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This study traces the four Isaianic references in Matthew 1-4 to identify their influence in the structure and theology of Matthew's Gospel. Isaiah distinctively contributes to the parallel nature of the narratives in the structure of Matthew 1-12 and particularly to the structural unity of Matthew 1-4. Further, the Abrahamic background in Isaiah contributes to Matthew's "Son of Abraham" motif. The second chapter identifies the placement of the Isaianic references in Matthew and offers an alternative view of Matthew's macrostructure. Similarly, the integral unity of Matthew 1-4 is supported by parallel themes and plotlines. The strategic placement of Isaianic references supports this proposed structure. The study proceeds with a chapter devoted to each of the four Isaianic references in Matthew 1-4. The study's intertextual methodology observes the reference's text form, Isaianic context, reference in Jewish sources, placement in the Matthean chapter, Matthean context, and a summary of Isaiah's structural and Christological influence. Two appendixes accompany the research: one identifies the Abrahamic background in Isaiah 1-12, and another reevaluates the premise of a new Moses typology in Matthew. Isaianic references influence the narrative parallelism in Matthew 1-4, highlighting the calling motif, and confirming the preaching ministry of John and Jesus. Theologically, the Isaianic references and allusions echo in Matthew 1-4 to inform Matthew's Son of Abraham Christology. As the Son of Abraham, Jesus recapitulates Israel's history, following the paradigm of the patriarch Abraham.

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In this thesis I establish that Matthew's presentation of Jesus's exorcisms fits with the Second Temple exorcistic messianic expectations. This thesis challenges the axiom that nobody expected the Messiah to cast out demons. Previous research has been either preoccupied with sharp definitions of titles, have had a narrow understanding of messianism, or have attempted to import non-Jewish explanations. I have taken a more conceptual approach and have focused on those ideas in the Jewish Scriptures that provide the seedbed for messianism in general, that is, the Promise (2 Sam 7) and the centrality of David and Solomon. I have focused specifically on those elements that make their rule distinctive and ideally secure their prevailing over their adversaries. I have then traced the development of these features in the Second Temple period towards explicitly exorcistic interpretations. In so doing I have established the contemporary landscape and demonological language against which Matthew's presentation of Jesus's exorcisms specifically as the Son of David takes a shape of prophetic fulfillment. I have, thus, shown that Matthew's account of Jesus the Son of David's exorcisms makes sense only if it is preceded by a contemporary expectation for an exorcistic Messiah.

This thesis explores the theme of interpersonal forgiveness in the Gospel of Matthew and argues that the idea of interpersonal forgiveness is quite central to this Gospel. Its main foci are on demonstrating the centrality of this theme in the Gospel and understanding the nature of interpersonal forgiveness in it. It proposes five sets of evidence in support of this claim. First is the concept of reciprocity and the link between mercy and forgiveness, together with the link between reluctance in the praxis of them and judgement. Second is the emphasis on the offended person's responsibility in forgiving and the connection of this with the concept of spiritually mature and immature Christians. Third is a reinforcement of the forgiveness concept by the use of related concepts. Fourth is the strategic rhetorical positioning of interpersonal forgiveness texts and related passages within the Matthean text. Fifth is the proportion these texts occupy in the Sermon on the Mount and the Community Discourse. In an attempt to demonstrate the prominence of the theme in the first Gospel, all Matthean forgiveness and forgiveness-related texts are surveyed. Then two key texts, in which the idea of interpersonal forgiveness is stated directly, are singled out for a thorough examination. The method of interpretation used in this thesis is discourse analysis. Discourse analysis, as with many models used in NT exegesis, is not without its potential limitations. It is employed in this thesis because it offers valuable insight into Matthew's point of view of the subject under scrutiny. To serve as the background to the present study, the rhetoric of interpersonal forgiveness in Graeco-Roman literature and in Jewish literature in Greek is considered. The analysis of these data will assist in the description of the dynamics of human forgiveness. The forgiveness pattern that emerges from them differs remarkably from its pattern found in Matthew where granting forgiveness appears not only as a reasonable act, but reluctance or failure to grant it does make the unforgiving person accountable to God - a note sounded nowhere else (except Sir 28:1-4 and Dionysius, Ant. Rom. 8.50.1-4) in the literature surveyed in this work.

