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===Authorship=== ===Authorship===
Although the Gospel of Matthew does not name its author, some of the early ] have the following citation: ''"Here ends the Gospel of the Apostle Matthew. He wrote it in the land of Palestine, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in the Hebrew language."'' <ref></ref> The record of the tradition that the author was the disciple ] begins with the early Christian bishop ] (b. 63 A.D.), who testified: "Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus ('']'') in a Hebrew dialect (''en Hebraïdi dialektōi''—may refer to ] or ]), and everyone translated (''hērmēneusen''—or "interpreted") them to the best of their ability.<ref></ref><ref>Editorial board, ''The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation.'' Catholic University Press, 1969. Vol. 1, p 379</ref><ref>James R. Edwards, ''The Hebrew Gospel and the development of the Synoptic Tradition,'' Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 264 & 273</ref><ref name="Turner, pp.15-16">Turner, pp.15–16</ref> The Gospel of Matthew does not name its author. The tradition that this was the disciple ] begins with the early Christian bishop ] (b. 63 A.D.), who testified: "Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus ('']'') in a Hebrew dialect (''en Hebraïdi dialektōi''—may refer to ] or ]), and everyone translated (''hērmēneusen''—or "interpreted") them to the best of their ability.<ref></ref><ref>Editorial board, ''The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation.'' Catholic University Press, 1969. Vol. 1, p 379</ref><ref>James R. Edwards, ''The Hebrew Gospel and the development of the Synoptic Tradition,'' Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 264 & 273</ref><ref name="Turner, pp.15-16">Turner, pp.15–16</ref>


On the surface this implies that Matthew's Gospel was written in Hebrew or Aramaic and translated into Greek, but some scholars believe the passage is ambiguous. Matthew's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation."<ref>Bromiley, p.281</ref> Scholars have put forward several theories to explain Papias: perhaps Matthew wrote two gospels, one, now lost, in Hebrew, the other our Greek version; or perhaps the ''logia'' was a collection of sayings rather than the gospel; or by ''dialektōi'' Papias may have meant that Matthew wrote in the Jewish style rather than in the Hebrew language.<ref name="Turner, pp.15-16"/> On the surface this implies that Matthew's Gospel was written in Hebrew or Aramaic and translated into Greek, but some scholars believe the passage is ambiguous. Matthew's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation."<ref>Bromiley, p.281</ref> Scholars have put forward several theories to explain Papias: perhaps Matthew wrote two gospels, one, now lost, in Hebrew, the other our Greek version; or perhaps the ''logia'' was a collection of sayings rather than the gospel; or by ''dialektōi'' Papias may have meant that Matthew wrote in the Jewish style rather than in the Hebrew language.<ref name="Turner, pp.15-16"/>

Revision as of 05:25, 24 July 2013

For the film, see The Gospel According to St. Matthew (film).

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The Gospel According to Matthew (Template:Lang-el, to euangelion kata Matthaion) (Gospel of Matthew or simply Matthew) is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

It is theorized that the Gospel of Matthew was composed near the end of the Second Temple period with the author drawing on three main sources: the Gospel of Mark, the hypothetical collection of sayings known as the Q source, and material unique to his own community, all of which probably derived ultimately from earlier oral gospel traditions. The narrative tells how the Messiah, having been rejected by Israel's leaders, finally sends the disciples to preach his Gospel to the whole world, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Composition and setting

Evangelist Mathäus und der Engel by Rembrandt

Authorship

The Gospel of Matthew does not name its author. The tradition that this was the disciple Matthew begins with the early Christian bishop Papias of Hierapolis (b. 63 A.D.), who testified: "Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus (logia) in a Hebrew dialect (en Hebraïdi dialektōi—may refer to Hebrew or Aramaic), and everyone translated (hērmēneusen—or "interpreted") them to the best of their ability.

On the surface this implies that Matthew's Gospel was written in Hebrew or Aramaic and translated into Greek, but some scholars believe the passage is ambiguous. Matthew's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation." Scholars have put forward several theories to explain Papias: perhaps Matthew wrote two gospels, one, now lost, in Hebrew, the other our Greek version; or perhaps the logia was a collection of sayings rather than the gospel; or by dialektōi Papias may have meant that Matthew wrote in the Jewish style rather than in the Hebrew language.

