Canonical Capstone: The Great Commission in Its Jewish Symbolic World

The Great Commission (Matt 28:18–20) is typically mined for missiological, ecclesiological, and pedagogical concerns. However, its literary structure, canonical context, and symbolic significance can easily be missed. In this article, I propose an intertextual reading of the Great Commission, paying attention to the literary device known as metalepsis, as well as what scholars refer to as the generative matrix and encyclopedia of the Jewish symbolic world. When read intertextually with 2 Chronicles 36:23, potential narrative enactments and figural correspondences become evident between the two texts. Scholars hint at possible connections, but this article explores these connections head-on, arguing that Jesus evokes Cyrus’s edict as a way of redrawing Israel’s story in light of his own death and resurrection. With 2 Chronicles 36:23 as the catalyst, I then briefly probe several additional intertextual links (Isa 2:2–4, Dan 2:35–44, Ps 117LXX, Gen 1–2) demonstrating that the Great Commission evokes multiple connections with Israel’s Scriptures. Finally, in light of the intertextual exercise, while building on the work of others, I consider the Gospel of Matthew’s macrostructure in light of the canonical shaping of the Hebrew Bible. When the Great Commission is read in the context of its Jewish symbolic world, it serves as the canonical capstone to Israel’s story.