Matthew 2 - Analysis

Analysis

The chapter is often divided into four sections. The visit of the Magi from 1-12; the flight into Egypt from 13-15; the Massacre of the Innocents from 16-18; and the move to Nazareth from 19-23. Each of these sections is centred on a quotation from the Old Testament, that Matthew sees Jesus fulfilling. The last portion of Matthew 1 is similarly written, and is often seen as part of this same section. Stendhal notes that each of the four quotes in this chapter contain place names, and sees this entire chapter as an apology for why the messiah moved from the important centre of Bethlehem to the minor one of Nazareth.

France notes that the Old Testament quotations in this chapter are "notoriously obscure and unconvincing." Many of them are heavily modified from the originals, with some passages being reversed in meaning. Almost all of them are taken out of context, and presented as prophecy when they were not in the original. The most confusing is that cited in Matthew 2:23, which doesn't seem to exist anywhere in the Old Testament. That the quotations have been so contorted to fit the narrative, is to France and others, clear evidence that the narrative came first, and the quotations were added after. The author of Matthew firmly believed in the accuracy of the narrative he was recording, and would not alter it to make it better fit the prophecies.

As with Matthew 1 most scholars see this chapter as geared towards proving that Jesus is the messiah who was foretold by the prophets. The chapter contains five references to the Old Testament, a greater density than anywhere else in the New Testament. The author of Matthew uses them to try and demonstrate that Jesus matches the predictions of the prophets. Schweizer sees the chapter as being divided into five subsections, each ending with an Old Testament quotation. As with the genealogy of Matthew 1 many scholars feel that this chapter is trying to portray Jesus as the culmination of Jewish history with the author of Matthew relating events in Jesus' life to important ones in history. The author of Matthew is paralleling Exodus in this chapter with Jesus as Moses and Herod as Pharaoh. The Gospel also takes care to mention a sojourn by the Holy Family in Egypt that is mentioned nowhere else. Through a quote from Jeremiah the Massacre of the Innocents is linked to the Babylonian Captivity, and Jesus being born in Bethlehem echoes King David who was also born in that village.

At the same time this chapter also contains several passages that are often seen as anti-Semitic. Matthew 2:3 and Matthew 2:4 both show the Jewish leaders and people of Jerusalem acting in lockstep with the tyrant Herod who tries to kill the infant. The historicity of this is dubious as other sources show great rivalry and animosity between the two. Gundry notes that persecution is an important theme of Matthew, who was writing at a time when a number of forces were working to crush the new religious movement.

Most of what is in this chapter is found in no other gospel and differs sharply from the infancy narrative in Luke 2. Evangelical scholars have developed theories to explain these discrepancies that allow them to stand by the inerrancy of the Bible. Most other scholars feel that this part of the Gospel of Matthew is not a literal work of history. Robert H. Gundry sees Matthew as a heavily embellished version of Luke with the humble shepherds transformed into the more exotic magi, for instance.