why did jesus change levi to matthew

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. The final option is that a non-extant Jewish Gospel stands behind Papiass reference to Matthews oracles or, at least, the New Testament Gospel that bears the name Matthew was mixed up with a Jewish Gospel circulating in Papiass milieu. Levi had to keep very accurate records. 1.62), though these observations contradict Origens argument in his commentary above. [16] This English translation of the Greek text is taken from Michael W. Holmes, editor, The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (rev. 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. Pet. 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. 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. Consequently, the evangelist wrote Matthew into the Markan story of the toll collector in Matthew 9:9. Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. Hence, Eusebius corrected Irenaeus by substituting the Gospel according to the Hebrews as the Ebionitess preferred Gospel (h.e. Th. [20] Matthew Black, The Use of Rhetorical Terminology in Papias on Matthew and Mark JSNT 37 (1989): 32; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 222. [10] For the debate over whether Mark 2:14 and 3:18 refer to the same individual or to two different individuals named Alphaeus, see Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, 87n.17. For a recent effort to argue that plural Aramaic and Greek sources underlie the double tradition, see Maurice Casey, An Aramaic Approach to Q: Sources for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). Soon, Jesus and His disciples are having dinner in . When Jesus called Levi, Jesus never told him, "Repent, and follow Me." Jesus only said, "Follow Me." Jesus sought out someone like Levi, who was in need of God's mercy and helped him to make a decision to follow Jesus; that is to turn to God. There were only 8 people in Noahs Ark. Teilband 1, ed. This quote from Powerss monograph on the Synoptic Problem may presume too much about the literary skills, and psychological motivations, of a relatively low-level functionary operating a toll booth on the outskirts of the Galilean village of Capernaum (Matt 9:1, 9; cf. There are sayings (Matt 13:3643) and stories. Saint Matthew's decision lives on into eternity and benefited not millions . Most general Bible readers have the mistaken impression that Matthew, the opening book of the New Testament, must be our first and earliest Gospel, with Mark, Luke and John following. ed. Jesus could have walked up to Matthew and said sarcastically, "I bet your mother is really proud you!" Jesus was considered a rabbi. Early Christian CommunionWine or Mingled Wine? CHICAGO (RNS) The first time the Rev. Warren Carter underscores how Papiass erroneous supposition served to underline the antiquity of this gospel and link it to the apostles.. St. Matthew, also called St. Matthew the Evangelist, St. Matthew the Apostle, or Levi, (flourished 1st century ce, Palestine; Western feast day September 21, Eastern feast day November 16), one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ and the traditional author of the first Synoptic Gospel (the Gospel According to Matthew). Matthew did follow Jesus for the rest of his life. [47] Luomanen, Jewish-Christian Sects, 103119; Kok, Gospel According to the Hebrews, 4143; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 1417; 4352. Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. [41] Contra Edwards, Hebrew Gospel, 8 and Petri Luomanen, Recovering Jewish-Christian Sects and Gospels (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 12326. , TSAJ 91 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002). VesuviusAugust 24, 79 AD. 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. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 62354. One did not give up collecting taxes for the Romans on a whim and expect to ever return. Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 15465; Klijn. At the same time, opposition against Jesus was growing stronger, especially from the religious . 47:13-15), yet God . Teilband 1, ed. 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). Dan. They were dishonest and were also seen as. Maybe Jesus had seen Levi often as he sat in his chair with his table, papyrus, quill and ink made from carbon (soot or lampblack), water and gum arabic, a natural gum from the acacia tree used to control the inks viscosity when applied to the papyrus. [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. Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. Alternatively, the textual variant that has James instead of Levi as the son of Alphaeus in Mark 2:14 in a handful of manuscripts was plausibly motivated by a desire for uniformity by having a single son of Alphaeus (cf. When Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. Caseys efforts have been critiqued by Peter M. Head and P. J. Williams, Q Review TB 54.1 (2003): 13144. News of his preaching and healing ministry was spreading far and wide. 3.2).