Matthew's Use of Scripture (Extra Credit)

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

The Gospel of Matthew (1-14)

Please read Chapters 1-14 of the Gospel of Matthew. Concentrate especially on Chapters 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount. Please pick a key verse from the assigned chapters and do one of the following:

1. Explain why you think this verse the key to understanding what the selection is about.

2. Explain why you think this verse is the best/most memorable in the assigned reading.

3. Explain why you think this verse is the most difficult/hard to understand in the assigned chapters.

4.  Reply to any other student comment on this post.