A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. CHICAGO (RNS) The first time the Rev. He was included as one of the Evangelists according to the Christian tradition. 30.13.45), indicating that it was published in Greek at the outset. Because Levis occupation was one that earned distrust and contempt everywhere, the scribes of the Pharisees criticized Jesus on seeing him eat with tax collectors and sinners, whereupon Jesus answered, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:1517). Rudolf Pesch, LeviMatthus (Me 2.14/Mt 9.9; 10.3). Who translated it after that in Greek is not sufficiently ascertained. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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). 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. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. See John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew: Christ, Church, and Morality in the First Gospel(New York: Paulist, 1978), 2425. Biblical Evidence : Read Mark 2:13-14. 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. [46] Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. This makes it doubtful that Matthew 9:9 was intended as either the evangelists self-reference or as a pseudonymous literary device supplementing the ascription of this Gospel to Matthew. 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. There are sayings (Matt 13:3643) and stories (e.g., Matt 12) in Matthews special material, too. Or Levi was having a lot of friends over for dinner that night and asked Jesus if He would come, too. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. He offered something infinitely better. Based on Papiass title. prol.) [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. This could be a good possibility for the changing of the names. The next disciple that Jesus called was Levi (Matthew). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In Matthew 4:18-21, he tells them he will make them "fishers of men.". It was to that man, the most despised of the despicable, to whom Jesus said, "Follow Me!" This is very possible, as scholars point to Simon (Peter) and Saul. The Patristic Traditions about the Evangelist Matthew. The Calling of St. Matthew, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502. He is mentioned in Matthew 9:9. ill. 2), but several of his quotations were lifted from previous Greek texts penned by figures such as Ignatius (cf. (1) Repetition of names in the list after David, some of which appear to be anachronisms, possibly suggesting that this list had its own history. The Bible shares in the book of Acts, that the betrayal and arrest of Jesus were foretold long ago by the Holy Spirit. Tradition notes his ministry in Judaea, after which he supposedly missioned to the East, suggesting Ethiopia and Persia. In this post, let us take a deeper . 16:18) Mark and Luke were probably stunned by Jesus inclusion of a hated tax collector in His Twelve. Matthew's shocked facial expression shows that he understands this societal dynamic well, but his look and gesture may indicate even more than that. [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. When Jesus said He would be there, Levi was so excited he invited lots of his friends. It felt "weird," Carr said. ed. Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Media, Video and Lectures From The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Arizona, Teaching the Bible in Public Schools and Higher Ed, Scholars, Frauds, the Media and the Public, Essays on Minimalism from Bible and Interpretation, Final Reports on the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Essays on the James Ossuary and the Temple Tablet from Bible and Interpretation, University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies, Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville. T/F, 4. 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.' ". Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. 3.39.17. One did not give up collecting taxes for the Romans on a whim and expect to ever return. 29-30) 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. [15], The Original Language of Matthews Gospel, Unlike the modern deductions about Matthews level of literacy, Papias did not presuppose Matthews facility in Greek. Tax collectors were hated by the Jews. 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. T/F, 3. [6] Tal Ilan, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity: Part I: Palestine 330 BCE 200 CE, TSAJ 91 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002). Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. [36] Dennis MacDonald, Two Shipwrecked Gospels: The Logoi of Jesus and Papiasss Exposition of Logia about the Lord (Atlanta: SBL, 2012), 15. I.2.26; Eusebius, h.e. Tax collectors at that time were known as dishonest and corrupt people. And many followed him ( Mark 2:15 ). 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. [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. 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. Christ redeemed the priesthood of Levi back unto himself and redeemed Matthew the . Luke 6:12-26. Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 6089; Kok, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 5253; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 181. , TSAJ 91 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002). Matthew's Gospel was written in approximately A.D.___, before the destruction of Jerusalem. haer. Thom. Jesus believed that he had the same right to reassign a person's nameand therefore a person's life calling and destiny" (Cunningham). St. Matthew (Matthew 9:10) modestly says, "in the house," keeping himself as much as possible in the background.St. Teilband 1, ed. had his name changed from Levi to Matthew likely by Jesus Himself who changed Simons name to Peter.(Matt. 135; Matt. Some have also argued that he's the Apostle Matthew 's brother. The story of Matthew's calling shows us the amazing power of God's grace and how it transforms people and become extraordinary servants of our Creator. http://www.brentcunningham.org/?p=316 They were considered traitors because they worked for the despised Roman rulers. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. Jesus was becoming popular. The meaning in Hebrew of the word day always means a 24 hour period of time. 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. 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). A survey of the ancient traditions about how the evangelist Matthew wrote his Gospel in Aramaic for a Jewish audience before it was translated into Greek suggests that the modern assumptions about the Apostles fluency in Greek or education in rhetorical composition may not have necessarily been shared by the Patristic intelligentsia. I also was allowed by the Nazarenes who use this volume in the Syrian city of Beroea to copy it. Jerome: De viris inlustribus (On Illustrious Men), chapter III. [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. 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. Supported by: 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. Pet. For objections against this view, see Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 25n.26; Luz, Matthew 820, 32. 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. [16] At first sight, this description seems like a poor match for the extant text entitled the Gospel according to Matthew, for it does not look like a translation of an Aramaic precursor. 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. with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. 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). David: That's right, in the larger church. For criticism of their theory, see France, Matthew, 70. