Introduction: part 1 - Matthew, Mark's first critic and corrector

The Torah laws often appear to be specifically written in opposition to ‘the Canaanites’ religion—it is irrelevant whether this refers to actual ancient Israelite enemies or is a literary code for later foes like Samaritans or Syrians in their midst later. It may simply be slang watchword used by the Pentateuch editors for whatever politico-religious threats (Persians, Hellenism?) surrounded them at the time of their writing. In a very similar way, the gospel of Mark was written in opposition to Judaism as such as it likes to present it, a kind of Pharisaism. Once one realizes this—that for the evangelist ‘Canaan’=‘Judaism’ as ‘Christians’ = ‘the new Israel’—then many things fall into place. This ancient intellectual, whether Syrian or from Alexandria, was operating in a tradition rooted in the Semitic Middle East yet he mixes into it an irony that surely seems Greek in spirit. As to the question of whether a biblical work can be anti-semitic it simply an issue of semantics—some in the 20th century basically tried to academically argue that homosexuality didn’t exist until 19th century psychologists invented the term in Victorian Germany. The point is: Mark is is logically opposed to the Old Testament as interpreted by the other Jewish groups of his day and is yet is very careful about how he presents his scriptural arguments. If one is willing to accept this premise and see Mark’s ‘news’ as an ancient fiction using the tool of creative edification, then the rewards of explaining obscure details in this story are extraordinary. Via the internal logic of literary art, this novelist has reworked the Old Testament into something entirely new. 

      But before we get to that, let us examine others matters first. We will start here with an excursus on how the other Gospel writers operate in composing their own rewritings of Mark, then briefly touch on OT scriptures’ reuse and alteration of other materials in their own didactic literary editing. This will show how the seemingly incongruous details of Mark have precedent in the poetic past of his own cultural milieu. Matthew’s author starts out, like Mark, using mostly the Septuagint as guide to free-associate new stories from old, embroidering them like Luke later will with old-fashioned OT imagery and word choice. It isn’t until chapter 8 he begins using Mark as a template for the rest of his work. Matthew has a strange tendency to double everything in his retelling of Mark. Mark 5:1-20 has one demoniac; so does Luke 8:26-39. But Matt gives us 2 possessed figures, just as he presents two youths, or ‘angels’ in his estimation, at the tomb finale. He also doubles the blind man of Mark 10:46-52 at Matthew 20:29-34 while Luke 18:35-43 does not. 

 Mark beings with the word ‘arche’, mean ‘the start of.’ It is certainly no coincidence that the same word features prominently in the opening phrase of the Torah, Genesis’ famed first sentence ‘In the beginning…’ When rewriting Mark, Matthew copies this with a variation. He uses the word ‘geneseos’, a homonym of ‘Genesis’ and in his story refers to the origins of a genealogy. But this craftiness is his answer to his predecessor. Yet Matthew doesn’t stop there—in his final paragraph he parodies the penultimate paragraphs of the biblical OT itself, the ending to Second Chronicles; using artifice and allusion to transform Cyrus decree of freedom into a proclamation about evangelism=

-Matt 28:18= “Jesus said: ‘All [πασα] the authority upon heaven and earth [ουρανω και επι γης] was given to me [εδοθη]. … (verse 20:) “Give heed to all as much [παντα οσα] as I commanded [ενετειλαμην] you.” 

-2Chronicles 36:23 (the decree freeing Jews from Babylon to return to Judah)= “Thus saith Cyrus, king of the Persians: “All [πασαις] of the kingdoms of the earth [γης] the Lord God of heaven [ουρανου] has given [εδωκε] to me; and he gave charge [ενετειλατο] to me to build him a house in Jerusalem…’”

-And it’s likely the line of 2Chron 36:22 where Cyrus “exhorted to proclaim [παρηγγειλε κηρυξαι] in writing in all his kingdom” likely inspired Matthew 28:19’s “Go make disciples of all nations.” Thus it would appear Matthew is interpreting Jesus as Cyrus, whose name ‘Koresh’ is spelled similarly to the Greek word for ‘lord’: kurios. Matthew intends for us to view the resurrection as a spiritual return from exile, with Jesus as liberating conqueror of ‘Babylon/death/evil’ etc. 