This thesis takes a different approach to the contested topic of Jesus and the Torah in Matthew's Gospel. Rather than asking whether or not Jesus' radical teaching on the Torah (Matt 5:17-48) affirms the validity of the Torah, surpasses it, or if it situates the Matthean community within or outside the bounds of Judaism, this thesis examines the Matthean Jesus' radical teaching as an example of first-century Torah interpretation. Specifically, it examines Second Temple writing strategies used to present interpretations as an authoritative representation of the Torah and compares them with the way Matthew authorises Jesus' teaching on the Torah. This comparison shows that Matthew uses inherited writing strategies to participate in the Second Temple and late first-century Jewish phenomenon of innovating the Torah to meet the needs of a specific context. Chapter 1 examines the phenomenon of Torah interpretation in the Second Temple period, both the contexts that caused it and the logic behind it. Chapter 2 analyses Matthew's Gospel to see if it exhibits a similar context and logic as other Second Temple texts that interpret the Torah. Chapter 3 then uses Hindy Najman's concept of Mosaic Discourse as a lens to observe the writing strategies Matthew uses to present Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount as an authoritative representation of Sinaitic Revelation. Chapter 4 then considers how the genre of biography was used to legitimise a historical figure in a polemical context. Chapter 5 then examines how Matthew similarly used the opportunities of biographical writing to legitimise Jesus as an authority on the Torah in a polemical context and, therefore, authorise his teaching on the Torah as the correct way to follow God's commandments.

Thesis deals with rekontextualization and actualisation of Jesus's parables. The methodological part describes the catechetical methods and possibilities of cooperation with selected sciences such as didactics, pedagogy, psychology and hermeneutics. Moreover there are discussed concepts such as allegory, exegesis, metaphor and metonymy. Particular text dealing with the parables of the New Testament contains a characteristic of parable as a literary form, its origin, significance and its construction order. Parables are selected particularly in the context of Matthew's gospel. The thesis functions on the basis of synchronic methodology as well as diachronic one.

Thèse (M. A.)--Université Laval, 2006. / Bibliogr.: f. [118]-126. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2006. / Titre de l'écran-titre (visionné le 28 mars 2007). Bibliogr.

L’elaborato analizza e ricostruisce la storia del testo del brano neotestamentario di Mt 27,51b-53. Il breve componimento, di natura innodica, assume particolare rilievo per la sua collocazione all’interno del racconto della passione, cuore dell’annuncio evangelico. Attraverso l’applicazione di una metodologia che tenga conto delle peculiarità di origine, redazione e trasmissione della letteratura protocristiana, il passo in questione è assunto come caso di studio per una rivalutazione, nella constitutio textus del Nuovo Testamento, della c.d. tradizione indiretta, non sempre adeguatamente valutata dalla filologia tradizionale. Il lavoro è strutturato in due macro-sezioni: la prima, filologica, volta a far emergere, attraverso l’analisi delle citazioni indirette, la forma testuale più antica. Particolare attenzione è rivolta all’espressione «dopo la sua risurrezione», non presente nella fase primitiva del testo. La seconda sezione, storico-teologica, analizza il contesto di formazione e utilizzo della pericope, avallando l’ipotesi di un’origine innodica del brano. Esso sarebbe stato un materiale liturgico precedente, forse giudeo-cristiano, a disposizione della comunità e fatto qui confluire dal redattore del Vangelo per celebrare il sacrificio di Gesù. Vengono, infine, indagate le motivazioni teologiche che potrebbero aver contribuito, tra il III e il IV secolo, alla modifica del dettato testuale più antico. / The thesis aims to reconstruct the history of the text of Matt 27:51b-53. This brief composition, probably a hymn, is particularly relevant for its arrangement in the passion narrative, which is the most important point of the Gospel’s kerygma. By applying a methodology that takes into consideration the peculiarity of the origin, the redaction, and the transmission of the earliest Christian literature, these verses are assumed as a study case, in order to value the indirect tradition in the reconstruction of the text of the New Testament. The work is divided into two parts: the first one, philological, brings out, through the indirect quotations, the earliest form of the text, which is partly different from the canonical one. Here, the sentence «after his resurrection» is relevant because it was not present in the primitive text. The second section analyses the context and the employment of the Matthean pericope in order to confirm the hypothesis of the hymn. It might have been a liturgical material, perhaps Jewish-Christian, used by the community and added to the Gospel by the redactor. Finally, this study takes into account the theological reasons that could have caused, within the third and fourth centuries, the modification of the earliest text.