Page 4 - New Testament Survey Student Textbook

1.3 Gospel of Matthew: The King has Come!

Author
The text of Matthew doesn’t identify its author, but ever since the second century AD, Christian
tradition has ascribed this Gospel to Matthew the tax collector—called Levi in Mark and Luke’s
accounts—who became one of Jesus’ 12 disciples (Matt 9:9;
10:3; Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27–29). Various features in
Matthew reflect a writing style that is more Jewish than the
other three Gospels. AD.
1

In the most primitive church writings about the composition of the
book of Matthew, Papias, bishop of Hierapolis (ca. AD 130), cited by
Eusebius (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.16), Eusebius accounts
that Papias said, “So then Matthew arranged (συνετάξατο,
synetaxato) the oracles (τὰ λόγια, ta logia) in the Hebrew language and everyone interpreted them as
2
he was able.” Critics have questioned the language, and style, even so, Matthew is the only name
connected with the material. there is an early tradition about Matthew composing a gospel account—
which was assumed to be this text because of its references to Matthew (9:9; 10:3)? Apart from Papias’
remark, there are no traces of the Gospel’s author, and “Matthew” is the only name ever associated
with it.

Date
3
Some scholars suggest that “The Gospel of Matthew was likely composed between AD 70 and 110.”
They further argue that “The start of this range reflects the date (AD 65–70) typically given for the
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Gospel of Mark, which Matthew uses as a source.” They agree with the main stream of scholarship that
Since the Didache and the writings of Ignatius show familiarity with Matthew’s Gospel, it must have
been available by the time of these works (ca. AD 110). Barry underscores that Within the range
provided above, “it is difficult to be more precise, as clues from the text point toward both ends.” He
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proves that, while some verses in Matthew imply that the Jerusalem temple was still standing, which
would indicate composition prior to AD 70 (e.g., 5:23–24; 12:5–7; 17:24–27; 23:16–22; 26:60–61),” other
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verses seem to reflect the temple’s destruction and suggest a post-70 date (e.g., 22:7). Another fact is
observable in verses referring to the end times, which are portrayed as both near (e.g., 10:23) and far
(e.g., 24:14). A good number of phrases seem to show that a significant amount of time had elapsed
between the events of the story and the time of its writing (“until today,” 27:8; “until this very day,”
28:15).
7

Scholars suggest that what could be more important is to consider the context in which Matthew was
written. The account’s emphasis on the trouble between Jesus and the Jewish leaders might reflect the
context of someone writing during a period of heightened struggle between Christian Jews and non-
Christian Jews over Jesus’ identity as Messiah. This sort of circumstance parallels well with the time after

1 Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible.
Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
2 Ibid
3 Ibid
4 Ibid
5 Ibid
6 Ibid
7 Ibid
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