why did jesus change levi to matthew

Mark 16:1). [38] For the latter view, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 64-66; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 224. [19] Yet our access to Papias is mediated through Eusebius, so it is uncertain whether Eusebius interrupted an interconnected statement about both evangelists or juxtaposed two separate excerpts from Papias together. Excessive. 3.2-3), but failed to place them in a rhetorically effective arrangement (taxis), whereas Matthew arranged (sunetaxato) the oracles (logia) in a Hebrew style.[21] That is, they surmise that Matthew applied Jewish exegetical techniques and forms of argumentation to the material at his disposal to shape it into a cogent presentation about how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures. Hence, Mark listened to Peters chreiai or anecdotes about the Lords sayings and deeds (cf. The Pharisees asked them, Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [14] For the theory that Matthew was either the founder of a putative Matthean community or the source of their traditions, see Pesch, Levi-Matthus, 56; Gundry, Old Testament, 184; Hill, Matthew, 5354, 173; Gnilka, Matthusevangelium, 1.331; Davies and Allison, Matthew VIIIXVIII, 2.99; Hagner, Matthew 113, xlvi; John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 3-4; Witherington III, Matthew, 5, 29; Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 40; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 111. Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. J.E. The Greek language became the international language through the conquests of Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. Pet. Jesus came to give us the same choice he gave . Jesus casually says to Levi the tax collector,follow me and Levi got up and followed him. Just like that. At the same time, opposition against Jesus was growing stronger, especially from the religious . [36] Ultimately, the identification of Matthews oracles with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. There were, however, at the time of Christ and the Apostles two languages spoken by JewsAramaic and Greek. It felt "weird," Carr said. [8] See Barnabas Lindars, Matthew, Levi, Lebbaeus and the Value of the Western TextNTS 4 (1957-58): 220-22; Bruce Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 3rd ed., (London: New York, 1975), 26, 81; Brent Nongbri, Matthew and Levi (and James), Variant Readings (blog), May 21, 2018, https://brentnongbri.com/2018/05/21/matthew-and-levi-and-james/. prol.) He followed Jesus to his death. However, Bacons hypothesis depends on his suppositions that the source of Matthew 10:24 was not simply Mark 3:1619 and that the author of Matthews Gospel did not just alter Marks order by moving Thomas before Matthew. Th. Slaves Were Lifeless Tools in the Ancient World, Meaning of Names, Places & Things in the Bible, Gardens and the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, The Roman Phalanx & Hannibals Pincer Movement. CLICK HEREfor Taxes in the Ancient Roman World article. Dan. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Matthew, McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Biography of Matthew, Catholic Online - Biography of St. Matthew, Catholic Information Network - St. Matthew Apostle and Evangelist. Krzingers and Gundrys proposals have varying degrees of persuasiveness, but most scholars have not been swayed by their contention that Papiass words on Matthew have been misread through the centuries. While He was on the cross, He cried out, "Eloi Eloi Lama Sabachthani," which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". In the Christian Bible, he was cited as one of the Jesus' apostles. - And it came to pass - seems the best reading - as he was sitting at meat in his house.This was the house of Matthew. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. Until that moment, she'd always thought Jesus was . haer. [20], Krzinger and Gundry re-read the Papian fragment through the lens of rhetorical categories. This is a depiction of a moment of spiritual awakening and conversion, which was something many Baroque artists were interested in painting, especially Caravaggio. [5] On the other hand, after scrutinizing the onomastic data compiled by Tal Ilan,[6] Richard Bauckham makes it clear why these examples may be irrelevant to this case: "[I]f Matthew and Levi were the same person, we should be confronted with the virtually unparalleled phenomenon of a Palestinian Jew bearing two common Semitic personal names (Matthew: ninth most popular, 62 occurrences; Levi: seventeenth most popular, 25 occurrences). Based on Papiass title Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord and his summary of Marks account of the oracles of the Lord, Papiass usage of the term logion encompassed both teachings and short narrative episodes (cf. in Mt. A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. [2] For some examples, see