The Gospel of Matthew vs the Hebrew Bible

This volume launches Frans Hansen’s series of forensic audits of the New Testament. It tackles the first gospel, Matthew, line by line. Every prophecy citation, genealogy and theological claim is measured against the Hebrew Bible. The method is simple but devastating: read Matthew’s proof‑texts in their original context and see whether they really predict Jesus or whether they have been repurposed and mistranslated【775666199799362†L276-L289】.

Readers may be surprised to learn that Isaiah 7:14 does not predict a virgin birth when read in Hebrew【910707740192714†L2030-L2077】. Hansen shows how Matthew reverse‑engineers prophecies—taking verses about young women, exile and restoration and turning them into messianic predictions. He exposes how Matthew constructs Jesus’ genealogy to fit prophetic expectations and how the gospel repeatedly stitches together snippets of scripture to build a narrative【910707740192714†L2030-L2077】. By testing each claim against its Tanakh context, the book reveals a pattern of creative editing rather than faithful transmission.

Beyond individual verses, the audit explores broader themes: how Matthew reframes the Torah’s commandments, how it positions Jesus as a new Moses and how it uses numerology and typology to signal authority. For anyone engaged in deconstruction or curious about the Hebrew roots of the gospels, this book provides a detailed roadmap. It invites readers to move beyond proof‑texting and to respect the peshat—the simple, contextual meaning—of scripture.

Many who have read The Gospel of Matthew vs the Hebrew Bible report a seismic shift in how they view the New Testament. It’s not an attack but an invitation to honesty. If the foundations of faith are strong, they can withstand scrutiny. If they crumble under examination, perhaps a different path awaits.

Related Books

To continue this forensic journey, explore these related volumes: