When Matthew quotes a brief passage from the Old Testament, he wants to call into his readers' minds a much broader context, sometimes the preceding 5-30 verses or, sometimes the subsequent 5-30 verses.For extra credit, please look at a couple of the Matthew Old Testament references (the list below will give you a start), then look at the Old Testament context.below. Comment on that context: what ideas does Matthew want to bring to his readers' attention? In what ways are these ideas particularly important in Matthew's attempt to reach a Jewish audience?
- Matthew 2:17 citation of Jeremiah 31:15
- Matthew 1:23 citation of Isaiah 7:14
- Matthew 2: 6 citation of Micah 5:2
- Matt. 2:15 citation of Hosea 11:1
- Matt. 27:43 ref. to Psalm 22:8
- Matthew 4:4 citation of Deuteronomy 8:3
- Matthew 3:17 hint of Psalm 2:7
- Matthew 4:16 reference to Isaiah 42:7
I personally find the tone in Matthew to be more straightforward than some of the other gospels because the story seems to just be told so quickly and to the point. Matthew 1:23 says, "The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)
ReplyDeleteWell, Matthew is clearly pointing out in the New Testament Gospel that the fulfillment of prophecy took place and its proven through this Old Testament text. Isaiah 7:14 reads, The Lord himself will give you a miraculous sign. The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel.
This phenomenon happens again right in the next chapter. Matthew 2:6 reads, But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are certainly not the least important among the towns of Judah. A ruler will come out of you. He will be the shepherd of my people Israel. (Micah 5:2)
Again he is pointing this text right to the Old Testament where Micah 5:2 says, The Lord says, "Bethlehem, you might not be an important town in the nation of Judah. But out of you will come a ruler over Israel for me. His family line goes back to the early years of your nation. It goes all the way back to days of long ago."
These texts could potentially persuade a Jewish reader/audience to realize that Jesus is the actual Son of God and they need to follow Him.
Matthew does an excellent job as a persuasive author in the context of providing ties to previous knowledge and making the reader think critically. In many of the examples above, such as 2:17 and 2:6, the author uses snippets of scripture to invite readers to consider the entire passage to which he is referring. Although this strategy is extremely effective, I would like to draw attention to the ways he intentionally uses parallels from the Old Testament without necessarily quoting.
ReplyDeleteThe most notable example is in the first lines. Now, I don't know about other Bibles, but the Catholic bible singles out one of the links in the genealogy: "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham." This particular sentence is relevant because it displays the significance of not only genealogy, but also the fulfillment of the broken. Throughout the history of humanity, mistake after mistake has occurred. Jesus is here to write these wrongs.
Matthew points out the connection between broken Israel and the parallels of David several times. 4:2 emphasizes that Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert, just like Israel. 4:5-7 Jesus refuses to test God, essentially rectifying the wrong that Israel had done previously. In terms of relation to David, 16:19 "I will give you the KEYS to the kingdom of heaven". This refers to Eliakim and the keys to the house of David. There are several other notable times Matthew does this type of acknowledgment towards the past. In fact, most sentences have some relation to the Old Testament. Not only does this type of connection convince the Jews to reason, but it also proves to the world beyond just seeing and believing that Jesus was a fulfillment of God's promise (even if he didn't come to raise an army like the Jews had thought).
Matthew points out many parallels in Psalms 22 and the crucifixion in Matthew 27. Psalms 22:1 starts with "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" which is what Jesus quotes while on the cross. Verses 6-8 correlate with how he was mocked by the people and told to save himself. Verse 14 says "I am poured out like water" which brings to mind him being pierced by a spear (which I believe is mentioned in John not Matthew). Verse 17 "All my bones are on display" which would reference a severe flogging and verse 18 about his clothes being divided among soldiers.
ReplyDeleteThe sheer amount of similarities between the crucifixion and Psalms 22 would be brought to the Jewish audience's mind by Matthew referencing these verses. A text written hundreds of years before events that referenced them took place would be substantial evidence for the Jewish audience.
Matthew 27:43 and Psalm 22:8 are very similar to me and it says HE trusts in god let god deliver him. the context in the Old testament would be that its public praise or people turning to the lord. I think that Matthew is trying to connect to the Jewish audience by saying in his gospel that Jesus is the son of David the son of God and that Jesus is not a lost connection to the Jewish people.
ReplyDeleteDrew Henriksen wrote this
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