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 Our Greek Gospel superseded the Hebrew, and was designed by the Holy Spirit (as its early acceptance, universal use, and sole preservation prove) to be the more universal canonical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 happened in fulfilment of what the Lord said through the prophet, "The maiden will be pregnant and will have a son, And they will name him Immanuel."?? word which means "God with us."
"The maiden will be pregnant and will have a son, And they will name him Immanuel."?? word which means "God with us."
" 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are by no means least important among the leading places of Judah, For from you will come a leader Who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
" 'And you, Bethlehem in Judah's land, You are by no means least important among the leading places of Judah, For from you will come a leader Who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.' "
to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."
to fulfil what the Lord said by the prophet, "I called my son from Egypt."
"A cry was heard in Ramah! Weeping and great lamenting! Rachel weeping for her children, And inconsolable because they were gone."
It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' "
It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' "
It was he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, when he said, "Hark! Someone is shouting in the desert, 'Get the Lord's way ready! Make his paths straight!' "
But he answered, "The Scripture says, 'Not on bread alone is man to live, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God!' " Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the summit 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 orders about you, And they will lift you up with their hands So that you may never strike your foot against a stone!' " Jesus said to him, "The Scripture also says, 'You shall not try the Lord your God.' "
Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For the Scripture says, 'You must do homage to the Lord your God, and worship him alone!' "
in fulfilment of what was said by the prophet Isaiah, "Zebulon's land, and Naphtali's land, Along the road to the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the nations!
"Zebulon's land, and Naphtali's land, Along 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 who 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 who were living in the land of the shadow of death A light has dawned!"
"Blessed are the humble-minded, for they will possess the land!
"You have heard that the men of old were told 'You shall not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will have to answer to the court.'
I tell you, you will never get out again until you have paid the last penny! "You have heard that men were told 'You shall not commit adultery.'
"They were told, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.'
"Again, you have heard that the men of old were told, 'You shall not swear falsely, but you must fulfil your oaths to the Lord.'
"You have heard that they were told, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'
"You have heard that they were told, '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 in proof of your cure, offer the gift that Moses prescribed."
When Jesus heard this he was astonished, and said to his followers, "I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such faith as this. And I tell you, many will come from the east and from the west and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven, read more. while the heirs to the kingdom will be driven into the darkness outside, there to weep and grind their teeth!"
in fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "He took our sickness and carried away our diseases."
in fulfilment of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "He took our sickness and carried away our diseases."
You must go and learn what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for.' I did not come to invite the pious but the irreligious."
For I have come to turn 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 in his own household.
The blind are regaining their sight and the lame can walk, the lepers are being cured and the deaf can hear, the dead are being raised and good news is being preached to the poor.
This is the man of whom the Scripture says, " 'Here I send my messenger on before you; He will prepare the road ahead of you.'
and, if you are ready to accept the idea, he is himself Elijah who was to come.
But he said to them, "Did you never read what David did, when he and his companions were hungry?
Or did you never read in the Law how the priests in the Temple are not guilty when they break the Sabbath?
But if you knew what the saying means, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I care for,' you would not have condemned men who are not guilty.
"Here is my servant whom I have selected, My beloved, who delights my heart! I will endow him with my Spirit, And he will announce a judgment to the heathen. He will not wrangle or make an outcry, And no one will hear his voice in the streets; read more. He will not break off a bent reed, And he will not put out a smoldering wick, Until he carries his judgment to success. The heathen will rest their hopes on his name!"
For just as Jonah was in the maw of the whale 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 this age at the judgment and condemn it, for she came from the very ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and there is more than Solomon here!
They are a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, " 'You will listen and listen, and never understand, And you will look and look, and never see!
They are a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, " 'You will listen and listen, and never understand, And you will look and look, and never see!
They are a fulfilment of Isaiah's prophecy, " 'You will listen and listen, and never understand, And you will look and look, and never see! For this nation's mind has grown dull, And they hear faintly with their ears, And they have shut their eyes, So as never to see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their minds, and turn back, And let me cure them!'
to fulfil what was said by the prophet, "I will open my mouth in figures, I will utter things that have been hidden since the creation."
Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem, and said to him, "Why do your disciples break the rules handed down by our ancestors? For they eat their bread without first washing their hands."
" 'This people honor me with their lips, Yet their hearts are far away from me.
Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."
And his appearance underwent a change in their presence and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.
And if your own eye makes you fall, dig it out and throw it away. You might better enter upon life with only one eye than be thrown with both eyes into the fiery pit.
"But if your brother wrongs you go to him and show him his fault while you are alone with him. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
When Jesus had finished this discourse, he left Galilee and went to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan.
But he answered, "Did you never read that the Creator at the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two of them shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one.
