Matthewlinity: Recent Episodes
Dr Timothy Lewis
Critical Study of Matthew and Masculinity. In this series, I'll be navigating the world of Matthean research:- identifying assumptions, connecting old and new interpretations, including questions and perspectives previously overlooked or undervalued. There's a whole world of research that awaits. Are you ready?
matthewlinity@gmail.com twitter.com/matthewlinity
A closer look at Matt 5:3 "blessed are the poor in spirit because theirs is the kingdom of the heavens"
stay tuned for more on this verse next time . . .
Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit because the kingdom of the heavens is of them."
The first thing Jesus teaches in the book of Matthew is that the poor in spirit are blessed.
Over the next few episodes I'll present an exegetical interpretation of the first eight "beatitudes" or "makarisms" according to Matthew.
Whilst there are plenty of biblical interpretations and theological interpretations around, it would be good to present an exegetical interpretation (based on the Matthean text).
Just a 5-minute update on some minor changes to the podcast, namely replacing
Critical Study of Matthew and Masculinity
with
Matthean Exegesis
Matt 4:23-5:2 and 7:28-29
The Frame for the Sermon on the Mount
What is "not like the scribes"?
The first four to join Jesus on a mission to ... do what, exactly?
To "catch people"?
Is it a manly thing?
Peter, Andrew, James (Jacob), and John accept the invitation to become people catchers.
Why?
Matt 4:18–22
I'm compiling a list of typos, minor errors, and revisions for the book The Poetics of Matthew 1. So far the only significant change to note is that the word "adultery" on page 56 should be "divorce" (the remaining revisions are less significant):
page x "according" should change to "according to" in fourth paragraph
page xii remove round brackets from fifth paragraph: "(and why...)"
page xiv "verse 18a)" change to "v. 18a)" in fourth paragraph
page xvi "interchangeable" change to "interchangeably" in first paragraph
page 1 "question" change to "questions" in third paragraph
page 19 "Temple" change to "temple" in second paragraph
page 27 "1:3–16" change to "1:2–16" in table heading
page 39 use small caps for "lord" namely "LORD" in first paragraph
page 44 add line break before "In all", between third and fourth paragraphs
page 56 change "adultery" to "divorce" beginning of third paragraph
page 68 delete redundant "(and making wrong plans)" in second paragraph
page 68 revise footnote wording from:
"Yamasaki explains the importance of creating empathy with a character. See Yamasaki, Perspective Criticism.
to:
Yamasaki, Perspective Criticism, explains the importance of creating empathy with a character.
page 70 delete "(Matt 1:19)" from bottom of table
page 70 change "How is it that:" to "Namely:" in fourth paragraph
page 93 make "n" in "name" italic in fifth-to-last line
page 102 change "were critical" to "were essential" in third-to-last line
page 109 change "waiting on a man" to "waiting for a certain man" in first line
page 111 "there are three" change to "the three" in third paragraph
page 124 insert "of us" into "those reading" so should be "those of us reading" end of fifth paragraph
page 129 change "nor" to "or" in paragraph four
page 129 change "In Matthew 13" to "In Matthew 23" paragraph four
page 131 un-capitalize the E in Eunuchs thus "eunuchs" end of second paragraph
Matt 3:13–15
John wants Jesus to take over the ministry and does not want to baptize Jesus.
Jesus has different plans.
John the Baptist warns of coming wrath/judgement
Does this fit Matthew's portrayal of Jesus?
Episode 19 (Matt 3:1–6) Noting two points:1. Validating the Outlier Perspective of John the Cleanser (I say "outsider" but "outlier" is probably a more accurate term;2. Cataloging John's Various Credentials.
Part 1 of Matthew chapter 3John the Baptist calls for national repentanceResponse is massive
Why poetics of Matthew research is not quite masculinity studies.
Should I remove the term "masculinity" from the name of the podcast?
This question is once more on my mind since I have recently received my first book review by Sébastien Doane.
Matthew 2:19–23.
Jesus grows up in a small town (Nazareth) in Galilee, at a safe distance from Jerusalem. Why?
In the middle of the night, Joseph hides the child and the child's mother in Egypt.
Verses 13–15 of Matthew chapter 2.
Matthew 2:7–12
The Magi do not follow all of Herod's instructions
Why are they warned in a dream?
The first six verses of Matthew 2.
