THE OLD TESTAMENT IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL

As everyone realizes, Old Testament language and events permeate the whole New Testament. However, it is not as obvious to everyone that different NT authors tend to utilize the OT in different ways. I will be looking at most of these authors in separate posts, starting with Matthew.

The way we see the OT pop up in Matthew's Gospel is what we probably expect in most cases elsewhere in the NT: some event, especially in Jesus' life, is described followed by Matthew's comment that this happened as a fulfillment of the prophecy by so-and-so. Some of the formulas employed are given below:

All of this transpired in order to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet (1:22)

                                                                                                        through the prophet Jeremiah (2:17)

                                                                                                        through the prophet Isaiah (12:17)

                                                                                                through the prophet (13:35; 21:4)

This is the person the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said (3:3)

It is written (4:4,6,7,10; 21:13; 26:31)

So that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled (4:14)

You have heard that it was said (5:21,27,31,33,38,43)

This is the one about whom is written (11:10)

With them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled saying (13:14)

Isaiah correctly prophesies about you when he said (15:7)

Have you never heard? (21:16, 42)

Why did David by the Spirit call him Lord? (22:43)

(no formula given) (24:29; 26:64)

Then was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah (27:9)

Note that:

    On occasion, Jesus or someone else is doing the quoting, but many others are editorial comments by the author Matthew.

    The major prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah are quoted more than any others.

    Sometimes the words are said to have been written and sometimes spoken.

    The vague formula “You have heard it said” can refer either to something found in the OT or to teachings current at the time.

    Sometimes the words are said to come directly from the prophets, and other times the prophets (including David) are more precisely described as being the conduits of the Lord or the Spirit.

    The emphasis on God as being the ultimate author of the OT is also seen in those times when no specific author or even no formula is given.

The use of direct quotations in Matthew's Gospel is the most pervasive and obvious way that Matthew utilizes the OT, and William Hendricksen has counted at least forty examples in this gospel. However, almost as important are the roughly fifty OT allusions he also identifie. Certain underlying themes of major importance to his predominantly Jewish audience are also found throughout Matthew's account. One is fact that Jesus is in fact the expected Messiah predicted throughout the Old Testament. The other is the fact that in this gospel account, Jesus is pictured as the new Moses. Taking these allusions in chronological order:

    Matt. 2:15 Jesus escapes death by fleeing to Egypt and later returning while Moses escapes by fleeing from Egypt and later returning there.

    Matt. 2:16 Both pharaoh and Herod perceive a Jewish threat and carry out massacres of children to prevent it.

    Matt. 2:20 The words by the angel to Joseph are almost a direct quotation from Exodus 4:19: “Return to Egypt, for those seeking your life have died.”

    Matt. 4:2 “Forty days and forty nights” of fasting by Jesus in the wilderness is the same time without food that Moses undergoes on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 24:18, etc.)

    Matt. 8-9 The miracles of Jesus recorded in these chapters roughly parallel the ten plagues of Egypt (R. T. France)

    Matt. 14:13-21 Both Moses and Jesus feed the multitude in “the wilderness.”

    Matt. 17:1-8 Jesus' mountain-top experience and that of Moses in Exodus 24 contain the same following elements: God speaks, a cloud, “six days,” a group of three companions (Exodus 24:1,9), radiant appearance, and the presence of Moses.

    Matt. 17:14-21 The parallels continue here when both Moses and Jesus descend from the mountain and encounter failure among their followers.

    In addition, some scholars feel that the five major discourses of Jesus in Matthew parallel the Five Books of Moses. However, even more scholars disagree with that contention. And finally, Albright and Mann propose that the whole passion narrative (Matt. 21-28) is based on ideas found in Isaiah 57:10-11 and Zechariah 9-11.