They said to him, "Then why did Moses command us to draw up a written divorce-notice and give it to her?"
He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "These: 'You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness,
"Tell the daughter of Zion, 'Here is your king coming to you, Gentle, and riding on an ass, And on the foal of a beast of burden.' "
And the crowds that went in front of him and that followed him shouted, "God bless the Son of David! Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name. God bless him from on high!"
and he said to them, "The Scripture says, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a robbers' cave."
and said to him, "Do you hear what they are saying?" Jesus said to them, "Yes. Did you never read, 'You have drawn praise from the mouths of children and infants'?"
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures, " 'That stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone; This came from the Lord, And seems marvelous to us'?
Whoever falls on that stone will be shattered, but whoever it falls upon will be pulverized."
"Master, Moses said, 'If a man dies without children his brother shall marry his widow, and raise up a family for him.'
'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of dead men but of living!"
And he said to him, " 'You must love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and your whole mind.'
There is a second like it: 'You must love your neighbor as you do yourself.'
it is that on your heads may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth from the blood of Abel the upright to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar!
Now I leave you to yourselves. For I tell you, you will never see me again until you say, 'Blessed be he who comes in the Lord's name!' "
"So when you see the dreadful desecration, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the Holy Place"??he reader must take note of this??16 "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills;
"But immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the forces of the sky will shake.
Earth and sky will pass away but my words will never pass away.
For just as it was in the time of Noah, it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Then Jesus said to them, "You will all desert me tonight, for the Scriptures say, '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 draw the sword will die by the sword.
Jesus said to him, "It is true. But I tell you you will soon see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming upon the clouds of the sky!"
So after consultation they bought with it the Potter's Field as a burial ground for strangers. For this reason that piece of ground has ever since been called the Field of Blood.
For this reason that piece of ground has ever since been called the Field of Blood. So the words spoken by the prophet Jeremiah were fulfilled: "They took the thirty silver pieces, the price of the one whose price had been fixed, on whom some of the Israelites had set a price,
Then he released Barabbas for them, and he had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified.
And they crucified him and divided up his clothes among them by drawing lots,
He trusts in God; let God deliver him if he cares for him, for he said he was God's son."
And about three, Jesus called out loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"
And about three, Jesus called out loudly, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?"
and left their tombs and after his resurrection went into the holy city and showed themselves to many people.
On the next day, that is, the day after the Preparation Day, the high priests and Pharisees went in a body to Pilate
So they took the money and did as they were told. And this story has been current among the Jews ever since.
The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.
The Pharisees gathered about him with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem. They had noticed that some of his disciples ate their food without first giving their hands a ceremonial washing to purify them. read more. For the Pharisees and all the Jews observe the rules handed down from their ancestors, and will not eat until they have washed their hands in a particular way, and they will not eat anything from the market without first purifying it by sprinkling it, and they have a number of other observances which have come down to them, in the way of washing cups, pitchers, and basins.
And if your eye makes you fall, tear it out. You might better get into the Kingdom of God with only one eye than be thrown with both your eyes into the pit,
And he left that place and went into the district of Judea and crossed the Jordan, and crowds of people again gathered about him, and again he taught them as he was accustomed to do.
But as soon as you see the dreadful desecration standing where he has no right to stand" (the reader must take note of this), "then those who are in Judea must fly to the hills;
Although it was now evening, yet since it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,
I tell you, you will never get out again until you have paid the last cent!"
It was by him that life came into existence, and that life was the light of mankind.
It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon. And Pilate said to the Jews, "There is your king!"
As it was the day of Preparation for the Passover, in order that the bodies might not be left on the crosses over the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was an especially important one, the Jews asked Pilate to have the men's legs broken and the bodies removed.
So because it was the Jewish Preparation day, and the tomb was close by, they put Jesus there.
but you will be given power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem and all over Judea and Samaria and to the very ends of the earth."
another, the working of wonders, another, inspiration in preaching, another, the power of distinguishing the true Spirit from false ones, another, various ecstatic utterances, and another, the ability to explain them.
When this letter has been read to you, have it read to the church at Laodicea also, and see that you read the letter that is coming from there.
For if the message delivered by angels proved to be authentic, and every violation or neglect of it led to a corresponding penalty,
for then he would have had to suffer death over and over, ever since the creation of the world. But, as it is, once for all at the close of the age he has appeared, to put an end to sin by his sacrifice.
You must find the greatest joy, my brothers, in being involved in various trials,
But whoever looks at the faultless law that makes men free and keeps looking, so that he does not just listen and forget, but obeys and acts upon it, will be blessed in what he does.
Above all, my brothers, do not swear an oath, either by heaven or by the earth, or by anything else; let your "Yes" be a plain Yes, and your "No" a plain No, or you will fall under condemnation.