If the first gospel were not by matthew, one would be at a loss to explain why the author seemed to not be deprecating to matthew in a subtle way. The traditional author is james the just, a servant of god and brother of the lord jesus christ. Authorship by tradition the fact that matthew is the author of his gospel has always been the tradition of the roman catholic church and was reaffirmed as recently as the council of vatican ii. While these references to the apostle matthew are entirely speculative, there are more clues regarding the greek author who composed the final version of the gospel. His father, alpheaus probably the same clopas, n 628, was, according to eusebius, a brother to joseph e 79, husband to mary, mother of our lord.
Petrie observes, until the latter half of the eighteenth century, the apostolic authorship of the gospel according to matthew seems to have been generally accepted. Hunter, introducing the new testament philadelphia. The good news for every sinner in the world is jesus alone can forgive you of all your sins and give you eternal life acts 4. The gospel of the kingdom by charles haddon spurgeon with introductory note by mrs. He was chosen to be one of the twelve apostles mt 10. Authorship since the times of the early church fathers, the apostle matthew has always been accredited with the authorship of the first gospel canonically. Foxe says that matthew was martyred in the city of nadabah in a. Few of the books of the bible specifically name their author. The earliest reference to matthew and mark as authors of their respective gospels comes from papias, the bishop of hierapolis who wrote about 110120 c. A close associate of jesus during his ministry, matthew s gospel is a. Matthew, surnamed levi, had been a taxcollector, one of jesus earliest disciples mt 9.
Unlike the internal case, a strong case for lukan authorship can be made from the external evidence. Why scholars doubt the traditional authors of the gospels. Matthew is referred to as levi the son of alphaeus at mark 2. This chart diagrams the farrer hypothesis, which argues that the author of luke used both mark and matthew to compose his gospel. Commentary on the book of gospel of matthew by matthew henry. The gospel of matthew table of contents introduction to matthew 4 the genealogy of jesus christ 1. Also called the books of writings include the following books. Books of the bible, authors and dates of writing bible book. Did the authors of the canonical gospels know each other. Apr 01, 2019 the apostle matthew, also known as saint matthew and levi, was one of the twelve disciples of jesus christ. Matthew also called levi, the former tax collector who became jesus disciple, is the author. Authorship of matthews gospel women can be priests.
Out of the four men named james in the new testament, only two have ever been suggested as the author james, the brother of john sons of zebedee, and james, the lords half brother. Supplement to introducing the new testament, 2nd ed. The caption records matthew as the individual giving the account of the gospel message. The gospel according to matthew title and authorship according to the fourthcentury church historian eusebius, a bishop named papias ca. Explorations in biblical theology includes bibliographical references and index. How do we know matthew was the author of the gospel of.
This evangelist is generally supposed to have been a physician, and a companion of the apostle paul. Matthew even finds the history of gods people in the ot recapitulated in some aspects of jesus life see, e. Therefore, since the apostle matthew was a contributing author, and since the book greatly emphasizes the teachings of jesus, it became easy to attach matthew s name to it for authority. Cadbury2 and others have cast considerable doubt on hobarts assertion. The early church fathers recognized matthew as the author, church history has recognized matthew as the author, and there are many internal clues that point to matthew s role in writing. Kostenberger in partial fulfillment of the requirements for b 1460 the gospels greek by ted d. The way the material is arranged reveals an artistic touch. Every author of the new testament was jewish except for luke. Matthew, mark, luke, and john are called the gospels. This book is known as the gospel of matthew because it was written by the apostle of the same name.
Agur and lemuel are specifically named as the writers of proverbs 30 and 31. He is traditionally regarded as the author of the gospel of matthew. As far as irenaeus and tertullian were concerned, matthew wrote this gospel. In this history written by matthew, mark, luke, and john, the spirit of god so governed their hearts, that although they were four in number, yet in effect and purpose they so consent, as though the whole had been composed by any one of them. Evangelical scholarship has well cautioned against classifying an ancient text as an autobiography based only on the.
