Benjamin Franklin

I have read somewhere that Matthew attributed prophecies to the wrong prophet, confusing Isaiah with Micah (or the other way around). I tried looking at the first three chapters of Matthew but I cannot find it. Can someone provide me with the verse. Thanks

BF

not a theist

It's Mark 1:2-3.

Some versions read "the prophets" instead of "Isaiah the prophet" but the best manuscripts have "Isaiah" and this is almost certainly the correct reading. Probably, some scribes saw the problem and altered the reading in some manuscripts.

semyaza

You may be thinking of Matthew 27:3-10 where the author attributes a prophecy to Jeremiah. In fact, the quoted passage comes from Zechariah.

Hawkingfan

Here's a few more from the Secular Web Library compiled by Donald Morgan:

MT 2:23 "And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: He will be called a Nazarene.'" (This prophecy is not found in the OT and while Jesus is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth", he is seldom referred to as "Jesus the Nazarene.")

MT 12:5 Jesus says that the law (OT) states that the priests profane the Sabbath but are blameless. (No such statement is found in the OT).

MT 23:35 Jesus says that Zacharias (Zechariah) was the son of Barachias (Barachiah).
2CH 24:20 Zacharias was actually the son of Jehoida, the priest.
(Note: The name Barachias, or Barachiah, does not appear in the O.T.)

MK 1:2 Jesus quotes a statement that he says appears in Isaiah. (No such statement appears in Isaiah.)

Geoff Hudson

This is very interesting. Could Barachias/Barachiah then, be an editor's corruption of Bar Rechab (son of Rechab - a member of the tribe or clan of Rechabites)? Any thoughts?

This could be a further clue that the Zechariah in question was the father of John the prophet who certainly had Rechabite characteristics. He drank no wine, lived on uncultivated food, and he probably lived in a tent made of camel skin.

Geoff

Hawkingfan

That IS interesting. Makes sense to me.

Jack the Bodiless

Matthew is the Master of the Misquote.

Check out the SAB's False Prophecies and note how many more entries Matthew has compared to the other gospels.

anime

MT 2:23 "And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: He will be called a Nazarene.'" (This prophecy is not found in the OT and while Jesus is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth", he is seldom referred to as "Jesus the Nazarene.")

Spoken: it does not say "written". It is not an "unsolved difficulty", as alleged. The prophecy had been uttered by more than one prophet; therefore the reference to the Heb. nezer is useless, as it is used of Christ only by Isaiah (11:1; 60:21), and it was "spoken" by "the prophets" (plural).

True, by a figure of speech we can say that an author has said a certain thing when he has written it; but we may not say that he spoke it when he distinctly says that he wrote it, or vice versa. Some prophecies were spoken and not written; some were written but not spoken; while others were both spoken and written.

There is, surely, all the difference in the world between to rhethen = that which was spoken, and ho gegraptai = that which standeth written. If we deliberately substitute the one for the other, of course there is a discrepancy; but it is of our own creating. This at once disposes of two of the greatest and most serious of so-called discrepancies, Matthew 2:23 and 27:9.

MT 12:5 Jesus says that the law (OT) states that the priests profane the Sabbath but are blameless. (No such statement is found in the OT).

If you are looking for a "verbatim" statement, you will not find it, as the Lord was not making a quotation.

There were more sacrifices done on the Sabbath than on any other day (Num. 28:9, 10, and compare to Neh. 13:17. Ezek. 24:21. John 7;22, 23 - this was a case of the pot calling the kettle black).

MT 23:35 Jesus says that Zacharias (Zechariah) was the son of Barachias (Barachiah).
2CH 24:20 Zacharias was actually the son of Jehoida, the priest.
(Note: The name Barachias, or Barachiah, does not appear in the O.T.)

Zecharias son of barachias: not the son of Jehoida (2 Chron. 24:20, 21) but Zechariah the prophet (Zech. 1:1, 7), who, we here learn was killed in the same way. (Fig. Hysteresis, App. 6).

And why not? Are there not many examples of historical coincidences? Why should the Lord single out "Zacharias was the son of Jehoida" then nearly 800 years before, instead of the latter Zecharias (the prophet) some 400 years before? And why may it not be prophetic of another "Zechariah, the son of Baruch" who was thus martyred some thirty-six years after? See Josephus Wars, iv. 5. 4.

Geoff Hudson

Editors are very good at dissimulation. They sometimes substitute a historical figure with a semblance of truth for someone who they wish to conceal. Simon the sorcerer or Magus is a good example.

Geoff