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 Our Greek Gospel superseded the Hebrew, and was designed by the Holy Spirit (as its early acceptance, universal use, and sole preservation prove) to be the more universal canonical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
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel," which means, "God with us."
'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
and remained there until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
and remained there until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt have I called my son."
"A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more."
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, read more. and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written, 'He will give his angels charge of you,' and 'In their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.'"
Then Jesus said to him, "Away, Satan! for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'"
that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles
"The land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and on those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned."
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'
Truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid the last penny. "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
"It has also been said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.'
"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'
"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 shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
When Jesus heard him, he marveled, and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. read more. But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases."
This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases."
But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
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 those of his own household.'
the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.'
And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who is to come.
He said to them, "Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him:
Or have you not read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are innocent?
And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless.
"Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased! I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry out; nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. read more. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, till he sends forth justice to victory; and in his name will the Gentiles hope."
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive.
In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand; and seeing you will see and not perceive. For this people's heart has grown dull. And their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and they understand with their hearts, and turn so that I should heal them.'
So was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world."
Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus and said, "Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat."
'These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.
And he answered them, "Have you not read that he who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?"
He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness,
"Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.'"
The crowds that went before him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!"
And he said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you have made it a 'den of robbers.'"
and they said to him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have perfected praise'?"
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
[And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."]
saying, "Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother must marry the widow, and raise up children for his brother.
'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living."
Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
"So when you see standing in the holy place 'the abomination of desolation,' spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand)
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night; for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.'
But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.
Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. But I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.
Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel,
Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.
And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots;
He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
The next day, the one after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered to Pilate
So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered together to him, they saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. read more. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash themselves. And there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pitchers and copper vessels.)
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
Then he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds gathered to him again; and again, as his custom was, he taught them.
"When you see 'the abomination of desolation' standing where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid.
He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover, about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
Therefore, because it was the day of Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, as the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth."
and to another the working of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another distinguishing between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.
When this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you read the letter from Laodicea.
For if the message spoken by angels was valid, and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,
For then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
But one who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but a doer that acts, this man will be blessed in what he does.
But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, that you may not fall under condemnation.