Matthew 1-13, Volume 33A

by Donald A. Hagner, John D. W. Watts (Editor), James W. Watts (Editor), Ralph P. Martin (Editor), Lynn Allan Losie (Editor)

Overview

The Word Biblical Commentary delivers the best in biblical scholarship, from the leading scholars of our day who share a commitment to Scripture as divine revelation. This series emphasizes a thorough analysis of textual, linguistic, structural, and theological evidence. The result is judicious and balanced insight into the meanings of the text in the framework of biblical theology. These widely acclaimed commentaries serve as exceptional resources for the professional theologian and instructor, the seminary or university student, the working minister, and everyone concerned with building theological understanding from a solid base of biblical scholarship.

Overview of Commentary Organization

• Introduction—covers issues pertaining to the whole book, including context, date, authorship, composition, interpretive issues, purpose, and theology.
• Each section of the commentary includes:
• Pericope Bibliography—a helpful resource containing the most important works that pertain to each particular pericope.
• Translation—the author’s own translation of the biblical text, reflecting the end result of exegesis and attending to Hebrew and Greek idiomatic usage of words, phrases, and tenses, yet in reasonably good English.
• Notes—the author’s notes to the translation that address any textual variants, grammatical forms, syntactical constructions, basic meanings of words, and problems of translation.
• Form/Structure/Setting—a discussion of redaction, genre, sources, and tradition as they concern the origin of the pericope, its canonical form, and its relation to the biblical and extra-biblical contexts in order to illuminate the structure and character of the pericope. Rhetorical or compositional features important to understanding the passage are also introduced here.
• Comment—verse-by-verse interpretation of the text and dialogue with other interpreters, engaging with current opinion and scholarly research.
• Explanation—brings together all the results of the discussion in previous sections to expose the meaning and intention of the text at several levels: (1) within the context of the book itself; (2) its meaning in the OT or NT; (3) its place in the entire canon; (4) theological relevance to broader OT or NT issues.
  • General Bibliography—occurring at the end of each volume, this extensive bibliographycontains all sources used anywhere in the commentary.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310588405
Publisher:	Zondervan Academic
Publication date:	04/24/2018
Series:	Word Biblical Commentary
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishing
Format:	eBook
Pages:	490
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Donald A. Hagner is the George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, where he has taught for nearly thirty years. He is a graduate of Fuller, where he studied with Everett Harrison and George Ladd, and of Manchester University, where he studied with F. F. Bruce. Among his writings are commentaries on Hebrews and Matthew.

Bruce M. Metzger (1914 – 2007) was a biblical scholar, textual critic, and a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. Metzger is widely considered one of the most influential New Testament scholars of the 20th century. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2007).

David Allan Hubbard (1928 – 1996), former president and professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, was a recognized biblical scholar. In addition to over 30 books, he has written numerous articles for journals, periodicals, reference works. He was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1996).

Glenn W. Barker (d. 1984) was a general editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 1984). 

John D. W. Watts (1921 – 2013) was President of the Baptist Theological Seminary, Ruschlikon, Switzerland, and served as Professor of Old Testament at that institution, at Fuller Theological Seminary, and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. His numerous publications include commentaries on Isaiah (2 volumes), Amos, and Obadiah. He was Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1977 - 2011).

 

James W. Watts is a professor and chair of the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His teaching and research interests include biblical studies, especially the Torah/Pentateuch, ritual theories, rhetorical analysis, and comparative scriptures studies. He is a co-founder of the Iconic Books Project. He had served as the associate Old Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2011).

 

Ralph P. Martin (1925-2013) was Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Fuller Theological Seminary and a New Testament Editor for the Word Biblical Commentary series. He earned the BA and MA from the University of Manchester, England, and the PhD from King's College, University of London. He was the author of numerous studies and commentaries on the New Testament, including Worship in the Early Church, the volume on Philippians in The Tyndale New Testament Commentary series. He also wrote 2 Corinthians and James in the WBC series.