-LXX Psalm 22(=21):22= “Ill declare Thy name to my brothers [τοις αδελϕοις μου]”

-Matt 28:10a= Jesus says: “Take word to my brothers [τοις αδελϕοις μου]” 

-Matthew’s commission at 28:18-20 connects with poetic parallel to Matt 11:25-30 = notice  how Matt 28:18f parallels Daniel 7:14 (= edothe, eksousia panta ta ethne)

-Matthew 28:10b has combined BOTH the different wordings of the Greek translations of the LXX and Theodition lines of Daniel 7:14! That seems to be some proof that these NT authors were very meticulous and extremely thorough in their nerdy love of and erudite comparison of OT texts—if such a redundant statement even needs utterance.

-Job 38:4 (repeated in verse 18)= “report it to me” [απαγγελον δε μοι] (=God sarcastically dares Job to explain the universe’ mysterious origins)

Matthew 2:8= “report to me!” [απαγγειλατε μοι] (=Herod tells the magi to advise him about the Messiah’s whereabouts)

Job 38:7 = “When the stars [αστρα] were born, the angels praised [ηνεσαν] me with a loud [μεγαλη] voice.” (=the Hebrew of this verse in Job has “The morning stars sang in unison, the sons of God shouted (with joy).”)

-Matthew 2:10= “Seeing the star [αστερα], they rejoiced [εχαρησαν] very much with a great [μεγαλην] joy.”

-Matthew 2:11 = Having come unto [ελθοντες] a house, they saw the baby with his mother Mary… and having opened [ανοιξαντες] their treasuries [θησαυρους] they gave gifts…” 

-Job 38:22= “Did you come unto [ελθες] the treasuries [θησαυρους] of snow; or have you seen the storage-vault of hail?” 

-(Job 38:17 = “Hell’s gate—has it opened [ανοιγονται] for you?”) = is used for imagery in the ‘commission’ of Simon Peter later in Matthew 22 when Matthew mixes this with Isaiah 22 about the high priest being custodian of ‘the keys of heaven’s gate.’ 

-Just as at Matt 2:8 Herod pretends he “wishes to give obeisance” [προσκυνησω], just as Nebuchadnezzar “does obeisance” [προσκυνησε] to Daniel, offering a libation to him as if a deity! (=Dan 2:46)

-Matt 2:4= Herod “inquired” [επυνθανετο παρ’ αυτου] of the scribes/priests where the Christ is supposed to be born. 

-Dan 2:15= Daniel “inquired of him” [επυνθανετο αυτου] (=Nebuchadnezzar) and in verse 16 he asks for more “time” [χρονον] to figure out the dream-interpretation. 

-Matt 2:16= the (astrologically? scripturally?) figured time” [χρονον] (=2 years etc) of the Magi calculations. 

-Dan 2:2= “the king called [καλεσαι] … the magi [τους μαγους] … to announce [αναγγειλαι] to the king the matter of his nightmare.” 

-Matt 2:7-8= Herod “having called the magi” [καλεσας τους μαγους], commands that when they get to Bethlehem they should “report” [απαγγειλατε] back to him.

-Dan 2:12= because they are unable to even guess at an interpretation of his dream’s meaning, Nebuchadnezzar was “enraged” [εν θυμω], ordering that “all [παντας] the wise men [σοϕους] in Babylon be destroyed.”

-Daniel 2:13= “they sought [εζητησαν] … to do away with [αναλειν] Daniel and his friends…”

-Matt 2:16= Herod “was enraged [εθυμωθη] … so he sent to do away with [ανειλε] all [παντας] the boys…” 

-Matt 2:13= angels tells Joseph in a dream that Herod “will seek [ζητειν] to destroy [απολεσαι] the child.”

-Of course, the ‘Star’ prophecy of Balaam from Numbers 22 is also behind Matthew’s imagery, but we are surprised to find the Elijah-Elisha cycle intrude as it does so often in Mark’s gospel=

-Matthew 2:16 = “Then Herod, seeing [ιδων] that he was mocked [ενεπαιχθη] by the Magi, was most wroth! And having sent, he did away with all the baby-boys [παιδας] … from two [διετους] years and under…”

-2 Kings 2:23= some “small boys” venture “from out of the city” to “mock” [κατεπαιζον] Elisha’s mourning for his master, disrespecting him with catcalls of ‘Baldy!’. Turning around, he “saw” [ειδεν] them and cursed them out loud to the severest degree, lashing out as vengefully as Herod. In verse 24, two [δυο] bears venture out of the forest to “rip apart forty and two [δυο]” of the “children” [παιδας]. 

