Reference: Matthew, The Gospel According to
Fausets
(See GOSPELS for its aspect of Christ compared with the other evangelists.)
Time of writing. As our Lord's words divide Acts (Ac 1:8) into its three parts, "ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth":
(1) the period in which the church was Jewish, Acts 1-11;
(2) the period when it was Gentile with strong Jewish admixture;
(3) the period when the Gentiles preponderated, Matthew's Gospel answers to the first or Jewish period, ending about A.D. 41, and was written probably in and for Jerusalem and Judea.
The expression (Mt 27:7-8; 28:15) "unto this day" implies some interval after Christ's crucifixion. Language. Ancient testimony is unanimous that Matthew wrote in Hebrew Papias, a disciple of John (the Presbyter) and companion of Polycarp (Eusebius, H. E. 3:3), says, "Matthew wrote his oracles (logia) in Hebrew, and each interpreted them in Greek as he could." Perhaps the Greek for "oracles," logia, expresses that the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew was a collection of discourses (as logoi means) rather than a full narrative. Matthew's Gospel is the one of the four which gives most fully the discourses of our Lord. Papias' use of the past tense (aorist) implies that "each interpreting" Matthew's Hebrew was in Papias' time a thing of the past, so that as early as the end of the first century or the beginning of the second the need for each to translate the Hebrew had ceased, for an authoritative Greek translation existed.
The Hellenists (Greek-speaking) Jews would from the first need a Greek version, and Matthew and the church would hardly leave this want unsupplied in his lifetime. Origen, Pantaenus, Eusebius (H. E. 6:25; 5:10; 5:8), and Irenaeus (adv. Haer. 3:1) state the same. Jerome (de Vir. Illustr. 3) adds, "who translated the Hebrew into Greek is uncertain." He identifies Matthew's Hebrew Gospel with "the Gospel of the Nazarenes," which he saw in Pamphilus' library at Caesarea. Epiphanius (Haer. 29, sec. 9) mentions this Nazarene Gospel as written in Hebrew. (Hebruikois grammasin) Probably this Nazarene was the original Hebrew Gospel of Matthew interpolated and modified, yet not so much so as the Ebionite Gospel. This view will account for the strange fact that nothing of the Hebrew Matthew has been preserved. Our Greek Gospel superseded the Hebrew, and was designed by the Holy Spirit (as its early acceptance, universal use, and sole preservation prove) to be the more universal canonical Gospel.
The Judaizing Nazarenes still clung to the Hebrew one; but their heresies and their corruptions of the text brought it into disrepute with the orthodox. Origen (on Prayer, 161:150) argues that epiousion, the Greek word for "daily" in the Lord's prayer, was formed by Matthew himself; Luke adopts the word. Eusebius (Lardher, Cred. 8 note p. 180) remarks that Matthew in quotations of the Old Testament does not follow the Septuagint, but makes his own translation. Quotations in his own narrative (1) pointing out the fulfillment of prophecy Matthew translates from the Hebrew. Quotations (2) of persons introduced, as Christ, are from the Greek Septuagint, even where differing from the Hebrew, e.g. Mt 3:3; 13:14. A mere translator would not have done so. An independent writer would do just what Matthew does, namely, in speeches of persons introduced would conform to the apostolic tradition which used the Septuagint, but in his own narrative would translate the Hebrew as he judged best under the Spirit.
These are arguments for Matthew's authorship of the Greek Gospel. Mark apparently alters or explains many passages found in our Matthew, for greater clearness, as if he had the Greek of Matthew before him (Mt 18:9; 19:1 with Mr 10:1; 9:47); and if the Greek existed so early it must have come from Matthew himself, not a transistor. The Latinisms (fragellosas, Mt 27:26; kodranteen, Mt 5:26) are unlike a translation from Hebrew into Greek, for why not use the Greek terms as Luke (Lu 12:59) does, rather than Graecised Latinisms? The Latinisms are natural to Matthew, as a portitor or gatherer of port dues, familiar with the Roman coin quadrans, and likely to quote the Latin for "scourging" (fragellosas from flagellum) used by the Roman governor in sentencing Jesus. Josephus' writing his history both in Greek and Hebrew (B. J. Preface 1) is parallel.
