Matthew the Apostle

Matthew the Apostle was a tax collector in Capernaum when Jesus called him to become one of the twelve apostles, as recorded in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3. He is also listed among the Twelve in Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13, though those passages do not mention his background. The calling of a tax collector named Levi, son of Alphaeus, appears in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27, and these accounts closely parallel Matthew 9:9. Because both Matthew (also called Levi) and James, son of Alphaeus, share a father named Alphaeus, Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the two apostles were brothers.

Ministry

After Jesus’ ascension, Matthew and the other disciples gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem, traditionally the Cenacle, and remained there proclaiming Jesus as the promised Messiah. The Babylonian Talmud (Sanhedrin 43a) mentions a disciple of “Jeshu” named “Mattai.” Early Church Fathers, including Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, state that Matthew first preached the gospel to Jews in Judea before traveling to other countries. Ancient sources disagree on which countries, but nearly all mention Ethiopia—likely the region south of the Caspian Sea in ancient Persia, not the modern African nation.

Both Catholic and Orthodox traditions hold that Matthew died as a martyr, and the Babylonian Talmud may report his execution. One tradition says that while preaching in Ethiopia, Matthew converted Ephigenia, the virgin daughter of King Egippus, and consecrated her to God. When King Hirtacus succeeded Egippus, he asked Matthew to persuade Ephigenia to marry him. Matthew instead rebuked the king during a liturgy, calling Ephigenia a nun and bride of Christ.

The Gospel of Matthew

Enraged, Hirtacus ordered his bodyguard to kill Matthew at the altar. Early Christian tradition, first attested by Papias of Hierapolis (cited by Eusebius), holds that Matthew wrote the Gospel of Matthew. Papias said Matthew collected the sayings of Jesus in Hebrew, and each person interpreted them as best they could. Origen also stated that Matthew wrote the first gospel in Hebrew near Jerusalem for Hebrew Christians, and that it was translated into Greek.

The Hebrew original was kept at the Library of Caesarea, and a copy was later transcribed for Jerome by the Nazarene community. This gospel was called the Gospel according to the Hebrews or the Gospel of the Apostles, and was once thought to be the original behind the Greek Matthew in the Bible. Modern scholars like Bart D. Ehrman and James R. Edwards have challenged this view. Most scholars now believe the Gospel of Matthew was written anonymously, though traditional authorship still has defenders.

Non-canonical or apocryphal gospels

The author is not, and the superscription “according to Matthew” was added in the second century. In the third century, Jewish-Christian groups such as the Nazarenes and Ebionites used gospels attributed to Matthew. Fragments survive in quotations by Jerome, Epiphanius, and others.

Most scholars distinguish these into the Gospel of the Nazarenes, Gospel of the Ebionites, and Gospel of the Hebrews, all likely composed in Greek and related to the canonical Matthew. A minority consider them fragments of a lost Aramaic or Hebrew original. The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a seventh-century compilation of the Gospel of James, the Flight into Egypt, and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Jerome noted that the Nazarenes believed Matthew composed their Gospel of the Hebrews, though Irenaeus and Epiphanius saw it as a revised version of the canonical gospel.