Today, modern scholars believe the Papias reference, preserved by Eusebius to be fairly trustworthy and usually interpret it to mean Jesus' disciple Matthew had assembled a collection of Jesus' sayings in Hebrew or Aramaic. Papias meant that it is "genuinely true that the apostle Matthew compiled the sayings of Jesus" in a Hebrew dialect, and the testimony of Papias explicitly and credibly traces its own lineage “directly back to the disciples of Jesus themselves.”

The historical data is both "striking and incontestable". Virtually every piece of external evidence we have from the first few centuries regarding the authorship of the Gospels concurs that Matthew's Gospel was first written in a Hebrew dialect. The widespread agreement of early sources on a number of points is truly remarkable and "cannot be brushed aside, particularly since the discrepancies among these sources regarding other points strongly suggest that they are not, for the most part, simply copying one another." In total there are more than 75 ancient witnesses who testified to the fact that this Hebrew Gospel was in wide circulation. Twelve of the Early Church Fathers testified that it was written by the Apostle Matthew. No ancient writer either Christian or Non Christian challenged these facts.

Modern scholarship: translation verses composite authorship debate

The beginning of Matthew in Minuscule 484

Some, including the Roman Catholic Pontifical Biblical Commission, believe that the Gospel of Matthew is simply a translation of Matthew's Hebrew Gospel. However, there are real problems with this position. First the subscriptions to the early MSS are more consistent with composite authorship than a translation. Jerome confirms this, as there are discrepancies between the Hebrew Gospel and the Gospel of Matthew. In a letter to Pope Damasus, Jerome explains, "I will now speak of the New Testament, which was undoubtedly composed in Greek, with the exception of the Apostle Matthew, who was the first in Judea to produce a Gospel of Christ in Hebrew letters. We must confess that as we have it in our language it is marked by discrepancies , and now that the stream is distributed into different channels we must go back to the fountainhead."

Most contemporary scholars embrace composite authorship (See Two-source hypothesis, Four document hypothesis & Diagram) and believe the Gospel of Matthew is not a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic (Greek primacy). Since the publication of the Aramaic Dead Sea Scrolls, and a variety of other Aramaic documents written in the ancient world, this "present generation of scholars have had the opportunity to make massive progress." We now have a much clearer idea of the " the nature of authorship in Second Temple Judaism. Composite authorship was common, and so was the attribution of documents to the fountainheads of traditions.". As Jerome testifies the Apostle Matthew was the fountainhead of the Greek Gospel of Matthew which is of composite authorship in the same sense as many ancient Jewish works, such as the books of Isaiah and Jubilees.

Therefore the majority of modern scholars, based on analysis of the Greek in the Gospel of Matthew and the use of sources such as the Greek Gospel of Mark, conclude that the New Testament Gospel of Matthew was written originally redacted in Greek and is not a translation from Hebrew or Aramaic (Greek primacy). If they are correct, then the Church Fathers such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Jerome referred to a Hebrew document distinct from the present Gospel of Matthew. For many reasons scholars today believe in composite authorship They theorize that the composite Greek Gospel of Matthew was completed between about 80–90 AD by a highly educated Jew (an "Israelite", in the language of the gospel itself), intimately familiar with the technical aspects of Jewish law, standing on the boundary between traditional and non-traditional Jewish values. The disciple Matthew was probably honored within the author's circle as the fountainhead or source of much of the tradition.

This theory holds that the redactor drew on three primary sources, each representing a distinct community: a hypothetical collection, or several collections, of sayings (called "Q", and shared with Luke); the Gospel of Mark; and material unique to Matthew (called "M", some of which may have originated with Matthew himself). The Jewish redactor wrote for a Jewish audience: like "Q" and "M", he stresses the continuing relevance of the Jewish law; unlike Mark he never bothers to explain Jewish customs; and unlike Luke, who traces Jesus's ancestry back to Adam, father of the human race, he traces it only to Abraham, father of the Jews. The content of "M" suggests that this community was stricter than the others in its attitude to keeping the Jewish law, holding that they must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees in "righteousness" (adherence to Jewish law); and of the three only "M" refers to a "church" (ecclesia), an organised group with rules for keeping order.

