The Great Christ Comet (83 page)

44
 My translation.

45
 The importance of the bracketing of the Gospel by the Immanuel references of 1:23 and 28:20 has been appreciated by many scholars: e.g., W. C. van Unnik, “
Dominus Vobiscum
: The Background of a Liturgical Formula,” in
New Testament Essays
, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1959), 287, 293; and Gunther Bornkamm, “The Risen Lord and the Earthly Jesus: Matthew 28:16–20,” in
The Future of Our Religious Past
, ed. J. Robinson (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 203–229.

46
 See, for example, Ulrich Luz,
Matthew 1–7
:
A Continental Commentary
, trans. Wilhelm C. Linss (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1989), 121–22 (who also states that “Allusions to God's being-with-us permeate the whole Gospel [17:17; 18:20; 26:29]”); and J. D. Kingsbury,
Matthew as Story
, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1986), 41–42, who writes,

The key passages 1:23 and 28:20, which stand in a reciprocal relationship to each other, highlight this message. At 1:23, Matthew quotes Isaiah in saying of Jesus: in “Emmanuel . . . God [is] with us.” And at 28:20 the risen Jesus himself declares to the disciples: “I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Strategically located at the beginning and the end of Matthew's story, these two passages “enclose” it. In combination, they reveal the message of Matthew's story:
In the person of Jesus Messiah, his Son, God has drawn near to abide to the end of time with his people, the church, thus inaugurating the eschatological age of salvation
. (italics his)

47
 Especially as represented by the Septuagint. See I. Howard Marshall,
The Gospel of Luke: A Commentary on the Greek Text
, New International Greek Testament Commentary
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 1984), 66.

48
 The relevance of Isaiah 1–12 for Luke 2:12 may also be demonstrated by the fact that the sign consists of a baby in a manger. This appears to be based on Isa. 1:3: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” The angel seems to be implying that the messianic identity of the newborn baby would be demonstrated to the shepherds by the facts that the bed of this newborn infant still wrapped in swaddling clothes was literally a feeding trough and that he shared a room with animals. Is the angel claiming that Isaiah had been prophesying about the circumstances of the newborn Messiah in Isa. 1:3?

49
 
Dialogue with Trypho
33. Translation from
Ante-Nicene Christian Library
, 35–36.

50
 
Dialogue with Trypho
66. Translation from
Ante-Nicene Christian Library
, 178–179.

51
 
Dialogue with Trypho
43. Translation from
Ante-Nicene Christian Library,
142.

52
 Those who acknowledge Revelation's echo of Isa. 7:14 here include J. Massyngberde Ford,
Revelation: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary
, Anchor Bible
(Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1975), 195; Brian K. Blount,
Revelation: A Commentary
, New Testament Library (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2009), 227; and G. K. Beale,
The Book of Revelation
:
A Commentary on the Greek Text
, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 1999), 631.

53
 Franz Boll,
Aus der Offenbarung Johannis: hellenistische Studien zum Weltbild der Apokalypse
(Leipzig and Berlin: Teubner, 1914), 121–123, stressed the importance of Isa. 7:14 (LXX) for early Christians' Christology and for the interpretation of Revelation 12. However, he drove a wedge between Matthew and Revelation, claiming that the first Gospel reflects a strictly terrestrial interpretation of Isa. 7:14, taking it to refer to the Virgin Mary and Jesus, in contrast to Revelation 12, which, he maintained, reflects a celestial interpretation, taking it (creatively) to refer to the celestial Virgin and her divine Child. Boll did not appreciate that Rev. 12:1–5 is describing an astronomical sign that attended the Messiah's birth and was perceived to disclose the nature and significance of the terrestrial moment and in particular to intimate that what was transpiring on the earth was bringing to fulfillment Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Messiah's virginal conception.

54
 Note how the Targum of Isaiah renders v. 11: “Request a sign from Yahweh your God, that a great wonder may be done for you on earth or that a sign may be shown to you in the heavens” (cf. Bruce Chilton,
The Isaiah Targum
[Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1987], 16; C. W. H. Pauli, trans.,
The Chaldee Paraphrase on the Prophet Isaiah
[London: London Society's House, 1871], 23).

55
 James Evans,
The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 39.

56
 MUL.APIN, a Babylonian astronomical text from around 1000 BC, identifies the constellation Furrow (which, together with the Frond, occupied the part of the sky that became known as Virgo) with the virgin goddess Shala (meaning “maiden”). A Babylonian line drawing from the Seleucid-era Uruk portrays the Furrow as a virgin holding an ear of grain (Louvre Museum, item AO 6448; see fig. 7.2). See H. van der Waerden,
Science Awakening II
(Leyden, Netherlands: Noordhoff, 1974), 81 plate 11c, 125, 288; F. Thureau-Dangin,
Tablettes d'Uruk à l'usage des prêtres du Temple d'Anu au temps des Séleucides
(Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1922), no. 14.

57
 It is widely agreed that these verses belong to the period of the Syro-Ephraimite Crisis. The fact that Isaiah is here issuing advance warning that there would be no fresh revelation or signs during the period of Assyria's conquest of Syria and Israel and the regional superpower's subsequent oppression of Judah mandates that the section be dated to 733 BC.

58
 Hans Wildberger,
Isaiah 1–12
, trans. Thomas H. Trapp, Continental Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1991), 380–381.

59
 Young,
Book of Isaiah
, 1:322, rightly comments with respect to this verse, “Only light can dispel the gloom of despair and desperation, but that light is not to be seen.”

