Treasure Hidden in a Field (13:44)

People in Palestine often hid treasures, and a treasure might remain concealed if the hider died before he could retrieve it. Probably the central character of this parable is a peasant working a wealthy landowner's field who when plowing turns up a strongbox or jar containing coins. Once he buys the field, the field's contents legally belongs to him (compare m. Baba Batra 4:8-9), freeing him to later "rediscover" the treasure. Whereas most discovered-treasure stories emphasized the finder's extravagant lifestyle afterward or some compromise between the field's seller and buyer (Gen. Rab. 33:1; Jeremias 1972:200), Jesus lays the entire emphasis on the price the man is ready to pay to invest in this treasure far greater than any he already owns. Although this treasure, like the kingdom, is hidden to most of the world, not only does the man recognize that its value outweighs all he has, but (unlike most of us today) he acts accordingly.