Jesus Christ Superscribe: Knowledge, Interpretation, and Teaching in the Gospel of Matthew

Abstract

Jesus-characters are most often created as a reflection of their authors, and the author/s of the text traditionally known as “The Gospel According to Matthew” is no different. Matthew creates a Jesus that is focussed on knowledge retention, interpretation, and dissemination. Throughout the text, they set up different scribe-characters as foils for Jesus, so that Jesus’s superior ability to interpret and teach the Hebrew writings can be displayed. Like ben Sira, Matthew creates an “ideal scribe” in their Jesus, and also displays the characteristics of the “ideal scribe” in the composition of the text. This scribe is an able teacher, has complete knowledge of the Hebrew prophecies and the Law, and has been granted, from a divine source, the ability to correctly interpret their knowledge. Matthew’s biography is a creative work, formed by re-working sources and use of original material. The author/s interest in the nature of prophecy and divine knowledge is distinct from other Jesus-biographies, which is displayed by creation of composite prophetic quotations, a requirement for verbatim fulfillment of prophecy, and use of dream-revelations. These are Greco-Roman literary techniques, and Matthew’s biography, alongside other biographies of Jesus, should be imagined to have the same compositional process as other texts of its period and genre.