Matthew, who is also Levi, and who from a publican came to be an apostle, first of all composed a Gospel of Christ in Judaea in the Hebrew language and characters for the benefit of those of the circumcision who had believed. Even so, most readers of the New Testament throughout history have taken the identification of Levi with Matthew for granted. Many think that just as Simon was named Peter (the rock) by the Lord, Levi was likewise renamed Matthew (the gift of God) by Jesus. Jesus asked him to be a *disciple (Matthew 9:9). 16.13). Jonah was in the belly of the whale 4 days. 29.7.4). Warren Carter underscores how Papiass erroneous supposition served to underline the antiquity of this gospel and link it to the apostles.. 3.39.17. Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Thus, some scholars who otherwise defend the traditional authorship of Matthews Gospel admit that Papias erred in his belief about the original language in which it was written. 6:25 (300s AD). 1.9.9). Until that moment, she'd always thought Jesus was . James E. Crouch; Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 32n.12; Ian Boxall, Matthew through the Centuries (Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell, 2019), 31, 172. Biblical Evidence : Read Mark 2:13-14. [19] Josef Krzinger, Papias von Hierapolis und die Evangelien die Neuen Testaments (Regensberg: Pustet, 1983), 10-11, 4445; Gundry, Matthew, 614; idem, The Apostolically Johannine Pre-Papian Tradition Concerning the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, in The Old is Better: New Testament Essays in Support of Traditional Interpretations, WUNT 178 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 56; cf. Jerome may have anticipated that he would track down the Gospel according to the Hebrews in Pamphilus library in Caesarea (cf. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Matthew, McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Biography of Matthew, Catholic Online - Biography of St. Matthew, Catholic Information Network - St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist. The Calling of Matthew is an episode in the life of Jesus which appears in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-28, and relates the initial encounter between Jesus and Matthew, the tax collector who . 3.39.16 with the Gospel according to the Hebrews in h.e. The Romans were their enemies. See Barnabas Lindars, Matthew, Levi, Lebbaeus and the Value of the Western Text, https://brentnongbri.com/2018/05/21/matthew-and-levi-and-james/, Lindars, Western Text,222; cf. Contrary to Epiphaniuss assertions, he may have not had access to the Gospel according to the Hebrews at all, and scholars generally label his source, which frequently harmonizes passages in the Synoptic Gospels, as the Gospel according to the Ebionites to distinguish it from the former text. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. The Patristic Traditions about the Evangelist Matthew. The account in the three Synoptics is identical, the vocation of Matthew-Levi being alluded to in the same terms. h.e. [42], It was not until Epiphanius (Pan. Answer (1 of 3): In Mark, the first New Testament gospel written, Matthew and Levi are very definitely two different people. 29-30) Excessive. [9] In both instances, certain copyists of Marks Gospel were unaware of the conflation of Levi with Matthew in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3, yet still turned the character in Mark 2:14 into an apostle. Ancient and modern scholars have been perplexed by the fact that the name of the toll collector in Matthew 9:9 differs from its synoptic counterparts. As a tax collector, Matthew . [39] James R. Edwards has revived the older position that Matthew was the author of the Gospel according to the Hebrews and postulates that our Greek Gospel according to Matthew was named in honor of an apostolic figurehead who preserved the Jewish Jesus traditions. Key Verse: 6:13, "When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles". Because Matthews original purpose was to prove to his Jewish brethren that Jesus is their Mashiach/Messiah, he included in his Gospel nine proof texts from the Old Testament which Jesus fulfilledMatthew 1:22,23; 2:15; 2:17,18; 2:23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35; 27:9,10. Of course, their hippy-dippy ways are . Pelag. [26] Gundry, Matthew, 619; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 67. 3.27.4; 3.39.17; 4.22.8). 1. (1) Repetition of names in the list after David, some of which appear to be anachronisms, possibly suggesting that this list had its own history. Harris J. Rendel, The Logia and the Gospels, For lexical discussion and debate about the term. H. Gundry, 291. Another option is that Papias was referring to a lost source. [38] For the latter view, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 64-66; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 224. [32] Harris J. Rendel, The Logia and the Gospels Contemporary Review 72 (1897): 341348; F. C. Grant, The Gospels: Their Origins and Growth (New York: Harper, 1957), 65, 144. James son of Alphaeus is traditionally identified as James the Less and James the brother of Jesus. Consequently, the evangelist wrote Matthew into the Markan story of the toll collector in Matthew 9:9. Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. Or Levi was having a lot of friends over for dinner that night and asked Jesus if He would come, too. Pan. News of his preaching and healing ministry was spreading far and wide. News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 5. Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. Mark 16:1),[11] though this example differs slightly from Matthew 9:9 inasmuch as the woman is left unnamed. Acts 7:38; Rom 3:2; Heb 5:12; 1 Pet 4:11;1 Clem. 2.12.87; Didymus, Comm. According to Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14, Matthew was sitting by the customs house in Capernaum (near modern Almagor, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee) when Jesus called him into his company. He was a tax collector who was sitting at his booth. "Follow me," he said to him. They were dishonest and were also seen as. Who translated it after that in Greek is not sufficiently ascertained. And he got up and followed him. Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27), but some commentators factor this verse in as evidence for the Matthean authorship of the first canonical Gospel or, at a minimum, for one of its major sources. 1. Epiphanius added to the confusion when he imagined that the Gospel that he managed to get a hold of, which skips over the virgin birth and commences at Jesuss baptism (Pan. Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. Jonah was in the belly of the whale 4 days. Lettie Moses Carr saw Jesus depicted as Black, she was in her 20s. F. C. Burkitt, Levi Son of Alphaeus. 4. [23] Krzinger, Papias, 24, 3342; cf. Jesus sees value in all people. Scripture both prohibits and mocks astrology (Jer. One did not give up collecting taxes for the Romans on a whim and expect to ever return. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Matthew, of course. This makes it doubtful that Matthew 9:9 was intended as either the evangelists self-reference or as a pseudonymous literary device supplementing the ascription of this Gospel to Matthew. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 15465; Klijn. It was to that man, the most despised of the despicable, to whom Jesus said, "Follow Me!" It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine why Matthew was substituted for Levi. Watchthe video below. However, Jesus Christ is of the tribe of Judah. They contend that the conjunction oun (therefore) in Papiass statement about Matthew (3.39.16) was connected to his prior statement about Mark (3.39.15), entailing that Matthew published his narrative of Jesuss life in response to the perceived shortcomings of Marks account. Several theories have been offered to account for why the toll collector Levi was re-named Matthew in Matthew 9:9 (cf. It would be psychologically impossible that such a man as Matthew, trained and experienced in writing records and reports he was a Roman official and such work was requisite for him since it went with the job would not have recorded things Jesus said. 3.1.1). He was a man of moderate wealth, the only one of any means belonging to the apostolic corps. In Matthew 4:18-21, he tells them he will make them "fishers of men.". Other than naming Matthew in the list of Apostles, usually pairing him with St. Thomas, the New Testament offers scant and uncertain information about him. 6.25.4; Epiphanius, Pan. There are many examples of irresistible grace in God's Word. It felt "weird," Carr said. 1.8.1; Clement, str. 3.25.5; cf. The debate over the authorship of Matthews Gospel usually focuses on the replacement of Levi, the son of Alphaeus, with Matthew (Matt 9:9; contra Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) and the addition of the descriptor the toll collector after Matthews name (Matt 10:3; contra Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). 4.9). [1] Regardless of how this name change is explained, this toll collector may have been trained in accounting and documenting records and may have been functionally bilingual or trilingual in order to converse with travellers moving between the territories of Philip and Antipas. Christian Soldiers in the Ancient Roman Army, Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 586 BCEyewitness Account, Assassination of Julius CaesarAncient Accounts, Claudia ActeNeros Mistress, Secret Christian, Emperor Tiberius & The Resurrection Of Jesus, Plinys Letter To Trajan About Christians, Ancient TechnologyThe Antikythera Mechanism, The Lycurgus CupNanotechnology in Ancient Rome, Monte TestaccioAncient Romes Garbage Dump, Metal Detector FindRoman Coins & Lost Emperor of Britain, Stirring of Water in the Pool of Bethesda. ill. This is not a solitary occurrence within Matthews Gospel: the evangelist inserted the mother of the sons of Zebedee into one pericope (Matt 20:20; cf. Assuming that the identification of Matthew with Levi is correct, Matthew (probably meaning Yahwehs Gift) would appear to be the Christian name of Levi (called by Mark Levi the son of Alphaeus), who had been employed as a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. Teilband 1, ed. H. Gundry, 287291; James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 35; Shanks, Papias, 12529, 195; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 214. 7.2627; 14.5960). Per tradition, Matthew was killed by by a soldier on the order of the king of Ethiopia. Change the way you think and act, and believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) this Good News. Krzinger and Gundry insist that dialektos would be preceded by an article if a language was intended (cf. He was thirty-one years old and married and had four children. [18] B. C. Butler, The Originality of St Matthew: A Critique of the Two-Document Hypothesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 16566; Albright and Mann, Matthew, XXXVIXLVIII; Powers, Progressive Publication, 4749. In this post, let us take a deeper . - And it came to pass - seems the best reading - as he was sitting at meat in his house.This was the house of Matthew. Vose Seminary However, Didymus the Blind spotted a similar story in certain Gospels in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes (223.613) and one of those Gospels could have been the Gospel according to the Hebrews that he cited elsewhere in his Commentary on the Psalms (184.910).