The most important resource is, of course, the gospel of Matthew itself. Any effort to understand a Biblical text should begin with several readings of the text itself, from beginning to end.

Following that, it is helpful to bring experts into the exploration. In my case, that has been almost exclusively in the form of books.

I chose resources that were highly respected by scholars from various backgrounds. As I worked through these resources, I put the authors “in conversation” with each other, and let them agree and disagree on various points. In some cases, it seemed like one author had a good point that made more sense that what others were saying. In other cases, another author’s perspective won out.

Into that conversation you insert, by necessity, your own judgment, imagination, and perspective—hopefully with a great deal of humility.

And so, no single expert I brought to the conversation would agree with every conclusion I’ve made as I’ve worked through the text, but every conclusion is the result of the process I’ve just described.

The following resources have been especially helpful to me, as I’ve worked to understand the message of Matthew’s book.

Resources

These two were the most helpful:

• Matthew: A Shorter Commentary, by W.D. Davies and Dale C. Allison (Amazon, CBD, Alibris)
• Echoes of Scripture in the Gospels, by Richard B. Hays (Amazon, CBD)

Consulted Frequently:

• Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, by Kenneth E. Bailey (Amazon, CBD)
• Reading Jesus’s Bible, by John Goldingay (Amazon, CBD)
• The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary, by Craig S. Keener (Amazon, CBD)
• Archaeological Study Bible, by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. and Duane Garrett (Amazon)
• The IVP Bible Background Commentary, by Craig S. Keener (Amazon, CBD)
• The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, by Walter Harrelson (Amazon, CBD)
• The HarperCollins Study Bible, by Harold W. Attridge and the Society of Biblical Literature (Amazon, CBD)

Consulted Occasionally:

• Matthew & Mark, Revised: The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, by Tremper Longman, III and David E. Garland (Amazon, CBD)
• The Gospel of Matthew: The New International Greek Testament Commentary, by John Holland (Amazon, CBD)
• Matthew: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, by Grant R. Osborne (Amazon, CBD)