The Jewish Annotated New Testament Read Online Free PDF Page B

verses
Vit. Phil .
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers
vs.
versus
Xenophon, Mem .
Xenophon, Memorabilia
y .
Tractates of the Yerushalmi, Jerusalem (Palestinian) Talmud
Yad .
Talmudic Tractate Yadaim (“hands”)
Yebam .
Talmudic Tractate Yebamot (“sisters-in-law”)
Zeb .
Talmudic Tractate Zebahim (“animal offerings”)
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parallel
§
section
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