COMMENTARY A ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW CRAIG S. KEENER In this volume Craig Keener focuses on two aspects of the interpretation of Matthew. First, he analyzes the social-historical- rhetorical contexts of both Matthew and his traditions. Second, he examines the nature of Matthew's exhortations to his Christian audience pericope by pericope. Since it is impossible to reconstruct the precise social situation of Matthew, Keener casts a wider net and considers the general eastern Mediterranean, perhaps Syrian, Jewish context of Matthew. A close comparison of the issues raised in the Gospel with what we know elsewhere of late first-century Jewish-Christian relations provides the basic picture of the issues faced by the Matthean community. Furthermore, Keener's rereading of Jewish and Greco-Roman materials from Matthew's milieu leads to an abundance of fresh perspectives on the text, including many insights not found in any other Matthew commentary. Applying data from more than 10,000 primary references and 2,000 secondary sources, Keener goes beyond many other socio-historical approaches; his work is based more on social history anchored in concrete data, with less focus on theoretical models. As a result, like Matthew's Gospel itself, this commentary is an excellent teaching tool for scholars, seminarians, pastors, and serious students of the Bible. (continued on back flap) A COMMENTARY on the GOSPEL OF MATTHEW A COMMENTARY on the GOSPEL OF MATTHEW CRAIG S. KEENER WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K. © 1999 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503 / P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 04 03 02 01 7 6 5 4 3 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Keener, Craig S., 1960- A commentary on the Gospel of Matthew / Craig S. Keener, p. cm. Includes indexes. ISBN 0-8028-3821-9 (cloth: alk. paper) 1. Bible. N.T. Matthew — Commentaries. 2. Bible. N.T. Matthew — Socio-rhetorical criticism. I. Title. BS2575.3.K43 1999 226.2'077 — dc21 98-53605 CIP To my parents, John and Gail Keener With love and gratitude Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction COMMENTARY Indexes Selected Subjects Authors Ancient Sources Old Testament Apocrypha New Testament Josephus/Jos. Philo Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Collections Tannaitic Collections Other Rabbinic Literature Other Early Jewish Texts Early Christian and Gnostic Literature Inscriptions, Papyri, and Other Collections Other Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Texts Acknowledgments I appreciate the academic and faith communities that have afforded me the opportunity to explore Matthew with them, especially the students in my Matthew seminars at Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia, and Hood Theological Seminary in Salisbury, NC, and the members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Salisbury, NC. I am grateful to Ben Witherington of Asbury Seminary and John Simpson of Eerdmans for their guidance and support. I owe much gratitude to my copyeditor Milton Essenburg, who patiently and cheerfully worked through a long manuscript containing sometimes tedious notes. I am also grateful to Eerdmans and InterVarsity for allowing me the opportunity to present a much more academic version of my much more popular commentary published by the latter (1997a). Abbreviations General Abbreviations A.D. anno Domini, in the year of our Lord Aram. Aramaic b. Babylonian (Talmud) bar. baraita B.C. before Christ bib. bibliography bk. book ca. circa, around cf. confer, compare ch. chapter cm. centimeter col. column comm. commentary DSS Dead Sea Scrolls ed. edition e.g. exempli gratia, for example Ep. Epistle fig. figure fr(g). fragment ft. feet Gk. Greek i.e. id est, that is incant. incantation inscr. inscription intro. introduction KJV King James Version lit. literally