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MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF ST

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 898 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MATTHEW, See also:GOSPEL OF ST , the first of the four canonical Gospels of the See also:Christian See also:Church. The indications of the use of this Gospel in the two or three generations following the Apostolic See also:Age (see GOSPEL) are more plentiful than of any of the others. Throughout the See also:history of the Church, also, it has held a See also:place second to none of the Gospels alike in public instruction and in the private See also:reading of Christians. The reasons for its having impressed itself in this way and become thus See also:familiar are in large See also:part to be found in the characteristics noticed below. But in addition there has been from an See also:early See also:time the belief that it was the See also:work of one of those publicans whose See also:heart Jesus touched and of whose See also:call to follow Him the three Synoptics contain an interesting See also:account, but who is identified as Matthew (q.v.) only in this one (Matt. ix. 9–13 =See also:Mark ii. 13–17 =See also:Luke v. 27–32). r. The Connexion of our See also:Greek Gospel of Matthew with the Apostle whose name it bears.—The earliest reference to a See also:writing by Matthew occurs in a fragment taken by See also:Eusebius from the same work of See also:Papias from which he has given an account of the See also:composition of a See also:record by Mark (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. iii.

39; see MARK, GOSPEL OF ST). The statement about Matthew is much briefer and is harder to interpret. In spite of much controversy, the same measure of agreement as to its meaning cannot be said to have been attained. This is the fragment: " Matthew, however, put together and wrote down the Oracles (ra Xbyaa crvv4ypa>liev) in the See also:

Hebrew See also:language, and each See also:man interpreted them as he was able." Whether " the See also:elder " referred to in the passage on Mark, or some other like authority, was the source of this statement also does not appear; but it is probable that this was the See also:case from the context in which Eusebius gives it. Conservative writers on the Gospels have frequently maintained that the writing here referred to was virtually the Hebrew See also:original of our Greek Gospel which bears his name. And it is indeed likely that Papias himself closely associated the latter with the Hebrew (or Aramaic) work by Matthew, of which he had been told, since the traditional connexion of this Greek Gospel with Matthew can hardly have begun later than this time. It is reasonable also to suppose that there was some ground for it. The description, however, of what Matthew did suits better the making of a collection of See also:Christ's discourses and sayings than the composition of a work corresponding in See also:form and See also:character to our Gospel of Matthew. The next reference in Christian literature to a Gospel-record by Matthew is that of See also:Irenaeus in his famous passage on the four Gospels (Adv. haer. iii. i. 1). He says that it was written in Hebrew; but in all See also:probability he regarded the Greek Gospel, which stood first in his, as it does in our, enumeration, as in the strict sense a See also:translation of the Apostle's work; and this was the view of it universally taken till the 16th See also:century, when some of the scholars of the See also:Reformation maintained that the Greek Gospel itself was by Matthew. The actual phenomena, however, of this Gospel, .and of its relation to See also:sources that have been used in it, cannot be explained consistently with either of the two views just mentioned.

It is a composite work in which two See also:

chief sources, known in Greek to the author of our See also:present Gospel, have, together with some other See also:matter, been combined. It is inconceivable that one of the Twelve should have proceeded in this way in giving an account of Christ's See also:ministry. One of the chief documents, however, here referred to seems to correspond in character with the description given in Papias' fragment of a record of the compilation of " the divine utterances " made by Matthew; and the use made of it in our first Gospel may explain the connexion of this Apostle's name with it. In the Gospel of Luke also, it is true, this same source has been used for the teaching of Jesus. But the original Aramaic Logian document may have been more largely reproduced in our Greek Matthew. Indeed, in the case of one important passage (v. 17–48) this is suggested by a comparison with Luke itself, and there are one or two others where from the character of the matter it seems not improbable, especially vi. 1-18 and See also:xxiii. 1-5, 7b-1o, 15-22. On the whole, as will be seen below, what appears to be a Palestinian form of the Gospel-tradition is most fully represented in this Gospel; but in many instances at least this may well be due to some other cause than the use of the original Logian document. 2. The See also:Plan on which the Contents is arranged.—In two respects the arrangement of the See also:book itself is significant.

(a) As to the See also:

general outline in the first See also:half of the account of the Galilean ministry (iv. 23—xi. 30). Immediately after See also:relating the call of the first four disciples (iv. 18—22) the evangelist gives in iv. 23 a comprehensive See also:summary of Christ's work in See also:Galilee under its two chief aspects, teaching and healing. In the sequel both these are illustrated. First, he gives in the See also:Sermon on the See also:Mount (v.—vii.) a considerable See also:body of teaching, of the See also:kind required by the disciples of Jesus generally, and a large portion of which probably also stood not far from the beginning of the Logian document. After this he turns to the other aspect. Up to this point he has mentioned no See also:miracle. He now describes a number in See also:succession, introducing all but the first of those told between Mark i. 23 and ii.

