Matthew's birth narrative and proof texts (The virgin birth) Flashcards
What makes Matthew’s birth narrative different to Luke’s?
It is from Joseph’s perspective rather than Mary’s
How does Joseph react to Mary’s pregnancy?
He intends to divorce her but he has a religious experience where an angel visits him in a dream which convinces him to adopt a child as his own
What did Thomas Hobbes say about speaking to God in a dream?
Questions whether their is any difference between God speaking to you in a dream and dreaming that God is speaking to you
What does Matthew do to emphasise the fact that Joseph is of the line of David?
Makes God address him as ‘Joseph, son of David’
State Matthew’s first proof text
‘All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ (Which means ‘God with us’)
What are proof texts?
Refrences to the Old Testament that aim to prove Jesus is the messiah
What is Matthew’s first proof text a reference to?
Isaiah 7:14
State Isaiah 7:14
‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel’
What is preterism?
A Christian eschatological view that interprets that some or all Biblical prophecies are events that have already happened
What is the preterist interpretation of Isaiah 7:14?
Isaiah is describing the royal birth of Prince Hezekiah, son of King Ahaz in the 8th century BCE
Why does Raymond Brown believe the idea of virgin conception in Isaiah 7:14 may be a mistranslation?
The prophecy is in hebrew and uses the word ‘almah’ (meaning young woman) but not necessarily virgin; as hebrew has another word for virgin ‘bethulah’. When the OT was translated into Greek, almah was translated as ‘parthenos’, a word that definitely means virgin. Matthew used the Greek OT so may have misunderstood what Isaiah was saying
Why does Raymond Brown think the idea of a virgin conception might not have been intended as supernatural?
If Ahaz’s young bride was a virgin, then it would be natural to hope that, on her wedding night, she would conceive
How can Brown’s arguement that the mention of a virgin in Isaiah 7:14 was a mistranslation be opposed?
Because the Jewish scholars who translated the OT into Greek clearly thought that ‘almah’ did mean virgin in this context, otherwise they would not have translated it as ‘parthenos’
How could Isaiah 7:14 be conceived as being a double prophecy?
By refering to the birth of Hezekiah and the supernatural birth of Jesus Christ at the same time
