From time to time I will post a section of a multi-page table* suggesting “intertextual” (or “midrashic”) links between the canonical gospel narratives and the “Old Testament” or Jewish Scriptures. I use “suggesting” because the links have come from a variety of sources and not presented as certainties. Readers will no doubt be able to suggest others and may find some room to raise questions about what is listed here.
Future posts will continue this series. Here we look at
a. The Genealogies of Jesus, and
b. Luke’s scene of the Annunciation to Mary
Tables for the birth of John the Baptist and Matthew’s nativity narrative will follow.
| Matthew: The generations of Jesus, = “Yhwh who saves” | Genesis 2:4: Generations of heaven and earth |
| Matthew 1:17 – 3 times 14 generations = 42 (cf Luke: from Jesus to Adam, 11 times 7 = 77) | = Ruth 4:18: The generations of David and the tale of Exodus following 42 steps (Numbers 33). |
| Matthew and Luke: the ancestor David | Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch . . . Judah shall be saved” |
| The Annunciation, Luke 1 | |
| The angel Gabriel | = Daniel 9:2, “Gabriel . . . flying swiftly to me” (an apocalyptic text speaking of the final salvation) |
| Virgin | = Isaiah 7:14, “Behold, a young girl [alma in Hebrew; parthenos in Greek Septuagint, meaning “virgin”] shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. |
| The angel makes an announcement to Mary | = Judges 13:2-3, “the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, … Thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.” (the annunciation of Samson) +
Genesis 16:7-16, to Hagar, Sarah’s slave, an angel announced in the same terms as to Mary (“You will bear a son and you will give him the name …”) + Genesis 17:19, the annunciation to Sarah. |
| “the Lord is with you” | = Judges 6:12, the citation is the same as for the judge Gideon, “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour.” |
| “rejoice” | Zephaniah 3:14-15, “Rejoice … the Lord is in the midst of you” +
Isaiah 12:6 “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.” + Zechariah 2:10; 9:9, etc. “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.” ; “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee” |
| Luke 1:35 “the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” | = Exodus 40:35, “for the cloud abode on it, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle.” +
Numbers 9:6-22; 10:34, “all the days that the cloud dwelt upon the tabernacle they encamped … And the cloud of Jehovah was over them by day when they set forward” + Psalm 17:8, “hide me under the shadow of thy wings” |
| Luke 1:35, “Son of God” | = Psalm 2:7, “Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; *I* this day have begotten thee” |
| Luke 1:37, “for nothing shall be impossible with God. (= ouk adunatèsei para tou theou pan rèma) |
= citation of Genesis 18:14, “Is anything impossible for the Lord?” — speaking to Abraham and Sarah (mè adunatei para tô theô rèma) |
| Luke 1:38, “Let it be according to your word” (genoito moi kata to rèma sou) | = Genesis 1:3 (LXX genetheto) “Let [there] be…” |
Charbonnel, Nanine. 2017. Jésus-Christ, Sublime Figure de Papier. Paris: Berg International éditeurs.
Dubourg, Bernard. 1987. L’Invention De Jésus; Tome 2. La Fabrication Du Nouveau Testament. Paris: Gallimard. http://archive.org/details/LaFabricationDuNouveauTestament.
Neil Godfrey
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Angels are interesting. They are a way of introducing messages, they say, that are not quite delivered/deliverable by God himself in person.
In some ways, they are therefore slightly suspect, and a bit too human and fallible; there are bad, fallen angels for instance.
Catholicism was infamous for borrowing figures from completely different religions, and co-opting them as saints.
Sometimes I think Christian angels night be similar. Or just a fancy title for any human intuition.
The word they say means “messenger.” But messengers can be unreliable. As we see in a related group, “ev-angel-icals.”