The Jewish Annotated New Testament (8 page)

Note: In chapter/verse references, or following a verse number, the letter “a” means the first section of the verse, “b” means the second section, and so on.

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

TITLE AND AUTHORSHIP

According to the fourth-century church historian Eusebius, a bishop named Papias (writing ca. 125) noted that the disciple Matthew (Mt 9.9; see also Mk 3.18; Lk 6.15; Acts 1.13) recorded sayings of Jesus in the Hebrew language. The text of the first Gospel, however, neither claims Matthean authorship nor reads like a translation from the Hebrew. The Gospel appears rather to be a Greek text written with strong knowledge of and attachment to Jewish Scripture, tradition, and belief.

While some scholars argue that Matthew’s Gospel served as a source for both Mark and Luke and possibly John, most agree that Matthew is dependent on both Mark’s Gospel (90 percent of Mark’s material is contained within Matthew’s text) and a hypothetical text called Q, from the German
Quelle
, meaning “source.” This presumed document or source consisted primarily of teaching materials, such as the Beatitudes (Mt 5.3–12; cf. Lk 6.20–23) and the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6.9–13; cf. Lk 11.2–4), and can be reconstructed from the verses shared by Matthew and Luke but absent from Mark. That Matthew’s text depends on earlier traditions and texts does not preclude Matthean authorship but nonetheless calls it into question.

DATE AND SETTING

The Gospel of Matthew suggests that the Jerusalem Temple has been destroyed (see 12.6; 22.7), and thus must date after 70 CE. The earliest reference to the Gospel may be from Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, ca. 110 CE. His
Letter to the Philadelphians
seems to reference some Matthean traditions. Hence, a date for the Gospel of 80–90 CE seems reasonable. Antioch (in Syria) is a plausible setting for several reasons: Matthew is the only Gospel to mention awareness in Syria of Jesus’ ministry (4.24); later texts mention the prominence of Jesus’ followers there (see Acts 11.19–27; 13.1; 14.22–23; Gal 2.11); Peter has connections both to the city and to Matthew’s Gospel (see 16.17–19); and, as noted earlier, there is a possible connection of the Gospel to Ignatius. A Galilean setting is also possible, given the Gospel writer’s interest in the region (see 4.12; 21.11; 26.32; 28.10).

PLACEMENT IN NEW TESTAMENT

Matthew’s Gospel appears as the first Gospel in the New Testament for several reasons: it was popular throughout the early Christian world (it is the most cited Gospel); it contains instructions for the church (e.g., 18.15–20); and its opening genealogy provides a smooth transition between the Scriptures of Israel and the story of Jesus. Whether the Gospel was written for a particular Christian (or specifically, a Jewish Christian) community or served as a text for all Jesus’ followers remains debated.

STRUCTURE AND MAJOR THEMES

Matthew is divided into five major discourses, separated by the formula “when Jesus had finished” (7.28; 11.1; 13.53; 19.1; 26.1), suggesting a recapitulation of the Pentateuch. The themes of the discourses, however, (the Sermon on the Mount, evangelism, parables, church organization, and eschatology) do not match the contents of the Pentateuchal books. (The book of Psalms is similarly divided into five parts, which do not match the Torah books.) Matthew’s Gospel relies upon Israel’s Scriptures more than any other early Christian text, with approximately fifty quotations and allusions to the Septuagint (LXX, the Greek translation of the Tanakh). Matthew frequently uses the formula “… to fulfill what was spoken … by the prophet” (e.g., 1.22–23; 2.15; 4.14; 8.17; 12.14–17; 13.35; 21.4–5; 27.9–10) and depicts Jesus as the fulfillment of Torah and prophets (see 5.17; 7.12; 17.3,12).

The text also displays substantial interest in Jewish observance, from Jesus’ insistence “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (5.17), to the elimination of Mark’s claim (7.19) that Jesus had declared all foods clean, to the observance of Sabbath laws (12.1–14). Jesus shows how to understand the Jewish laws and how to apply them to the circumstances of an early church community comprised of both Jewish and Gentile members.

Also anchoring Jesus in Jewish tradition are Matthew’s comparisons between Jesus and Moses. This connection may begin in ch 1, with Mary’s miraculous pregnancy, Joseph’s resolve to divorce her, and the divine instructions to marry her, which bear some connection to midrashic accounts of Moses’ conception (see e.g.,
Ant
. 2.205–17;
L.A.B
. 9.1–10;
Tg. Ps.-J.; Ex. Rab
. 1.13;
Sefer ha-Zikronot
). Connections are clear in ch 2: Jesus, like Moses, is rescued in infancy and travels to Egypt; like Moses, after leaving Egypt Jesus crosses water (the baptism), enters the wilderness (the temptation), and climbs a mountain before beginning his instruction (the “Sermon on the Mount” [5.1]). At the end of the Gospel, Jesus gives instructions to his followers from a mountain, as Moses did (28.16; cf. Deut 32.48).

