Below is a slide from Bart Ehrman’s lecture in NINT 2023 and below that is ChatGPT’s citations of related scriptures to each bullet.
Scriptures provided by ChatGPT related to the bullets in the above slide.
Below is a point-by-point set of scriptural parallels supporting each bullet in your slide. I’ve kept the structure aligned so you can map directly onto your presentation.
Miraculous Birth
Jesus
- Matthew 1:18–25 — conception by the Holy Spirit; virgin birth explicitly described.
Moses
- Exodus 2:1–2 — while not a virgin birth, the narrative emphasizes a “good” (Heb. tov) child, which many scholars see as signaling divine favor at birth.
Ruler Attempts to Kill the Child
Jesus
- Matthew 2:16 — Herod orders the killing of infants in Bethlehem.
Moses
- Exodus 1:22 — Pharaoh commands that all Hebrew male infants be killed.
Miraculous Escape
Jesus
- Matthew 2:13–15 — Joseph is warned in a dream; the family escapes to Egypt.
Moses
- Exodus 2:3–10 — Moses is placed in a basket in the Nile and rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter.
Connection to Egypt
Jesus
- Matthew 2:14–15 — Jesus is taken into Egypt.
- Matthew 2:15 explicitly cites Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I have called my son.”
Moses / Israel
- Exodus 1:1–7 — Israel already dwelling in Egypt.
- Exodus 12:40–41 — Israel’s long stay in Egypt.
Leaving Egypt
Jesus
- Matthew 2:19–21 — Jesus returns from Egypt to the land of Israel.
Moses / Israel
- Exodus 12:31–42 — the Exodus event; Israel departs Egypt under Moses’ leadership.
Passage Through Water
Jesus
- Matthew 3:13–17 — Jesus is baptized in the Jordan River.
Moses / Israel
- Exodus 14:21–22 — Israel passes through the Red Sea.
- 1 Corinthians 10:1–2 — Paul explicitly interprets this as a kind of “baptism into Moses.”
Wilderness Testing
Jesus
- Matthew 4:1–11 — 40 days in the wilderness, being tempted.
Moses / Israel
- Numbers 14:33–34 — 40 years in the wilderness.
- Deuteronomy 8:2 — explicitly describes this period as a time of testing.
Mountain Teaching
Jesus
- Matthew 5–7 — Sermon on the Mount; Jesus delivers authoritative teaching from a mountain.
Moses
- Exodus 19–20 — Moses receives the Law on Mount Sinai.
- Deuteronomy 5 — reiteration of the Law tied to Sinai/Horeb.
Structured Teaching (Five Sections)
Jesus
- Matthew structures Jesus’ teaching into five major discourses:
- Matthew 5–7
- Matthew 10
- Matthew 13
- Matthew 18
- Matthew 24–25
Moses
- Traditionally associated with the Pentateuch (five books):
- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Additional Strong Textual Link (Important for your theme)
Matthew makes the Moses parallel explicit through fulfillment language:
- Matthew 2:15 — “Out of Egypt I have called my son” (Hosea 11:1, originally about Israel).
- Matthew 4:1–11 — Jesus quotes Deuteronomy (8:3; 6:16; 6:13), all from Israel’s wilderness period, reinforcing the Moses/Israel typology.
Summary Insight
The Gospel of Matthew deliberately frames Jesus as a “new Moses” figure:
- Narrative parallels (birth, danger, escape, wilderness)
- Structural parallels (five teachings ↔ five books)
- Explicit scriptural reuse (especially Deuteronomy and Exodus traditions)
This is not incidental—it reflects a compositional strategy widely recognized in critical scholarship to present Jesus as the authoritative interpreter and fulfillment of the Mosaic tradition.
