Matthew
One of the Twelve. The first Gospel calls him a tax collector whom Jesus called from his booth; Mark and Luke name that man Levi. Second-century tradition names him as the author of the Gospel that stands first in the New Testament.
In the first Gospel Jesus sees “a man called Matthew” sitting at the tax office, apparently at Capernaum, and says, “Follow me”; the list of the Twelve in the same Gospel calls him “Matthew the tax collector” (Matthew 9:1, 9; 10:3). Mark and Luke tell the same story of a tax collector named Levi, son of Alphaeus, who then gives a feast at which Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:13–17) (Luke 5:27–32). Matthew appears in all four lists of the Twelve (Mark 3:18) (Luke 6:15) (Acts 1:13); see Jesus Appoints the Twelve. Nothing more is told of him in the New Testament.
Papias, a Christian writer of the early second century whose words survive in Eusebius, wrote that “Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able” (Eusebius, Church History 3.39.16). Irenaeus, about AD 180, says that Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own language (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.1.1). The Gospel itself names no author. How these statements relate to the Greek Gospel we have is discussed under the Four Gospels Are Written.
In the timeline
- c. AD 28–29, estimated dateJesus Appoints the Twelve
From his wider following Jesus chooses twelve men to be with him and to be sent out to preach and heal. Mark, Matthew and Luke list their names from Simon Peter to Judas Iscariot; Acts lists the eleven who remained.
- about AD 65 to AD 100, estimated dateThe Four Gospels Are Written
Four accounts of the words, deeds, death and resurrection of Jesus are written, on the usual dating, in the later first century. None names its author; the names Matthew, Mark, Luke and John come from second-century testimony.