[48]. See Barnabas Lindars, Matthew, Levi, Lebbaeus and the Value of the Western Text, https://brentnongbri.com/2018/05/21/matthew-and-levi-and-james/, Lindars, Western Text,222; cf. Why is Matthew called Levi? Vir. Jesus casually says to Levi the tax collector,follow me and Levi got up and followed him. Just like that. CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Constant Crowds article. Mark 2:1, 1314). [6] Tal Ilan, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity: Part I: Palestine 330 BCE 200 CE, TSAJ 91 (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2002). [26], 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. prol.) 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. Even if this guy gets over the fact that I'm a tax collector, how could he ever be interested in me? By Michael J. Kok The best way to think about the Greek language during the time of Jesus is to think about modern-day English. Phil. [Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32] 13 Jesus went to the seashore again where large crowds came to him, . (vv. Scripture both prohibits and mocks astrology (Jer. [37] See B. H. Streeter, The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins (London: MacMillan, 1924). 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. [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. Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. 16:18) Mark and Luke were probably stunned by Jesus inclusion of a hated tax collector in His Twelve. The reason for Papiass error may simply be that he made the natural assumption that a Galilean Apostle would be writing primarily in Aramaic. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. T/F, 5. Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 24; Luz, Matthew 820, 32, 32n.14. [42], It was not until Epiphanius (Pan. This creates space between Peter and the church's rock. However, most scholars think that the tax collector Levi (not Zacchaeus) and Matthew were the same person based on these three verses: - Matthew 9:9 - "And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He *said to . Jesus did not call us because of our righteousness or gifting. Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. [42] Luomanen, Jewish-Christian Sects, 21, 123; Frey, Die Fragmente des Ebionerevangeliums in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. Mark 3:18). Sextus Julius AfricanusWhy Did The Magi Come ? High priest Aaron and his sons were descendants of Levi (Exodus 4:14), Levi being a son of Jacob (Genesis 29:34). 3.24.6; Origen, in h.e. Jesus went out again by the sea. 2.12.87; Didymus, Comm. Jesus came with some of His disciples. Christian missionaries have taught people in Papua, New Guinea who had many gods before their conversion to recite the Hebrew Shema announcing only ONE GOD. J.E. You're right Zahid, the author of Matthew was a tax collector. Of course, their hippy-dippy ways are . Matthew (Levi) who wrote the first of the Gospels did write it in the Hebrew tongue which at that time was Aramaic. Matthew is the Greek name and Levi was the Hebrew name. Perhaps they did so because Levis call narrative closely resembled the summons of the first four apostles to discipleship in Mark 1:1620 and Alpheus was already remembered as the father of one of the apostles in Mark 3:18. 3.39.16). [14] Nevertheless, it is conceivable that the two verses in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3 were the basis for why this Gospel was later ascribed to Matthew. However, Mark . Mark 16:1),[11] though this example differs slightly from Matthew 9:9 inasmuch as the woman is left unnamed. For the debate over whether Mark 2:14 and 3:18 refer to the same individual or to two different individuals named Alphaeus, see Bauckham. As most of us know, the tax collector named Levi became Saint Matthew. Updates? [35] For the general consensus of Q scholars, see Nigel Turner, Q in Recent Thought ExpTim 80 (1968-69): 32428; John S. Kloppenborg, The Formation of Q: Trajectories in Ancient Wisdom (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1987), 5164; Harry T. Fleddermann, Q: A Reconstruction and Commentary (Leuven: Peeters, 2005), 15557; Sarah E. Rollens, Framing Social Criticism in the Jesus Movement: The Ideological Project in the Sayings Gospel Q (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 9193. Key Verse: 6:13, "When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles". Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. 