-Note also that, before this incident in 2Kings 2, Elisha metaphorically cures “childlessness” and verse 22 mentions, like Matt 2:17, a “word/saying” uttered by a prophet being “fulfilled,” while verse 25 has Elisha changing his itinerary, like the Magi in Matt 2:12. 

-2Kings 2 seems to reference Hosea 13:8-9= the Lord says: “I shall happen upon them as (if I were a) bear perplexed, and will rip apart their ribcages, and cubs of the forest [δρυμου] will devour them there [εκει].” =note 2Kings 2:24’s “forest” [δρυμου] and line 25’s repetition of the word ‘there’ [εκειθεν] and both mention ‘cities.’ See 1 Sam 15:12 for another scene of a prophet altering itinerary, mentioning also “Carmel” and “turning toward” a different direction.

-Matt 2:6 has multiplicity of meaning: Micah 5:1-2 = 2Sam 5:2 = Gen 49:10 

As we shall see, this isn’t the only time the author/editor of the OT historical books does this ‘borrowing’ from prophetic poetry to color a story. 

-by having the angel Gabriel quote LXX Isaiah 7:14 about ‘Emmanuel’, Matthew also clues us in to how he’s taken other details from chapter 7 of Isaiah. At Isaiah 7:2 the “heart of Ahaz and that of his people” are “startled, shaking as trees by winds.” Just as at Matt 2:3 Herod and all Jerusalem are “perturbed” by the Messianic star prophecy. Also King Ahaz’ fake religious piety at Isaiah 7:12 is just as phony and self-serving as Herod's at Matthew 2:8. 

There is another possible parallel= 

-Matt 2:3= “King Herod heard, he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him.”

-2Sam 4:1= When king Ishbosheth “heard” that Abner died, “he and all Israel were disturbed.”

-Pliny, NH 30.16 = Tiridates travelled from Parthia to pay homage to Nero and "he brought Magi with him." Dio Cassius 63.2 adds the detail: "He [Tiridates] knelt upon the ground and with arms crossed called him master and did obeisance." 

-compare Matt 2:11 "bowed down to do homage" etc

-Suetonius, Augustus 94= "According to Julius Marathus, a public portent warned the Roman people some months before Augustus birth that Nature was making ready to provide them with a king; and this caused the Senate such consternation that they issued a decree which forbade the rearing of any male child for a while year." 

-Now here we’ll skip ahead to chapter 5 and examine Matthew’s composition briefly from that point on=

-Matthew 5:3’s phrase ‘poor in spirit’ [πτωχοι τω πνευματι] was created using Isaiah 61:1 where the speaker says “The Spirit [πνευμα] of the Lord is upon me, for he anointed me to preached good news to the poor [πτωχοι].” This becomes obvious because the next line, Isaiah 61:2, has: “I will comfort the ones mourning.” —which Matthew 5:4 has reversed into: “Blessed are the mourning ones, they shall be comforted.” 

-Isaiah 61:7 says of those Jews who return from the Babylonian exile: “A second time they shall inherit the land” [κληρονομησουσι την γην] which is word-for-word repeated in Matthew 5:5 on the meek “inheriting the earth.” Notice how artfully the gospel author expands the meaning here, transforming a plot of land into the entire world. He does something similar by changing Isa 61:6’s promise that Jews will steal the wealth of nations “and in their wealth be admired” which in Matt 5:12 becomes the “great wage/payment” of Christian martyrs. Isa 60:21 predicts Jews shall “inherit the world”, but the all the gospel authors are intent on not giving any glory to Judaism or to its people.