Matthew’s Jesus is not only depicted as the “new Moses” who interprets Torah for the people of Israel, but he is also Moses’ superior. For example, in Matthew’s temptation story (4.1–11), Jesus, like Moses, fasts for forty days and nights (4.2; cf. Deut 9.9), is challenged to command stones (4.3; cf. Num 20.8), and is shown “the kingdom” (4.8; cf. Deut 34.1). There, Jesus is shown “all the kingdoms” of the world, but Moses is shown only Canaan. Furthermore, whereas Moses dies outside the Promised Land, Jesus returns (28.16–20); whereas Moses leads the people to their earthly home; Jesus leads followers to the kingdom of heaven. Moses receives the Torah from God and gives it to Israel; Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah as well as its authoritative interpreter.

Jesus is also, for Matthew, the “son of David,” the long-awaited future ideal Davidic king, called messiah in Jewish postbiblical literature (1.1; see the genealogy). The Gospel frequently uses phrases such as “son of David” as well as references to Jesus’ kingship (1.1; 2.2; 9.27; 12.23; 15.22; 20.30; 22.42; 27.11). Judas, only in Matthew, hangs himself (27.5) as did Ahithophel, David’s betrayer (2 Sam 17.23). But even the title “son of David” is surpassed, since Matthew presents Jesus also as the divine Son of God who will save his people (1.21; 2.15; 3.17; 4.3,6; 8.29; 14.33; 16.16; 26.63). The concept of Jesus as the
shekhinah
, the physical manifestation of the divine presence, frames Matthew’s entire Gospel (see 1.18; 18.20; 28.20); as the Son of God and the incarnation of the divine on earth, Jesus thus replaces the Temple as the locus of divine presence.

MATTHEW AND JUDAISM

Along with adducing biblical imagery, Matthew also reveals links to rabbinic scriptural interpretation. The rabbis utilize different forms of argumentation (or exegetical rules) to interpret the Torah, including the
qal vahomer
(“light and heavy”) and the
binyan
’
av
(“construction of a father”), both of which appear in the Matthew’s Gospel. See
b. B. Metz
. 87b;
m. Qidd
. 4.14;
b. Pesah
. 66a;
b. Sanh
. 17a;
y. Seb
. 9.1.38d;
Gen. Rab
. 92.7. The
qal vahomer
involves arguing from a minor to a major premise: if God takes care of the birds, how much more will he look after his followers (6.26; see also 10.29–31). The
binyan
’
av
entails using one Torah passage to reach a conclusion regarding another. When questioned by the Pharisees regarding divorce (19.3–6), Jesus cites Gen 1.27; 2.23 to issue an authoritative decision regarding another, Deut 24.1–4. Similarly, when some Pharisees express concern that Jesus’ disciples are plucking grain on the Sabbath (12.1–9;
b. Shabb
. 73b; the rabbis would have prohibited the plucking of grain since it would have been equated with “reaping”), Jesus responds by arguing that other Jews violated Sabbath laws when they were in need. Matthew makes the need clear in 12.1 by adding to Mark 2.23 that the disciples were hungry. Matthew’s Jesus is thus depicted as utilizing Jewish exegetical methods to create new authoritative rulings.

Despite these close connections to Jewish texts, Torah interpretation, and images, other passages—the parables of the vineyard (21.33–45) and the wedding feast (22.1–14), the invectives against the Pharisees (23.3–36), and the self-curse of “all the people” that Jesus’ “blood be on us and on our children!” (27.25)—suggest a strained if not broken relationship between Matthew’s intended readers and the synagogue.

That final citation—the infamous “blood cry”—was used by some Christians through the centuries to claim that all Jews in all times and places were collectively responsible for the death of Jesus. More likely, the phrase reflects Matthew’s interpretation of the tragic events of 70 CE, when Rome destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple: the “children” of the Jerusalem crowd were the ones to witness that destruction.

Following this tragic event, in which thousands of Jews were killed or exiled, the survival of Judaism was in doubt. New leaders were needed to preserve the Jewish traditions as well as to interpret the Torah for a changing world. The conflict inherent in Matthew’s Gospel may reflect this competition for survival, thereby explaining the harsh attitude exhibited toward the Pharisees, who were the forerunners of the rabbis. Matthew’s Gospel thus may provide a look into the tensions that existed between Jewish Christians and traditional Jews following 70 CE.

Aaron M. Gale

¹
An account of the genealogy
^*
of Jesus the Messiah,
^*
the son of David, the son of Abraham.

²
Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
³
and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram,
⁴
and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon,
⁵
and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse,
⁶
and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah,
⁷
and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,
^*
8
and Asaph
^*
the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,
⁹
and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
¹⁰
and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,
^*
and Amos
^*
the father of Josiah,
¹¹
and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

¹²
And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel,
¹³
and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor,
¹⁴
and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud,
¹⁵
and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,
¹⁶
and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.
^*