The great proof of Matthew's authorship of the Greek is that the Hebrew has left no trace of it except that which may exist in the Nazarene Gospel, whereas our Greek Matthew is quoted as authentic by the apostolic fathers (Polycarp, Ep. ii. 7; Ignatius, ad Smyr. 6; Clemens Romans i. 46; Barnabas, Ep. 4) and earliest Christians. Paul in writing to the Hebrew, Peter to the Jews of the dispersion, and James to the twelve tribes, write in Greek not Hebrew. How unlikely that Matthew's name should be substituted for the lost name of the unknown translator, and this in apostolic times; for John lived to see the completion of the canon; he never would have sanctioned as the authentic Gospel of Matthew a fragmentary compilation "in arrangement and selection of events not such as would have proceeded from an apostle and eye witness" (Alford). The Hebraisms accord with the Jewish character of Matthew's Gospel, and suit the earliest period of the church. At a later date it would have been less applicable to the existing state.
Early Christian writers quote the Greek, not the Hebrew, with implicit confidence in its authority as Matthew's work. The original Hebrew of which Papias, etc., speak none of them ever saw. If it had not been so, heretics would have gladly used such a handle against it, which they do not. The Syriac version of the second century is demonstrably made, not from its kindred tongue the Hebrew, but from the Greek Matthew; this to too in the country next Judea where Matthew wrote, and with which there was the freest communication. The Hebrew Matthew having served its local and temporary use was laid aside, just as Paul's temporary epistles (Col 4:16; 1Co 5:9) have not been transmitted to us, the Holy Spirit designing them to serve but for a time. Our Greek Matthew has few, if any, traces of being a translation; it has the general marks of being an independent work.
A translator would not have presumed to alter Matthew's original so as to have the air of originality which it has; if he had, his compilation would never have been accepted as the authentic Gospel of the inspired apostle Matthew by the churches which had within them men possessing the gift of "discerning spirits" (1Co 12:10). As Mark's name designates his Gospel, not that of Peter his apostolic guide, and Luke's name his Gospel not Paul's name, so if a translator had modified Matthew's Hebrew, his name not Matthew's would have designated it. All is clear if we suppose that, after inaccurate translations of his Hebrew by others such as Papias (above) notices, Matthew himself at a later date wrote, or dictated, in Greek for Greek speaking Jews the Gospel in fuller form than the Hebrew. His omission of the ascension (as included in the resurrection of which it is the complement) was just what we should expect if he wrote while the event was fresh in men's memory and the witnesses still at Jerusalem. If he had written at a later date he would have surely recorded it.
AIM. There is a lack in it of the vivid details found in the others, his aim being to give prominence to the Lord's discourses. Jesus' human aspect as the ROYAL. Son of David is mainly dwelt, on; but His divine aspect as Lord of David is also presented in Mt 22:45; 16:16; proving that Matthew's view accords with that of John, who makes prominent Jesus' divine claims. From the beginning Matthew introduces Jesus as "Son of David," but Mr 1:1 as "the Son of God," Luke as "the Son of Adam, the son of God" (Lu 3:38), John as "the Word" who "was God" (Joh 1:4). In the earlier part, down to the Baptist's death, he groups facts and discourses according to the subjects, not according to the times, whereas Mark arranges according to the times, in the places where they differ. Papias' description of the Hebrew Matthew as a studied arrangement (su
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Now all this occurred to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."
"The virgin will become pregnant and have a son, and they will call Him Immanuel" -- which means "God with us."
'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"
'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are not at all the least among the leading places of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel.'"
he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."
he stayed there until Herod's death, so as to fulfill what the Lord had said by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my Son."
"A sob was heard in Ramah, weeping and great wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they were gone."