Why does it say "and all Jerusalem with him" was troubled?
In this episode I offer some conclusions for Matthew chapter 1 as I begin to prepare to move on to study other chapters.
In the last 9 minutes I read from the Epilogue of my forthcoming book looking at how Matthew 28 corresponds to Matthew 1.
Finally in this episode I get to answer the question: Why does the genealogy in Matthew chapter one refer to five stories of how particular heirs were produced in a particular way by particular patriarchs from particular mothers ...? So why five? Why five stories? Is there some pattern?
Last time in episode nine I compared the first story with the final the fifth story so this time in episode 10 I'm concentrating on the middle three stories and how do they fit the overall pattern; particularly the middle of the middle story: the story of how Boaz produced Obed from Ruth.
If you're interested in supporting the podcast you can find Matthewlinity on Patreon.
PG Contains mild adult themes and sexual references.
This episode is about the parallel story to how Joseph almost does not become known as the father of Jesus because he thought it would not be right for him to claim to be the father of Mary's child nor pursue marital relations with Mary.
There's actually a parallel story that for some reason we haven't previously studied even though it's such a close story parallel, much closer than the apocryphal story of Noah's birth, or the apocryphal story of Moses's conception. So it's time to study this story parallel, and to help answer the question of why Matt 1:18-25 is so focused on Joseph. What Joseph is doing what Joseph is not doing. What Joseph is told to do and what he ends up doing or not doing. Why is it so focused on Joseph.
Verse three of Matthew chapter one has already dropped a hint as to what the parallel story is. So I'll begin reading aloud the relevant portions of Matthew chapter one, in this case, the first three verses and then verses 18 to 25.
This episode is about what connects the first unit and the second unit in what we usually call Matthew chapter one, as if they might be intended to function together as a single, whole as a single unit? It's very easy to treat them separately as two distinct literary units. But how are they meant to be connected together as a single unit?
And what about Mary? Why does Mary appears in both units? Somehow Marry seems to be connected back to the earlier references to four previous mothers in the genealogy. But what is the connection?
This episode won't be about unpacking the pattern just looking at, what kind of connection it is that we find in Matthew chapter one between the two units?
This is the second part of episode 7 which completes the structural analysis of Matt 1:18-25 by examining the centerpiece of the literary unit, namely verse 22.
What is verse 22 referring to when it says "this whole thing happened..." if it has not yet happened (not yet been narrated)?
The solution turns out to be pretty obvious.
This episode is about the seemingly vague heading at the beginning of the story unit in verses 18 to 25 of Matthew chapter 1, which says:
"The Jesus Messiah's progeneration was this way."
What is it saying..? What was this way..?
What actually ends up being narrated in the story unit is presumably what the heading is trying to introduce.
It might actually be a good heading if only we knew how to unpack it.
Fortunately we do now.
I'll be demonstrating how to unpack the heading in verse 18 and how the heading connects with the story unit it introduces.
If you're interested in supporting the podcast you can visit Matthewlinity on Patreon.
What was Joseph thinking about Mary when he decided to divorce her quietly?
Why did he not consult Mary before making his decision?
Does the text indicate an answer? Yes!
But first we need to examine six common assumptions.
Timestamps for Episode 006:
0:00:00 blurb & reading aloud of Matt 1:18–25
0:03:30 the double question (What was Joseph thinking? Why doesn't he consult Mary?)
0:09:35 1st assumption (mixing in Luke with Matthew?)
0:13:45 2nd assumption (how Joseph knew Mary was pregnant is missing?)
0:20:40 3rd assumption (scandalous rumors within the story?)
0:30:45 4th assumption (becoming pregnant? It says Mary conceived?)
0:42:50 5th assumption (Joseph expected to accuse Mary for death sentence?)
0:58:25 6th assumption (Joseph thought Mary was guilty of adultery?)
1:14:55 Solution (the answer in the text)
1:59:59 Appraisal (exegetical ramifications)
If you're interested in supporting the podcast you can visit Matthewlinity on Patreon.
