Many scholars are uncomfortable with the idea that jesus supernaturally predicted the future fall of the temple, or that. The great church historian, eusebius of caesarea, writes that. First, matthew is dependent upon the gospel of mark and mark is normally dated to the late 60s or early 70s. Matthew 2 why did matthew write his account of the gospel of jesus christ.
Matthew, a tax collector also known as levi and one of the twelve disciples, wrote the first gospel in the new testament of matthew. Did matthew, mark, luke, and john really write the gospels. The story of the storytellers the gospel of matthew from jesus. According to christian tradition, he was also one of the four evangelists and thus is also known as matthew the evangelist. It is certainly reasonable to accept that matthew was written in the 50s due to the reasonable assumption that acts was finished before ad 64, with luke coming before acts, and matthew writing his gospel before luke s. The hebrew original was kept at the library of caesarea. Follow me, he told him, and matthew got up and followed him. Matthews attention to the jewish scriptures and respect for jewish customs, as well as the structure of this gospel, indicate that it was written primarily for jewish christians rather than pagan converts. Who was the intended audience for the book of matthew. Matthew was in the town of cana of galilee when he wrote this narrative. Matthew could not have been the author, as he is listed as a.
We have matthew quoted by clement by the very late 1st century ad, so we know it was written and already considered scripture in the late first century. I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another. To say that matthew didnt write a gospel flies in the face of all the external evidence that we have. Matthews book is first, both in its location in the new testament and in its time of writing. Mark was written during the waning of the hebrew mission and the rise of the diaspora and greek mission. Meet matthew the apostle, tax collector, gospel writer. Eusebius notes that pantaenus was a man highly distinguished for his learning. Also hints of heroic influence appear in th gospel. Matthew wrote and published his gospel in hebrew first and later translated it into greek. For a number of reasons, this story can be dismissed as. Although the author did not record his name within the text itself a common practice in the ancient world, the first book found in the new testament nt has historically been attributed to the writing of matthew, a tax collector and one of the twelve disciples of jesus. The question of when matthews gospel was written is an important one. A fundamentalist i know, who insists matthew wrote originally in greek, argues that theres no evidence in favor of the idea that his gospel was written first in aramaic, because theres no extant aramaic original.
This in and of itself does not prove that matthew wrote the book. Is there any truth to the claim that matthews gospel was originally written in hebrew or aramaic, not greek. Did matthew, mark, luke, and john actually author the. Matthew 2 why did matthew write his account of the. This essay was extracted from the article isaiahs prophecy by t. Among the early followers and apostles of jesus, matthew is mentioned in matthew 9. The gospel according to matthew is the first book of the new testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. Matthew wrote it for the first generation of christians, who lived in judea and were mostly former jews. His gospel is the longest of the four, and some scholars believe it was the first to be written. While jesus was having dinner at matthews house, many tax collectors and. Who wrote the gospels, and how do we know for zondervan.
Nt 1, chapter 4, gospel according to mathew, book study. Matthew the apostle, also known as saint matthew and as levi, was, according to the new testament, one of the twelve apostles of jesus. One valid translation of this passage says the meal took place at home. Three pieces of evidence have usually been advanced to demonstrate that matthew wrote after 70 c. It tells how israels messiah, rejected and executed in israel, pronounces judgement on israel and its leaders and becomes the salvation of the gentiles. Jesus and the hidden contradictions of the gospels. When was the gospel of matthew written and to whom was its. The calling of matthew is less selfdeprecating in matthews gospel. Date it has been argued that the gospel of matthew was likely written before ad 70, since jesus predicts the destruction of jerusalem in 24. Matthew is known as one of jesus apostles, and contributed to the writing of the holy bible. Why more americans are getting evicted the practice used to be rare.
Depending on where you lived, the spoken language am. With so much talk lately about the gospels, i wonder, who wrote the gospels and how do we know. He wrote the gospel of christ according to his own plans and aims, and from his own point of view, as did also the other evangelists. Matthews gospel is clearly written for a jewish christian audience living within the immediate proximity of the homeland itself. When was the book of matthew written is a debatable question. Book of matthew overview insight for living ministries. Did matthew really write the gospel attributed to him. He was a tax collector and jesus told him, follow me and he did. A unique statement within the book of matthew provides internal evidence to its authorship. Matthew desmond, the author of a landmark new book, explains how it happened. Secondly, the gospel of matthew has a developed christology, which suggests a late date towards the end of the first century. The account of the call of matthew chapter 9, is followed by that of a meal taken by jesus in the company of publicans and sinners. While tradition claims the gospel of matthew was written by matthew the tax collector, theres plenty of evidence for and against this claim. As early as ad 140, a christian named papias wrote that matthew had compiled the sayings of the lord in hebrew presumably before matthew translated them into greek for a larger audience.
