why did jesus change levi to matthew

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). Tradition notes his ministry in Judaea, after which he supposedly missioned to the East, suggesting Ethiopia and Persia. David: That's right, in the larger church. 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. Warren Carter underscores how Papiass erroneous supposition served to underline the antiquity of this gospel and link it to the apostles.. [46] Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 15465; Klijn, Jewish Christian Gospel Tradition, 29-30, 3132; Klauck, Apocryphal Gospels, 4351; Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. Several theories have been offered to account for why the toll collector Levi was re-named Matthew in Matthew 9:9 (cf. 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. Jesus Calls Levi (Matthew). [30] For instance, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 6466; Morris, Matthew, 14; Carson, Matthew, 13 Osborne, Matthew, 34; Brown and Roberts, Matthew, 16. Logion could be translated as an oracle or divine utterance. 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). ill. The thesis that the first canonical Gospel was published under the name of a pseudonym is defended by George D. Kilpatrick. CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Matthew - New Advent Zavada, Jack. [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. 1. "Follow Me" | Desiring God See W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew, AB (Doubleday: New York, 1971), CLXXVIII. 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. Chapter 16: The Chosen Twelve - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter 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). 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. 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. 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. Biblical literature - The Gospel According to Matthew However, none of the ancient Christian literati surmised that the Apostle was fluent in Greek, for they handed down the tradition that Matthew composed his Gospel in Aramaic before it was translated into Greek. 29-30) I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. Mark 2:13-17. The task of the present article is to explain these two variations in . The best way to think about the Greek language during the time of Jesus is to think about modern-day English. 1) The name of the collector whom Jesus summons is not "Levi, son of Alphaeus", but "Matthew" (9,9). 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. [44] As for Jerome, he boasted that he translated the Gospel according to the Hebrews (e.g., Vir. prol.) F. C. Burkitt, Levi Son of Alphaeus JTS 28 (1927): 27374; Metzger, Textual Commentary, 78; Brent Nongbri, Matthew and Levi. Benjamin Bacon (Studies in Matthew [New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1930], 3940) conjectures that the textual variant in Mark 2:14 predated the composition of Matthews Gospel, leading a pre-Matthean scribe who was transmitting a list of the Twelve that was originally independent of Mark 3:1619 to preface the name James the son of Alphaeus with the title the toll collector. The author of Matthews Gospel, however, copied this list in Matthew 10:24 and wrongly took this scribal insertion in reference to Matthew since James was immediately preceded by Matthew in the list of names. Tax collectors at that time were known as dishonest and corrupt people. But lets hear Matthews own account of his calling: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collectors booth. This is a quite different case from that of an individual having both a Semitic and a Greek or Latin name, as well as from that of an individual having a Semitic name and also a nickname or family name.". All of the harsh and disapproving things He could have or should have said to Matthew would have been justified as far as the culture around them was concerned. He may call peop VesuviusAugust 24, 79 AD. Matthew did follow Jesus for the rest of his life. F. C. Burkitt, Levi Son of Alphaeus. The Testimonium Flavianum Question (My Two Cents), The Bible is Accurate Manuscript Evidence, Sayings From the Bible in the 21st Century, Colors & Dyes For Clothing in Ancient Rome, Thanksgiving: First Foods, First Friends1620, Ancient Ossuaries Uncover Biblical Truths. 7.2627; 14.5960). Matthew was obviously a small mokhes because he himself was sitting in the tax office as Jesus passed through the outskirts of Capernaum. The Bible says that Matthew left everything to follow Jesus. [36] Dennis MacDonald, Two Shipwrecked Gospels: The Logoi of Jesus and Papiasss Exposition of Logia about the Lord (Atlanta: SBL, 2012), 15. [3] Powers, Progressive Publication, 29 (emphasis original). [10] Even so, most readers of the New Testament throughout history have taken the identification of Levi with Matthew for granted. Alternate titles: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Evangelist. 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. [37] See B. H. Streeter, The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins (London: MacMillan, 1924). [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). Krzinger and Gundry insist that dialektos would be preceded by an article if a language was intended (cf. Additionally, specialists on the Synoptic Problem generally hold that Matthews Gospel reproduced over 90 percent of Marks content, improved Marks grammar and style, and edited out Marks transliterated Aramaic terms. Wilson (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1991), 138; A. F. J. Klijn, Jewish-Christian Gospel Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 1992), 11, 119, 138; Hans Josef Klauck, Apocryphal Gospels: An Introduction, trans. For objections against this view, see Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 25n.26; Luz, Matthew 820, 32. 