “Ask…and it will be given to you” (7:7). Because God does not bait-and-switch—He gives “good things to those who ask Him” (7:11)—believers may petition boldly yet submissively, knowing answers will never harm spiritual welfare (Romans 8:32). Practical Application for Skeptics and Disciples To the inquirer: if you concede that decent earthly parents act benevolently, it is rational to explore whether the moral law points to a transcendent Father whose goodness eclipses theirs. The resurrection of Jesus vindicates His authority to reveal that Father (Acts 17:31). Accept His invitation to trust, and the analogy moves from illustration to lived reality. Conclusion: Why Fish and Snake? Jesus selects two familiars from Galilean life that stand at opposite moral poles—edible, clean, life-sustaining fish versus dangerous, unclean, life-threatening snake. Their visual similarity heightens the rhetorical impact, their dietary status ties the teaching to Torah categories, and their symbolic trajectory through Scripture encapsulates salvation history. The analogy therefore crystallizes His assurance that the heavenly Father, unlike any malevolent caricature, gives only what nourishes body and soul. |
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