He is mentioned in Matthew 9:9. [41] Contra Edwards, Hebrew Gospel, 8 and Petri Luomanen, Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 12326. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collectors booth. Maybe Jesus had seen Levi often as he sat in his chair with his table, papyrus, quill and ink made from carbon (soot or lampblack), water and gum arabic, a natural gum from the acacia tree used to control the inks viscosity when applied to the papyrus. There is a lot of controversy in recent centuries about that subject. 16:18) Mark and Luke were probably stunned by Jesus inclusion of a hated tax collector in His Twelve. [16] This English translation of the Greek text is taken from Michael W. Holmes, editor, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (rev. 6.14.2; Epiphanius, Pan. 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. For a recent effort to argue that plural Aramaic and Greek sources underlie the double tradition, see Maurice Casey, An Aramaic Approach to Q: Sources for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. (vv. 3.39.1, 15), which subtly contrasts with an exclusive interest in the Lords logoi or sayings (3.39.14). 29.9.4; 30.3.7; 30.13.2; 30.14.3) and Jerome (Epist. 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. This is a painting of the Calling of Saint Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. Matthew, or Levi, son of Alpheus, was one of the seven who received a call to follow Christ before the ordination of the Twelve. Who translated it after that in Greek is not sufficiently ascertained. The meaning in Hebrew of the word day always means a 24 hour period of time. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. VesuviusAugust 24, 79 AD. He invited his friends to a feast, where they could meet Jesus. Levi: Luke 5:27, "And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, 'Follow Me.' ". Therefore, commentators often appeal to Matthew 9:9 and 10:3 as evidence that the Apostle Matthew was capable of composing either the Greek text of the first canonical Gospel or one of the literary sources incorporated into it. Born in Palestine sometime in the 1st century, Saint Matthew was one of Jesus's 12 apostles and also one of the four Evangelists, according to the Bible. 1.62), though these observations contradict Origens argument in his commentary above. This is a quite different case from that of an individual having both a Semitic and a Greek or Latin name, as well as from that of an individual having a Semitic name and also a nickname or family name.". Watchthe video below. He was honored that His Lord considered him such a gift, But as Levi he had immediately joined his life to Jesus and His Mission. Biblical Evidence : Read Mark 2:13-14. [21] Krzinger, Papias, 1214, 2122, 5256; Gundry, Matthew, xxixxii, 61820; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 6364, 6768. 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. Alternate titles: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Evangelist. Dan. Matthias was the only one who was not chosen by Jesus . Saint Matthew's decision lives on into eternity and benefited not millions . The assumption is that this order of the Gospels is a chronological one, when in fact it is a theological one. Tax collectors were rich people. in Mt. Fellow citizens considered him a social outcast who was a traitor to their nation. Mark 2:1, 1314). Of course, their hippy-dippy ways are . CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Constant Crowds article. The next disciple that Jesus called was Levi (Matthew). On the other hand, the oldest quotations from the Gospel according to the Hebrews were not attributed to a named author (e.g., Clement, str. 13:4; 19:1; 53:1; 62:3; 2 Clem. [29] 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. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews. There are a number of Patristic and Medieval quotations that purportedly derive from a text that was commonly dubbed as the, James R. Edwards has revived the older position that Matthew was the author of the, Conversely, Papias may not have known the. After all, a toll collector may have at least needed functional literacy to perform certain tasks. And he got up and followed him. 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). In Matthew's parabolic aside, the wisest advice Pilate got that day -- our Good Friday -- was from his wife: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man" (27:19). [46] Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. Many people were surprised when Jesus sat down to eat with Levi, but they learned that Jesus' message of salvation is for everyone. The Pharisees asked them, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. [33] For lexical discussion and debate about the term logion in Papiass vocabulary (cf. Volume I: Introduction and Commentary on Matthew IVII, ICC [Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988], 1.12) acknowledge the difficulties in determining whether a text was a translation in the ancient world and the Patristic tradition about Matthew even persuaded an accomplished textual critic like Origen. He left Judea and carried the Gospel to Ethiopia where he was martyred while celebrating a mass at the altar of a small church he had started. B. Papiass notice that Matthew addressed a Palestinian Jewish audience in their own vernacular language (i.e., Aramaic) was repeated in subsequent Patristic literature (e.g., Irenaeus, As for Jerome, he boasted that he translated the, The majority position among the experts is that the fragments Jerome inherited from the Nazarenes do not derive from the. