Preface This reading of Matthew is a selective reading. I do not attempt, as some recent commentaries do, to be “encyclopedic.”1 I recognize that all readings, including this one, are perspectival, partial, and shaped by the questions, experiences, and location of various communities of readers. I am concerned with some questions but not with others. I recognize that Matthew can be read in various ways and that any one reading can be enriched by other readings. This reading, then, like Matthew’s