Lynn Allan Losie is Associate Professor of New Testament at Azusa Pacific University. A generalist in New Testament studies, Dr. Losie teaches courses in the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Pauline Epistles, as well as in the background areas of Greek, early Judaism, and the greater Hellenistic World. He has published articles on the New Testament and had served as the associate New Testament editor of the Word Biblical Commentary (1997 - 2013). Ordained as a Baptist minister, he has also served in pastoral ministry in Southern California and Oregon.

Read an Excerpt

Matthew 1-13, Volume 33A

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By Donald A. Hagner, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker

ZONDERVAN

Copyright © 2000 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-52198-3

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CHAPTER 1

The Birth and Infancy Narratives (1:1–2:23)

Introduction

Since the ministry of Jesus begins only after his baptism by John (chap. 3) and the temptation (4:1–11), the opening two chapters of Matthew are in a sense the preparation for the main narrative. The preparation that Matthew provides, however, is far from simply the supplying of some helpful background information. The first two chapters constitute a work of art that makes a statement of its own and that anticipates the theological richness of the total Gospel.

The question of the historicity of chaps. 1–2 is very often posed in terms of history and theology conceived of as polar opposites, as though what is theological cannot be historical and vice versa. That is, one has here either theology or history. The idea of a historical core with theological elaboration is hardly considered. Yet that may very well be the case here in what is admittedly material of a special character. Matthew has taken his historical traditions and set them forth in such a way as to underline matters of fundamental theological importance. Thus he grounds his narrative upon several OT quotations and provides a strong sense of fulfillment. The literary genre of these chapters, as we shall see, is that of midrashic haggadah, designed to bring out the deeper meaning of the present by showing its theological continuity with the past. Matthew's procedure is to set the scene theologically by identifying the who {quis) and the how (quomodo) in chap. 1, and the where (ubi) and whence {unde) in chap. 2 (Stendahl, "Quis," and Brown, Birth). To some extent Matthew may have apologetic or polemical concerns here, but in the main these chapters are a statement of the theological significance that may be perceived even in the preliminaries (see Van Elderen, "Significance," on theological aspects of chap. 1). In this instance the prolegomena articulate the gospel before the main narrative.

The Ancestry of Jesus (1:1–17)

Form/Structure/Setting

A. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] may be taken as referring to (1) the entire Gospel, hence functioning as a title for the entire book (Zahn, Klostermann, Lindblom, Davies-Allison); (2) 1:1–4:16, that is, up to the formula of 4:17, "From that time on, Jesus began to preach" (Krentz; Kingsbury, Structure, D. Bauer, Structure, 73–77); (3) the first two chapters (Allen, Carson; chap. 1 only: Luz); or (4) only vv 1–17 (McNeile; Brown, Birth, Gundry, Matthew). Although it is clear that vv 1–17 are closely related to 18–25, that there is a sense in which chaps. 1 and 2 belong together (as distinct from the following chapters), and that the first two chapters are also related to 3:1–4:16, and indeed the remainder of the Gospel, it is nevertheless arguable that the words refer only to vv 1–17. Although unquestionably related to what immediately follows, these verses constitute a recognizably independent unit as can readily be seen from the chiastic inclusio in v 17:

v 1 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

v 17 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

B. V 17 also indicates the carefully devised structure of the pericope by its reference to three groups of fourteen. Note the deliberate repetition of the three-fold [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.]'. The passage itself, however, is not as symmetrical as v 17 might lead us to believe. The data may be set forth as follows:

I. (vv 2–6a) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (13x); names inclusive: 14

II. (vv 6a–ll) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (14x); names inclusive: 15 (repeating [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.])

III. (vv 12–16) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (12x); names inclusive: 13 (repeating [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (lx) [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]

Since the first two groups contain fourteen names each (if we discount the repetition of David at the beginning of the second group), the problem centers in the third group. Because Jechoniah is repeated at the beginning of the third group (following the pattern established) and is therefore not to be counted again, we are left with only twelve names. Adding Jesus, we get thirteen, one short of the needed fourteen.

