The Gospel of Matthew

Names

Matthew, Gospel of Matthew, Gospel According to Matthew

Category

Gospel

Length

28 chapters

Probable author

The Apostle Matthew, a tax collector (Mt 9:9-13)

Date

Jewishness may indicate early date of 50s AD, but if Matthew used Mark as a source, the date could be anywhere between late 50s and 80s AD.

Place of origin

Palestine or Syrian Antioch

Recipients

Jews

Purpose

To demonstrate that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah

Structure

Organized around five great discourses of Jesus (chs. 5-7; ch. 10; ch. 13; ch. 18; chs. 24-25), with a prologue and epilogue.

Emphases

Jesus as Messiah; OT quotations; Jesus' Davidic lineage

Early references

"Matthew put together the oracles of the Lord in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could." (Papias, Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord, c. 120 AD)

"Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome." (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.1, c. 180 AD)

"Among the four gospels... I have learned by tradition that first was written that according to Matthew, who was once a tax collector but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it for those who from Judaism came to believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language." (Origin (c. 185-254 AD), Commentary on Matthew, quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 6.25.4)

Sources

1. Kenneth Barker, ed., The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, 1985), pp. 1440-41.
2. David W. Bercot, ed., A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Guide to More Than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Hendrickson, 1998).

Online Text of the Gospel of Matthew

• Gospel of Matthew: Bible Gateway (NIV / KJV / NASB / RSV / NIV-IBS / DARBY / YLT / WE / NKJV)
• Gospel of Matthew: Perseus NT (English/Greek/Latin)
• Gospel of Matthew: Blueletter Bible (English/Greek)
• Gospel of Matthew: HTML Bible (Greek/YLT/KJV/ASV)
• Gospel of Matthew: The Online Greek Bible (various Greek fonts)
• The Five Gospels Parallels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Thomas; English)
• Four-Color Synopsis (Matthew, Mark, Luke; Greek)

Online Guides to the Gospel of Matthew

• Synoptic Gospels Primer
  by Mahlon H. Smith
• Synoptic Gospels
  Encyclopaedia Britannica
• The Gospel According to Matthew
  by Alfred Loisy
• The Gospel of Matthew
  by Edgar Goodspeed
• Gospel of Matthew
  NAB Introduction
• Studies in Matthew
  Bible.org
• Gospel of St. Matthew
  The Catholic Encyclopedia
• An Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel of Matthew
  by Richard Heard
• A Historical Introduction to the New Testament: The Gospel of Matthew
  by Robert M. Grant
• Media Papyri: Examining Carsten Thiede's Rediscovered Fragments
  by Sigrid Peterson
• Book Review: Carsten Peter Thiede's Rekindling the Word: In Search of Gospel
  by Daryl D. Schmidt
• Jesus as Anointed and Healing Son of David in the Gospel of Matthew
  by Kim Paffenroth, Biblical Studies on the Web
• The Sermon on the Mount
  by Joachim Jeremias
• The Sermon on the Mount
  by Roger Shinn
• The Gospel of Matthew
  by William Cannon
• Gospels, the external evidence and dating
  by Bernard D. Muller

Books on the Gospel of Matthew

• Dale C. Allison, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Saint Matthew (T&T Clark Ltd., 1989).
• Scott Hahn, Gospel of Matthew: With Introduction, Commentary, and Notes and With Study Questions (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible).
• Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Matthew (Liturgical Press, 1991)
• Craig S. Keener, A Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.
• Burton L. Mack, Who Wrote the New Testament? The Making of the Christian Myth (HarperCollins, 1996), pp. 161-167.
• Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew (Pillar New Testament Commentary).
• Jerome H. Neyrey, Honor and Shame in the Gospel of Matthew.
• Barbara Brown Taylor, The Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew.