Dominion through Obedience: Matthew 12,18-21 among Early Christian Characterisations of Jesus

Matthew 12,18-21 contains a quotation from Isaiah 42,1-4. It is one of the fulfilment quotations spread over Matthew’s Gospel, which are often considered to have been selected and inserted by Matthew himself. After a discussion of Isa 42,1-4 in the Masoretic text, the Septuagint, and in the Gospel of Matthew (I), this contribution deals with two main issues: the meaning of Mt 12,18-21 within its direct context (II) and within the Gospel as a whole (III). The final section (IV) briefly positions Mt 12,18-21 among other early Christian characterisations of Jesus. The aim is to elucidate the meaning and importance of the quotation from Isaiah 42 as intended by Matthew. This article shows the match between the quotation (as Matthew understood it) and the message of his Gospel as a whole. On the final pages it points to the traditio-historical background of this – and other – early Christian imagery of Jesus.