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. [30] For instance, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 6466; Morris, Matthew, 14; Carson, Matthew, 13 Osborne, Matthew, 34; Brown and Roberts, Matthew, 16. Key Verse: 6:13, "When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles". 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. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. 1.9.9). The other Eleven were ordinary men. Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. Outside the New Testament, a statement of importance about him is the passage from the Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis preserved by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea: So then Matthew composed the Oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as he could. The Gospel According to Matthew was certainly written for a Jewish-Christian church in a strongly Jewish environment, but that this Matthew is definitely the Synoptic author is seriously doubted. As a tax collector, Matthew . 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. 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. 20.5; Vir. Matthew, the Apostle of Yahshua (Popularly known as Jesus Christ) is best known as the publican or tax collector. [10] For the debate over whether Mark 2:14 and 3:18 refer to the same individual or to two different individuals named Alphaeus, see Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 87n.17. Mich. 7.6; Is. 2.12.87; Didymus, Comm. 47:13-15), yet God . 3. Levi was happy to accept! This is a painting of the Calling of Saint Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. There were 12 men chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ. 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. 1. They were dishonest and were also seen as. [28] On the contrary, there are cases when dialektos is translated as a language even when it is not preceded by an article (e.g., Philo, Mos. 4 Macc 12:7; 16:15; Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14; Josephus, A.J. 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. I. [4] See Manlio Simonetti, Matthew 113, ACCS New Testament 1a (Downers Grove: IVP, 2001), 177; Ulrich Luz, Matthew 820, trans. Modern Persecution of Christians in China, Patriarch Jacobs Well & St. Philoumenous, Slaughter of the Theban Legion C. 286 AD, LapsiChristians Who Lapse/Abandon Their Faith, Evodias Named Followers of Christ Christians. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them. [47] Whatever the case, Jerome slowly distanced himself from his earlier confident declarations that the Nazarenes had the original Matthean Gospel in their possession (cf. [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. But lets hear Matthews own account of his calling: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collectors booth. 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. Alternate titles: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Evangelist. The best way to think about the Greek language during the time of Jesus is to think about modern-day English. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collectors booth. The important take-away from this detour through the Patristic testimonies was that the oldest tradition was that the evangelist Matthew published a text in Aramaic and left it to more qualified translators to translate it into the form that we have today as the Greek. Why is Matthew called Levi? Acts 1:1-2 appears to tie the two books to the same author. Vose Seminary [28] Baum, Ein aramischer Urmatthus, 26364. Clement. He had the ability, the means, the opportunity, the motivation, and he wouldnt have done it? There are many examples of irresistible grace in God's Word. 29.7.4). Several theories have been offered to account for why the toll collector Levi was re-named Matthew in Matthew 9:9 (cf. 1.62), though these observations contradict Origens argument in his commentary above. Even so, most readers of the New Testament throughout history have taken the identification of Levi with Matthew for granted. James E. Crouch; Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 32n.12; Ian Boxall, Matthew through the Centuries (Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell, 2019), 31, 172. Updates? Watchthe video below. Hence, Mark listened to Peters chreiai or anecdotes about the Lords sayings and deeds (cf. Ein Beitrag zur Lsung eines alten Problems ZNW59 (1968): 4056; Mark Kiley, Why Matthew in Matt 9:913Biblica65.3 (1984): 34751; Michael J. Kok, Re-naming the Toll Collector in Matthew 9:9: A Review of the Options JGAR (forthcoming). A beam of light illuminates the faces of the men at the table who are looking at Jesus Christ. [17] W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Gospel According to Saint Matthew. [20] Matthew Black, The Use of Rhetorical Terminology in Papias on Matthew and Mark JSNT 37 (1989): 32; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 222. There must have been at least 15-20 people eating in Levis spacious home. Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies 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. Pelag. 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. Indeed, Papias commented on a story about the Lords encounter with a condemned woman that Eusebius located in this Gospel (cf. Matthew 9:9-13 begins with Jesus calling Matthew, a tax collector, to follow Him as His disciple. h.e. Following Jesus Meant Matthew Lost His Lucrative Tax Collector Career. Ps. There is no indication that Matthew wrote anything (contra John 21:24; Gos. 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. Luz, Matthew 17, 80. As a result, those who reject the academic consensus on Markan priority are often the most open to Papiass claim. Wilson (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991), 138; A. F. J. Klijn, Jewish-Christian Gospel Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 11, 119, 138; Hans Josef Klauck, Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction, trans. VesuviusAugust 24, 79 AD. The Ipuwer PapyrusWere The 10 Biblical Plagues Real? Krzinger and Gundry re-read the Papian fragment through the lens of rhetorical categories. Dr. Beth Harris: In the Contarelli Chapel. [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. Jesus was very popular in the Capernaum area where He and Levi lived and it is sure Levi had seen and heard the Nazarene. 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. 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. Tax collectors were rich people. High priest Aaron and his sons were descendants of Levi (Exodus 4:14), Levi being a son of Jacob (Genesis 29:34). [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. h.e. 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. 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. Ward Powers, The Progressive Publication of Matthew: An Explanation of the Writing of the Synoptic Gospels (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010), 2829. Could Ancient Sparta Defeat Ancient Rome? How Did Jesus Spend the Last Week of His Life? Matthew was a Levite from the priestly tribe of Levi, making his role that of writing on Christ's priesthood. Answer (1 of 3): In Mark, the first New Testament gospel written, Matthew and Levi are very definitely two different people. [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. Teilband 1, ed. 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 came to give us the same choice he gave . Th. According to Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14, Matthew was sitting by the customs house in Capernaum (near modern Almagor, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee) when Jesus called him into his company.
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