Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 177:705 (Jan 2020)
Article: The Angel Of The Lord Aids The Son Of David In Matthew 1–2
Author: David H. Wenkel

BSac 177:705 (January-March 2020) p. 56

The Angel Of The Lord Aids The Son Of David In Matthew 1–2

David H. Wenkel

David H. Wenkel is an adjunct faculty member at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois.

Abstract

Recent Matthean studies have focused on the presence of “the angel of the Lord” in Matthew 1–2 as reflecting Jesus’s identity as the divine “Immanuel” and son of God. This conclusion must be expanded to include Jesus’s identity as the son of David and king of Israel. Support for this derives from exegetical details in Matthew 1–2, Matthew’s use of apocalyptic discourse, concepts from Second Temple Judaism, and especially Old Testament antece-dent theology.

The figure of the “angel of the Lord” appears four times in Matthew 1–2 and does not appear again until after the resurrection, when “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it” (28:2). In the table below, it is evident that Matthew took care to establish a pattern in the first two chapters but departed from it afterward.