Matt 5:6 = “Blessed are they who thirst for justice (δικαιοσυνην); they shall be filled. (χορτασθησονται)” is uses imagery from LXX Psalm 17:15= “I shall appear in righteousness (δικαιοσυνη) before thy face, I shall be satisfied (χορτασθησομαι) why thy glory appears.” Matthew 5:8 makes into the plural a phrase Psalm 23:4 “pure of heart”  [καθαρος τε καρδια] 

-Tobit 13:15-16 has ‘Blessed are/happy are, three times, ending with a “for” [οτι], while Ben Sirach 14:1-2, 20-27 and 25:7-10 also has beatitudes strung together. 

The procedure for determining whether someone has leprosy is set forth in Leviticus 13:20-21, 25-26; it involves a “white thread” [θριξ λευκε], a thing mentioned metaphorically by Matthew 5:36. 

Isa 61:3’s “they shall be called [κληθησονται] generations of righteousness” [δικαιοσυνης] gets split by Matthew into 5:9’s “peacemakers shall be called [κληθησονται] sons of God” and verse 10’s “those persecuted for the sake of righteousness [δικαιοσυνης].” Matt 5:13 = “if salt becomes insipid [αναλον]” is quoting Mark 9:50 = “if salt becomes insipid [μωρανθη]” while Matt 5:15 takes from Mark 4:21. Matt 5:14 is an extrapolation on the word ‘hidden’ from Mark 4:22.

With an illimitable logic, Matthew has connected the command not to murder with the Torah’s story about the first murder. Gen 4:2 mentions how, unlike his “brother” [αδελϕον], Cain “worked [εργαζομενος] the soil.” Matthew 5:22 re-imagines this (using a clever homonym) into the commandment that even “provoking [οργιζομενος] your brother [αδελϕω]” is equivalent to real physical violence. Gen 4:4 says God looked favorably upon Abel’s “gifts” [δωροις]. Matt 5:23 = “whenever you should offer your gift [δωρον] on the altar and while there you remember your brother holds something against [εχετε τι κατα]” you, go reconcile with him before finishing.” Matthew has mixed in here Jesus’ warning in Mark 11:24 that “if you hold anything against [τι εχετε κατα] someone” God doesn’t hear your prayers. Matthew has simply changed praying to actually sacrificing in the temple. Matt 5:24-26 sermonizes on the advice gives in Mark 9:50 about “making peace with one another.”  Matt 5:25’s advice about making peace with an opponent “while on the road” [εν τη οδω] may recall Joseph’s advice to his “brothers” [αδελϕους] in Genesis 45: about returning to Canaan from Egypt: “Don’t become enraged [οργιζεσθε] at anyone on“while on the road [εν τη οδω].” Note Matt 5:25’s advice about making peace with an opponent “while on the road” [εν τη οδω]. Matthew 5:21-26 and 6:12, 14-15 = taken from Sirach 27:30 through 28:7.

-Matthew 5:29 quotes Mark 9:47 and makes it’s meaning more explicit by connecting it to the adultery commandment. Matthew has actually had verse in mind since Matt 5:22 when he mentioned Gehenna. A few sentences about pronouncing his “if your hand/feet etc cause difficulty” sayings he is questioned about divorce in Mark 10:4f. So not surprisingly, Matt 5:32 has Jesus giving marriage advice, though Matthew abbreviates Mark’s section, leaving out ‘let no man put asunder’ and Jesus quoting of Genesis to justify his position. Perhaps for Matthew Jesus has no need to even try to justify his position, speaking with authority. 

-Matthew 5:35= πολις εστιν του μεγαλου βασιλεως

-Psalm 48:2= η πολις τους βασιλεως του μεγαλου

-is Jesus quoting Psalm LXX 49:14b in Matthew 5:33?

At 5:39 of his gospel Matthew takes an old text like Lamentations 3:30= “Let him offer his cheek to the one who would strike him.”—a suggestion by pseudo-Jeremiah which in context is a despairing concession of defeat—and transforms it into a graceful gesture of resisting violence by not resisting: ‘If anyone slaps your cheek, offer him your other one too.” He then makes good use of this maxim to go on a brief tangent, embroidering some non-retaliatory examples couched in terms he’s patched together from Mark’s passion narrative. Matthew 5:39-41 Jesus counsels that if a someone wishes to sue for your shirt to give them your coat [το ιματιον] and then also encourages going the extra mile (literally!) for anyone who conscripts you [αγγαρευσει], referring to Roman soldiers bullying citizens into carrying their backpacks etc. Matthew has drawn all this by picking from and linking a cluster of ideas off his predecessor’s finale: in Mark 14:65 Jesus’ disdainful accusers spit at and “slap” [ραπισμασιν] him, while Mark 15:20 portrays Roman soldiers who “conscript” [αγγαρευουσιν] passerby Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross, then they gamble over Jesus’ “coat” [τα ιματια].

