Matthew's Christian Jewish Community (review)

Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 196 Reviews In conclusion, there is an absence of documentation which cannot be justified on the methodological level: the New Testament (another would perhaps be the Targums). It is true that "Christian claims about Jesus' Davidic status cannot be used to establish what general Jewish messianic expectations were like in the first century CE" (p. 261). But, cleansed of their theological (christological) intentions, that is, read (like the Old Testament) in a purely historical way, the New Testament and the Gospels in particular remain-just as the texts of Qumran or those of Flavius Josephus-a primary source for the Jewish traditions of the epoch, which a historian must consider if he does not want to make a mistake that is both identical and contrary to that of the Christian theological tradition. But these are perplexities that do not detract from the book's interest. Its merit is to enter with originality into a discussion of the Davidic tradition , which others today have tackled with growing vivacity, even if, perhaps , in a generally more traditional manner (see the first number of Ricerche storico-bibliche 1995, devoted to "Davide: modelli biblici e prospettive messianiche"). Giorgio Jossa Universita di Napoli Naples, Italy MATTHEW'S CHRISTIAN JEWISH COMMUNITY. By Anthony Saldarini. Chicago Studies in the History of Judaism. Pp. vii + 317. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Paper, $17.95. Anthony Saldarini's erudite monograph proposes that Matthew's church is a deviant group within the larger Jewish community. Clearly articulated from the very first pages of the Introduction, the theory is given its rationale in seven issues that constitute each chapter of the monograph. Chapter 1 emphasizes the first century diversity and fluidity of both Jewish and Christian communities. Thus, the fact that Matthew's church is Christian does not preclude its participation in Judaism. The second chapter re-examines those texts most frequently cited as proofs that Matthew's church has rejected "Israel." The problematic Matt 27:25 (And all the people answered, "His blood be on us and on our children.") understandably receives special attention. Saldarini holds that "all the people" is a "social description of the main body of Israel associated with the center: Hebrew Studies 37 (1996) 197 Reviews Jerusalem and its leadership" (p. 33; emphasis mine). The Jewish mission as a whole is still viable. Chapter 3 wrestles with the issue of Matthew's relation to his opponents. The denunciations of Pharisees and Saducees and especially the three parables which seem to justify the rejection of Israel (Matt 21:28-22:14) should be seen as arguments with "rival leaders and their competing programs for understanding and living Judaism" (p. 67). Saldarini holds that a symbolic interpretation has been given to material intended for local, in-house conflicts. Most of Chapter 4 treats Matthew's intended meaning for ethne. A painstaking verbal analysis leads Saldarini to conclude that Matthew does not use it as a term for Gentiles, but rather in the more general Greek way, as a designation for the entire world, in other words, Gentiles as well as Jews in the diaspora. Given this understanding, Jesus' seeming shift from a mission to Israel in Matt 10:6, 15:24 to the ethne in Malt 24:14 cannot be a substitution, but rather a broadening out to include the world. For Saldarini, Matthew's community is still very much involved in the Jewish mission. In Chapter 5, the proposal of Matthew's community as a deviant group within Judaism receives special attention. Appealing to modem sociological theory, Saldarini rightly notes that hostility towards opponents is no guarantee of separation between the two but indeed may signal an intense involvement. Matthew's community designation of ekklesia is seen as a sign of their inclusion in the Jewish community, but as a persecuted minority. Warning his readers against the unfair application of third century C.E. concepts of ekklesia to Matthew's reality, Saldarini also cautions the reader against drawing on Paul and Acts for evidence of Matthew's community organization. For Saldarini, the fact that, despite the several possible group designations available in the first century, Matthew's community chose ekklesia, a term...