Beyond just wages : an intercultural analysis of Matthew 20: 1-16

Abstract

The present study offers an intercultural exegesis of Matt 20:1-16 and shows how it provides grounds for alleviating poverty and promoting justice which goes beyond just wages. This exegesis proceeds through a constructive dialogue between a contemporary culture, a church culture and an original biblical culture. After a detailed presentation of intercultural exegesis, the concept of just wages is examined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its neighbour Rwanda before exploring it in a Catholic Church culture and in an original Matthean culture. Rephrased in words borrowed from G. West, ‘the world in front of the text’ is here represented by a contemporary target culture, while both ‘the world in the text’ and ‘the world behind the text’ rhyme with an original biblical culture; and finally a Catholic Church culture stands for ‘the world around the text.’ The word ‘text’ refers to Christian canonical scriptures.