Matthew henry 18 october 1662 22 june 1714 was an english commentator on the bible, who published his works in 1706, sixvolume exposition of the old and new testaments 17081710 or complete commentary, provides an exhaustive verse by verse study of the bible, covering the whole of the old testament, and the gospels and acts in the new testament. The holy gospel of jesus christ, according to matthew. In addition to jesus claims in matthew 24, daniel itself has internal evidence of the prophets own authorship. Matthew also provides a nice bridge between the two testaments of the christian bible. The linking of the paragraphs of a chiasm is done by parallelism. Traditionally, it is believed to have been written by one of the twelve apostles of jesus christ, by the name of matthew or. Jesus revealed as deliverer, king, and incarnate creator charles l. Interestingly, as an apostle of jesus christ, he is not mentioned again in the nt. The gospel of matthew was published first in hebrew aramaic, then in greek. However, both external and internal evidence support the position that matthew is the author of the gospel that traditionally bears his name. Matthew was a tax collector publican before his conversion cf. An evangelical position of the authorship of the gospel of matthew in the light of canonicity and inspiration a research paper presented to dr. We will briefly discuss the internal and external evidence in favor of this traditional authorship.
The author was supposed to have been one of the twelve. The authorship of the gospel of matthew the universal testimony of the early church fathers is that matthew the apostle wrote the gospel of matthew in both hebrew and greek. Why scholars doubt the traditional authors of the gospels 2017 matthew wade ferguson. The authorship of the gospel according to matthew a reconsideration of the external evidence volume 14 issue 1. All of these factors eliminate the possibility of authorship by an eyewitness. Jun 25, 2019 however, we also know from history that the earliest members of the church understood matthew to be the author of the gospel that was eventually given his name. The canonicity and matthean authorship of this gospel were unchallenged in the early church. One would expect multiple traditions and some manuscripts without the title page if the authorship was once unknown.
Chiasm is the only structure matthew used in his gospel. Matthew was probably written to, from, and for an hellenistic jewish christian. In the books of mark and luke, he is called by his other name levi. It tells how israels messiah, jesus, comes to his people and forms a community of disciples, how israel becomes divided and how. The external evidence outside the bible for the authorship of matthew includes. Books of the bible, authors and dates of writing bible. A differently inflected form of a word may be used and occasionally a synonym is used. Jesus evidences the historical literary evidence for jesus. Bob utley, retired professor of hermeneutics biblical interpretation. Author the apostolic origin and canonical rank of the gospel of matthew were accepted without a doubt by the early church isbe.
Papias, irenaeus, pantaenus, and origen all report matthew as the writer of the first gospel. Books of the bible, authors and dates of writing haggai haggai 520 bc zechariah zechariah 520 bc malachi malachi 470 bc matthew matthew 50 ad mark mark 52 ad luke luke 55 ad john john 60 ad acts luke 62 ad romans paul 57 ad 1 corinthians paul 55 ad 2 corinthians paul 56 ad galatians paul 52 ad ephesians paul 61 ad philippians paul 61 ad. Thte gospel of john wrote a lesson conrnenfaiy on 277 verses of the gospel of mark, there are 678 verses in mark, the editor has written thought questions for all 678 verses, as well as pact qr4es tioizs for the entire gospel. Ii authorship and dating by ancient testimony and tradition a. Jan 02, 2020 the authors all present different perspectives, but they all proclaim the same one true god, and the same one way of salvationjesus christ john 14. Matthew is written in good greek, but matthew was a jew. Authorship of matthews gospel baker publishing group. The author of greek matthew was undoubtedly a teacher, a jewish scribe who was thoroughly hellenised influenced by greek culture, a man who knew the old testament well and who used his skills as a scribe to prove that jesus was the promised messiah. Introduction to the gospel of matthew study resources. Parallelism consists in the repetition of words or phrases. It is not found in justin, who lived in rome in 150 ce and who quotes the gospel along with mark and luke without indicating who wrote them.
