struggle with this more dominant form of Judaism, whose members (as is acknowledged in Matt. 23:2) claimed to be the guardians of the Mosaic legal tradition. But equally Matthew’s community, though marginalized, had claims of its own and disputed fiercely the correctness of the Pharisees’ interpretation. It sought to legitimate4 its own claims and also to consolidate its own community, however threatened it may have felt by more dominant forms. Matthaean scholars owe a very considerable debt to
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