The Zechariah Tradition and the Gospel of Matthew is a comprehensive study of the ways Matthew utilizes Zechariah texts and traditions. Against the background of materials from Qumran, and apocryphal and deuterocanonical writings Matthew’s explicit citations of Zechariah are examined; the influence of Zechariah elsewhere in the First Gospel is identified; and the extent to which Matthew alludes to characteristic Zechariah themes, alone or in combination with other prophetic traditions, is explored. Zechariah traditions appear in Matthew’s distinctive materials, as well as in texts Matthew has transmitted, or altered, from Mark and Q. The impact of Zech 9-14 is not limited to the Passion Narrative but extends through Matthew’s Infancy and Galilean healing narratives, as well; important concepts from Zech 1-8 are also discerned in the Infancy and Passion Narratives. Moss works through the canonical order of Matthew; this enables readers to appreciate the cumulative effect of Zechariah’s influence at each stage of the Gospel story. Two appendices, one arranged according to Zechariah and the other to Matthew, list possible references to Zechariah in Matthew. This monograph is useful for Matthean studies and it is an insightful investigation of how one set of Old Testamental traditions are appropriated in one canonical Gospel and in the New Testament.

This book explores 'innocent blood' and its traditions as keys to the death of Jesus in Matthew, against background of exile and return.

The passing of Professor Graham Stanton, former Lady Margaret chair of divinity at Cambridge University, in 2009 marked the passing of an era in Matthean scholarship and studies of early Christianity. Stanton's 15 books and dozens of articles span thirty-four years and centre largely on questions pertaining to the gospel of Matthew and early Christianity. The present volume pays tribute to Stanton by engaging with the principal areas of his research and contributions: the Gospel of Matthew and Early Christianity. Contributors to the volume each engage a research question which intersects the contribution of Stanton in his various spheres of scholarly influence and enquiry. The distinguished contributors include; Richard Burridge, David Catchpole, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Don Hagner, Peter Head, Anders Runesson and Christopher Tuckett.

What was the original purpose of the Gospel of Matthew? For whom was it written? In this magisterial two-volume commentary, Walter Wilson interprets Matthew as a catechetical work that expresses the ideological and institutional concerns of a faction of disaffected Jewish followers of Jesus in the late first century CE. Wilson’s compelling thesis frames Matthew’s Gospel as not only a continuation of the biblical story but also as a didactic narrative intended to shape the commitments and identity of a particular group that saw itself as a beleaguered, dissident minority. Thus, the text clarifies Jesus’s essential Jewish character as the “Son of David” while also portraying him in opposition to prominent religious leaders of his day—most notably the Pharisees—and open to cordial association with non-Jews. Through meticulous engagement with the Greek text of the Gospel, as well as relevant primary sources and secondary literature, Wilson offers a wealth of insight into the first book of the New Testament. After an introduction exploring the background of the text, its genre and literary features, and its theological orientation, Wilson explicates each passage of the Gospel with thorough commentary on the intended message to first-century readers about topics like morality, liturgy, mission, group discipline, and eschatology. Scholars, students, pastors, and all readers interested in what makes the Gospel of Matthew distinctive among the Synoptics will appreciate and benefit from Wilson’s deep contextualization of the text, informed by his years of studying the New Testament and Christian origins.

One of the earliest Christian confessions—that Jesus is Messiah and Lord—has long been recognized throughout the New Testament. Joshua Jipp shows that the New Testament is in fact built upon this foundational messianic claim, and each of its primary compositions is a unique creative expansion of this common thread. Having made the same argument about the Pauline epistles in his previous book Christ Is King: Paul’s Royal Ideology, Jipp works methodically through the New Testament to show how the authors proclaim Jesus as the incarnate, crucified, and enthroned messiah of God. In the second section of this book, Jipp moves beyond exegesis toward larger theological questions, such as those of Christology, soteriology, ecclesiology, and eschatology, revealing the practical value of reading the Bible with an eye to its messianic vision. The Messianic Theology of the New Testament functions as an excellent introductory text, honoring the vigorous pluralism of the New Testament books while still addressing the obvious question: what makes these twenty-seven different compositions one unified testament?

H. Daniel Zacharias presents a literary-critical analysis of the Gospel of Matthew and its interaction with Davidic tradition and use of Davidic typology. Throughout the narrative, the evangelist makes pervasive use of Davidic tradition from the Old Testament in his portrayal of Jesus. This begins from the first verse and the declaration that Jesus is the Son of David, and culminates in Jesus' usage of Psalm 22's Davidic lament on the cross. Davidic material is present throughout Matthew, in allusion, in specific citations, in thematic material. In addition, Matthew makes use of Davidic typology numerous times, with David as type and Jesus as anti-type. Zacharias shows how the use of Davidic material presents to the reader a scripturally-grounded redefinition of what it means for Jesus to be the Son of David: not as a violent militant leader, as some expected, but as a physical descendant of David, a healing shepherd, and a humble king. Within the Gospel, Matthew utilizes Davidic typology to show how the Son of David even has similar experiences as his royal predecessor. Even David's own words from the psalms are utilized as testimony to the legitimacy of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah.

Nathanael Vette proposes that the Gospel of Mark, like other narrative works in the Second Temple period, uses the Jewish scriptures as a model to compose episodes and tell a new story. Vette compares Mark's use of scripture with roughly contemporary works like Pseudo-Philo, the Genesis Apocryphon, 1 Maccabees, Judith, and the Testament of Abraham; diverse texts which, combined, support the existence of shared compositional techniques. This volume identifies five scripturalized narratives in the Gospel: Jesus' forty-day sojourn in the wilderness and call of the disciples; the feeding of the multitudes; the execution of John the Baptist; and the Crucifixion of Jesus. This fresh understanding of how the Jewish scriptures were used to compose new narratives across diverse genres in the Second Temple period holds important lessons for how scholars read the Gospel of Mark. Instead of treating scriptural allusions and echoes as keys which unlock the hidden meaning of the Gospel, Vette argues that Mark often uses the Jewish scriptures simply for their ability to tell a story.

In this work, Joshua Leim attempts to bring greater clarity to the articulation of Jesus' identity in Matthew by attending more precisely to two linguistic patterns woven deeply into the entire narrative's presentation of Jesus: Matthew's christological use of "worship/obeisance" language (proskyneo) and his paternal-filial idiom. Along with exploring the role these linguistic patterns play in the narrative, the author attempts to hear such language in relation to early Judaism and its articulation of the identity of the God of Israel. The study of these various elements yields the conclusion that the identity of God and Jesus Christ are inseparably related in Matthew's Gospel. Matthew articulates the identity of Israel's God around the Father-Son relation.

This volume contains twenty-two essays in honor of Carl R. Holladay, whose work on the interaction between early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism has had a considerable impact on the study of the New Testament. The essays are grouped into three sections: Hellenistic Judaism; the New Testament in Context; and the History of Interpretation. Among the contributions are essays dealing with conversion in Greek-speaking Judaism and Christianity; 3 Maccabees as a narrative satire; retribution theology in Luke-Acts; church discipline in Matthew; the Exodus and comparative chronology in Jewish and patristic writings; corporal punishment in ancient Israel and early Christianity; and Die Judenfrage and the construction of ancient Judaism.

Internationally renowned contributors assess the signifcance of the Parables of Enoch in the study of Christian Origins, the New Testament and the Second Temple Period.