Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 63:3 (Sep 2020)
Article: Jesus’s Feeding Of The Gentiles In Matt 15:29–39: How The Literary Context Supports A Gentile Four Thousand
Author: J. Benjamin Hussung

JETS 63:3 (September 2020) p. 473

Jesus’s Feeding Of The Gentiles In Matt 15:29–39:
How The Literary Context Supports A Gentile Four Thousand

J. Benjamin Hussung

J. Benjamin Hussung is a Ph.D. student in NT and Executive Assistant to the Provost at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280. He may be reached at [email protected].

Abstract: Quizzically absent from much of the discussion of the ethnicity of the four thousand in Matthew 15, the literary context surrounding Matthew 15 actually proves essential to any consideration of the crowd’s ethnicity. Interacting primarily with J. R. C. Cousland, this paper contributes a fresh literary perspective on this discussion, building upon the Matthean literary work of Wim J. C. Weren and Janice Capel Anderson. I argue that a Gentile four thousand best satisfies the Gentile trajectory of the literary context surrounding Matt 15:29–39. After briefly addressing the most commonly discussed factors in the debate—the geography of the passage, the makeup of the crowds, and the crowd’s glorifying “the God of Israel”—I turn to the most significant factor in determining the ethnicity of the four thousand—Matthew’s literary context. This Gentile reading provides the most fulfilling literary climax to the Gentile trajectory of the surrounding passage and fits well with Matthew’s consistent foreshadowing of the Great Commission.

Key words: literary criticism, Gospels, Jesus, Matthew, Gentiles, Jews, feeding of the four thousand

When reading Matthew’s Gospel, it is easy to overlook the feeding of the four thousand. In Matthew and Mark, where the story is preceded by the almost identical feeding of the five thousand, the feeding of the four thousand often fades into the background as an odd case of déjà vu, failing to catch the reader’s attention. Throughout history, however, the story has fostered a variety of creative readings, and while little consistent concern for the ethnic identity of the four thousand arose until the twentieth century, seeds of the discussion began to grow just centuries after Matthew’s composition, with some throughout history taking the crowd as Jewish1 and others Gentile.2 Matthew’s account is particularly ambiguous with respect

JETS 63:3 (September 2020) p. 474

to the crowd’s ethnic identity, so spirited arguments on both sides of the debate—Jewish and Gentile�...