60
 That the Messiah's birth is in view is patently obvious. Commenting on this section, Childs (
Isaiah
, 81) wrote the following: “The description of his reign makes it absolutely clear that his role is messianic. There is no end to his rule upon the throne of David, and he will reign with justice and righteousness forever. Moreover, it is the ardour of the Lord of Hosts who will bring this eschatological purpose to fulfillment. The language is not just that of a wishful thinking for a better time, but the confession of Israel's belief in a divine ruler who will replace once and for all the unfaithful reign of kings like Ahaz.”

61
 Since this subsection is very closely related to the preceding verses and is focused on the fate of Galilee in 733/732 BC, there can be no serious doubt that 9:1–7 stems from the prophet Isaiah during the Syro-Ephraimite Crisis (so, for example, Wildberger,
Isaiah 1–12
, 393; cf. M. E. W. Thompson, “Israel's Ideal King,”
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
7 (1982): 79–88, although, while dating 9:1 to 732 BC, he assigns 9:2–7 to 731–723 BC).

62
 Wildberger,
Isaiah 1–12
, 392.

63
 That “Mighty God” signifies divinity is clear from 10:21, where it is used of Yahweh.

64
 The “latter time” of the northern tribes' glorification was certainly not the period after the Assyrian termination of the northern kingdom in 722–721 BC, when the land was desolate and in ruins.

65
 Interestingly, M. E. W. Thompson,
Situation and Theology: Old Testament Interpretations of the Syro-Ephraimite War
(Sheffield: Almond Press, 1982), 14, came to a similar conclusion: “The ‘latter time' spoken of in 8.23 [9:1 in English translations] . . . is a reference to the new situation to be brought about through the advent of the ruler spoken of in 9.1–6 [9:2–7]. . . . 8.23 [9:1] [is] the connecting verse used to apply the Isaianic oracle of 9.1–6 [i.e., 9:2–7], concerning the ideal Davidic king, to the situation in the lands of the northern kingdom after they had fallen to Tiglath-pileser III.”

66
 Wildberger,
Isaiah 1–12
, 395.

67
 Umberto Cassuto,
A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (Part 1)
(Jerusalem: Magnes, 1989), 45 (“those that seem the biggest to us”).

68
 Note that the great light associated with the Messiah's coming shines during the night, when deep darkness holds sway. It cannot therefore be the Sun.

69
 Marvin A. Sweeney,
Isaiah 1–39, with an Introduction to Prophetic Literature
, The Forms of the Old Testament Literature (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 1996), 183, states concerning 8:19–9:1 that “the contrasting images of light and darkness in this passage have defied adequate explanation.” When, however, the imagery is interpreted in light of Yahweh's offer to do a celestial sign in 7:10–14, it can be readily explained.

70
 A probably second- or third-century BC passage in the
Sibylline Oracles
refers to the Star in connection with the fulfillment of Isa. 7:14 by the virgin birth. According to
Sib. Or.
1:323–324 (J. L. Lightfoot,
The Sibylline Oracles
[Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007], 311),

Note the allusions to Isa. 7:14 (“shall bear,” “give a name,” and “sign”). In fact, the reference to the Star (lines c and d) is sandwiched between the strong allusions to Isa. 7:14 (lines a and b and line e).

71
 Richard Beaton, “Isaiah in Matthew's Gospel,” in
Isaiah in the New Testament
, ed. S. Moyise and M. J. J. Menken (London: Continuum, 2005), 67.

72
 My translation of the Greek verb
anatell
ō
, which was used in 2:2 and 9 of the Star's “rising.”

73
 Gundry,
Matthew
, 60.

74
 Frederick Dale Bruner,
The Gospel of John: A Commentary
(Grand Rapids: Eerd­mans, 2012), 516–517.

75
 David Mark Ball,
“I Am” in John's Gospel: Literary Function, Background, and Theological Implications
(Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996), 221.

76
 Bruner,
Gospel of John
, 516–517.

77
 Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan,
The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Birth
(New York: HarperCollins, 2007), draw out how Matthew's Nativity account is in some respects similar to John's prologue: in Matthew's account, “the uses of light and darkness . . . are thus many and rich. Jesus's birth is the coming of light into the darkness. But the darkness seeks to extinguish the light (Herod's plot to kill Jesus). Drawn to the light, wise men from the nations pay homage to Jesus. Jesus is the light of the nations. Thus Matthew's story makes the point made in only slightly different language in John: ‘Jesus is the light of the world'” (184).

78
 Ibid., 180 (italics theirs). Richard Bauckham, “The Qumran Community and the Gospel of John,” in
The Dead Sea Scrolls Fifty Years after Their Discovery: Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20–25, 1997
, ed. L. H. Schiffman, E. Tov, and J. C. Vanderkam (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 2000), 113, writes that “John's image of Christ as the light of the world is also, more directly, a form of messianic exegesis of prophecies in Isaiah. It reflects Isa. 9:1[2] ( . . . cf. John 1:5; 8:12; 12:35),” in addition to Isa. 42:6–7 and 49:6 (cf. John 9); and Isa. 60:1–3. According to Bauckham, together “These passages . . . readily supply the central Johannine image of the great light shining in the darkness of the world to give light to people, as well as the christological-soteriological significance which this image bears in the Fourth Gospel” (113).

79
 It is interesting that John speaks of the light as “coming into the world” (1:9; compare what Jesus claims in 3:19), referring to Jesus's incarnation and birth.

80
 So Murray J. Harris,
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
, New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd­mans, 2005), 334; Craig S. Keener,
1–2 Corinthians
, New Cambridge Bible Commentary
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 174. In favor of Isa. 9:1–2 being in mind is Paul's use of the same Greek words as the Septuagint—“light,” “darkness,” and “shine”—and, in fact, the same Greek phrase (
ph
ō
s lampsei
).