This post concludes our series on Forgiveness in the Gospel of Matthew.
The imperative of forgiveness stands at the heart of the Parable of Unforgiving Servant. For Jesus and Matthew, releasing others from sins and debts constitutes an integral part of what it means to be a member of the Christian community and proclaim God’s love and mercy to the world. True forgiveness finds itself rooted not only in God’s forgiveness of our sins—the emphasis of Matthew 18:21-35—but also in the forgiving blood of Jesus, the means by which human sin becomes forgiven. Matthew’s wider theology of forgiveness demonstrates the importance of extending mercy in the Matthean community, as these parables and rules guided practices on the limits of forgiveness and who could be forgiven. May contemporary Jesus-followers continue to heed Matthew’s messages of forgiveness: that we must extend to everyone true forgiveness from the heart.
Bibliography
Ancient Sources
Augustine of Hippo. Sermons. Translated and edited by Manlio Simonetti. Matthew 14-28: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Community Rule. Translated and edited by Geza Vermes. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. New York: Penguin Press, 1997.
Damascus Document. Translated and edited by Geza Vermes. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. New York: Penguin Press, 1997.
Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History. Translated by G.A. Williamson. Edited by Andrew Louth. London: Penguin Books, 1989.
Flavius Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews. Translated and edited by William Whiston. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1987.
Galen. In Hippocratic sextum librum epidemiarum commentaria. Edited by E. Wenkebach. Corpus medicorum Graecorum. Leipzig: Teubner, 1940.
Hermogenes. Rhetoric. Edited by H. Rabe. Hermogenis Opera. Leipzig: Teubner, 1913.
Hilary of Poitiers. On Matthew. Translated and edited by Manlio Simonetti. Matthew 14-28: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Irenaeus of Lyons. Adversus Haereses. Translated by Robert M. Grant. Irenaeus of Lyons. The Early Fathers of the Church. London: Routledge, 1996.
Jerome. Commentary on Daniel. Translated by Gleason L. Archer. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1958.
John Chrysostom. The Gospel of Matthew. Translated and edited by Manlio Simonetti. Matthew 14-28: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
New Revised Standard Version: Harper Collins Study Bible Revised Edition. Edited by Harold W. Attridge. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 2006.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edited by Kurt Aland. Westphalia: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2011.
Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Online: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2015. http://www.nestle-aland.com/en/home/
NRSV Cambridge Annotated Study Apocrypha. Edited by Howard C. Kee. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Papias. Fragments. Translated by Bart D. Ehrman. The Apostolic Fathers: Volume Two. Loeb Classical Library 25. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003.
Plutarch. Life of Antony. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin. Lives, Volume IX. Loeb Classical Library 101. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1920.
Septuaginta: Editio Altera. Edited by Alfred Rahlfs and Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006.
Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. Translated H.C. Kee. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha: Volume One: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments. Edited by James H. Charlesworth. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983.
Modern Sources
Abel, Ernest L. “Who Wrote Matthew?” New Testament Studies 17.2 (1971): 138-152.
Allison, Dale C. “Matthew and the History of its Interpretation.” The Expository Times 120.1 (2008): 1-7.
Ascough, Richard S. “Matthew and Community Formation.” Pages 96-126 in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study: Studies in Memory of William G. Thompson, S.J. Edited by David E. Aune. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2001.
Beasley-Murray, George R. Matthew. London: Scripture Union, 1984.
Black, David Alan and Beck, David R., eds. Rethinking the Synoptic Problem. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001.
Brooks, Stephenson H. Matthew’s Community: The Evidence of His Special Sayings Material. Sheffield: JSOT, 1987.
Bronn, William R. “Forgiveness in ‘My Brothers’ of Matthew 28:10 and Its Significance for the Matthean Climax (28:16-20).” Biblical Theology Bulletin 40.4 (2010): 207-214.
Bruner, Frederick Dale. Matthew: A Commentary: Volume 2: The Churchbook Matthew 13-28. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
Buckley, Thomas W. Seventy Times Seven: Sin, Judgment, and Forgiveness in Matthew. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991.
Crossan, John Dominic. In Parables: The Challenge of the Historical Jesus. New York: Harper and Row, 1973.
Davies, W.D. and Allison, Dale C. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Gospel According to Saint Matthew in Three Volumes: Volume II: Commentary on Matthew VIII-XVIII. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1991.
de Boer, Martinus C. “Ten Thousand Talents? Matthew’s Interpretation and Redaction of the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matt 18:23-25).” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 50 (1988): 214-232.
Deidun, Thomas. “Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Mt 18:23-25).” Biblical Theology Bulletin 6.2-3 (1976): 203-224.
Deissmann, Adolf. Light from the Ancient East: The New Testament Illustrated by Recently Discovered Texts of the Graeco-Roman World. New York: George H. Doran Co., 1927.
Derrett, J. Duncan M. Law in the New Testament. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1970.
Dietzfelbinger, Christian. “Das Gleichnis von der erlassenen Schuld: eine theologische Untersuchung von Matt 18:23-35.” Evanelische Theologie 32.5 (1972): 437-451.
Doriani, Daniel M. “Forgiveness: Jesus’ Plan for Healing and Reconciliation in the Church (Matthew 18:15-35).” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 13.3 (2009): 22-32.
Hagner, Donald A. Matthew 1-13. Word Biblical Commentary 33A. Dallas: Word Books, 1993.