Structure and content

Beginning of the Gospel of Matthew in Minuscule 447

Template:Content of Matthew

Structure

Most commentators seem to agree that Matthew, alone among the gospels, alternates five blocks of narrative with five of discourse, marking each off with the phrase "When Jesus had finished..." (see Five Discourses of Matthew). Some scholars see in this five-part layout a deliberate plan to create a parallel to the first five books of the Old Testament; others see a three-part structure based around the idea of Jesus as Messiah; or a set of weekly readings spread out over the year; or no plan at all. Davies and Allison draw attention to the use of "triads" (the gospel groups things in threes), and R. T. France notes the geographic movement from Galilee to Jerusalem and back (the post-resurrection appearances in Galilee are the culmination of the whole story).

Prologue: genealogy, nativity and infancy

Main article: Genealogy of JesusMain article: Nativity of Jesus

The Gospel of Matthew begins with the words "The Book of Genealogy of Jesus Christ", deliberately echoing the words of Genesis 2:4 in the Old Testament in Greek. The genealogy tells of Jesus' descent from Abraham and King David and the miraculous events surrounding his virgin birth, and the infancy narrative tells of the massacre of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, and eventual journey to Nazareth.

First narrative and discourse

Main article: Baptism of JesusMain article: Sermon on the Mount

The first narrative section begins. John baptizes Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. Jesus prays and meditates in the wilderness for forty days, and is tempted by Satan. His early ministry by word and deed in Galilee meets with much success, and leads to the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the discourses. The sermon presents the ethics of the kingdom of God, and includes the Beatitudes ("Blessed are...") as its introduction. It concludes with a reminder that the response to the kingdom will have eternal consequences, and the crowd's amazed response leads into the next narrative block.

Second narrative and discourse

From the authoritative words of Jesus the gospel turns to three sets of three miracles interwoven with two sets of two discipleship stories (the second narrative), followed by a discourse on mission and suffering. Jesus commissions the Twelve Disciples and sends them to preach to the Jews, perform miracles, and prophesy the imminent coming of the Kingdom, commanding them to travel lightly, without staff or sandals, and to be prepared for persecution. Scholars are divided over whether these rules originated with Jesus or with apostolic practice.

Third narrative and discourse

Opposition to Jesus comes to a head with accusations that his deeds are done through the power of Satan; Jesus in turn accuses his opponents of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The discourse is a set of parables emphasising the sovereignty of God, and concluding with a challenge to the disciples to understand the teachings as scribes of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew avoids using the holy word God in the expression "Kingdom of God"; instead he prefers the term "Kingdom of Heaven", reflecting the Jewish tradition of not speaking the name of God).

Fourth narrative and discourse

Main article: Confession of Peter

The fourth narrative section reveals that the increasing opposition to Jesus will result in his crucifixion in Jerusalem, and that his disciples must therefore prepare for his absence. The instructions for the post-crucifixion church emphasize responsibility and humility. (This section contains Matthew 16:13–19, in which Simon, newly renamed Peter, (πέτρος, petros, meaning "stone"), calls Jesus "the Christ, the son of the living God", and Jesus states that on this "bedrock" (πέτρα, petra) he will build his church—the passage forms the foundation for the papacy's claim of authority).

Fifth narrative and discourse

Main article: Second Coming

Jesus travels toward Jerusalem, and the opposition intensifies: he is tested by Pharisees as soon as he begins to move towards the city, and when he arrives he is soon in conflict with the Temple and other religious leaders. The disciples ask about the future, and in his final discourse (the Olivet discourse) Jesus speaks of the coming end. There will be false Messiahs, earthquakes, and persecutions, the sun, moon, and stars will fail, but "this generation" will not pass away before all the prophecies are fulfilled. The disciples must steel themselves for ministry to all the nations. At the end of the discourse Matthew notes that Jesus has finished all his words, and attention turns to the crucifixion.

