Jeremiah in Matthew's Gospel: The Rejected Prophet Motif in Matthean Redaction

385 Pages·18.207 MB·English

by  Michael Knowles

l i b r a ry o f n e w t e s ta m e n t s t u d i e s
JEREMIAH IN
MATTHEW’S GOSPEL
The Rejected-Prophet Motif in
Matthaean Redaction
MICHAEL KNOWLES
JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
68
Executive Editor
Stanley E. Porter
Editorial Board
Richard Bauckham, David Catchpole, R. Alan Culpepper,
Joanna Dewey, James D.G. Dunn, Craig A. Evans, Robert Fowler,
Robert Jewett, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Dan O. Via
JSOT Press
Sheffield

Jeremiah in
Matthew's Gospel
The Rejected-Prophet Motif
in Matthaean Redaction
Michael Knowles
Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series 68
For Eleanor Grace
Copyright © 1993 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by JSOT Press
JSOT Press is an imprint of
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
343 Fulwood Road
Sheffield S10 3BP
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Knowles, Michael
Jeremiah in Matthew's Gospel: Rejected-
Prophet Motif in Matthaean Redaction.—
(JSNT Supplement Series, ISSN 0143-5108;
No. 68)
I. Title II. Series
226.2
EISBN 9781850753445
I
And indeed the prophets, along with other things which they predicted,
also foretold this, that all those on whom the Spirit of God should
rest... should suffer persecution, and be stoned and slain. For the
prophets prefigured in themselves all these things, because of their love to
God, and on account of his word. For since they themselves were
members of Christ...every one of them, in his special place as a
member... shadowed forth beforehand that particular working of Christ
which was connected with that member.
(Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses 4.33.10)
But those who said that Jesus was Jeremiah, and not that Jeremiah was a
type of the Christ, were perhaps influenced by what is said in the
beginning of Jeremiah about Christ, which was not fulfilled in the prophet
at that time, but was beginning to be fulfilled in Jesus, whom "God set up
over nations and kingdoms to root up, and to break down, and to destroy,
and to build up, and to transplant,' having made him to be a prophet to the
Gentiles to whom he proclaimed the word.
(Origen, Commentariorum in Matthaeum 12.9 [on 16.14])
I
Contents
Preface H
Abbreviations 12
Introduction 15
Chapter 1
MATTHEW'S THREE EXPLICIT REFERENCES TO JEREMIAH 19
A. Formula Quotations in the Gospel of Matthew 19
1. Background and Purpose 19
2. The Fulfillment Formulae 29
B. Matthew 2.17-18 33
1. The Fulfillment Formula of 2.17 34
2. The Text of 2.18 36
3. Jeremiah 31.15 and its OT Context 38.
4. Jeremiah 31.15 and its Matthaean Context 43
5. Ramah, Bethlehem and Rachel's Lament 45
C. Matthew 27.9-10 52
1. The Fulfillment Formula of 27.9 53
2. The Source of Matthew's Quotation:
Zechariah 11.12-13 53
3. The Source of Matthew's Quotation: 'Jeremiah' 60
4. Summary 77
D. Matthew 16.14 81
1. Explanations for the Redactional Insertion 82
2. Conclusions 94
Chapter 2
THE DEUTERONOMISTIC REJECTED-PROPHET MOTIF
IN MATTHEW 96
A. The Deuteronomistic View of History in Jewish and
Early Christian Traditions 96
1. Jewish Literature 96
8 Jeremiah in Matthew's Gospel
2. Early Christian Literature 110
B. Matthew's Portrayal of Jesus as a Rejected Prophet 148
Chapter 3
TEXTUAL ALLUSIONS IN MATTHEW TO JEREMIAH TRADITIONS 162
A. Method 162
B. Texts 171
1. Allusions to Jeremiah as a Prophet of Judgment 173
2. Allusions to Jeremiah as a Rejected Prophet 198
3. Allusions to Jeremiah's Prophecy
of a 'New Covenant' 207
C. Summary and Conclusions 217
Chapter 4
TYPOLOGICAL REFERENCES IN MATTHEW
TO JEREMIAH TRADITIONS 223
A. Typology as an Exegesis of History 223
B. Typology in Matthew 229
I.Elijah 230
2. Abraham 231
3. David 233
4. Moses 237
5. Jonah 241
6. Noah 243
C. Typological Comparisons with Jeremiah 245
Chapter 5
THE JEREMIAH OF MATTHEW'S DAY 247
A. Traditions of Destruction and Desolation 247
1. Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism 248
2. Sirach 249
3. Josephus 251
4. Pseudo-Philo 254
5. Qumran 255
B. Traditions of Restoration and Return 256
1. The Temple Furnishings 257
2. Moses Typology 258
3. The 'New Covenant' 260
C. Summary and Conclusions 263
Contents 9
Chapter 6
MATTHEW'S VISION OF JEREMIAH 265
A. Reactions to the Fall of Jerusalem in
Second Temple Judaism 265
1. The Significance of the Temple 266
2. Literary Responses 269
3. Common Themes in the Literature 280
B. Matthew and the Fall of Jerusalem 284
C. The Social Setting of Matthew's Gospel 289
D. Theodicy and Apologetics in Matthew's
References to Jeremiah 305
Appendix
A DEUTERONOMISTIC OUTLOOK AND THE PROVENANCE
OF MATTHEW'S GOSPEL 312
Bibliography 324
Index of References 347
Index of Authors 371