3. Other scholars suspect that the Nazarenes only supplied Jerome with their own translations and commentary on Matthews Gospel. There is no indication that Matthew wrote anything (contra John 21:24; Gos. 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. As he went along, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax booth. Vir. Facts about Matthew the Apostle give the readers a hint about Levi or Saint Matthew. Acts 1:1-2 appears to tie the two books to the same author. Jesus does not say "On you I will build my church" but "on this rock ." "This rock" is distinct from Peter, although connected to him. 40.9; Ezech. Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Saint Matthew - Facts, Life & Bible - Biography h.e. 3.39.1, 15), which subtly contrasts with an exclusive interest in the Lords logoi or sayings (3.39.14). Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 606; Kok, Papias of Hierapolis, 4752; Andrew Gregory, The Gospel according to the Hebrews and the Gospel of the Ebionites (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017), 34, 78. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners., CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Pharisees article. [22] Krzinger, Papias, 22; Gundry, Matthew, 619; Pre-Papian Tradition, xxi, 68; cf. 3.27.4). [38] For the latter view, see France, Evangelist and Teacher, 64-66; Bauckham, Eyewitnesses, 224. Christoph Markschies und Jens Schrter (Tbingen: Mohr Siebeck 2012), 6089; Kok, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 5253; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 181. Ein Beitrag zur Lsung eines alten Problems ZNW59 (1968): 4056; Mark Kiley, Why Matthew in Matt 9:913Biblica65.3 (1984): 34751; Michael J. Kok, Re-naming the Toll Collector in Matthew 9:9: A Review of the Options JGAR (forthcoming). Matthias was the only one who was not chosen by Jesus . There are a number of Patristic and Medieval quotations that purportedly derive from a text that was commonly dubbed as the, James R. Edwards has revived the older position that Matthew was the author of the, Conversely, Papias may not have known the. Wilhelm Schneemelcher, trans. This is not a solitary occurrence within Matthews Gospel: the evangelist inserted the mother of the sons of Zebedee into one pericope (Matt 20:20; cf. For the range of theories accounting for the redactional changes in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3, see the helpful summaries compiled by Joachim Gnilka, Lexicon of Jewish Names in Late Antiquity: Part I: Palestine 330 BCE 200 CE. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. Jesus' death by crucifixion was the worst death that anybody would have to endure. praef. Teilband 1, ed. Until that moment, she'd always thought Jesus was . How Jesus became white and why it's time to cancel that 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. However, Jesus Christ is of the tribe of Judah. Why Did Jesus Say, "On This Rock I Will Build My Church"? (Matthew 16) Gospel Parallels: Calling of Levi/Matthew - READ-SCRIPTURE.COM The fact that three of the four Gospels recount the calling by Jesus of the tax collector Levi is important. To follow Jesus requires renouncement. There were, however, at the time of Christ and the Apostles two languages spoken by JewsAramaic and Greek. In this post, let us take a deeper . Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. They kept it for themselves and became very rich. The Patristic Traditions about the Evangelist Matthew. [39] Edwards (Hebrew Gospel, 210) identifies Matthews oracles in h.e. Matthew (also known as Levi) doubtless was one of the tax collectors who responded to John the Baptist's call to repentance. had his name changed from Levi to Matthew likely by Jesus Himself who changed Simons name to Peter.(Matt. Why did Jesus change the name of only three of his apostles? | The ill. 3; Tract. When Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [12] Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. [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. [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. Marys Perpetual Virginity & Jesus Brothers, Why Pollen on the Shroud of Turin Proves it is Real, Christian Inscriptions in Roman Catacombs, Eruption Of Mt. in Mt. [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. CLICK HERE for Jesus and the Constant Crowds article. [17] W. D. Davies and Dale C. Allison (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on The Gospel According to Saint Matthew. There is no indication that Matthew wrote anything (contra John 21:24; 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. How do we know that Matthew changed after Jesus called him? Jennie Ebeling --Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Evansville, Copyright 2000-2023 The Bible and Interpretation| All Rights Reserved |The University of Arizona | Developed bySBS Tech "Follow me," he said to him. The Bible shares in the book of Acts, that the betrayal and arrest of Jesus were foretold long ago by the Holy Spirit. As a result, those who reject the academic consensus on Markan priority are often the most open to Papiass claim. 135; Matt. [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. Indeed, Papias commented on a story about the Lords encounter with a condemned woman that Eusebius located in this Gospel (cf. Some scholars believe that the tax-collector simply had two names, one in Greek (Matthew) and the other in Hebrew (Levi). Calling of Matthew - Wikipedia Why did Jesus change the disciples names? - YourQuickInfo I. At the same time, opposition against Jesus was growing stronger, especially from the religious . It is not surprising he watched Jesus carefully and wrote down the first of the four Gospels, the biographies of Jesus of Nazareth. 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. [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. Matthews Gospel has more quotations from and allusions to the Old Testament than any other New Testament author.