This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"
This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"
This is he who was mentioned by the prophet Isaiah, when he said: "Here is a voice of one who shouts in the desert, 'Get the road ready for the Lord; Make the paths straight for him.'"
But he answered, "The Scripture says, 'Not on bread alone can man live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took Him into the holy city, and had Him stand on the tip-top turret of the temple, read more. and said to Him, "If you are God's Son, throw yourself down, for the Scripture says: "'He will give His angels directions about you, And they will bear you up on their hands, so you will never strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again the Scripture says, 'You must not try the Lord your God.'"
Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'"
to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "Land of Zebulon and land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations;
"Land of Zebulon and land of Naphtali, on the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations; The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."
The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."
"Blessed are the lowly in mind, for they will possess the land.
"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.'
I solemnly say to you, you will never get out at all until you have paid the last penny. "You have heard it was said, 'You must not commit adultery.'
"It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You must not swear falsely, but you must perform your oaths as a religious duty.'
"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
"You have heard that it was said, 'You must love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and, to testify to the people, make the offering that Moses prescribed."
When Jesus heard it, He was astounded, and said to His followers, "I solemnly say to you, I have not found, in a single case among the Jews, so great faith as this. I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their seats at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, 'in the kingdom of heaven, read more. while the heirs of the kingdom will be turned out into the darkness outside, where they will be weeping and grinding their teeth."
and so fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, "He took our sicknesses and bore away our diseases."
and so fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, "He took our sicknesses and bore away our diseases."
Go, learn what this means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want.' It is not upright but sinful people that I have come to invite."
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be members of his own family.
the blind are seeing and the crippled are walking, the lepers are being healed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised and the poor are having the good news preached to them.
This is the man of whom the Scripture says, "'Attention! I am sending my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'
and if you are willing to accept it, John himself is the Elijah who was to come.
But He said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he and his soldiers became hungry?
Or, did you never read in the law that the priests in the temple break the sabbath, and yet are not guilty?
If you only knew what that saying means, 'It is mercy and not sacrifice that I want,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.
"Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen. He will not debate, nor challenge anyone; His voice will no one hear in the streets; read more. A broken reed He will not break off; a flickering wick He will not put out, until He brings His judgment to victory. On His name the heathen will set their hopes."
For as Jonah was in the whale's stomach for three days and nights, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.
The queen of the south will rise with the leaders of this age at the judgment and condemn them, for she came from the farthest limits of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!
So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all,
So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all,
So in them the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: "'You will listen and listen and not understand, and you will look and look and never see at all, For this people's soul has grown dull, and with their ears they can scarcely hear, and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they will never see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn to me, so that I may cure them!'
to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in stories, I will utter truths concealed since creation."
Then some Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem came to Jesus, and asked Him, "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our forefathers? For they do not practice washing their hands when they take their meals."
"'This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far, far away from me;
Then Jesus asked them, "How many loaves have you on hand?" They answered, "Seven and a few small fish."
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And in their presence His appearance was changed and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes turned as white as light.
He answered, "Elijah does come and will get everything ready.
And if your own eye makes you do wrong, pluck it out and put it out of your way. It is better for you to go into life with a single eye than to have both eyes to be thrown into the pit of torture.
"Again, if your brother wrongs you, go and while alone with him show him the wrong. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
When Jesus had finished this discourse, He left Galilee and went into the district of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.
And He answered, "Have you not read that the Creator at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man must leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two of them must be one!'
Then they asked Him, "Why did Moses command us to give a written divorce charge, and in this way to divorce a wife?"
He asked Him, "What sort of commandments?" Jesus answered, "You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not lie,
"Tell the daughter of Zion, your King is now coming to you, gentle, and riding on a donkey, yea, on the colt of a beast of burden."
And the crowds that went in front of Him and followed Him shouted: "Welcome the Son of David! Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord; Welcome Him from on high!"
and said to them, "The Scripture says, 'My house must be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a cave for robbers."
and asked Him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus answered them, "Yes. Did you never read this, 'Out of the mouths of little children, yea, of infants, you have perfect praise'?"