29.9.4; 30.3.7; Jerome, Vir. 1. We first meet Levi (aka Matthew) in Capernaum beside the Sea of Galilee: Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. The debate over the authorship of Matthews Gospel usually focuses on the replacement of Levi, the son of Alphaeus, with Matthew (Matt 9:9; contra Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27) and the addition of the descriptor the toll collector after Matthews name (Matt 10:3; contra Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). He was a tax collector who was sitting at his booth. 13:3; Pol. Answer (1 of 3): In Mark, the first New Testament gospel written, Matthew and Levi are very definitely two different people. 5. "Meet Nathanael in the Bible, the 'True Israelite'." Learn Religions, Dec. 6, 2021, learnreligions.com/nathanael-the-true-israelite-701068. with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. 2. [39] James R. Edwards has revived the older position that Matthew was the author of the Gospel according to the Hebrews and postulates that our Greek Gospel according to Matthew was named in honor of an apostolic figurehead who preserved the Jewish Jesus traditions. Alternate titles: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Evangelist. This is very possible, as scholars point to Simon (Peter) and Saul. Christ redeemed the priesthood of Levi back unto himself and redeemed Matthew the . 11.1-3; Pelag. Matthew was obviously a small mokhes because he himself was sitting in the tax office as Jesus passed through the outskirts of Capernaum. Ps. 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. It would be psychologically impossible that such a man as Matthew, trained and experienced in writing records and reports he was a Roman official and such work was requisite for him since it went with the job would not have recorded things Jesus said. Clement, str. h.e. Many people were surprised when Jesus sat down to eat with Levi, but they learned that Jesus' message of salvation is for everyone. He was one of the earlier followers of Jesus Christ. Following Jesus Meant Matthew Lost His Lucrative Tax Collector Career. [37], The final option is that a non-extant Jewish Gospel stands behind Papiass reference to Matthews oracles or, at least, the New Testament Gospel that bears the name Matthew was mixed up with a Jewish Gospel circulating in Papiass milieu. There were 12 men chosen to be disciples of Jesus Christ. 3.11.7), which is hard to reconcile with the Ebionitess denial of the virginal conception of Jesus (1.26.2; 3.21.1; 5.1.3; contra Matt 1:23). James E. Crouch; Hermeneia (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001), 32n.12; Ian Boxall, Matthew through the Centuries (Hoboken: Wiley Blackwell, 2019), 31, 172. 1. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Matthews relics were reputedly discovered in Salerno (Italy) in 1080. It is not surprising he watched Jesus carefully and wrote down the first of the four Gospels, the biographies of Jesus of Nazareth. This is a painting of the Calling of Saint Matthew in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. Thom. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Matthew, the Apostle of Yahshua (Popularly known as Jesus Christ) is best known as the publican or tax collector. From the place where he collected taxes near the Sea of Galilee (probably on the outskirts of Capernaum), Matthew may often have heard Jesus speak and must have known about his many miracles. Hence Levi was the original name of the man who was subsequently called Matthew; the Maththaios legomenos of Matthew 9:9, would indicate this. [16] At first sight, this description seems like a poor match for the extant text entitled the Gospel according to Matthew, for it does not look like a translation of an Aramaic precursor. Matthew (also known as Levi in the Gospels of Luke and Mark) was a Jewish tax collector, or publican, living in Capernaum. 40.9; Ezech. Krzinger and Gundry insist that dialektos would be preceded by an article if a language was intended (cf. 5.12), and the verb hermeneuein; Papias could have chosen different terminology to highlight Matthews rhetorical style. Matthew, or Levi, son of Alpheus, was one of the seven who received a call to follow Christ before the ordination of the Twelve. He called us when all we had was need. Tax collectors were rich people. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners., CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Pharisees article. This leads Dennis MacDonald to maintain that Papiass supposition about the multiple translations of Matthews oracles was an explanation for the dissimilar Greek texts of Q and Matthew. 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. [24] Krzinger, Papias, 1516; Gundry, Matthew, 619; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 6162, 67. [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). 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. John P. Meier even entertains the option that the evangelist wanted to replace Levi with any of the apostles and Matthew was chosen at random for this aim.

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