This episode introduces a mystery: Why does the messianic lineage include references to a few mothers?In the first section of Matthew chapter 1 (the so-called genealogy) prior to identifying Mary as the mother of Jesus the Messiah (verse 16) it refers to four other mothers, three identified by name: Tamar (verse 3); Rahab and Ruth (verse 5); and verse 6 mentions Uriah's wife (we can identify her as Bathsheba).Why include only a select few mothers in the Messiah's lineage? Why these mothers in particular?None of the traditional matriarchs were mentioned (namely the first four matriarchs are not mentioned: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah).And why are the select messianic mothers not fully included as co-producers of the heirs (grammatically, the mothers are not presented as active participants of the verb "produced")?There is an answer in the text, hidden in plain sight, staring us in the face.Why haven't we noticed it before?This episode introduces how we can find the answer in the text.Basically it involves becoming more conscious of when we're underestimating the text (making assumptions about what is not in the text) and overestimating the text (making assumptions about what is in the text).Episodes 006–010 continue the analysis.(Next episode will begin with what we're assuming is in the text by examining six things we've been assuming are in the text but are not necessarily there...)You can find Matthewlinity on Patreon if you're interested in supporting the podcast.
Episode 4. Exploring multiple interpretations of the meaning of the number fourteen in Matt 1:17.
Why is it important that the number of generations should be fourteen?
The text points out that the number of generations is fourteen plus fourteen plus fourteen as if there's some significance attached to the number fourteen but then it doesn't tell us what it all means.
What do we do about this gap in the text?
What do we do about having so many interpretations of the gap?
What does any of this have to do with masculinity?
So let's explore ... fourteen interpretations.
In episode 3, I try to answer two questions about verse 17 of Matthew chapter 1...
Why is it structured in three parts? and,
Why is it of equal proportions?
Short Answer: The structure of the genealogy is a three-part mythic paradigm of cosmic proportions.
Part 1 examines the pattern of kingship, exile, and Christos.
Part 2 examines the cosmic proportions (apocalyptic dimensions), touching on the issue of divine providence.
In this episode (episode 2), I provide a commentary on verse 1 of Matthew.
Verse 1 consists of eight nouns, in four pairs:
BIBLOS GENESIS
JESUS CHRISTOS
SON (OF) DAVID
SON (OF) ABRAHAM
I discuss the main debates, namely is verse 1 the original heading for the whole book?
What's the meaning of the first pair of nouns: Biblos Genesis? Is this intended to echo the name of the first book of the Bible? Or perhaps echo the naming of the first account of human ancestry (in Gen 5:1)?
Also the fourth pair of nouns (Son of Abraham) is particularly interesting because of its ambiguity. The third pair of nouns usually overshadows the significance of the fourth pair of nouns.
Is David being identified as heir of Abraham? Are the labels "son of" meant to be genealogical labels, or messianic labels, or typological labels?
So many questions ... and a few answers.
The best overview of verse 1 is found in :
Exegetical guide to the Greek New Testament: Matthew, by Charles L. Quarles.
Note two particular SBL Papers presented at the SBL conference, November 2017:
New Light from the Papyri: The Sacred Background of “Biblos” in Matthew 1:1 Program Unit: Papyrology and Early Christian Backgrounds
Michael Theophilos, Australian Catholic University
“Son of Abraham” as Royal Title in the Gospel of Matthew and Early Judaism Program Unit: Intertextuality in the New Testament Tobias Ålöw, University of Gothenburg
The first episode of Matthewlinity.
"PRETEXT"
Episode 1 has three parts.
Part 1: Agenda of Podcast.
I explain the name and aim of the podcast: Critical Study of Matthew and Masculinity.
Why 'Critical Study'? Why 'Matthew'? Why 'Masculinity'?
Part 2: Title of Book.
I explain the meaning of the traditional name of the book of Matthew and how the book and its title are distinct matters of interpretation. I try to answer: What did it originally mean to call the book 'Evangel According to Matthew'? When were the Gospel book titles added? Why 'Evangel'? Why 'According to Matthew'? I discuss Richard Bauckham's theory of naming the book after 'Matthew'. I talk about reading 'Matthew' according to the book and reading 'Matthew' according to the book's title.
Part 3: Questions of Authorship.
I pose questions for thinking about the book's authorship.
How do we think about the book's authorship? Do we prefer an author from a despised background (tax collector) or esteemed background (highly educated scribe)? How do we construct a profile of the writer? How do we think about the writer's gender? Was this writer a successful spokesperson on behalf of a community of traditions? How do we read and how do we engage honestly with what we are reading?