Rabbi Tovia Singer Debunks Church Claim that Matthew Misquoted Scripture Using ‘Rabbinic Method’

Missionaries often employ a novel and rather surprising response when confronted by Matthew’s frequent misquotations of the Jewish Scriptures.  While some Christians reluctantly agree that Matthew’s citations of Tanach are not entirely accurate, Christian apologists often suggest that Matthew may have utilized some ‘midrashic’ expository techniques that might have allowed for some flexibility.  After all, missionaries ask, did not the rabbis engage in a homiletic method of biblical exegesis? Are there not ‘midrashic’ interpretations of Scripture that are inconsistent with the literal meaning of a passage ensconced in rabbinic traditions and literature?  Matthew, they argue, applied this same midrashic method in his interpretation of Isaiah 7:14, as well as other texts in the Jewish Scriptures.  In this eye-opening broadcast, Rabbi Tovia Singer demonstrates that this assertion is absurd.