Conclusion: Passion, Resurrection and Great Commission

The events of Jesus' last week occupy a third of the content of all four gospels. Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph and drives the money changers from the temple, holds a last supper, prays to be spared the coming agony (but concludes "if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done"), and is betrayed. He is tried by the Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrin) and before Pontius Pilate, and Pilate washes his hands to indicate that he does not assume responsibility. Jesus is crucified as king of the Jews, mocked by all. On his death there is an earthquake, and saints rise from their tombs. Mary Magdalene and another Mary discover the empty tomb, guarded by an angel, and Jesus himself tells them to tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee.

After the resurrection the remaining disciples return to Galilee, "to the mountain that Jesus had appointed," where he comes to them and tells them that he has been given "all authority in heaven and on Earth." He gives the Great Commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you;" Jesus will be with them "to the very end of the age." The Ascension is not mentioned.

Themes in Matthew

Woodcut from Anton Koberger's Bible (Nuremberg, 1483): The angelically inspired Saint Matthew musters the Old Testament figures, led by Abraham and David

The title Son of David identifies Jesus as the healing and miracle-working Messiah of Israel (it is used exclusively in relation to miracles, and the Jewish messiah is sent to Israel alone); as Son of Man he will return to judge the world (a fact his disciples recognise but of which his enemies are unaware); and as Son of God he has a unique relationship with God, God revealing himself through his son, and Jesus proving his sonship through his obedience and example. The gospel has been interpreted as reflecting the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. Prior to the Crucifixion the Jews are called Israelites, the honorific title of God's chosen people; after it, they are called "Ioudaioi", Jews, a sign that through their rejection of the Christ the "kingdom of Heaven" has been taken away from them and given instead to the church.

The roots of the gospel in the Matthew-community of the late 1st century give rise to another important title bestowed on Jesus by Matthew, Emmanuel, "God is With Us"—meaning that through Jesus, God is with the ecclesia (literally "assembly", but translated as "church"). Theologically, Matthew's prime concern was that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church increasingly becoming gentile. This concern lies behind the frequent citations of Jewish scripture, the evocation of Jesus as the new Moses along with other events from Jewish history, and the concern to present Jesus as fulfilling, not destroying, the Law.

The Jewish theme in the Gospel of Matthew is apparent in other ways as well. First, nearly every important person in the Gospel of Matthew is Jewish. For example, Jesus, the twelve apostles, and the crowds are Jewish. They never deny their Jewish faith in the gospel. Next, Israel is a common theme in the Gospel of Matthew. For instance, in Matthew 15:31, after a story of the healings of Jesus, the text reads that the crowds ‘praised the God of Israel.’

Matthew may have been influenced by Jewish Christianity, a movement in the first few centuries CE which saw Jesus as the Messiah, but continued to practice Jewish customs and traditions. The Gospel of the Nazarenes, a Jewish Christian text, possesses similar themes to the Gospel of Matthew. These themes include many Jewish related elements.

Comparison with other writings

Matthew, like Luke, incorporates nearly the whole of Mark, keeping the outline intact and adding genealogy-birth-infancy stories to the beginning and post-resurrection appearances to the end. Many scholars have argued that Matthew is simply an expanded version of Mark, but it is also a creative reinterpretation of the source, stressing Jesus' teachings as much as his acts, and making subtle changes in order to stress Jesus' divine nature – Mark's "young man" who appears at Jesus' tomb, for example, becomes a radiant angel in Matthew. The miracle stories in Mark do not demonstrate the divinity of Jesus, as this is an idea not found in that gospel, but rather confirm his status as an emissary of God (which was Mark's understanding of the Messiah).

There is a broad disagreement over chronology between Matthew, Mark and Luke on one hand and John on the other: all four agree that Jesus' public ministry began with an encounter with John the Baptist, but Matthew, Mark and Luke follow this with an account of teaching and healing in Galilee, then a trip to Jerusalem where there is an incident in the Temple, climaxing with the crucifixion on the day of the Passover holiday. John, by contrast, puts the Temple incident very early in Jesus' ministry, has several trips to Jerusalem, and puts the crucifixion immediately before the Passover holiday, on the day when the lambs for the Passover meal were being sacrificed in Temple. Matthew, unlike Paul and like Luke, believed that the Law was still in force, which meant that Jews within the church had to keep it.

In art

The Chi Rho monogram from the Book of Kells is the most lavish such monogram

In Insular Gospel Books (copies of the Gospels produced in Ireland and Britain under Celtic Christianity), the first verse of Matthew's genealogy of Christ was often treated in a decorative manner, as it began not only a new book of the Bible, but was the first verse in the Gospels.

See also

References

  1. Duling (2010), p. 298-9
  2. Burkett, pp. 175–6
  3. Ehrman 2012, p. 83ff.
  4. Luz (1995), p. 84
  5. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.39.16 - 17
  6. Editorial board, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Catholic University Press, 1969. Vol. 1, p 379
  7. James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the development of the Synoptic Tradition, Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 264 & 273
  8. ^ Turner, pp.15–16
  9. Bromiley, p.281
  10. ^ Duling (2010), pp. 301–2
  11. Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2010. pp 87-88
  12. Ehrman 2012 pp 98-101
  13. James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. pp 2-3
  14. William Lane Craig & J. P. Moreland The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, John Wiley & Sons, 2009. p 602
  15. James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 259, p 102 & p 117
  16. The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology, William Lane Craig & J. P. Moreland (Ed.), John Wiley & Sons, 2009 p 602
  17. James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009 p 33
  18. ^ Raymond Edward Brown, An introduction to the New Testament, Anchor Bible Series, Doubleday, 1997. p. 209-211
  19. Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching, 2010. p 108
  20. Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching, 2010. p 88
  21. James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the Development of the Synoptic Tradition, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 33
  22. Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching, 2010. p 88
  23. Maurice Casey, Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian's Account of His Life and Teaching, 2010. p 89
  24. Burkett, p. 174
  25. Duling (2010), p. 298–9
  26. Duling (2010), p. 302
  27. Burkett, pp. 175, 177
  28. Burkett, p. 181
  29. Burkett, p. 180
  30. Turner, p. 9
  31. Davies&Allison, pp. 59–61
  32. Davies&Allison, pp. 62 and following
  33. France, p. 2 and following
  34. France, p. 26 note 1, and p. 28: "The first two words of Matthew's gospel are literally “book of genesis”
  35. France, p. 28 note 7: "All MSS and versions agree in making it explicit that Joseph was not Jesus' father, with the one exception of sys, which reads “Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the virgin, begot Jesus.”
  36. ^ Funk, Robert W., Roy W. Hoover, and the Jesus Seminar. The five gospels. HarperSanFrancisco. 1993.
  37. Turner, p. 101
  38. Turner, p. 226
  39. ^ Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.
  40. Turner, p. 285
  41. Browning, p. 248
  42. Turner, p. 356
  43. "Matthew, Gospel acc. to St." Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005
  44. ^ Turner, p. 445
  45. Turner, p. 613
  46. Turner, pp. 687–688
  47. Luz (1995), pp. 86 and 111
  48. Luz (1995), pp. 91, 97
  49. Luz (1995), p. 93
  50. Burkett, p. 182
  51. Strecker pp. 369-370
  52. Davies&Allison (1997), p. 722
  53. Senior (2001), pp. 17-18
  54. ^ Hare, Douglas (2000). "How Jewish is the Gospel of Matthew?". Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 2. 62: 264–277.
  55. Taylor, John (1990). "The Phenomenon of Early Jewish-Christianity: Reality or Scholarly Invention?". Vigiliae Christianae. 44 (4): 313–334. doi:10.1163/157007290X00090.
  56. Aune (1987), p. 19
  57. Bockmuehl&Hagner, p. 117
  58. Morris, p. 114
  59. Bockmuehl&Hagner, p. 123
  60. Aune (1987), p. 59
  61. Levine, p. 373
  62. Allison, p.xxvi

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