A variety of explanations has been offered. (1) If Mary is counted, the total comes to fourteen; but it is impossible that both Joseph and Mary are to be counted as separate generations [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. (2) Some (e.g., Stendahl) have suggested that, if Jesus is the thirteenth name, then Christ—i.e., the risen or returning Christ—would be the fourteenth. Against this, however, is the fact that, for Matthew, the climax lies in the Jesus of his narrative, not only in the Christ of the Gospel's epilogue or eschatological discourse. (3) Much more likely is the explanation that focuses on the end of the second group and beginning of the third group, marked by the Babylonian exile. When, at the end of the second group, Matthew says, 'Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers," he departs from the OT (cf. 1 Chr 3:15–16), which indicates that Jeconiah (the spelling with a simple c reflects the Heb. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]) was the grandson of Josiah, but the son of Jehoiakim. While Matthew is under no obligation to include every name contained in his source, in this case the second group may well have originally ended with Jehoiakim. This conjecture is supported by the fact that in 1 Chr 3:15 the brothers of Jehoiakim are mentioned (Zedekiah and Shallum), whereas in 1 Chr 3:16 there is reference to only a single brother of Jeconiah. A further cause of confusion is that according to the same verse Jeconiah had a son also named Zedekiah. Moreover, Jeconiah's regnal name was Jehoiachin (cf. 2 Kgs 24:8), which in the LXX is spelled the same as Jehoiakim (i.e., [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]; see, e.g., the LXX of 2 Kgs 23:36; 24:8). If we accept Jehoiakim as the last name of the second group, then the Jechoniah of the beginning of the third group in Matthew's genealogy is not a repeated name, as with the case of David at the beginning of the second group, but a new name which, when counted, gives us thirteen, with Jesus then as the fourteenth. By this explanation, Matthew has fourteen names in each of the three groups. His listing lacks symmetry in that whereas he repeated the last name of the first group (David, perhaps because of self-evident importance), he did not repeat the last name of group two at the beginning of group three. Indeed, here a sharp break seems natural given the tragedy of the exile (cf. also the reference to Jeconiah the captive in 1 Chr 3:17, who is therefore hardly to be included in the list of those who were [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] [up to] [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "the Babylonian Exile"). Some scribe, expecting symmetry in structure and perhaps confused by the identical LXX spelling for Jehoiachim and Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), assumed that the Jechoniah of the beginning of Matthew's third group was also the name with which the second group should end and so changed [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. The minority reading recorded in Note d above may therefore reflect the original reading but has gone astray in attempting to include the reference to Jehoiachim begetting Jechoniah. Jechoniah stands at the head of group three without reference to his father, even as Abraham stands at the beginning of group one. Thus, despite the lack of structural symmetry, Matthew does have fourteen names in each group (David not counted twice, Jechoniah counted twice).

C. The structure of three fourteens is regarded as significant by Matthew, and probably for more than pedagogical reasons. Indeed, Matthew or his source has deliberately arranged the fourteens by not inconsiderable omissions. Pressed into three equal segments are unequal historical periods of approximately 750, 400, and 600 years (so Brown, Birth). If we take the three fourteens as multiples of seven (i.e., six sevens), then with the coming of Christ we are about to enter the seventh seven, the period of perfection and fulfillment. Alternatively, we may be about to enter the tenth week of years, as in 1 Enoch 93:1–10 (cf. 91:12–17), if, as there, we allow three weeks of years to be reckoned for the period prior to Israel (Jacob). Another possibility is that the number fourteen alludes to Daniel's reference to seventy weeks of years (Dan 9:24), since by reckoning a generation at thirty-five years, the same number, 490, is reached (Moore). Thus, after three periods of seventy weeks of years, God sends his Messiah into the world.