The study of the book of matthew introduction the book of matthew is one of the accounts of jesus life. Pauline authorship is now generally rejected, and the real author is unknown. Authorship the writer identifies himself only as james, a bondservant of god and of the lord jesus christ jam 1. According to daniel wallace, there are three objections of matthean authorship. Moses may have compiled the book based on jobs records psalms, written by david, and several others including asaph, ezra, the sons of korah, heman, ethan, moses and a host of unnamed authors proverbs, written by solomon.
The origin and purpose of the gospel of matthew jstor. Euangelion kata matthaion, also called the gospel of matthew, or simply matthew, is the first book of the new testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. However, both external and internal evidence support the. David farnell concur with this view that the early church fathers taught that matthew wrote both a hebrew and greek version of his gospel when they write, without exception they held that the apostle matthew wrote the canonical matthew and that he wrote it first in a semitic language. For one thing, we know that the early church fathers were very skeptical in fact, thats an understatement actually that they were absolutely opposed to accepting forgeries as being authentic, canonical works, as belonging to. Jun 25, 20 in my previous post i showed that the claim that matthew, the taxcollector, was the author of the gospel of matthew as we continue to call it cannot be traced earlier than about 180 ce.
Mar 02, 2016 there is no dispute in the ancient world as to the authorship of this gospel. Matthew, peter, and john were among the 12 disciples who walked with christ during his earthly ministry. Matthew, whose name means gift of the lord, was a tax collector who left his work to follow jesus 9. Spurgeon introductory note few and simple should be the words which introduce this eagerly expected book to the many friends who will welcome it. For the christian communities in the cities of the middle east, it was crucial to work out clearly how their belief in christ related to the old jewish. The traditional authors of the canonical gospels matthew the tax collector, mark the attendant of peter, luke the attendant of paul, and john the son of zebedeeare doubted among the majority of mainstream new testament scholars.
Ad 60 writes, matthew put together the oracles of the lord in the hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. The book of matthew has always occupied a position of high esteem in the faith and life of the church. The traditional author is james the just, a servant of. As with the other 3 gospels, this work is known by the name of its author.
The gospel according to matthew also called the gospel of matthew, or simply matthew, is the. Intro to matthew biblica the international bible society. The beloved author has gone to his eternal reward, he is. The author is not named in the greek text, but in the title. Unfortunately, authorship of the gospel of matthew remains a mystery. Commentary on the book of gospel of matthew by matthew. Matthew s authorship in his work against marcion, book 4, chapter 2. To accomplish his purpose matthew also emphasizes jesus davidic lineage see recipients, p. The books and authors of the new testament name nationality home town occupation relationships chapters written verses written books written matthew jew capernaum tax collector apostle of jesus christ 28 1,071gospel of matthew mark jew jerusalemunknown missionary disciple of peter 16 678 gospel of mark luke hellenistic jew. The text of the first gospel, however, neither claims ma hean authorship nor reads like a translation from the hebrew. Gospel of matthew matthew the apostle matthew was a member of a wealthy galilean jewish family.
Detailed textcritical discussion of the 300 most important variants of the greek text pdf, 438 pages. Technically matthew, like the other three gospels, is anonymous. Since the times of the early church fathers, the apostle matthew has always been accredited with the authorship of the first gospel canonically. The farrer hypothesis is an interesting solution to the synoptic problem, because it allows us in theory to compare lukes attitudes to the two different. Authorship although the gospel of luke is technically anonymous, christians have traditionally attributed authorship to luke, a physician associated with paul. When we turn to matthew, we turn to the book which may well be called the most important single document of the christian faith, for in it we have the fullest and the most. List of new testament authors new testament charts. Out of the four men named james in the new testament, only two have ever been suggested as the author james, the brother of john sons of. And albeit in style and manner of writing they be divers. Of the apostles, therefore, john and matthew first instill faith into us luke and mark renew it afterwards. List of new testament authors bible history online. Direct internal evidence in the gospel for lukan authorship is practically nonexistent. The style of the book is exactly what would be expected of a man who was once a tax collector. When jesus called matthew to follow him, he was a tax collector or publicanone of the most reviled professions in ancient judaism.
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