Matthew 5:44 = “Bless those who curse you!” is similar to Paul in Romans 12:17 where he counsels “Do no repay evil for evil!” then in verse 20 he quotes Proverbs 25:21-22= “If your enemy is hungry or thirsty, feed and give them drink, for so in doing you’ll heap hot coals on their head and Lord will reward you with good things.” Matthew gives away that he also thinking of this text when he has Jesus ask rhetorically at 5:46= “If you only love those who love you, what reward is there in that?” Matt 5:25 advises that in a lawsuit to become “well-disposed towards your opponent quickly [ταχυ], lest you [μηποτε]…” which may be a faint echo of Proverb 25:8 on “falling into a fight quickly [ταχεως], lest you [ινα μη]...”   

Matt on not swearing oaths at all seems to draw from James 5:12f, especially the ‘yes, yes’ and ‘no, no.’ While James 5:11 “Blessed are they that endure to the end” might have been the very inspiration for the beatitude format, see James 1:12 where it’s said “Blessed is the man who can endure a test” (this is similar to the ‘lead us not into the test/temptation [] at the earlier prayer.) Note also that Letter of James 2 is a sermon on the 10 commandments just as Matt 5 is. Targum Ps-Jon on Lev 22:28 “As our father in heaven is merciful so you shall be merciful on earth.” = Matt 5:48/Luke 6:36. 

The beginning of Matthew 6 is a repeat of the end of Mark 12. Matt 6:6 = “Whenever you pray, go into your inner chamber [εισελθε εις το ταμειον σου] and lock your door [κλεισας την θυραν σου], pray to your Father who is concealed [εν τω κρυπτω]” is using language from Isaiah 26:20 (=“My people, go into your inner chambers [εισελθε εις τα ταμεια σου] and lock your door [αποκλεισον την θυραν σου], be concealed [αποκρυβηθι] a little until the Lord’s anger should pass by.”)

The ‘Our Father’ prayer which Jesus teaches at 6:9 is a brilliant composition drawing from Mark 11:25-26 (‘your father who is in the heavens’ and ‘forgive transgressions’). Matthew goes on to quote these exact lines at 6:14-15. 

Matt 6:11 = “Give us bread sufficient for today, today!” = seems to based on the idea of Exodus 16:19 where Israelites are warned not to eat manna on the Sabbath, just enough for today, a trick by YHWH to see who would disobey this commend. 

Matt 6:13b “kingdom/power/glory” sequence is very similar to Daniel 2:37 (=but not exactly as the OG or Theodotion have it), but see the possibility of 1Chronicles 29:11-13 being related. 

Matt 6:19-20 Jesus admonishes to store up treasure in heaven “moths nor rust can obliterate them” = this may be drawn from James 5:2-3 where the author warns the wealthy their “riches will become moth-eaten and their silver will rust.” 

Matt 7:1 = “Judge not lest ye be judged.” (= James 5:9?)

=the composition of the Lord prayer

-Matthew copies Mark’s 14:36 Getsemane prayer but takes out the Aramaic word Abba, writing only ‘You, father’ while later Luke removes the pronoun too, no letter οmicron, and Luke has Jesus garden prayer begins with just “Father!” as does his Lord’s prayer in Luke .

-Mark 14:36= “Thy will not mine” is also where Matthew 6 got the idea for “Thy will be done” phrase. 

Luke adds “each day” [το καθ’ ημεραν] to Matthew’s rare phrase επιουσιος, seemingly to clarify. He has taken this from Exodus 16:5, so it’s likely manna is the bread referred to here. Whereas Matthew put the request for daily bread as an aorist imperative, once and done, Luke instead has present imperative, altering δος (=give once only) to διδου (=give, continuously).  There may be in the background Proverbs 30:8= “Feed me with the food that I need.” 