Robert Gundry, The Use of the Old Testament in St. Matthews Gospel: With Special Reference to the Messianic Hope(Leiden: Brill, 1975), 183; David Hill, The Gospel of Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972), 1; R. T. France, Matthew: Evangelist and Teacher (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1989), 6768; Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1992), 14; Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 113 (Dallas: Word, 1993), lxxvi; D. A. Carson, Matthew: Chapters 1 through 12 (EBC; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 1819; Grant R. Osbourne, Matthew, ECNT (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010), 34; B. Das Papiaszeugnis zur Entstehung des Matthusevangeliums ZNW 92 (2001): 257272; Nolland, Matthew, 3; Enrico Norelli, Papia di Hierapolis: Esposizione degli Oraculi del signore: I Frammenti (Milan: Figlie di San Paolo, 2005), 32829; David H. Sim, The Gospel of Matthew, John the Elder, and the Papias Tradition: A Response to R. H. Gundry HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 63.1 (2007): 290; Monte Shanks, Papias and the New Testament (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2013), 196; Michael J. Kok, Did Papias of Hierapolis Use the Gospel according to the Hebrews as a Source? JECS 25.1 (2017): 32; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 223; Jeannine K. Brown and Kyle Roberts, Matthew (Two Horizons; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 1516. [9] Lindars, Western Text,222; cf. Matthew (also known as Levi in the Gospels of Luke and Mark) was a Jewish tax collector, or publican, living in Capernaum. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. Papiass notice that Matthew addressed a Palestinian Jewish audience in their own vernacular language (i.e., Aramaic) was repeated in subsequent Patristic literature (e.g., Irenaeus, As for Jerome, he boasted that he translated the, The majority position among the experts is that the fragments Jerome inherited from the Nazarenes do not derive from the. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. I. Rather, he plainly states, So Matthew composed the oracles in the Hebrew language and each person interpreted them as best he could (in Eusebius, At first sight, this description seems like a poor match for the extant text entitled the. 184.9-10) and Eusebius regarded the text as disputed but not unorthodox (h.e. T/F, 4. Caseys efforts have been critiqued by Peter M. Head and P. J. Williams, Q Review TB 54.1 (2003): 13144. [18] B. C. Butler, The Originality of St Matthew: A Critique of the Two-Document Hypothesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 16566; Albright and Mann, Matthew, XXXVIXLVIII; Powers, Progressive Publication, 4749. 13:4; 19:1; 53:1; 62:3; 2 Clem. The reason for Papiass error may simply be that he made the natural assumption that a Galilean Apostle would be writing primarily in Aramaic. [13] Moreover, Matthew hardly features more as a character in the narrative than in the other two Synoptic Gospels to be the key source of the Matthean traditions. Omissions? Because Matthews original purpose was to prove to his Jewish brethren that Jesus is their Mashiach/Messiah, he included in his Gospel nine proof texts from the Old Testament which Jesus fulfilledMatthew 1:22,23; 2:15; 2:17,18; 2:23; 4:14-16; 8:17; 12:17-21; 13:35; 27:9,10. 1.7; Irenaeus, haer. Matthew is spoken of five times in the New Testament; first in Matt., ix, 9, when called by Jesus to follow Him, and then four times in the list of the Apostles, where he is mentioned in the seventh (Luke, vi, 15, and Mark, iii, 18), and again in the eighth place (Matt., x, 3, and Acts, i, 13). They kept it for themselves and became very rich. Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. The account of the sinful woman at the well in John 4 is a good example as is the woman caught in adultery in John 8 or even Jesus calling Levi (Matthew) to join His entourage and dining with sinners and tax collectors in Matthew 9. [4] When Origen of Alexandria searched for a parallel for why Saul was surnamed Paul in the preface of his Commentary on Romans, he pointed out that the same individual appears under different names in Matthew 9:9 and Luke 5:27 (PG 14.836). 3.2).[48]. