The Sheep and the Goats: A Matthean Teaching in Historical Context

(Hardback)

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Chad Venters argues that Psalm 80 (Psalm 79 LXX) is an important source for the composition of Matthew 25:3146. Psalm 80 provides a religiopolitical background for understanding the devastation facing Israel at the hands of the Romans. Viewing Psalm 80 as a source for Matthew 25:3146 accounts for the diversity of images found in the Sheep and the Goats and provides further insight into the meaning of the passage. Venterss reading of the Sheep and the Goats contends that the story is not focused on worldending judgment, but a cataclysmic shift in which Yahwehs vineyard has been taken from Israel and given to the church and the nations.

This book augments the larger corpus of Matthean studies, contributing to the less prominent research of Psalm 80 as an influential text for multiple passages in the New Testament and other first century literature. Various studies have proposed the prevalence of Psalm 80, through scriptural echoes and allusions in the New Testament. Venters seeks to solidify these hypotheses in favor of Psalm 80 as an important background text for the New Testament Gospels.

Reviews

Chad Venters has done a service in delving into one of the most difficult discourses that Jesus delivered. This work not only provides another dimension through which to see this passage, but it presents to us a careful and well-documented assessment of most of the critical questions that arise in any study of Matthew. This book is clearly written and is worth reading for any serious student of the first Gospel.

Venter's reading will be welcomed as an important contribution by those who interpret the coming of the 'Son of Man' in light of events around 70 CE. Those who disagree with this view will still consider this work an important source because of its detailed and well-documented discussion of the critical questions related to the Eschatological Discourse. [The] book is written in a clear, accessible language, and it is to be considered by all scholars dealing with the First Gospel.

Author Bio

Chad Venters (PhD, Middlesex University) is the institutional chaplain at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, Nevada. He is also a lecturer of humanities and world religions at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.