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The Writings of the Gospels - Matthew
Matthew was a
Jewish tax collector. As a
literate Jew, he must have been able to read and write
Hebrew. Eusebius and Jerome attest to this fact. **As a tax collector for the **
Romans, he must also have been able to read and write Latin. He chose to write the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew because he was writing for the Christians of Judea. Most of the first Christians of Judea were originally Jewish. Many were illiterate, but those who did learn to read and write most often learned Hebrew.
It is unlikely that Matthew could read and write Greek.
It was not Matthew’s idea to write the Gospel. **He was prevailed upon by the Hebraic **
Christians of Judea to write the Gospel in their language, Hebrew, before he left to preach in distant lands. According to Eusebius:
“Matthew had begun by preaching to Hebrews; and when he made up his mind to go to others too, **he committed his own gospel to writing in his native tongue, **so that for those with whom he was no longer present the gap left by his departure was filled by what he wrote.” (Eusebius, History of the Church, 3.24.6-7).
Eusebius was Bishop of Caesarea, a student of Pamphilus, and an early Church historian. He lived from approximately A.D. 260 to 340. Saint Jerome was born roughly about the same time that Eusebius died, about A.D. 340 or so. **Jerome also states that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. **“Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, **composed a gospel of Christ at first published in **
Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present day in the library at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, a city of Syria, who use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son,’ and ‘for he shall be called a Nazarene.’ ” (Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men, chapter 3).
**Saint Jerome states that the Hebrew version of Matthew was still in existence during his **
lifetime in Pamphilus’ library at Caesarea. Eusebius was Bishop of Caesarea (about a generation or two before Jerome). **Eusebius **studied under Pamphilus at Caesarea **and he also spoke of Matthew’s Gospel in the original Hebrew. **Jerome also knew that the Hebrew version of Matthew’s Gospel was in use during his lifetime by a certain group of Christians in Syria.