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners., CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Pharisees article. For an alternative approach, W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann speculate that an Aramaic source identified the toll collector as a Levite and that this was mistranslated as the personal name Levi in the Greek texts of Mark and Luke. Jerome may have anticipated that he would track down the Gospel according to the Hebrews in Pamphilus library in Caesarea (cf. This makes it doubtful that Matthew 9:9 was intended as either the evangelists self-reference or as a pseudonymous literary device supplementing the ascription of this Gospel to Matthew. [33] Some scholars equate Matthews oracles with the hypothetical sources Q or M supposedly underlying the double tradition shared by Matthew and Luke and the singly attested traditions in Matthews Gospel respectively. Outside the New Testament, a statement of importance about him is the passage from the Apostolic Father Papias of Hierapolis preserved by Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea: So then Matthew composed the Oracles in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as he could. The Gospel According to Matthew was certainly written for a Jewish-Christian church in a strongly Jewish environment, but that this Matthew is definitely the Synoptic author is seriously doubted. Luke 6:12-26. By Michael J. Kok Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. He had the ability, the means, the opportunity, the motivation, and he wouldnt have done it? ill. 16; Is. In Matthew's parabolic aside, the wisest advice Pilate got that day -- our Good Friday -- was from his wife: "Have nothing to do with that innocent man" (27:19). [41], Papiass notice that Matthew addressed a Palestinian Jewish audience in their own vernacular language (i.e., Aramaic) was repeated in subsequent Patristic literature (e.g., Irenaeus, haer. 18) or Origen (cf. 16:18) Mark and Luke were probably stunned by Jesus inclusion of a hated tax collector in His Twelve. Facts about Matthew the Apostle give the readers a hint about Levi or Saint Matthew. This writer will explore what the ancient writers who were closer in time to Matthew had to say about the language in which Matthew was originally written: Matthew also issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect. Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3:1 c.175-185 A.D. The first (Gospel) is written according to Matthew, the same that was once a tax collector, but afterwards an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, who having published it for the Jewish believers, wrote it in Hebrew. Origen circa 210 CE, quoted by Eusebius, Eccl. praef. 1.62), though these observations contradict Origens argument in his commentary above. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? On hearing this, Jesus said,It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. The most natural reading is that a language was meant by the combination of the noun. One theory is that Matthew went by the name Levi, or was simply of the tribe of Levi, and was re-named by Jesus as Matthew upon his call. 3.39.16 with the Gospel according to the Hebrews in h.e. Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Media, Video and Lectures From The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies of the University of Arizona, Teaching the Bible in Public Schools and Higher Ed, Scholars, Frauds, the Media and the Public, Essays on Minimalism from Bible and Interpretation, Final Reports on the Yehoash Inscription and James Ossuary from the Israeli Antiquities Authority, Essays on the James Ossuary and the Temple Tablet from Bible and Interpretation, University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies, Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville. [42], It was not until Epiphanius (Pan. Baum, Ein aramischer Urmatthus, 26364. The meaning in Hebrew of the word day always means a 24 hour period of time. Other than naming Matthew in the list of Apostles, usually pairing him with St. Thomas, the New Testament offers scant and uncertain information about him. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. There were only 8 people in Noahs Ark. After Jesus grants Peter the keys to the kingdom (see below), Jesus explains . Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 62354. The important take-away from this detour through the Patristic testimonies was that the oldest tradition was that the evangelist Matthew published a text in Aramaic and left it to more qualified translators to translate it into the form that we have today as the Greek Gospel according to Matthew. Krzinger and Gundry insist that, Krzinger enlists Irenaeus in support of his reading of Papias, despite the fact that Irenaeus used the article when affirming that Matthew wrote to the Hebrews in their, Hence, Krzinger identifies the each one (. Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew). Ward Powers, The Progressive Publication of Matthew: An Explanation of the Writing of the Synoptic Gospels (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2010), 2829. Wilhelm Schneemelcher, trans. According to Matthew 9:9 and Mark 2:14, Matthew was sitting by the customs house in Capernaum (near modern Almagor, Israel, on the Sea of Galilee) when Jesus called him into his company. 