THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
Matthew and Luke
adopt the quotations from their sources Mark and Q. There are also quotations
from their special traditions. Beginning with Matthew, the three texts from Q
are included in the account of Jesus’s temptation (Matt. 4:1– 11). Matthew adds
appropriately from LXX “but with every word that comes out of the mouth,” which
shows understanding of the Gospel of Matthew that “Jesus is the Son of God by
obeying his Father, from his exemplary fulfilment of the commandments from
Deuteronomy until his death on the cross” (Menken 2007, 49). In addition, there
is a further focus on the six “You have heard . . . but I say to you”
antitheses in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 5:21– 48), which the gospel takes at
least partially from its sources maybe even the preaching Jesus.
|
1 |
Matt 5:21 |
Deut 5:17 (or Exod 20:13) |
Decalogue |
|
2 |
Matt 5:27 |
Deut 5:18 (or Exod 20:14) |
Decalogue |
|
3 |
Matt 5:31 |
free rendition of Deut 24:1, 3 cf. Mark 10:11-12; Matt 19:9 |
|
|
4 |
Matt 5:33 |
possible reference texts: Deut 5:11, 20; 23:22 and others |
|
|
5 |
Matt 5:38 |
Deut 19:21 (or Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20) |
|
|
6 |
Matt 5:43 |
Possible reference texts: Deut 7:2; 20:16; 23:4, 7 (without a
literal match) |
|
The affinity of
the six antitheses with material from Deuteronomy suggests that the reference
was used intentionally. Jesus’s authority as an eschatological teacher of the
interpretation of Torah expresses God’s will articulated in Deuteronomy in
eschatological time in a new and intensified manner: “So to Matthew, the Torah
with all its details is of importance, but its governing principle is love or
mercy” (Menken 2007, 52).
Another quote
from a variant source is the teaching on an unrepentant sinner (Matt. 18:15–
18). If a one- on- one admonition is not sufficient, a conversation with two or
three members of the community is suggested, taking up the word of the two or
three witnesses from Deuteronomy (Deut. 19:15b) with minor adjustments to the
context. If the quote was added by the Gospel of Matthew, the focus shifts from
the willingness to forgive to the willingness to repent (Menken 2007, 54).
Otherwise, the source for the quotations are the Gospel of Mark and are thus
found in teaching and controversial scenes with various protagonists including
Jesus.
Quotations from
the Decalogue the teachings on divorce (Deut. 24:1, 3; Matt. 19:7) and the
great commandment (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37) are edited according to linguistic
style of the Gospel of Matthew (Menken 2007, 53, 55– 56, 57).
The Shema
in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 22:37b; Luke 10:27; against Mark 12:29) is
distinguished from the commandments, so that the omission of the Shema
there represents more of a specification than a “tightening” or “Straffung”
(Luz 1997, 271)
The teaching on
the levirate in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 22:24) references both Deuteronomy
(Deut. 25:5) and Genesis (Gen. 38:8), but is not a quotation (Luz 1997, 263).
The “You shall not steal” expansion of the Decalogue in the Gospel of Mark
(Mark 10:19) is omitted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matt. 19:18). These
instructions in Deuteronomy are recognized as rules of life, but at the same
time they are inserted into Matthew’s own theology through interpretation and
intensified through the hermeneutics of love and the idea of better justice. (Michael
Labahn, “Deuteronomy in the New Testament,” in The Oxford Handbook of
Deuteronomy, ed. Don C. Benjamin [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025], 390-91)