–. Matthew 14-28. Word Biblical Commentary 33B. Dallas: Word Books, 1995.
Harrington, Daniel J. “Matthew’s Gospel: Pastoral Problems and Possibilities.” Pages 62-73 in The Gospel of Matthew in Current Study: Studies in Memory of William G. Thompson, S.J. Edited by David E. Aune. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2001.
–. The Gospel of Matthew. Sacra Pagina Series 1. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991.
Hylen, Susan E. “Forgiveness and Life in Community.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 54.2 (2000): 146-157.
Illian, Bridget. “Church Discipline and Forgiveness in Matthew 18:15-35.” Currents in Theology and Mission 37.6 (2010): 444-450.
Jeremias, Joachim. The Parables of Jesus: Revised Edition. New York: Scribner’s Press, 1972.
–. Unknown Sayings of Jesus. London: S.P.C.K., 1964.
Johansson, Daniel. “’Who can forgive sins but God alone?’: Human and Angelic Agents, and Divine Forgiveness in Early Judaism.” Journal For The Study of the New Testament 33.4 (2011): 351-374.
Johnson, Luke Timothy. The Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation: Revised Edition. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999.
Kähler, Martin. The So-Called Historical Jesus and the Historic Biblical Christ. Translated by Carl E. Braaten. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1964.
Keener, Craig S. The Gospel of Matthew: Socio-Rhetorical Commentary. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2009.
Konradt, Matthias. “’Whoever humbles himself like this child…’ The Ethical Instruction in Matthew’s Community Discourse (Matt 18) and Its Narrative Setting.” Pages 105-138 in Moral Language in the New Testament: The Interrelatedness of Language and Ethics in Early Christian Writings. Edited by Ruben Zimmermann and Jan G. van der Watt. Contexts and Norms of New Testament Ethics 2. Tübigen: Mohr Siebeck, 2010.
Kselman, John S. “Forgiveness: Old Testament.” Pages II: 831-833 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 2 (D-G). New York/London: Doubleday, 1992.
Lambrecht, Jan. Out of the Treasure: The Parables in the Gospel of Matthew. Louvain Theological and Pastoral Monographs 10. Louvain: Peeters Press, 1998.
Lee, Anna Suk Yee. “Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Old Testament Sacrifice.” McMaster Journal Of Theology & Ministry 13 (2011): 24-44
Liddell, George, Scott, Robert, and Jones, H.S. A Greek-English Lexicon (9th Edition). Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.
Luz, Ulrich. Matthew 8-20. Hemeneia. Translated by James E. Crouch. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001.
–. Matthew in History: Interpretation, Influence, and Effects. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994.
Mbabazi, Isaac Kahwa. “The Jewish Background to Interpersonal Forgiveness in Matthew.” African Journal of Evangelical Theology 30.1 (2011): 15-34.
–. The Significance of Interpersonal Forgiveness in Matthew’s Gospel. PhD Dissertation. Manchester: University of Manchester, 2011.
Martinez, Ernest R. “The Interpretation of ‘Oi Mathetai in Matthew 18.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 23.3 (1961): 281-292.
McKnight, Scot. “Matthew, Gospel of.” Pages 784-800 in The IVP Dictionary of the New Testament: A One-Volume Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship. Edited by Daniel G. Reid. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Meier, John P. “Matthew, Gospel of.” Pages IV: 622-641 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 4 (K-N). Edited by David Noel Freedman. New York and London: Doubleday, 1992.
Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Companion on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament (Third Edition). London and New York: United Bible Societies, 1975.
Nel. M.J. “Interpersoonlike vergifnis in Matteus 18:15-35.” Die Skriflig 49.2 (2015): #1935, 8 pages.
Nelson, Randy. “Exegeting Forgiveness.” American Theological Inquiry 5.2 (2012): 33-58.
Reimer, David J. “Stories of Forgiveness: Narrative Ethics and the Old Testament.” Pages 359-378 in Reflection and Refraction: Studies in Biblical Historiography in Honour of A. Graeme Auld. Edited by Robert Rezetko, Timothy H. Lim and W. Brian Aucker. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
Scott, Bernard Brandon. “The King’s Accounting: Matthew 18:23-34.” Journal of Biblical Literature 104.3 (1985): 429-442.
Senior, Donald. “Matthew 18:21-25.” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 41.4 (1987): 403-407.
Simonetti, Manlio, ed. Matthew 14-28: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament 1b. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Soding, Gerardo. “La ‘Novedad de Jesus’ en sus Parabolas: Una propuesta hermeneutica.” Revista Biblica 1.4 (2010): 151-186.
Soulen, Richard N. Soulen and Soulen, R. Kendall. Handbook of Biblical Criticism: Third Edition, Revised and Expanded. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001.
Thompson, William G. Matthew’s Advice to a Divided Community: Mt. 17,22-18,35. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1970.
Vermes, Geza. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. New York: Penguin Press, 1997.
von Balthasar, Hans Urs. “Jesus and Forgiveness.” Translated by Josephine Koeppel. Communio: International Catholic Review 11.4 (1984): 322-334.
Williams, Rowan. “The Forgiveness of Sins: Hosea 11:1-9; Matthew 18:23-35.” Pages 214-218 in Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ. Edited by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2007.
Wright, David P. “Day of Atonement/” Pages II: 72-76 in The Anchor Bible Dictionary: Volume 2 (D-G). New York/London: Doubleday: 1992.
Pursuing Veritas 