Texts in Conversation
Matthew refers to Galilee of the Gentiles, echoing 1 Maccabees where the region appears as a hostile area threatening Jewish communities. In Maccabees it is marked by violence and rescue, and in Matthew it becomes the place Jesus goes after temptation.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
1 Maccabees 5:15
Deuterocanon
13 All our kindred who were in the land of Tubias have been put to death. They have carried their wives, their children, and their stuff into captivity. They destroyed about a thousand men there.” 14 While the letters were still being read, behold, other messengers came from Galilee with their clothes torn, bringing a similar report, 15 saying, “People of Ptolemais, of Tyre, of Sidon, and all Galilee of the Gentiles have gathered together to destroy us.” 16 Now when Judas and the people heard these words, a great congregation assembled together to determine what they should do for their kindred who were in distress and under attack. 17 Judas said to Simon his brother, “Choose men and go deliver your kindred who are in Galilee, but Jonathan my brother and I will go into the land of Gilead.”
Date: 134–63 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Matthew 4:15
New Testament
13 While in Galilee, he moved from Nazareth to make his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled: 15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way by the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!”
Date: 70–90 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Very few things that Joseph actively did are mentioned in the gospel tradition in the New Testament. The only things we read about are the reference to his righteousness, his Davidic ancestry, his dream and the angel's conversation with him, and his 'holy marriage' with the Mary (who stands in the line of the 'impure' women Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Uriah's wife Bathsheba). In legendary fashion Matthew depicts Joseph as someone who took his family, Mary and the child Jesus, to Egypt. By means of a fulfillment formula, taken from the First Testament, Matthew (Matthew 2:15) quotes the prophet Hosea (11:1) that God called back his child from Egypt to settle in Galilee. Galilee is referred to in Isaiah 9:1; 1 Maccabees 5:15 and Matthew 4:15 as 'Galilee where the heathens live' ..."
Andries van Aarde, “Jesus' Father: The Quest for the Historical Joseph,” HvTSt 54.1 (1998): 315–333.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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