-Ben Sirach 28:2= “Forgive your neighbor when he wrongs you and your sins all will be pardoned when you pray.” The influence on Mark 12 should be plain.

-Matt 7:21 = “Not all saying ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of Heaven, but only those doing [ποιων] the will of my father in heaven.”

-this seems to be a reference to 2Samuel 7:18f where David’s repeatedly prays ‘Lord, my Lord’ and verse 21 the verb “he has acted/has done” [πεποιηκας] is used twice. 

-Matt 7:15 on false prophets quotes Jacob’s death-bed description of his own son Benjamin at Genesis 49: “ravenous wolf.” This is possibly the Matthean authors criticism of Paul and his ilk. The reference at 7:23 to Jesus rejecting “lawless ones” and the ensuing parable about a “foolish man who built his house on sand.” That this story is about those don’t follow the Torah is obvious because ‘firm foundation’ and ‘Rock’ are euphemism for the Pentateuch several places elsewhere. Matt 7:28 then quotes Mark 1:22 about ‘teaching with authority unlike the scribes.’

The masterful composition, the sermon on the mount, has at its’ conclusion the same word as LXX Exodus 34:29 (= Matthew 8:1  =  καταβαντος)  revealing its ultimate origin as a mini-epiphany on Sinai with a new Moses. Luke in his fan-fiction of that event, his ‘sermon on the plan’ at Luke ends with the first sentence on the next chapter just like Matthew—Luke 7:1= “And as soon as [επειδη] he completed all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered into Capernaum.” =this makes very subtle reference to Exodus 34:33= “And as soon as [επειδη] he rested from speaking [λαλων] to them, he covered over his face with a veil [καλυμμα].” The gospel writers understand they are meant to be metaphorically superseding the giving of the Torah! 

Matthew then skip over Mark’s story of the synagogue demon and moves Peter’s mother-in-law having a fever to 8:14f, but commences to repeated the next miracle in line from Mark 1, the leper’s cleansing. It is this sequence that makes it plain that the story about the centurion’s servant merely is a rewritten version of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 2= 

-They both being the same way= “entering into Capernaum” = same in Mark 2:1 and Matt 8:5. 

-In Mark 2, Jesus is ‘in the house’ and ‘paralytic lying on a bed’ comes along, burrowing through the ‘roof’ [στεγην] (2:4) to get in to be healed. This is while Jesus was “speaking to them the Word” (=2:2).

-compare this to Matt 8 where the centurion’s ‘boy’ is ‘lying in the house paralyzed’ but the Roman soldier feels unfit to have Jesus ‘come under his roof’ [στεγην] (8:8) but instead asks only that he “speak the Word” and his servant shall be “healed.”

-And just as the paralyzed man’s healing at Mark causes a discussion at 2:10 about “the Son of Man having authority,” so here does Matthew 8:9 have the centurion call himself “a man under authority.” 

-2Kings 11:5 = the priest Jehoiada tells “centurions” what to “do” (repeated at verse 9). Verses 8-9 redundantly explain the “coming and going” and “going and coming” of the guards. 

-Matthew 8:9 = the centurion says: “I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes, or that one ‘Do this’ and he does, to another: ‘Come here’ and he will.” 

-Matthew in chapter 27 of his gospel mistakenly attributes a quote from Zechariah to Jeremiah. Why is this? It is vaguely possible that he instead intends somehow to clue us in on this section of his work being a midrash (an imprecise term, I know) on Lamentation 3-4 (=a work attributed in tradition to the ‘weeping prophet’). Lamentations 5 = verse 2 has “Our inheritance … given over to strangers”  while verse 4 mentions “silver.” Lamentations 4 = verse 1 mentions silver and 2 has a “potter”, while verse 9 mentions fields.

-That Matthew still uses the basic skeleton of an actual palsied character at chapter 9 doesn’t mean this one was creatively fashioned from the other. Doing what he’s done with this pericope is what causes the beginning of Matthew 9 to be mirrors of Mark 2 inserted between the Legion episode and menstruant woman, going on in Matt 10 to mix together lines from Mark 3 and 13, plus bits of Mark 8-9.