Matthew’s Presentation of The Son of David

: Davidic Tradition and Typology in the Gospel of Matthew

Abstract

This thesis is a literary-critical analysis of the Gospel of Matthew and its interaction with Davidic tradition and use of Davidic typology. Throughout the narrative, the evangelist makes pervasive use of Davidic tradition from the Old Testament in his portrayal of Jesus. This begins from the first verse and the declaration that Jesus is the Son of David, and culminates in Jesus’ usage of Psalm 22’s Davidic lament on the cross. The incipit and genealogy predisposes
the reader to look for interaction with the Davidic tradition. Matthew’s Davidic theme utilizes throughout the narrative formal quotations, allusions, and echoes to the Davidic tradition found particularly in the OT prophets. In addition, Matthew makes use of Davidic typology numerous times, with David as type and Jesus as anti-type. This is done in order to present to
the reader a scripturally-grounded redefinition of what it means for Jesus to be the Son of David: not as a violent militant leader, as was expected, but as a physical descendant of David, a healing shepherd, and a humble king. Within the Gospel, Matthew utilizes Davidic typology to show how the Son of David even has similar experiences as his royal predecessor. Even David’s own words from the psalms are utilized as testimony to the legitimacy of Jesus as the Davidic Messiah.

Date of Award	3 Jun 2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Edinburgh
Supervisor	Hector Morrison (Supervisor), Michael Bird (Supervisor) & John Nolland (Supervisor)