Texts in Conversation
In Matthew 17, a divine voice identifies Jesus as God’s son, using language that is similar to Psalm 2, where the king is declared to be God’s son. This connects Jesus to Israel’s history and shows how the gospel depicts him in that tradition.
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Psalm 2:7
Hebrew Bible
5 Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage, saying, 6 “I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 The king says, “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: ‘You are my son. This very day I have become your father. 8 Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your personal property. 9 You will break them with an iron scepter; you will smash them like a potter’s jar.’”
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Matthew 17:5
New Testament
4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my one dear Son, in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” 6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground.
Date: 70-90 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Matthew’s retelling of the story of Israel’s destiny finds its embodiment in the figure of Jesus, who takes on the role of “God’s son” called out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15) and enacts the restoration of Israel through his radical obedience ... One often-overlooked clue to Jesus’ identity as the obedient Son is to be found in Matthew’s baptism and transfiguration narratives, where the divine voice from heaven twice identifies Jesus—in precisely the same wording—as “my Son, the beloved one (ὁ ἀγαπητός), in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17, 17:5). While this epithet echoes the royal figure of Psalm 2:7 and the “servant” of Isaiah 42:1, Matthew’s language corresponds more closely to the story of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, where is it Isaac who is repeatedly identified as the “beloved son” ..."
* 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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