This book is known as the gospel of matthew because it was written by the apostle of the same name. Matthew wrote his gospel to convince fellow jews that jesus was the messiah foretold in the old testament. Instead of matthew, mark, luke, and john, they say, the real authors were anonymous christians who relied on hearsay and legend rather than eyewitness testimony. The writing of the gospels matthew catholic planet. The gospel of matthew is concerned with the position of these early christian churches within israel, or in its relationship to what we call judaism. His gospel was written from a jewish viewpoint for a jewish audience. This tradition goes all the way back to papias in about ad. An interview with matthew desmond on evicted, his book. During the second century, it was decided to credit him. The style of the book is exactly what would be expected of a man who was once a tax collector.
The gospel of mark as written in what was thought of as common greek, otherwise called koine greek. Most scholars believe the gospel was composed between ad 80 and 90, with a range of possibility between ad 70 to 110. The nazarene community transcribed a copy for jerome which he used in his work. Introduction to the gospel of matthew study resources. Pantaenus also confirmed that matthew was the author of the first gospel. He must have been quite an amazing guy if he wrote his eyewitness account 200 years after jesus died.
For example, in lukes account, it says that matthew left everything and followed jesus 5. Some of the early church fathers eusebius and irenaeus in particular seem to suggest that matthew wrote his gospel in hebrew. He wrote it before he left for distant lands to preach the gospel and before peter left jerusalem for rome. The author of this book was beyond a doubt the matthew, an apostle of our lord, whose name it bears. The gospel according to saint matthew was written anonymously and was not attributed to matthew until later in the second century. Others have also concluded that matthew wrote two gospels. Whoever wrote matthew did not call it the gospel according to matthew. This was the common language of commerce and correspondence throughout the ancient near east.
Many modern scholars believe that matthew had to write his gospel after the fall of jerusalem in a. The early church spoke of a greek matthew, and speaks also of an earlier aramaic colloquial hebrew gospel. The book of matthew is most assuredly authored by levi the tax collector, who when he became one of jesus disciples no longer was called levi, but was referred to by jesus by his middle name which was matthew. If the early fathers are writing about the origin of matthews gospel, they will most naturally mention the first edition in hebrew aramaic first before the greek version. Scholars generally hold that matthew composed his gospel in or around antioch of syria. What we have is the clear tradition in the church from the earliest possible date that matthew wrote the book. Critics of the new testament often claim that the names of the authors of the gospels were added after they had already been in circulation in the early church. Origen said the first gospel was written by matthew. Nearly all liberal scholars believe he did not, and even some conservative scholars say it is not likely he wrote the book, while others are more or less convinced he did. Recall the most important points of my preceding posts on the blog so far. The gospel according to matthew was composed in greek, probably sometime after 70 ce, with evident dependence on the earlier gospel according to mark. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelists community and the other jews, particularly with its sharp.
Yes,his disciple matthew did write the book of matthew. Did the apostle matthew write the gospel of matthew and. Here are 7 compelling reasons for why we know matthew was the genuine author of the gospel attributed to him. Bart ehrman is the author of more than a dozen books, including. St jerome too repeatedly declared that matthew wrote his gospel in hebrew ad damasum, xx, ad hedib. The original book of matthew, used by the early christians, was rejected by the catholic church and lost to history because it did not contain the first two chapters of the present greek version. In fact, all such suppositions rely on a single story in papias whose work survives only in fragmentary quotation, and papias himself wrote long after the events. On the other hand, most scholars insist that matthew was originally written in greek because many parts of the gospel are extremely if not identically similar to marks, which was indubitably written in greek. This gospel was composed in hebrew near jerusalem for hebrew christians and translated into greek, but the greek copy was lost. Introduction to the book of matthew learn religions. Matthew is much more concerned with themes than with history. It was written as a readers digest version of matthew, shedding very hebrew centric ideas in favor of more broadly accepted ideas. In this verse, the destruction of jerusalem, which took place in a. In other words the apostles or those near to the apostles agreed the the book was authoritative.
The story of the storytellers the gospel of matthew. Thats because jesus predicts the destruction of the temple in matthew 24. The great church historian, eusebius of caesarea, writes that pantaenus, a church leader in the late 2 nd to possibly early 3 rd century, came across the hebrew version of matthews gospel. The bible was written by man, but god told them in their hearts what to write. Was matthews gospel first written in aramaic or hebrew. Did the deciple of jesus, matthew, right the gospel of. How do we know matthew was the author of the gospel of matthew. The book of matthew probably written sometime before the romans destroyed the temple in jerusalem in ad 70 tells of the good news that the longawaited messiah had come to save people both jews and gentiles. While matthew did not sign his own name to his gospel, the early church uniformly attested to the apostles authorship of the book. Eusebius said that matthew wrote this logia in the hebrew language. The gospel of matthew, according to jerome and eusebius, was written before the other gospels. Matthews gospel, along with the gospels of luke, john, and mark, is an inspiredand thus accurate and truehistory of the life of christ. Jesus evidences the historical literary evidence for jesus.
If it could be shown that matthew s gospel was written by one of the twelve apostles, it would be a decisive weight in favor of the credibility of biblical history. Why was the gospel of matthew attributed to matthew. And luke, who was pauls doctor, wrote the book of luke and the acts of the apostles. We saw that matthew wrote far more often than any gospel writer about money, fitting perfectly with what we know about his occupation.