Then Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures: 'That stone which the builders threw away has become the cornerstone; this is the work of the Lord and seems wonderful to us!'
Who ever falls upon that stone will be broken to pieces, but whomever it falls upon will be crushed to powder."
"Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children, his brother must marry his widow and raise up a family for him.'
'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob!' Now God is not the God of dead but of living men."
And He answered him, "'You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind.'
The second is like it: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.'
If David, then, calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?"
If David, then, calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?"
so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Now your house is abandoned by me! For I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessed be He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
"So when you see the destructive desecration, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place" -- let the reader take notice --
"And immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will turn dark, the moon will not shed its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the sky will be shaken.
Sky and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away.
For just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Then Jesus said to them, "You will all stumble over me tonight, for the Scripture says, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back where it belongs, for all who wield the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I tell you, you will all soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty, and coming on the clouds of the sky."
So after consultation they bought with it the Potter's Field as a burying-ground for strangers. Now this piece of ground has ever since been called "The Field of Blood."
Now this piece of ground has ever since been called "The Field of Blood." In that way the words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been fixed by some Israelites,
Then he set Barabbas free for them, but had Jesus flogged and turned over to be crucified.
Then they crucified Him and divided among them His clothes by drawing lots,
He has put His trust in God; let God deliver Him now, if He cares for Him, for He said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
About three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God! My God! why have you forsaken me?"
About three Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God! My God! why have you forsaken me?"
and left their tombs, and after His resurrection went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
On the next day, which is the day after the Preparation Day, the high priests and Pharisees met and went in a body to Pilate,
So they took the money and did as they were told. And this story has been told among the Jews down to the present time.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Pharisees met about Him, and also some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that some of His disciples were in the habit of eating their meals without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to make them clean. read more. For the Pharisees and all the Jews practice the customs handed down to them from their forefathers, and will never eat until they have carefully washed their hands, and they never eat anything brought from the market until they wash it; and they have many other religious practices which they got from their forefathers, as the washing of cups, pitchers, and pans.
And if your eye makes you do wrong, tear it out. You might better go into the kingdom of God with only one eye than keep both your eyes and be thrown into the pit,
Then He left there and went through the district of Judea and crossed the Jordan, and crowds of people again met around Him, and again He began to teach them, as His custom was.
"So when you see the destructive desecration standing where he has no right to stand" -- let the reader take notice -- "then let those who remain in Judea fly to the hills;
Although it was now evening, yet since it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
I tell you, you will never get out of it until you have paid the last penny!"
It was the Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was just beginning.
It was by Him that life began to exist, and that life was the light of mankind.
Then he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked him over and said, "You are Simon, son of John. From now on your name shall be Cephas" (which means Peter, or Rock).
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. Then Pilate said to the Jews, "There is your king!"
As it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, that the bodies might not remain on the crosses during the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a very important one, the Jews requested Pilate to have their legs broken and their bodies taken down.
So, because it was the Jewish Preparation day and because the tomb was near by, they laid Him there.
but you are going to receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you must be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth."
to another, power for working wonders; to another, prophetic insight; to another, the power to discriminate between the true Spirit and false spirits; to another, various ecstatic utterances; and to another, the power to explain them.
When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea too, and see to it that you too read the one that is coming from Laodicea.
For if the message spoken through angels proved to be valid, and every violation and infraction of it had its adequate penalty,
for, if that had been the case, He would have had to suffer over and over again, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once at the close of the ages He has appeared, to put away sin by His sacrifice.
You must consider it the purest joy, my brothers, when you are involved in various trials,
But the man who looks at the flawless law that makes men free, and keeps on looking, proving himself to be, not a forgetful hearer but an actual doer of what it requires, will be blessed in what he does.
Above all, my brothers, stop swearing, either by heaven or by the earth, or by anything else. Let your "Yes" mean Yes, and your "No," No, so as to keep from falling under condemnation.