Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Ian Hutchesson" <mc2499 AT mclink.it>]

>As for the author of Matthew, I would think that his "ethnicity", plus many
>other factors, such as the historical circumstances or the intended
>audience, are of importance in his interpretation of the verse under
>question.

Perhaps then, Jonathan, you might be able to give some procedure which would
be able to ascertain the "ethnicity" of the writer of the text, especially
when there is good evidence to say that the text went through a number of
redactions. Which level then would you want to say was your hypothetical
Matthew and then how on earth would you know his "ethnicity"?

We have no clear idea when the text was written, who wrote it, where it was
written, why it was written, for whom it was written. In short, we have a
text which evinces dependence on another text (GMk, with similar problems)
with two layers of redaction, one using Hebrew sources for citations, the
other LXX. So, unless one can come up with some procedure for ascertaining
this "ethnicity", can we let it rest for a while?


Ian

>Any study of the history of interpretation of biblical p[assages has to
take
>these many factors into account.