Collateral Damage

I read the start of Matthew's gospel in the new testament. First the long genealogy, then the matter-of-fact statement of Mary being pregnant by the holy spirit, then the scene of babies and toddlers getting butchered because of Jesus. Stunning. The author's tone is rather formal, and steeped in a rich but formulaic culture.

I've had a couple of things in my mind as I read. One is a quasi-hermeneutic attitude: this was written at least 30 years after Jesus' death, and 60 years after his birth. I imagine myself writing about, say, my older brother's life. He's 62.

First, there wouldn't be the freshness of immediacy. 62 years is a long time. And in my case, I could at least still interview the subject. Matthew the gospel writer couldn't. Second, even though a stale biography doesn't mean it is unreliable or untrustworthy, it does probably mean that it will be more formulaic, more stylized, than a story I might tell about something that happened yesterday to someone I know closely right now.

The other thing: I'm reading JB Phillips' translation. I've loved his rendering ever since I first read it years ago. It was only years later that I read about Phillips' life, and learned that he suffered severe depression most of his adult life. He killed himself.