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The Bible says that Matthew left everything to follow Jesus. Many commentators compare Matthews two names with other first-century Jews who had a Greek or Latin cognomen. He was a tax collector who was sitting at his booth. Thom. Brian McNeil (London: T&T Clark, 2003), 40; Jennifer Wright Knust, Early Christian Re-writing and the History of the Pericope Adulterae, JECS 14 (2006): 495n34; Norelli, Papia, 33132, 335; MacDonald, Two Shipwrecked Gospels, 14, 1922, 24653; Jrg Frey, Die Fragmente des Hebrerevangeliums, in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews. 30.13.45), indicating that it was published in Greek at the outset. Numerous textual indications point to an author who was a Jewish Christian writing for Christians of similar background. Most general Bible readers have the mistaken impression that Matthew, the opening book of the New Testament, must be our first and earliest Gospel, with Mark, Luke and John following. 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. Following Jesus Meant Matthew Lost His Lucrative Tax Collector Career. Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 24; Luz, Matthew 820, 32, 32n.14. [23] They render the verb hermeneuein as meaning to mediate or to interpret rather than to translate.[24] Hence, Krzinger identifies the each one (hekastos) who interpreted according to their ability as the evangelists conveying oral Jesus traditions in a new literary medium;[25] Gundry takes the referent to be the expositors who expounded on Matthews text. Harris J. Rendel, The Logia and the Gospels, For lexical discussion and debate about the term. See W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew, AB (Doubleday: New York, 1971), CLXXVIII. 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). 3.1.1; Pantaenus, in Eusebius, h.e. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 606; Kok, Papias of Hierapolis, 4752; Andrew Gregory, The Gospel according to the Hebrews and the Gospel of the Ebionites (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 34, 78. in Mt. My theory is that for one thing John and Peter were closer to Jesus. [42], It was not until Epiphanius (Pan. [42] Luomanen, Jewish-Christian Sects, 21, 123; Frey, Die Fragmente des Ebionerevangeliums in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. Matthew's shocked facial expression shows that he understands this societal dynamic well, but his look and gesture may indicate even more than that. Until that moment, she'd always thought Jesus was . There were 12 men chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ. [13] Moreover, Matthew hardly features more as a character in the narrative than in the other two Synoptic Gospels to be the key source of the Matthean traditions. They kept it for themselves and became very rich. 5.12), and the verb hermeneuein; Papias could have chosen different terminology to highlight Matthews rhetorical style. 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. The most natural reading is that a language was meant by the combination of the noun. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. [Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32] 13 Jesus went to the seashore again where large crowds came to him, . People had to pay taxes to the *Romans. There is no evidence that any of the Patristic authorities made any inferences about Matthews proficiency in Greek or level of education in rhetorical composition based on Matthews former occupation alone. 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. He followed Jesus to his death. 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. See Krtner, Papias, 2045; Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus and the Adulteress NTS 34 (1988): 2444, 29; Philipp Vielhauer and Georg Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, in New Testament Apocrypha I: Gospels and Related Writings, ed. praef. 2) Jesus explains his action in having a meal with tax collectors and sin-ners by saying "Go and learn what it means 'I desire mercy and not sacri-fice'" (Matt 9,13; Hos 6,6). A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. [14] Nevertheless, it is conceivable that the two verses in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3 were the basis for why this Gospel was later ascribed to Matthew. December 29, 2020 7:00 AM EST. 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). There is no indication that Matthew wrote anything (contra John 21:24; Moreover, Matthew hardly features more as a character in the narrative than in the other two Synoptic Gospels to be the key source of the Matthean traditions. [20], Krzinger and Gundry re-read the Papian fragment through the lens of rhetorical categories. He called us when all we had was need. Aelius Theon, Prog. A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. I.2.26; Eusebius, h.e. Beth: And it's in a chapel with two other paintings by Caravaggio all about Matthew. [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. Pet. Ps. As a result, those who reject the academic consensus on Markan priority are often the most open to Papiass claim. Based on Papiass title Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord and his summary of Marks account of the oracles of the Lord, Papiass usage of the term logion encompassed both teachings and short narrative episodes (cf. It is touching that Matthew, gift of Yahweh loved his new name, probably given to him by Jesus. Some Patristic interpreters guessed that the evangelists Mark and Luke called Matthew by his less popular name Levi out of deference for his apostolic status, while Matthew himself had the humility to confess that he was once employed in a disreputable profession under his better-known name (e.g., John Chrysostom, hom. Say, Jesus saw Levi and knew that Levi and the other tax collectors needed to know the good news. 3.39.1, 15), which subtly contrasts with an exclusive interest in the Lords logoi or sayings (3.39.14). 3.25.5; cf. 