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“… to fulfill what was spoken … by the prophet” (e.g., 1.22–23; 2.15; 4.14; 8.17; 12.14–17; 13.35; 21.4–5; 27.9–10) and depicts Jesus as the fulfillment of Torah and prophets (see 5.17; 7.12; 17.3,12).
    The text also displays substantial interest in Jewish observance, from Jesus’ insistence “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill” (5.17), to the elimination of Mark’s claim (7.19) that Jesus had declared all foods clean, to the observance of Sabbath laws (12.1–14). Jesus shows how to understand the Jewish laws and how to apply them to the circumstances of an early church community comprised of both Jewish and Gentile members.
    Also anchoring Jesus in Jewish tradition are Matthew’s comparisons between Jesus and Moses. This connection may begin in ch 1, with Mary’s miraculous pregnancy, Joseph’s resolve to divorce her, and the divine instructions to marry her, which bear some connection to midrashic accounts of Moses’ conception (see e.g., Ant . 2.205–17; L.A.B . 9.1–10; Tg. Ps.-J.; Ex. Rab . 1.13; Sefer ha-Zikronot ). Connections are clear in ch 2: Jesus, like Moses, is rescued in infancy and travels to Egypt; like Moses, after leaving Egypt Jesus crosses water (the baptism), enters the wilderness (the temptation), and climbs a mountain before beginning his instruction (the “Sermon on the Mount” [5.1]). At the end of the Gospel, Jesus gives instructions to his followers from a mountain, as Moses did (28.16; cf. Deut 32.48).
    Matthew’s Jesus is not only depicted as the “new Moses” who interprets Torah for the people of Israel, but he is also Moses’ superior. For example, in Matthew’s temptation story (4.1–11), Jesus, like Moses, fasts for forty days and nights (4.2; cf. Deut 9.9), is challenged to command stones (4.3; cf. Num 20.8), and is shown “the kingdom” (4.8; cf. Deut 34.1). There, Jesus is shown “all the kingdoms” of the world, but Moses is shown only Canaan. Furthermore, whereas Moses dies outside the Promised Land, Jesus returns (28.16–20); whereas Moses leads the people to their earthly home; Jesus leads followers to the kingdom of heaven. Moses receives the Torah from God and gives it to Israel; Jesus is the fulfillment of Torah as well as its authoritative interpreter.
    Jesus is also, for Matthew, the “son of David,” the long-awaited future ideal Davidic king, called messiah in Jewish postbiblical literature (1.1; see the genealogy). The Gospel frequently uses phrases such as “son of David” as well as references to Jesus’ kingship (1.1; 2.2; 9.27; 12.23; 15.22; 20.30; 22.42; 27.11). Judas, only in Matthew, hangs himself (27.5) as did Ahithophel, David’s betrayer (2 Sam 17.23). But even the title “son of David” is surpassed, since Matthew presents Jesus also as the divine Son of God who will save his people (1.21; 2.15; 3.17; 4.3,6; 8.29; 14.33; 16.16; 26.63). The concept of Jesus as the shekhinah , the physical manifestation of the divine presence, frames Matthew’s entire Gospel (see 1.18; 18.20; 28.20); as the Son of God and the incarnation of the divine on earth, Jesus thus replaces the Temple as the locus of divine presence.
    MATTHEW AND JUDAISM
    Along with adducing biblical imagery, Matthew also reveals links to rabbinic scriptural interpretation. The rabbis utilize different forms of argumentation (or exegetical rules) to interpret the Torah, including the qal vahomer (“light and heavy”) and the binyan ’ av (“construction of a father”), both of which appear in the Matthew’s Gospel. See b. B. Metz . 87b; m. Qidd . 4.14; b. Pesah . 66a; b. Sanh . 17a; y. Seb . 9.1.38d; Gen. Rab . 92.7. The qal vahomer involves arguing from a minor to a major premise: if God takes care of the birds, how much more will he look after his followers (6.26; see also 10.29–31). The binyan ’ av entails using one Torah passage to reach a conclusion regarding another. When