Exceptions (which is no exception) that in an- nouncing His birth the Angel of the Lord is reported as commanding, " Thou shalt call His name Jesus " (i^^). And not only does Matthew, like Mark, re- serve the simple ' Jesus ' for his narrative name, but, also like Mark, he practically confines himself to it. The only outstanding exceptions to this are that Mat- thew sets (like Mark) the solemn Messianic designa- tion ' Jesus Christ' In the heading of his Gospel (i^), and follows this up (unlike Mark) by repeating it both at the opening of his formal narrative (i^®), and at an important new starting point in his narrative ^ j^2i V. r.^ .1 ^j^j ^1^^^ jjg employs a certain fulness of des-
1 In all these three places ''Irjffou? XpiffrS^ seems to be used as a proper name. Meyer (ii, p. 51) says: "In the Gospels Xpcffzog stands as a proper name only in Mt ii.is.ii.is^ Mk i^, Jno i^'', . . . here also
57
58 The Designations of Our Lord
ignatlon throughout the formal genealogy with which the Gospel begins, by which he places the ' Jesus ' of whom he Is to speak clearly before the readers and clearly as the Messiah. " The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abra- ham " (i^) Is the phraseology with which he opens this genealogy: he closes It with the words, "Mary of whom was born Jesus surnamed Christ" (i^®); and In the summary which he adjoins he calculates the generations " unto Christ " (i") — a designation which meets us again at 1 1". Thus Matthew In beginning his Gospel leaves no room for doubting that he pur- poses to present the story of Jesus' life as the life of the Messiah; but as soon as he has given that formal emphatic enunciation, he takes up the narrative with the simple ' Jesus ' and with only the two breaks at 11^ and 1 6^^ ''•'■• carries It on with the simple 'Jesus' to the end.^ The simple ' Jesus ' occurs thus In his
(cf. Mk i^), in the superscription, the whole of the great naraeV>;(T0U9 Xptaro'i is highly appropriate, nay, necessary."
2 The name ' Jesus ' occurs in Matthew about 149 times. Of these, on nine occasions it is used in combination with additional designa- tions ('Jesus Christ,' i^ i^^ 16^^; 'Jesus surnamed Christ,' i^*' 27^^'--; 'Jesus the Nazarene,' 26''^^; 'Jesus the Galilean,' 26'^^; 'the prophet Jesus who is from Nazareth of Galilee,' 21^^ ; ' Jesus the King of the Jews,' 27^'^). The simple 'Jesus' occurs therefore about 140 times; and always is Matthew's own except i-i. It is according to Moulton and Geden anarthrous in the following passages: (i^) 116.21,25 j^i
(l621) 178 2O1T-30 21I.I2 26^1.69.71,75 2717,22.37 gg^.O (l8[2o] in all).
Two of these instances (178 and 20^7) may, however, be eliminated as probably false readings. 'Jesus Christ,' i^, is properly without the article, both because that is the regular usage with proper names in headings, and because that is the regular usage with the first mention of a proper name; 16-1 is to be looked upon in accordance with this as a new beginning; while at i^^ the article is present because it takes up the 'Jesus Christ' of i^ again, further explained at i^^ as the "Jesus surnamed Christ," and hence is almost equivalent to "this Jesus Christ." In i^^ 2717.22 26'^^'7i 27^7^ ^\^q article is properly absent on
The Designations in Matthew 59
narrative about 139 times, and Is replaced only by the compound ' Jesus Christ ' ( i^'^^ 16'^ ''• '"•, cf. i^^) , and by the simple 'Christ' (i^^ 11^, cf. i^^), each, at most three times.
In this sparing use of * Jesus Christ ' and ' Christ '
by Matthew himself, the term ' Christ ' appears to be
'Christ' employed not as an appellative but
as a Proper as a proper name. In 2^, no doubt, Name a ^j^^ Christ " Is used In the general
sense of "the Messiah": Herod did not Inquire of *' the chief priests and scribes of the people " where Jesus was born, but where, according to prophecy, " the Messiah should be born " : but just on that account there Is no direct reference to Jesus at all here. The commentators are very generally Inclined to look upon the use of "the Christ" In 11^ as a similar Instance, as If what John had heard In the prison was that " the works of the Messiah " — such works, that Is, as were expected of the Messiah, — were occurring abroad; and accordingly sent and asked Jesus whether He was In- deed " the Coming One."' Attractive as this explana-