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). Among these repetitions are: variations of Mattathias (five times), Jesus (twice), Joseph (three times), Simeon (Semein), Levi (twice), and Melchi (twice). Jesus Christ and Saint Peter have entered the room, and Jesus is pointing at Matthew. There must have been at least 15-20 people eating in Levis spacious home. Third, Matthew Wanted to Tell Others about Christ. - And it came to pass - seems the best reading - as he was sitting at meat in his house.This was the house of Matthew. Tax collectors were not very respected people in Jesus' time because many of them stole from the people. Some Patristic interpreters guessed that the evangelists Mark and Luke called Matthew by his less popular name Levi out of deference for his apostolic status, while Matthew himself had the humility to confess that he was once employed in a disreputable profession under his better-known name (e.g., John Chrysostom, When Origen of Alexandria searched for a parallel for why Saul was surnamed Paul in the preface of his. The thesis that the first canonical Gospel was published under the name of a pseudonym is defended by George D. Kilpatrick. [16] This English translation of the Greek text is taken from Michael W. Holmes, editor, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (rev. 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. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Romans were their enemies. Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Vose Seminary Matthias was the only one who was not chosen by Jesus . ill. 3; Tract. [40] Conversely, Papias may not have known the Gospel according to the Hebrews at all, instead learning about the woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord from his oral informants in Asia Minor, and Eusebius may have been the one who discovered that this tale was included in the version of the Gospel according to the Hebrews that circulated in his own day. Many people were surprised when Jesus sat down to eat with Levi, but they learned that Jesus' message of salvation is for everyone. This English translation of the Greek text is taken from Michael W. Holmes, editor, Matthew Black, The Use of Rhetorical Terminology in Papias on Matthew and Mark. It felt "weird," Carr said. [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. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. 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. To follow Jesus requires renouncement. 3.2-3), but failed to place them in a rhetorically effective arrangement (taxis), whereas Matthew arranged (sunetaxato) the oracles (logia) in a Hebrew style.[21] 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. Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. Saint Matthew made a very small decision at the time that ended up not only affecting his life, and the people of his time, but he made a choice that affected all of mankind in the future as well. What created confusion was that Irenaeus reported that Jewish Christ followers who were called Ebionites or poor ones had a special affinity for Matthews Gospel, just as Marcion was inclined toward Lukes Gospel and Valentinus toward Johns Gospel (haer. Teilband 1, ed. 2. Alternatively, the textual variant that has James instead of Levi as the son of Alphaeus in Mark 2:14 in a handful of manuscripts was plausibly motivated by a desire for uniformity by having a single son of Alphaeus (cf. 16.13). Corrections? 3. Perhaps they did so because Levis call narrative closely resembled the summons of the first four apostles to discipleship in Mark 1:1620 and Alpheus was already remembered as the father of one of the apostles in Mark 3:18. Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. For example, the Valentinian theologian Heracleon differentiated Levi from Matthew (cf. Soon, Jesus and His disciples are having dinner in . T/F, 3. Curiously, Origen answered the philosopher Celsus's criticism that Jesus assembled a motley crew of "toll collectors and sailors" by stressing that Matthew was the sole toll collector within the apostolic circle and that Levi was not numbered among the twelve apostles except for in select manuscripts of Mark's Gospel (Cels. 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. 3 Whatever their character, the line between astrology and astronomy was thin, if only because stargazing was respectable. Tax collectors were rich people. 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. Fellow citizens considered him a social outcast who was a traitor to their nation. Rudolf Pesch, LeviMatthus (Me 2.14/Mt 9.9; 10.3). Levi was happy to accept! 29.9.4; 30.3.7; 30.13.2; 30.14.3) and Jerome (Epist. The next disciple that Jesus called was Levi (Matthew). It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine why Matthew was substituted for Levi. Indeed, Levi is Israel's priestly tribe, as stated in the Bible: "The priests the Levites the priests the Levites the priests the Levites" (Deuteronomy 17:9, 17:18, 18:1). The best way to think about the Greek language during the time of Jesus is to think about modern-day English. 4 Macc 12:7; 16:15; Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14; Josephus, A.J. B. 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. Christ redeemed the priesthood of Levi back unto himself and redeemed Matthew the . Change the way you think and act, and believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) this Good News. Impossible!"[3]. Even if this guy gets over the fact that I'm a tax collector, how could he ever be interested in me? Friedrich Schleiermacher, ber die Zeugnisse des Papias von unsern beiden ersten Evangelien, TSK 5 (1832): 73568; Manson, For the general consensus of Q scholars, see Nigel Turner, Q in Recent Thought, Daniel A. Bertrand, Lvangile des Ebionites: une harmonie vangelique antrieur au. 16:18) Mark and Luke were probably stunned by Jesus' inclusion of a hated tax collector in His Twelve. See John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church, and Morality in the First Gospel(New York: Paulist, 1978), 2425. [23] Krzinger, Papias, 24, 3342; cf. A few scholars have likened Papiass oracles to a testimonium source or collection of prophetic proof-texts from the Hebrew Bible that were translated and integrated into the Gospel of Matthew. The answer is very simple. 