Jeremy Thompson Catholic PhD in Biblical Languages, Programmer, Runner

Today’s New Testament Gospel reading comes from from Matthew 2.13-18.  In this passage, Matthew cites two Old Testament texts, namely Hosea 11.1 (only part of the verse) and Jeremiah 31.15.  Here are Hosea 11.1 and Jeremiah 31.15, as they are quoted in Matthew:

Hosea 11.1

Out of Egypt I called my son.

Jeremiah 31.15

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.

…………………………..

It is clear here that Matthew is not treating these texts as predictive prophecy.  In fact, Hosea 11.1 is not predictive in any manner whatsoever, it is simply a statement.  And, it is unfortunate that so many today treat prophecy primarily in terms of predicting the future. At this point, I defer at this point to an article by James McGrath where he discusses Matthew’s use of the these two texts and others if you are interested in seeing what Matthew was likely doing.  You can read the article to see how Matthew is likely using these two texts to show Jesus in a sense reliving the history of the people of Israel.  I would have discussed this much the same way, so there is little point in me rehashing this.  The section I am referring to is entitled “The Problem of Fulfillment of Prophecy in Matthew 1-2.”

Recommended Reading:

Inspiration and Incarnation: Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old Testament

Related Posts:

Micah 5.1-4 – Thomas Paine on Prophecy

Haggai 1.2 -The Historical Context

Isaiah 45 – A Litany of Monotheistic Texts?

Today’s New Testament lectionary reading is from Matthew 1.18-25.  Two of the resources that I linked to yesterday not only deal with verses 1-17, but also with verse 19-25 of chapter 1.  So, if you missed those resources yesterday and are interested be sure to check them out.

Today’s New Testament reading is the geneaology of Jesus in Matthew.  Thankfully, I do not need to write much about this as I fear the New Testament scholars might have a field day with me.  (In seminary, I learned something about possible gematria in the passage, something about the theories of why these women are included (foreigners?), and something about the inverting of Abraham and David at the beginning.  But, I never read widely enough to know if any of that was standard fare in Matthew scholarship).  Anyway, Mark Goodacre has saved me because he has a couple of resources on the NT Gateway dealing specifically with this passage.  If you’re reading this passage today, here are two questions to think about and be aware of when you’re checking out the resources:

1. Why these four women in Jesus’ geneaology?
2. What’s up with the number 14?

The resources on New Testament Gateway can be found HERE.  The resources are in alphabetical order with one of them by Waetjen and the other by Witherington.  If you want to read more on the women in the geneaology, you might also want to check out the article by Kopas.