3.25.5; cf. Calling of St. Matthew by Alexandre Bida, 1875. Harris J. Rendel, The Logia and the Gospels, For lexical discussion and debate about the term. The Calling of St. Matthew, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502. There are sayings (Matt 13:3643) and stories (e.g., Matt 12) in Matthews special material, too. Levi: Luke 5:27, "And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, 'Follow Me.' ". Biblical Evidence : Read Mark 2:13-14. [3] Powers, Progressive Publication, 29 (emphasis original). Matthews Gospel has more quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament author. He is mentioned in Matthew 9:9. Because Levi's occupation was one that earned distrust and contempt everywhere, the scribes of the Pharisees criticized Jesus on seeing him eat with tax collectors and sinners, whereupon Jesus answered, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:15-17). Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. [33] For lexical discussion and debate about the term logion in Papiass vocabulary (cf. He was honored that His Lord considered him such a gift, But as Levi he had immediately joined his life to Jesus and His Mission. Krzinger and Gundry re-read the Papian fragment through the lens of rhetorical categories. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. The Calling of Matthew is an episode in the life of Jesus which appears in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-28, and relates the initial encounter between Jesus and Matthew, the tax collector who . CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Constant Crowds article. T/F, 5. 3.27.4; 3.39.17; 4.22.8). David: So, Matthew was one of Christ's disciples. Levi asked Jesus to come to dinner at his home. [16] This English translation of the Greek text is taken from Michael W. Holmes, editor, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (rev. Teilband 1, ed. Whatever the case, Jerome slowly distanced himself from his earlier confident declarations that the Nazarenes had the original Matthean Gospel in their possession (cf. However, Didymus the Blind spotted a similar story in certain Gospels in his Commentary on Ecclesiastes (223.613) and one of those Gospels could have been the Gospel according to the Hebrews that he cited elsewhere in his Commentary on the Psalms (184.910). If these are all references to the same James, that would make James son of Alphaeus the author of the Book of James and one of the three men Paul called "pillars" of the church. Tax collectors at that time were known as dishonest and corrupt people. It is beyond the scope of this paper to determine why Matthew was substituted for Levi. 2.9.45.5; Origen, Jo. The other Eleven were ordinary men. (vv. 6:25 (300s AD). [1] Regardless of how this name change is explained, this toll collector may have been trained in accounting and documenting records and may have been functionally bilingual or trilingual in order to converse with travellers moving between the territories of Philip and Antipas. Indeed, Levi is Israel's priestly tribe, as stated in the Bible: "The priests the Levites the priests the Levites the priests the Levites" (Deuteronomy 17:9, 17:18, 18:1). Jesus ate a meal at Levi's house and . Jesus came with some of His disciples. The meaning in Hebrew of the word day always means a 24 hour period of time. [5] Mounce, Matthew, 83; France, Evangelist and Teacher, 69, 69n.54; Morris, Matthew, 219; Robert H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Handbook for a Mixed Church Under Persecution, 2nd ed. Matthew's Gospel was written in approximately A.D.___, before the destruction of Jerusalem. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Some Patristic interpreters guessed that the evangelists Mark and Luke called Matthew by his less popular name Levi out of deference for his apostolic status, while Matthew himself had the humility to confess that he was once employed in a disreputable profession under his better-known name (e.g., John Chrysostom, When Origen of Alexandria searched for a parallel for why Saul was surnamed Paul in the preface of his. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 15465; Klijn. Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies Matthew, of course. ; ; ; ; () Brezhoneg; Catal; etina; Dansk; Deutsch; Eesti The fact of one man having two names is of frequent occurrence among the Jews. I also was allowed by the Nazarenes who use this volume in the Syrian city of Beroea to copy it. Jerome: De viris inlustribus (On Illustrious Men), chapter III. Matthew was saying, Jesus IS the fulfillment of Old Testament predictions of our coming Messiah, Anontied One. He is called the Son of David nine times in the Gospel of Matthew. [26] Gundry, Matthew, 619; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 67. This could be a good possibility for the changing of the names. 