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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[27] For instance, see Ulrich Krtner, Papias von Hierapolis: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des frhen Christentums, Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments 133 (Gttingen: Vandenhoek & Ruprecht, 1983), 203206; Davies and Allison, Matthew IVII, 16; Black, Rhetorical Terminology, 3334, 38; France, Evangelist and Teacher, 57; Hagner, Matthew 113, xlv; Morris, Matthew, 1314; William R. Schoedel, Papias ANRW 2.27.1 (1993): 257, 263; Carson, Matthew, 13; Armin Baum, Ein aramischer Urmatthus im kleinasiatischen Gottesdienst. The most natural reading is that a language was meant by the combination of the noun. T/F, 4. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 167; Klijn. A beam of light illuminates the faces of the men at the table who are looking at Jesus Christ. For an alternative approach, W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann speculate that an Aramaic source identified the toll collector as a Levite and that this was mistranslated as the personal name Levi in the Greek texts of Mark and Luke. Tax collectors at that time were known as dishonest and corrupt people. See John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church, and Morality in the First Gospel(New York: Paulist, 1978), 2425. Luke, also, describes his calling: After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 3.1.1; Pantaenus, in Eusebius, h.e. News and Interpretations on the Bible and Ancient Near East History. Matthew 9:9-13 begins with Jesus calling Matthew, a tax collector, to follow Him as His disciple. They were considered traitors because they worked for the despised Roman rulers. [2] For some examples, see Robert Gundry, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthews Gospel: With Special Reference to the Messianic Hope(Leiden: Brill, 1975), 183; David Hill, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 1; R. T. France, Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 6768; Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 14; Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 113 (Dallas: Word, 1993), lxxvi; D. A. Carson, Matthew: Chapters 1 through 12 (EBC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 1819; Grant R. Osbourne, Matthew, ECNT (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 34; B. [45] The majority position among the experts is that the fragments Jerome inherited from the Nazarenes do not derive from the Gospel according to the Hebrews but from a distinct work that scholars have designated as the Gospel according to the Nazarenes. We soon discover the difference between the man and the rock. James E. Crouch; Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 32n.12; Ian Boxall, Matthew through the Centuries (Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell, 2019), 31, 172. The Patristic Traditions about the Evangelist Matthew. Soon, Jesus and His disciples are having dinner in . Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. 3.39.16 with the Gospel according to the Hebrews in h.e. For two reasons *Jews did not like the men who did that work. Christian missionaries have taught people in Papua, New Guinea who had many gods before their conversion to recite the Hebrew Shema announcing only ONE GOD. This creates space between Peter and the church's rock. The tax collector had already counted the cost.Sandra Sweeny Silver, Slaves Were Lifeless Tools in Ancient Rome, The Exotic Animal Business in Ancient Rome. Mark 3:18). 6.25.4; Epiphanius, Pan. 3. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthews house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. Updates? [34] The double tradition is mostly comprised of sayings, but there are a couple of narratives (e.g., Matt 4:111/Luke 4:113; Matt 8:513/Luke 7:110). Phil. For the range of theories accounting for the redactional changes in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3, see the helpful summaries compiled by Joachim Gnilka, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity: Part I: Palestine 330 BCE 200 CE. [35] This leads Dennis MacDonald to maintain that Papiass supposition about the multiple translations of Matthews oracles was an explanation for the dissimilar Greek texts of Q and Matthew. 3.27.4). Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. Matthew was saying, Jesus IS the fulfillment of Old Testament predictions of our coming Messiah, Anontied One. He is called the Son of David nine times in the Gospel of Matthew. [14] For the theory that Matthew was either the founder of a putative Matthean community or the source of their traditions, see Pesch, Levi-Matthus, 56; Gundry, Old Testament, 184; Hill, Matthew, 5354, 173; Gnilka, Matthusevangelium, 1.331; Davies and Allison, Matthew VIIIXVIII, 2.99; Hagner, Matthew 113, xlvi; John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 3-4; Witherington III, Matthew, 5, 29; Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 40; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 111. Even Jesus acknowledges the hatred people had for tax collectors: " If they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17). In the Christian Bible, he was cited as one of the Jesus' apostles. The Gospel According to Matthew consequently emphasizes Christ's fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (5:17) and his role as a new lawgiver whose divine mission was confirmed by repeated miracles. [17] Additionally, specialists on the Synoptic Problem generally hold that Matthews Gospel reproduced over 90 percent of Marks content, improved Marks grammar and style, and edited out Marks transliterated Aramaic terms. This leads Dennis MacDonald to maintain that Papiass supposition about the multiple translations of Matthews oracles was an explanation for the dissimilar Greek texts of Q and Matthew. 