
published: 2/6/05
updated: 3/11/05
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
- Kenneth Barker, ed., The NIV Study Bible (Zondervan, 1985), pp. 1440-41.
- 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
Online Guides to the Gospel of Matthew
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.