“Matthew 1-2 as Infancy Narrative: History, Theology and Midrashic Interpretation”
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbto.2025.2.03Keywords:
Midrash, Christology, Genealogy, Historicity, EpiphanyAbstract
This study aims to analyze chapters 1 – 2 of the Gospel of Matthew, focusing on the historical and theological dimensions of the accounts of Jesus’ “childhood”. The text argues that these pericopes function as a Christological “prologue”, in which the genealogy and childhood epiphanies underscore Jesus’ messianic identity as the “son of David” and the “son of Abraham.” It is argued that the material reflects a “historical-artistic-midrashic” literary-theological composition: historical elements are theologized through the reuse and reinterpretation of Old Testament motifs (Moses, the Exodus, the prophets).
The historical-critical method, which has characterized biblical research in the past, has in recent times been joined by a synchronic reading of the Gospel texts, which is better suited to narrative texts, such as the accounts of the Savior’s childhood. We will use the synchronic method, but without excluding the diachronic reading, which is fundamental for texts laden with theological meaning, such as those about the childhood of Jesus.
The first two chapters of the Gospel according to Matthew are closely linked to the ancient Scriptures and the religious literature of Israel, yet at the same time they refer specifically to the events that took place at the “fullness of time”, particularly to the Paschal event, and anticipate the mystery of the Cross and the rejection of the Lord’s Messenger. In other words, the Paschal event is already contained in the initial texts and woven “like a watermark” into the narrative of the Gospel according to Matthew.
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