5. prol.) [38] There are a number of Patristic and Medieval quotations that purportedly derive from a text that was commonly dubbed as the Gospel according to the Hebrews. However, none of the ancient Christian literati surmised that the Apostle was fluent in Greek, for they handed down the tradition that Matthew composed his Gospel in Aramaic before it was translated into Greek. Rudolf Pesch, LeviMatthus (Me 2.14/Mt 9.9; 10.3). The Bible shares in the book of Acts, that the betrayal and arrest of Jesus were foretold long ago by the Holy Spirit. [12] Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. Hence, Mark listened to Peters, That is, they surmise that Matthew applied Jewish exegetical techniques and forms of argumentation to the material at his disposal to shape it into a cogent presentation about how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures. The Identification of the Toll Collector as Matthew. Facts about Matthew the Apostle give the readers a hint about Levi or Saint Matthew. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. The other Eleven were ordinary men. Pelag. Klijn (Gospel Tradition, 11, 119) and Frey (Die Fragmente des Hebrerevangeliums, 606) treat Eusebiuss attribution of this tale to the Gospel According to the Hebrews as spurious since Eusebius may have had no firsthand knowledge of the text. Both Eusebius and Epiphanius missed Irenaeuss point that schismatics rejected the fourfold Gospel canon and selected one of the four Gospels, but their doctrines were refuted by the very Gospels that they privileged. My theory is that for one thing John and Peter were closer to Jesus. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. I. 1/27/2013 09:47:39 pm. Another option is that Papias was referring to a lost source. He was thirty-one years old and married and had four children. The Romans were their enemies. According to Luke 5:29, the aforementioned dinner was given by Levi in his house after his call. For three main reasons, almost all scholars believe the Gospel of Luke was written by the same person who wrote Acts: Luke and Acts were written in the same style and express the same theology. 3.1.1). Both are true because Matthew and Levi are two names for the same person. It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine why Matthew was substituted for Levi. Whatever the case, Jerome slowly distanced himself from his earlier confident declarations that the Nazarenes had the original Matthean Gospel in their possession (cf. These Jewish tax collectors were disdained by the Jews. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:27-32. Supported by: How Did Jesus Spend the Last Week of His Life? [20] Matthew Black, The Use of Rhetorical Terminology in Papias on Matthew and Mark JSNT 37 (1989): 32; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 222. [37], The final option is that a non-extant Jewish Gospel stands behind Papiass reference to Matthews oracles or, at least, the New Testament Gospel that bears the name Matthew was mixed up with a Jewish Gospel circulating in Papiass milieu. The diversity of text-forms evident in Matthews biblical citations and allusions, however, disproves the notion that the evangelist was reliant on one testimonium source. [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. Magi, or "wise men," were royal counselors. 1.62), though these C hristmas Day may be Dec. 25, but it's not the end of Christmas story. Richard Bauckham makes it clear why these examples may be irrelevant to this case: "[I]f Matthew and Levi were the same person, we should be confronted with the virtually unparalleled phenomenon of a Palestinian Jew bearing two common Semitic personal names (Matthew: ninth most popular, 62 occurrences; Levi: seventeenth most popular, 25 occurrences). It was to that man, the most despised of the despicable, to whom Jesus said, "Follow Me!" Krzingers and Gundrys proposals have varying degrees of persuasiveness, but most scholars have not been swayed by their contention that Papiass words on Matthew have been misread through the centuries. [3] Powers, Progressive Publication, 29 (emphasis original). with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. [18] Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. 3.2) that the Gospel according to the Hebrews was associated with Matthew. Early Christian CommunionWine or Mingled Wine? How do we know that Matthew changed after Jesus called him? Why is Matthew called Levi? Was the Gospel of Matthew written by Levi aka Matthew in Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek? [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. Jesus does not say "On you I will build my church" but "on this rock ." "This rock" is distinct from Peter, although connected to him. 5.10.3; Clement, in h.e. When Jesus called Levi, Jesus never told him, "Repent, and follow Me." Jesus only said, "Follow Me." Jesus sought out someone like Levi, who was in need of God's mercy and helped him to make a decision to follow Jesus; that is to turn to God. Levi had to keep very accurate records. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 6089; Kok, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 5253; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 181. If these are all references to the same James, that would make James son of Alphaeus the author of the Book of James and one of the three men Paul called "pillars" of the church. [36] Ultimately, the identification of Matthews oracles with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated.