Matthew the Apostle was, according to the Bible, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
and, according to Christian tradition, one of the four Evangelists.
In the Bible Among the early followers and apostles of
Jesus, Matthew is mentioned in Matthew 9:9 and Mt 10:3 as a publican who sat at the "receipt
of custom" in Capernaum who was called into the ministry of the twelve by Jesus.
He is also named among the twelve, but without identification of his background, in Mark
3:18, Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13.
He is also called Levi, son of Alpheus, in Mk 2:14 and Lk 5:27.
He may have collected taxes from the Hebrew people for Herod Antipas.
Early life Matthew was a 1st-century Galilean, the son
of Alpheus.
As a tax collector he would have been literate in Aramaic and Greek.
After his call, Matthew invited Jesus home for a feast.
On seeing this, the Scribes and the Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors
and sinners.
This prompted Jesus to answer, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."
Ministry The New Testament records that as a disciple,
he followed Jesus, and was one of the witnesses of the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus.
Afterwards, the disciples withdrew to an upper room in Jerusalem.
The disciples remained in and about Jerusalem and proclaimed that Jesus was the promised
Messiah.
In the Babylonian Talmud "Mattai" is one of five disciples of "Jeshu."
Later Church fathers such as Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria claim that Matthew preached
the Gospel to the Jewish community in Judea, before going to other countries.
Ancient writers are not agreed as to what these other countries are.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church each hold the tradition that Matthew
died as a martyr, although this was rejected by Heracleon as early as the second century.
Matthew's Gospel
Although the first of the Synoptic Gospels is technically anonymous, traditionally the
Gospel of Matthew was held to be written by the apostle.
As a government official in Capernaum, in "Galilee of the Gentiles", a tax-collector
would probably have been literate in both Greek and Aramaic.
Greek was the language used in the market-place.
Some early church fathers recorded that Matthew originally wrote in "Hebrew", but still regarded
the Greek text as canonical.
Many scholars today, such as Raymond E. Brown, believe that "canonical Matt[hew] was originally
written in Greek by a non-eyewitness whose name is unknown to us and who depended on
sources like Mark and Q", a theory known as Markan priority.
However, some scholars, notably Craig Blomberg, disagree variously on these points.
The more traditional interpretation of the Synoptic Gospels posits a Matthean priority,
most notably in the Augustinian hypothesis after one of the earliest and most notable
proponents Augustine of Hippo.
This position once held with veritable consensus in the Medieval church has since waned, but
still has several proponents.
The tradition placing the composition of Matthew's Gospel "fifteen" years after the ascension
is very late Nicephorus Callisti and the Paschal Chronicle.
Non-canonical or Apocryphal Gospels
In the 3rd century Jewish-Christian Gospels attributed to Matthew were used by Jewish-Christian
groups such as the Nazarenes and Ebionites.
Fragments of these gospels survive in quotations by Jerome, Epiphanius and others.
Most academic study follows the distinction of Gospel of the Nazarenes, Gospel of the
Ebionites, and Gospel of the Hebrews found in Schneemelcher's New Testament Apocrypha.
Critical commentators generally regard these texts as having been composed in Greek and
related to Greek Matthew.
A minority of commentators consider them to be fragments of a lost Aramaic or Hebrew language
original.
The Infancy Gospel of Matthew is a 7th-century compilation of three other texts: the Protevangelium
of James, the Flight into Egypt and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
Origen said the first Gospel was written by Matthew.
This Gospel was composed in Hebrew near Jerusalem for Hebrew Christians and translated into
Greek, but the Greek copy was lost.
The Hebrew original was kept at the Library of Caesarea.
The Nazarene Community transcribed a copy for Jerome which he used in his work.
Matthew's Gospel was called the Gospel according to the Hebrews or sometimes the Gospel of
the Apostles and it was once believed that it was the original to the Greek Matthew found
in the Bible.
However, this has been challenged by modern biblical scholars such as Bart Ehrman and
James R. Edwards.
Jerome relates that Matthew was supposed by the Nazarenes to have composed their Gospel
of the Hebrews though Irenaeus and Epiphanius of Salamis consider this simply a revised
version canonical Gospel.
This Gospel has been partially preserved in the writings of the Church Fathers, said to
have been written by Matthew.
Epiphanius does not make his own the claim about a Gospel of the Hebrews written by Matthew,
a claim that he merely attributes to the heretical Ebionites.
Commemoration Matthew is recognized as a saint in the Roman
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican churches.
His feast day is celebrated on 21 September in the West and 16 November in the East..
He is also commemorated by the Orthodox, together with the other Apostles, on 30 June, the Synaxis
of the Holy Apostles.
His tomb is located in the crypt of Salerno Cathedral in southern Italy.
Like the other evangelists, Matthew is often depicted in Christian art with one of the
four living creatures of Revelation 4:7.
The one that accompanies him is in the form of a winged man.
The three paintings of Matthew by Caravaggio in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in
Rome, where he is depicted as called by Christ from his profession as gatherer, are among
the landmarks of Western art.
In Islam The Quran speaks of Jesus's disciples but
does not mention their names, instead referring to them as "helpers to the work of God".
Muslim exegesis and Qur'an commentary, however, names them and includes Matthew amongst the
disciples.
Muslim exegesis preserves the tradition that Matthew, with Andrew, were the two disciples
who went to Ethiopia to preach the message of God.
Gallery
See also Mark the Evangelist
Luke the Evangelist John the Apostle
References
External links St Matthew the Apostle from The Golden Legend
Apostle and Evangelist Matthew Orthodox icon and synaxarion
Benedict XVI, "Matthew", General audience, 30 August 2006