In antiquity honor and shame are two key values in public relationships and in the overall functioning of society. This work offers an exhaustive explanation of the meaning that praise and recrimination have for Matthew the evangelist and his Christian addressees. Professor Neyrey focuses on the analysis of the traditional genre, where honor and shame appear. His study, based on the knowledge of ancient rhetoric, is completed with trans-cultural studies from other countries surrounding the Mediterranean basin. It also includes some original aspects in order to get a different grasp of Matthew's Gospel.