3.1.1). [32] The diversity of text-forms evident in Matthews biblical citations and allusions, however, disproves the notion that the evangelist was reliant on one testimonium source. [9] In both instances, certain copyists of Marks Gospel were unaware of the conflation of Levi with Matthew in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3, yet still turned the character in Mark 2:14 into an apostle. Zavada, Jack. T/F, 3. Hence, Eusebius corrected Irenaeus by substituting the Gospel according to the Hebrews as the Ebionitess preferred Gospel (h.e. He was one of the earlier followers of Jesus Christ. And many followed him ( Mark 2:15 ). Who translated it after that in Greek is not sufficiently ascertained. "John, James, Andrew and Peter were the disciples closest to Jesus," Traylor says. "Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite'." Learn Religions, Dec. 6, 2021, learnreligions.com/nathanael-the-true-israelite-701068. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Klijn (Gospel Tradition, 11, 119) and Frey (Die Fragmente des Hebrerevangeliums, 606) treat Eusebiuss attribution of this tale to the Gospel According to the Hebrews as spurious since Eusebius may have had no firsthand knowledge of the text. Answer (1 of 3): In Mark, the first New Testament gospel written, Matthew and Levi are very definitely two different people. Curiously, Origen answered the philosopher Celsuss criticism that Jesus assembled a motley crew of toll collectors and sailors by stressing that Matthew was the sole toll collector within the apostolic circle and that Levi was not numbered among the twelve apostles except for in select manuscripts of Marks Gospel (Cels. [42] Luomanen, Jewish-Christian Sects, 21, 123; Frey, Die Fragmente des Ebionerevangeliums in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. The fact that three of the four Gospels recount the calling by Jesus of the tax collector Levi is important. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 6089; Kok, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 5253; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 181. Aelius Theon, Prog. Modern Persecution of Christians in China, Patriarch Jacobs Well & St. Philoumenous, Slaughter of the Theban Legion C. 286 AD, LapsiChristians Who Lapse/Abandon Their Faith, Evodias Named Followers of Christ Christians. nor any utilization of the first-person voice to present Matthews perspective on the unfolding events (contra Acts 16:1017; 20:515; 21:118; 27:137; 28:116; Gos. Matthias was the only one who was not chosen by Jesus . Matthew had a lucrative, though dishonest, tax collecting business for the occupying Roman government. 29.9.4; 30.3.7; 30.13.2; 30.14.3) and Jerome (Epist. December 29, 2020 7:00 AM EST. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 166; Hagner, Matthew 113, 238; Carson, Matthew, 224; Ben Witherington III, Matthew (Macon: Smyth & Helywys, 2006), 197; Osbourne, Matthew, 334; Powers, Progressive Publication, 2829. Krzinger and Gundry insist that dialektos would be preceded by an article if a language was intended (cf. 2.12.87; Didymus, Comm. [44] As for Jerome, he boasted that he translated the Gospel according to the Hebrews (e.g., Vir. 3.39.17). 135). Assuming that the identification of Matthew with Levi is correct, Matthew (probably meaning "Yahweh's Gift") would appear to be the Christian name of Levi (called by Mark "Levi the son of Alphaeus"), who had been employed as a tax collector in the service of Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. There were 12 men chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ. T/F. Because Levis occupation was one that earned distrust and contempt everywhere, the scribes of the Pharisees criticized Jesus on seeing him eat with tax collectors and sinners, whereupon Jesus answered, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:1517). People had to pay taxes to the *Romans. A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. He was thirty-one years old and married and had four children. Some have also argued that he's the Apostle Matthew 's brother. This creates space between Peter and the church's rock. 3.27.4). I. Jesus asked him to be a *disciple (Matthew 9:9). In the late '60s, he runs a musty SoCal church turned upside-down by an unexpected deluge of flower children seeking peace and love of the Christly variety. Many people were surprised when Jesus sat down to eat with Levi, but they learned that Jesus' message of salvation is for everyone. ill. After all, a toll collector may have at least needed functional literacy to perform certain tasks. When Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Vose Seminary He invited his friends to a feast, where they could meet Jesus. [34] Friedrich Schleiermacher, ber die Zeugnisse des Papias von unsern beiden ersten Evangelien, TSK 5 (1832): 73568; Manson, Gospels and Epistles, 7787; Hill, Matthew, 2427; Davies and Allison, Matthew IIV, 1.17; Black, Rhetorical Terminology, 3235; Hagner, Matthew 113; xlvxlvi; Nolland, Matthew, 3; Carter, Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist, 1617; Sim, R. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. H. Gundry, 291. As a result, those who reject the academic consensus on Markan priority are often the most open to Papiass claim.

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