Author: The apostle Matthew (a tax collector).
Date written: App A.D. 37 to 50
OT quotes: App 93 and additional allusions.
Time period: From Abraham to just before Jesus ascended to heaven.
For/To: Mainly to the new Jewish believers.
Where: Perhaps written in Judea, perhaps Jerusalem.
Statistics: 28 chapters, 1071 verses
To read the verses chronologically, begin at John 1:1. The verse numbers that appear at the beginning and end of some verses enable a person to read the verses chronologically.
(Note. A commentary on "The Life of a Christian" is excellent reading. It appears around page 28. Another high point of this message is around page 38, under "The Three People.")
Matthew quotes from Old Testament 60+ times.
For the purpose of setting dates for the verses, it begins at Mt 3:16. Jesus would have been about 30 years old.
The verses of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are not all necessarily in a perfect chronological order.
Also Some events may appear in only one Gospel, while others may appear in 3 of the Gospels.
A Philadelphia church age type of commentary written to those waiting for the return of Christ from the churches of Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
It is written: I COUNSEL (or advise) THEE TO BUY OF ME GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE (which is Jesus, which is God's Word)…AND ANOINT (or wash) THINE EYES WITH EYESALVE,
THAT THOU MAYEST SEE (or understand)-Rev 4:18. To see exactly how the 4 Gospels go together, click on Chr Gos. #7.
From the time of the last book of the Old Testament to Matthew was over 400 years.
Ch 1-12. The King and an offer of the kingdom.
Ch 13-28. The rejection of the kingdom and of the King, His death and resurrection.
The author MATTHEW (gift of God) belonged to the hated?the tax collectors. As such, he would have been a Roman employee. He is Levi, the son of Alphaeus. Matthew gives the ancestry of Jesus, showing His right to the throne of David, and His right to be the King of Israel. No doubt that those that opposed Christ examined His genealogy carefully. The Bible skips some.
Genealogy is critical with the Jew. The legal right to David's throne must be proven, so there is no doubt to His claims. Luke's Gospel reveals His mother's ancestry that also goes back to David.
Jesus needed to be related to both the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7) and the Abrahamic covenant (in Gen 12 and 15) in order to sit upon the throne.
Abraham was the beginning of Israel-Gen 12:1,2.