Matthew the Chronicler

Davies and Allison point out that Matthew follows the genealogy of Chronicles for the first section of his own genealogy. That is unusual, they say, since Chronicles was not widely used in early Christian writings. But it is an indication that Matthew models his entire gospel on Chronicles – he begins with a genealogy that matches 1 Chronicles, and ends with a Great Commission that resembles the decree of Cyrus at the end of 2 Chronicles.