Many Commentators have called attention to the fact that the numerical value of the Hebrew letters spelling David is fourteen ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] = 4, 6, 4) and that, given David's importance to his purpose, Matthew may have structured the genealogy with this in mind (Davies-Allison). But the Book of Matthew, it should be remembered, is written in Greek, and the numerology of the Hebrew name would not at all be evident to Greek readers without explanation. That David's name in Hebrew is equal to fourteen may well be only a coincidence; in any event, it can hardly be determinative in a Greek text.

Another theory about the use of fourteens has to do with the waxing and waning of the moon (twenty-eight-day cycles); this in turn related to the alternating high and low points in the dividing points of the genealogy—i.e., the Davidic kingdom, the Babylonian exile, the appearance of Christ. Yet, in the genealogy there is no idea of gradual growing or diminishing of Israel's fortunes. This too is to be regarded as an interesting coincidence, as are other such conjectures—e.g., that 3 x 14 = 42 and there are forty-two months of evil in Rev 13:5 before the intervention of God (Moreton). For the possible apocalyptic significance of the number fourteen and of four ages, see Waetjen.

We are unable conclusively to discern Matthew's intent in the 3x14 structure. It seems likely that there is significance in the veiled notion of multiple sevens. The fact that Matthew uses three "fourteens," rather than six "sevens," is possibly the result of the form of the genealogical list he used or (if Matthew composed the list) because the two key turning points of David and the Babylonian exile facilitated such a division. (For parallel configurations, see 1 Enoch 91:12–17; 93:1–10.) More certainly, however, Matthew intends to convey the providential design behind the history of Israel, which has structured the periods between pivotal eras (Abraham, David, the Exile) in more or less equal segments of time (Matthew surely knew they were not exactly equal), leading now appropriately, and in due course, to the goal of all that preceded, the coming of the promised Messiah. (See the full discussion and similar conclusion of Johnson, 189–208.)

D. Matthew's source for much of the genealogy offered is either directly or indirectly the LXX:

MATTHEW
LXX

I. (vv 2–6a) 14 names 1 Chr 1:28, 34: Abraham, Isaac
1 Chr 2:1–15: Israel (Jacob)->David,
14 names
(cf. Ruth 4:18–22: Perez->David)
II. (vv 6b–11) 14 names 1 Chr 3:10–15:
(not counting the repeated David) Solomon->Jehioakim, 17 names

Matthew's first group coincides exactly with 1 Chronicles and the partial list in Ruth. Matthew's second group is also in exact agreement, except for the omission of three kings. This involves a skip from Joram to Uzziah, which may have been caused by a confusion of Ahaziah ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] or [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.] according to Codex B) with Uzziah [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], although the main LXX tradition employs Uzziah's birth name Azariah [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] rather than the regnal name (except for the Lucianic recension, which reads [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]). An alternate explanation of the omission of the three kings, Ahaziah, Jehoash, and Amaziah, is that a curse was upon them through Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, who became the wife of Joram and the mother of Ahaziah; if the curse lasted to the fourth generation (as it seems from the narrative in 2 Chr 22–25), it would have included the three kings missing from Matthew's list. We have no known source for Matthew's third group, which, apart from the first three names (found in 1 Chr 3:17–19, but not consecutively), is completely unknown until the names of Joseph and Jesus.

There is much evidence that genealogical lists existed and were treasured in Matthew's day. Brown argues that Matthew used two genealogical lists (pre-monarchical and monarchical) already in existence and partially dependent upon the LXX, and already containing the omissions in group two. While this complicated conjecture is a possibility, there seems to be no reason, on the other hand, that Matthew could not himself have constructed the lists, making direct use of the LXX for the first two groups and of family records for the third group. Indeed, as Vogtle indicates (BZ 9 [1965] 48), the unity of concept and the theological agreement with the rest of the Gospel suggest that the genealogy is the work of the evangelist himself. For the similarities between the genealogy and the Gospel itself, see Johnson (210–28), who points to numerical structure, language, and theology. Matthew may have devised the concept of three fourteens when he found fourteen names in the first group (Matthew wants, above all, to point back to Abraham and David, the termini of group one), and then accordingly he may have abbreviated the second and third lists to conform them to the pattern.