30.3.7; 30.13.214.4), was the Gospel according to the Hebrews, though Epiphanius derided it as the Ebionites mutilation of Matthews Gospel. He being a Hebrew wrote in Hebrew, that is, his own tongue and most fluently; while things which were eloquently written in Hebrew were more eloquently turned into Greek. Jerome, 382 AD On Illustrious Men, Book V. This writer will go with the early church writers who were within a few hundred years from Matthew and the other people who knew Jesus rather than with unproven theories several thousands of years away from sources. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners., CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Pharisees article. He may call peop The Calling of St. Matthew, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017), 1089; cf. "Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite'." Learn Religions, Dec. 6, 2021, learnreligions.com/nathanael-the-true-israelite-701068. Zavada, Jack. [21] Krzinger, Papias, 1214, 2122, 5256; Gundry, Matthew, xxixxii, 61820; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 6364, 6768. [7] Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony, 2nd ed. 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 . ill. 16; Is. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. In Matthew, because of the use of Q and Matthew's theological organization, there is stress on Jesus as teacher, his sharpening or radicalizing of the Law in an eschatological context; and Jesus is presented not in secret but as an openly proclaimed Messiah, King, and Judge. However, Bacons hypothesis depends on his suppositions that the source of Matthew 10:24 was not simply Mark 3:1619 and that the author of Matthews Gospel did not just alter Marks order by moving Thomas before Matthew. 1.62), though these According to Luke 5:29, the aforementioned dinner was given by Levi in his house after his call. 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. Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. But Levis guests were of his social ilksinners and other tax collectors.The Pharisees (we get our word pharisaical meaning self-righteous; hypocritical from this sect in ancient Judaism) were always watching whatever Jesus did and said and they followed him to Levis house and were appalled to see Him eating and talking with tax collectors and sinners.Several of Jesus other disciples were near. Pan. 13:3; Pol. Sextus Julius AfricanusWhy Did The Magi Come ? At worst, they were charlatans, sycophants, and brutes (cf. Levi meaning joined and the name Matthew meaning gift of Yahweh.. So it is more than probable that Matthew or someone else translated Matthews biography of Christ into Greek in order to spread the Good News beyond the Jews. Matthew, of course. We first meet Levi (aka Matthew) in Capernaum beside the Sea of Galilee: Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. Jesus' death by crucifixion was the worst death that anybody would have to endure. St. Matthew, also called St. Matthew the Evangelist, St. Matthew the Apostle, or Levi, (flourished 1st century ce, Palestine; Western feast day September 21, Eastern feast day November 16), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the traditional author of the first Synoptic Gospel (the Gospel According to Matthew). The other Eleven were ordinary men. Both books are addressed to the same persona man named Theophilus. 3.27.4). [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. John P. Meier even entertains the option that the evangelist wanted to replace Levi with any of the apostles and Matthew was chosen at random for this aim. [34] Friedrich Schleiermacher, ber die Zeugnisse des Papias von unsern beiden ersten Evangelien, TSK 5 (1832): 73568; Manson, Gospels and Epistles, 7787; Hill, Matthew, 2427; Davies and Allison, Matthew IIV, 1.17; Black, Rhetorical Terminology, 3235; Hagner, Matthew 113; xlvxlvi; Nolland, Matthew, 3; Carter, Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist, 1617; Sim, R. 3.24.6; Origen, in h.e. This creates space between Peter and the church's rock. Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said,It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. C hristmas Day may be Dec. 25, but it's not the end of Christmas story. Matthew is the Greek name and Levi was the Hebrew name. 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. In Matthew 4:18-21, he tells them he will make them "fishers of men.". Supported by: ed. Matthew was an accurate counter. Matthews Gospel has more quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament author. T/F, 5. 5.10.3; Clement, in h.e. He it was who gave a feast, for attending which Jesus and the disciples were severely criticized by the Pharisees, k on the charge that it was unseemly for Him to eat with publicans and sinners. 2.9.45.5; Origen, Jo. summer | 4.2K views, 92 likes, 102 loves, 53 comments, 67 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from The Ramp: His presence is here, worship with us at Summer. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. How do we know that Matthew changed after Jesus called him? [5] On the other hand, after scrutinizing the onomastic data compiled by Tal Ilan,[6] 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). I. 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). James son of Alphaeus is traditionally identified as James the Less and James the brother of Jesus. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: 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. Vir. [18] Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. 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. 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. [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. While Jesus was having dinner at Levis house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Per tradition, Matthew was killed by by a soldier on the order of the king of Ethiopia. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 167; Klijn. [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.