New Interpreter's Bible: Vol 8, The

The New Interpreter's Bible. Vol. 8: General Articles on the New Testament; The Gospel of Matthew; The Gospel of Mark. Edited by Leander E. Keck et al. Nashville: Abingdon, 1995, xxix + 744 pp., $55.00.

Some forty years after the publication of the original Interpreter's Bible, the New Interpreter's Bible (NIB) is now making its appearance. The format of the NIB is a decided improvement over the original, with much improved layout, maps, charts and illustrations. Additionally, the practice of separate exegetes and expositors contributing to the commentary on each book has thankfully been discontinued and thus there is continuity in all the remarks on each book. The commentary includes both the NIV and NRSV arranged in parallel columns. Tasteful use of green shading and headings makes for aesthetic appeal. Each section of Scripture is handled by way of an initial overview, the commentary proper and concluding reflections that attempt to supply pastors and teachers with ideas for contemporary application.

Volume 8 includes six introductory articles to the NT as well as the commentaries on Matthew and Mark. The introductory articles are brief (covering only 85 pages) but well-done treatments of text and versions (E. Epp), cultural context (A. Malherbe), Jewish context (G. Nickelsburg), ecclesiastical context (V. Wimbush), the gospels as narrative literature (R. Tannehill) and historical criticism of the gospels (C. Tuckett).

E. Boring (Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University) writes on Matthew from a mainline critical perspective, affirming Matthew's use of Mark, Q and M. He believes that Matthew was written by an anonymous author around 90 CE, presumably in Antioch. His literary-critical studies lead him to conclude that although the genre of Matthew is not altogether discontinuous with existing genres, it is a new departure fashioned to express the convictions of Matthew's community in narrative form. At this point evangelicals will likely begin to differ with Boring. He makes the point convincingly that Matthew "was composed as a literary work to interpret the theological meaning of a concrete historical event to a people in a particular historical situation" (p. 89). This is a fine summary of the overarching issues involved in gospel studies, but it will be seen that Boring attributes more of Matthew's narrative to the Matthean community and less to the historical Jesus than evangelicals generally do. In this regard he often connects Matthean dominical logia to early Christian prophets, in keeping with his earlier work, The Continuing Voice of Jesus: Christian Prophecy and the Gospel Tradition (Westminster/John Knox, 1991).

In Boring's view the Matthean community is still related in some way to formative Judaism. It does not understand itself to be advocating a new religion in which Christianity replaces Israel. Rather the community includes Jewish and Gentile Christians who are the continuation of Israel. The nation of Israel has not been abandoned, but has been relegated to the status of other nations, that of being called to be disciples of Jesus the Messiah. This call to discipleship involves the conflict of kingdoms, the main motif in Boring's outline of Matthew. The conflict is initiated and defined in 1:1-12:21 and then developed and resolved (12:22-28:20). The five discourses of Matthew and a chiastic arrangement also loom large in Boring's approach to Matthew's structure.

The following overview of Boring's approach to several cruces interpretum should give readers an idea of the flavor of the commentary. Boring takes Matt 1:1 as a title for the entire gospel, not just the genealogical section or the birth and infancy section. Some of the sayings of the sermon on the mount are viewed as coming from the historical Jesus, but this passage is not a report of a sermon actually given by Jesus. Following W. D. Davies, Boring views the tripartite structure of the sermon as a reformulation of Abot 1:2. The matter of Jesus' fulfilling the law in Matt 5:17 as exemplified in the antitheses of 5:21-48 is understood as reaffirmation, radicalization and situational application of the law. An early Christian prophet most likely uttered 10:23, which became an encouragement to continuing mission to Israel despite containing a chronological error. The "unpardonable sin" saying of 12:31-32 came from Jesus in the form of an absolute and universal pronouncement of forgiveness to the son of men, but in subsequent modifications the exception of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit was added and "sons of men" became the Christological title "Son of Man." In 25:3146 the "least of Jesus' brothers" is viewed as the needy in general, not Christians or Christian missionaries specifically.

Interspersed in the commentary are four excursuses on Matthew as Biblical interpreter, Matthew's miracle stories, the kingdom of heaven in Matthew and Matthean Christology. These are truly crucial themes in Matthew and Boring handles them knowledgeably. However, the discussion of Matthew as interpreter of Scripture raises questions to evangelicals because it affirms that Matthew creates narrative fulfillments to fit OT passages he understands as predictions. Evangelicals will tend to understand many such texts as Matthew's discovery of typological patterns between the OT and the life of the historical Jesus.