D. Unlike Matthew, Luke (3:23–38) presents the genealogy going backward from Jesus past Abraham to Adam, "the son of God." Between Abraham and Jesus, Luke has fifty-six names, compared to Matthew's forty-one. Of Matthew's forty-one, Luke has only seventeen, thirteen of which are in the period between Abraham and David (all except Ram or Aram), and the remaining four in Matthew's last section (Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Joseph, and Jesus). The major cleavage in the two genealogies is caused by the fact that, whereas Luke traces the lineage of Jesus through David's son, Nathan, Matthew chooses to follow the royal lineage from David through Solomon. There are two major ways (each reversible) of accounting for the extensive differences between the two genealogies: (1) one (Luke is more often favored here) traces Mary's ancestry (so Luther; Bengel; Godet, 128–32) while the other traces Joseph's; (2) both refer to Joseph, but one (in modern times Luke is more commonly favored) traces actual biological descent, while the other traces legal descent. It seems unlikely that either genealogy is to be regarded as Mary's, since lineage was always reckoned through the male line in Jewish culture, and Luke's Gospel presents the genealogy as Joseph's (3:23). Most probably, given Matthew's concern for the kingly line, the second explanation is closest to the truth (so Zahn; Taylor, 89; Westcott, 312–13; Allen; Moffatt, 250–51).

One point bears emphasis. In these genealogies we must not expect accuracy by our modern standards. Omissions, variant spellings, and even variant names (i.e., some persons with two names) may be expected in genealogies, with many of these alterations motivated theologically. But to admit the theological interest in and impact upon these genealogies need not lead to the conclusion that they are not in any sense meant to be taken as factual. Both Matthew and Luke are concerned to represent the facts contained in their sources; they are hardly creating lists out of thin air. These genealogies, like much of the content of the Gospels, are to be taken as interpreted history—i.e., factual and not fictional data, conceived and set forth with theological goals, these in turn informed by the eschatological fullness now inescapably present to these writers.

Comment

1 [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], lit. "book of the origin," or "genealogical scroll," is deliberately an allusion to the formulaic title used in the LXX (Gen 2:4; 5:1; the Heb. word underlying [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is tôledôt, "generations"), which can be used to introduce both genealogies and historical narratives. The words reflect the Heb. [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], seper tôledôt, which in Gen 5:1 means "genealogical register" (BDB, 707a). Although here the expression refers, as argued above, only to Matt 1:1–17, it is obvious that by this beginning Matthew wishes to call attention to the momentous, even sacred, character of the genealogy and therefore also of the narrative to follow. Even as the story of creation began with the use of this formula in referring to "the generations of the heavens and the earth" or "the book of the generations of Adam," so now we are at the fulfillment of God's plan in matters of corresponding importance. In this sense the opening words of Matthew are similar in impact to Mark's [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII], "beginning of the gospel."

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Matthew 1-13, Volume 33A by Donald A. Hagner, Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard, Glenn W. Barker. Copyright © 2000 Thomas Nelson, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of ZONDERVAN.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Editorial Preface, x,
Author's Preface, xi,
Abbreviations, xiv,
Commentary Bibliography, xxx,
General Bibliography, xxxii,
Introduction, xxxix,
TEXT AND COMMENTARY,
The Birth and Infancy Narratives (1:1–2:23), 1,
The Preparation for the Ministry (3:1–4:11), 43,
Galilean Ministry (4:12–25), 71,
The First Discourse: The Sermon on the Mount (5:1–7:29), 82,
The Authoritative Deeds of the Messiah (8:1–9:38), 195,
The Second Discourse: The Missionary Discourse (10:1–11:1), 262,
The Negative Response to Jesus (11:2–12:50), 298,
The Third Discourse: Teaching in Parables (13:1–58), 361,