Matthew’s Use of Skandalon / Skandalizō: A Project Overview
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/sacrascripta.2025.02Keywords:
skandalizō, skandalon, christology, ecclesiology, paradox, tension, discipleshipAbstract
This study examines Matthew’s distinctive use of skandalizō/skandalon terminology as a narrative motif that structures both christology and ecclesiology. While earlier scholarship has treated these lexemes lexically or thematically, their role as a coherent motif has remained underexplored. By analyzing twelve passages, the project shows how Matthew intensifies inherited traditions from Mark, Q, and Sondergut material, weaving “scandalization” into moments of crisis and decision. On the christological level, the motif highlights paradoxical aspects of Jesus’ identity: Judge, Compassionate Shepherd, therapeutic Son of David, suffering Messiah, and prophet rejected in his hometown. On the ecclesiological level, it portrays disciples and other characters as either rejecting Jesus outright or faltering under persecution, thereby becoming skandala. Grouping the passages into three clusters reveals Matthew’s literary artistry and theological depth, demonstrating that “scandalization” functions as a hinge of narrative tension and a lens for understanding faith, failure, and discipleship.
References
ANDERSON, Janice C., Matthew’s Narrative Web: Over, and Over, and Over Again. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1994.
BARTH, Gerhard, “Matthew’s Understanding of the Law.” In Tradition and Interpretation in Matthew, edited by Günther BORNKAMM, Gerhard BARTH, and Heinz Joachim HELD, 58–164. Translated by Percy SCOTT. London: SCM Press, 1963.
BREMMER, Jan N., “Youth, Atheism, and (Un)Belief in Late-Fifth Century Athens.” In Skeptic and Believer in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited by Babett EDELMANN-SINGER, Tobias NICKLAS, Janet SPITTLER, and Luigi WALT, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 443, 53–68. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
BROWN, Jeanine K., The Disciples in Narrative Perspective: The Portrayal and Function of the Matthean Disciples. Academia Biblica 9. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002.
BROWN, Raymond E., Karl P. DONFRIED, Joseph A. FITZMYER, and John REUMANN, Peter in the New Testament: A Collaborative Assessment by Protestants and Roman Catholics. Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House; New York: Paulist Press, 1973.
CARAGOUNIS, Chrys C., Peter and the Rock. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1990.
CHAE, Young S., Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew. WUNT II/216. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2006.
COLLINS, John J., “Pre-Christian Jewish Messianism: An Overview.” In The Messiah in Early Judaism and Christianity, edited by Magnus ZETTERHOLM, 1019. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007.
DAVIES, W. D., and Dale C. ALLISON, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988.
DAVIES, W. D., and Dale C. ALLISON, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991.
DAVIES, W. D., and Dale C. ALLISON, Jr., A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew. Vol. 3. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1997.
FRANCE, R. T., The Gospel of Matthew. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007.
GOODACRE, Mark, “The Rock on Rocky Ground: Matthew, Mark and Peter as Skandalon.” In What Is It That the Scripture Says?: Essays in Biblical Interpretation, Translation, and Reception in Honour of Henry Wansbrough OSB, edited by Philip MCCOSKER, Library of New Testament Studies, 61–73. London and New York: Continuum, 2006.
GRÜNSTÄUDL, Wolfgang, and Tobias NICKLAS, “Petrus II (in der Literatur).” In Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, vol. 27, edited by Ernst DASSMANN et al., 399–426. Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 2016.
HAGNER, Donald A., Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary 33A. Dallas: Word Books, 1993.
HAGNER, Donald A., Matthew 14-28. Word Biblical Commentary 33B. Dallas: Word Books, 1995.
HEDNER-ZETTERHOLM, Karin, “Elijah and the Messiah as Spokesmen of Rabbinic Ideology.” In The Messiah in Early Judaism and Christianity, edited by Magnus ZETTERHOLM, 57–78. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007.
HUMBERT, Alphonse, “Essai d’une théologie du scandale dans les synoptiques.” Biblica 35 (1954): 1–28.
KINGSBURY, Jack Dean, Matthew as Story. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.
KONRADT, Matthew, Laura NASRALLAH, Judith LIEU, Jens SCHRÖTER, and Benjamin A. EDSALL, eds., Jews and Christians: Parting Ways in the First Two Centuries CE? Reflections on the Gains and Losses of a Model. BZNW 253. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2021.
METZGER, Bruce M., A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 3rd ed. London and New York: United Bible Societies, 1971.
NOVAKOVIC, Lidija, Messiah, Healer of the Sick: A Study of Jesus as the Messiah in the Gospel of Matthew. WUNT II/170. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003.
LUZ, Ulrich, Matthew 1-7. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Translated by James E. CROUCH. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007.
LUZ, Ulrich, Matthew 8-20. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Translated by James E. CROUCH. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.
LUZ, Ulrich, Matthew 21-28. Hermeneia: A Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible. Translated by James E. CROUCH. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.
NOLLAND, John, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text. New International Greek Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Carlisle: Paternoster Press, 2005.
PATMORE, Hector M., “Arrière de moi, Satan! Tu m’es en scandale! (Mt 16:23). Analyse de l’ajout du rédacteur dans son contexte juif.” New Testament Studies 66 (2020): 1–20.
SCHWEIZER, Eduard, The Good News According to Matthew. Translated by David E. GREEN. Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975.
STACK, Judith V., Metaphor and the Portrayal of the Cause(s) of Sin and Evil in the Gospel of Matthew. Biblical Interpretation Series 182. Leiden: Brill, 2020.
STÄHLIN, Wilhelm, “σκανδαλίζω, σκάνδαλον.” In Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, edited by Gerhard KITTEL and Gerhard FRIEDRICH, translated by Geoffrey W. BROMILEY, vol. 7, 339–358. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1971.
SENIOR, Donald C.P., What Are They Saying About Matthew? Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Paulist Press, 1996.
STETTLER, Hanna, “Die Bedeutung der Täuferanfrage in Matthäus 11,2-6 par Lk 7,18-23 für die Christologie.” Biblica 89, no. 2 (2008): 173–200.
TOLBERT, Mary Ann, Sowing the Gospel: Mark’s World in Literary-Historical Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989.
WHITMARSH, Tim, “The Invention of Atheism and the Invention of Religion in Classical Athens.” In Skeptic and Believer in Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited by Babett EDELMANN-SINGER, Tobias NICKLAS, Janet SPITTLER, and Luigi WALT, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 443, 37–52. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2020.
WIARDA, Timothy J., Peter in the Gospels: Pattern, Personality, and Role. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/127. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2000.
WILKINS, Michael J., The Concept of Disciple in Matthew’s Gospel: As Reflected in the Use of the Term μαθητής. Leiden: Brill, 1988.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Studia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai Sacra Scripta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
