The Gospel of Matthew: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series

Rev. Senior has done a great work in his approach to Matthew. He presents a variety of sources and biblical interpretations and challenge them with a perfect style. Excellent!

This book is divided into two sections. The first section sketches the normal introductory issues that current Matthaen scholarship poses. He deals with the sources and structure of the book, opting for Matthew's dependence on Q and Mark. He discusses Matthew's use of the Law and points out that if this book was originally written in Hebrew then why are the quotations of the Old Testament from the Septuagint instead of the Masorectic text. He discusses Matthew's understanding of the Jewish Law, as well as the mission to the Gentiles. He further deals with Christology, discipleship (under which Senior who is Catholic deals with Peter), and community in Matthew. The second section of this book gives an overview of each section in Mathew in which Senior gives the overall contours of each division. This is not a verse by verse treatment, but he looks at each section in broad sweeps. What I found somewhat disappointing is that his conclusions are not well supported and he really does not state them emphatically. This is an overview of Matthew, however, and for that it accomplishes its goal.