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. Gundry, Matthew, xxii. [4] When Origen of Alexandria searched for a parallel for why Saul was surnamed Paul in the preface of his Commentary on Romans, he pointed out that the same individual appears under different names in Matthew 9:9 and Luke 5:27 (PG 14.836). Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 24; Luz, Matthew 820, 32, 32n.14. As a tax collector, Matthew . Fellow citizens considered him a social outcast who was a traitor to their nation. [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. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 6089; Kok, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 5253; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 181. Matthew's Gospel was written in approximately A.D.___, before the destruction of Jerusalem. [18] Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. [30] For instance, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 6466; Morris, Matthew, 14; Carson, Matthew, 13 Osborne, Matthew, 34; Brown and Roberts, Matthew, 16. He may call peop When Jesus said He would be there, Levi was so excited he invited lots of his friends. 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. For two reasons *Jews did not like the men who did that work. There were only 8 people in Noahs Ark. Matthews Gospel has more quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament author. These Jewish tax collectors were disdained by the Jews. 3.2).[48]. [28] Baum, Ein aramischer Urmatthus, 26364. Why is Matthew also called Levi? - Quora ; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999), 56869. He followed Jesus to his death. [46] Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. 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. T/F, 4. Levi (Matthew) the Tax Collector - Early Church History, Life In A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. 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. Omissions? [19] Yet our access to Papias is mediated through Eusebius, so it is uncertain whether Eusebius interrupted an interconnected statement about both evangelists or juxtaposed two separate excerpts from Papias together. Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. 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. Saint Matthew's decision lives on into eternity and benefited not millions . Jesus' interaction with Matthew, Zacchaeus and other tax collectors [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. 1. 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.". CHICAGO (RNS) The first time the Rev. 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. 29.7.4). How come only five disciples of Jesus Christ wrote books in the New Testament? Say, Jesus saw Levi and knew that Levi and the other tax collectors needed to know the good news. Matthew or Levi? Which was the name of the taxman | carm.org "Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite'." Learn Religions, Dec. 6, 2021, learnreligions.com/nathanael-the-true-israelite-701068. 40.9; Ezech. 3.24.6; Origen, in h.e. [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. This is a depiction of a moment of spiritual awakening and conversion, which was something many Baroque artists were interested in painting, especially Caravaggio. 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. Ward Powers, The Progressive Publication of Matthew: An Explanation of the Writing of the Synoptic Gospels (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010), 2829. 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. In spite of this, Jesus went to Levi and invited him to join Jesus' disciples. Of course, their hippy-dippy ways are . There is no indication that Matthew wrote anything (contra John 21:24; Gos. Matthew is the Greek name and Levi was the Hebrew name. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. But let's hear Matthew's own account of his calling: 3.25.5; cf. Levi was happy to accept! 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. Levi's work was to take the money. 20.5; Vir. It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine why Matthew was substituted for Levi. 16.13). 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. Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew). Why Thomas Jefferson Rewrote the Bible Without Jesus - HISTORY Assuming that the identification of Matthew with Levi is correct, Matthew (probably meaning "Yahweh's 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. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. 2:1-10; Acts 8:9-24). Matthew did follow Jesus for the rest of his life. When Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. The assumption is that this order of the Gospels is a chronological one, when in fact it is a theological one. Matthew's " original name, Levi, suggests that he was a man of the priestly tribe." Levi means " adhesion ." But Matthew was re-Christened " gift " or "given," a profound switch for a tax. Despite the pain and agony of the cross, Jesus chose to die for the sins of the world because He loves us. Many people were surprised when Jesus sat down to eat with Levi, but they learned that Jesus' message of salvation is for everyone. There must have been at least 15-20 people eating in Levis spacious home. Logion could be translated as an oracle or divine utterance. 3.11.7), which is hard to reconcile with the Ebionitess denial of the virginal conception of Jesus (1.26.2; 3.21.1; 5.1.3; contra Matt 1:23). The Western reading attested in Codex Bezae that switched Thaddaeus with Lebbaeus, the Latinized form of Levi, in the list of the twelve apostles in Mark 3:18, influenced the textual transmission of Matthew 10:3. The fishermen who followed Jesus, and some became His Apostles, had to pay taxes on fishing licenses and perhaps on their daily catch. Could Ancient Sparta Defeat Ancient Rome? F. C. Burkitt, Levi Son of Alphaeus JTS 28 (1927): 27374; Metzger, Textual Commentary, 78; Brent Nongbri, Matthew and Levi. Benjamin Bacon (Studies in Matthew [New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1930], 3940) conjectures that the textual variant in Mark 2:14 predated the composition of Matthews Gospel, leading a pre-Matthean scribe who was transmitting a list of the Twelve that was originally independent of Mark 3:1619 to preface the name James the son of Alphaeus with the title the toll collector. The author of Matthews Gospel, however, copied this list in Matthew 10:24 and wrongly took this scribal insertion in reference to Matthew since James was immediately preceded by Matthew in the list of names. 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. Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies He called us when all we had was need. 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. However, Mark . March 2020. The other Eleven were ordinary men. [30] Warren Carter underscores how Papiass erroneous supposition served to underline the antiquity of this gospel and link it to the apostles.[31], Another option is that Papias was referring to a lost source. R. McL. Jesus came to give us the same choice he gave . Watchthe video below. [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. T/F, 2. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Matthew - New Advent [9] Lindars, Western Text,222; cf. For criticism of their theory, see France, Matthew, 70. Tax collectors were not very respected people in Jesus' time because many of them stole from the people. And many followed him ( Mark 2:15 ). Gospel According to Matthew | Description, History, & Facts 3.39.16). Soon, Jesus and His disciples are having dinner in . As Jesus was having a meal in Levi's home, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples . 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. [22] Krzinger, Papias, 22; Gundry, Matthew, 619; Pre-Papian Tradition, xxi, 68; cf. Matthew was obviously a small mokhes because he himself was sitting in the tax office as Jesus passed through the outskirts of Capernaum. [33] Some scholars equate Matthews oracles with the hypothetical sources Q or M supposedly underlying the double tradition shared by Matthew and Luke and the singly attested traditions in Matthews Gospel respectively. Third, Matthew Wanted to Tell Others about Christ. , TSAJ 91 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002). 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). There were, however, at the time of Christ and the Apostles two languages spoken by JewsAramaic and Greek. 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.