12, and also four specially remarkable ones, which occurred a See also:

good See also:deal later according to Mark's See also:order (Matt. viii. 23—34=Mark iv. 35—v. 2o; Matt. ix. 18—26 =Mark v. 21—43) ; and he also adds some derived from another source, or other sources (viii. 5—13; ix. 27—34). Then, after another general description at ix. 35, similar to that at iv. 23, he brings strikingly before us the needs of the masses of the See also:people and Christ's compassion for them, and so introduces the See also:mission of the Twelve (which again occurs later according to Mark's order, viz, at vi. 7 seq.), whereby the ministry both of teaching and of healing was further extended (ix.

36—x. 42). Finally, the See also:

message of See also:John the Baptist, and the reply of Jesus, and the reflections that follow (xi.), bring out the significance of the preceding narrative. It should be observed that examples have been given of every kind of mighty work referred to in the reply of Jesus to the messengers of the Baptist; and that in the discourse which follows their departure the perversity and unbelief of the people generally are condemned, and the faith of the humble-minded is contrasted therewith. The greater part of the matter from ix. 37 to end of xi. is taken from the Logian document. After this point, i.e. from xii. i onwards, the first evangelist follows Mark almost step by step down to the point (Mark xvi. 8), after which Mark's Gospel breaks off, and another ending has been supplied; and gives in substance almost the whole of Mark's contents, with the exception that he passes over the few narratives that he has (as we have seen) placed earlier. At the same time he brings in additional matter in connexion with most of the Marcan sections. (b) With the accounts of the words of Jesus spoken on certain occasions, which our first evangelist found given in one or another of his sources, he has combined other pieces, taken from other parts of the same source or from different sources, which seemed to him connected in subject, e.g. into the discourse spoken on a See also:mountain, when crowds from all parts were present, given in the Logian document, he has introduced some pieces which, as we infer from Luke, stood separately in that document (cf. Matt. vi. 19-21 with Luke xii.

33, 34; Matt. vi. 22, 23 with Luke xi. 34—36; Matt. Vi. 24 with Luke xvi. 13 ; Matt. vi. 25—34 with Luke xii. 22—32 ; Matt. vii. 7—11 with Luke xi. 9—13). Again, the address to the Twelve in Mark vi. 7-11, which in Matthew is combined with an address to disciples, from the Logian document, is connected by Luke with the sending out of seventy disciples (Luke x.

1—16). Our first evangelist has also added here various other sayings (Matt. x. 17—39, 42). Again, with the Marcan account of the See also:

charge of See also:collusion with Satan and Christ's reply (Mark iii. 22—30), the first evangelist (xii. 24—45) combines the parallel account in the Logian document and adds Christ's reply to another attack (Luke xi. 14—16, 17—26, 29—32). These are some examples. He has in all in this manner constructed eight discourses or collections of sayings, into which the greater part of Christ's teaching is gathered: (1) On the character of the heirs of the See also:kingdom (v.—vii.); (2) The Mission address (x.); (3) Teaching suggested by the message of John the Baptist (xi.) ; (4) The reply to an See also:accusation and a See also:challenge (xii. 22—45); (5) The teaching by parables (xiii.); (6) On offences (xviii.); (7) Concerning the See also:Scribes and See also:Pharisees (xxiii.); (8) On the Last Things (See also:xxiv., See also:xxv.). In this arrangement of h's material the writer has in many instances disregarded See also:chronological considerations. But his documents also gave only very imperfect indications of the occasions of many of the utterances; and the result of his method of See also:procedure has been to give us an exceedingly effective See also:representation of the teaching of Jesus.

In the concluding verses of the Gospel, where the original Marcan parallel is wanting, the evangelist may still have followed in part that document while making additions as before. The account of the silencing of the See also:

Roman guard by the chief priests is the sequel to the setting of this guard and their presence at the Resurrection, which at an earlier point are See also:peculiar to Matthew (See also:xxvii. 62—66, See also:xxviii 4). And, further, this matter seems to belong to the same See also:cycle of tradition as the See also:story of See also:Pilate's wife and his throwing the See also:guilt of the Crucifixion of Jesus upon the See also:Jews, and the testimony On the other See also:hand, the See also:meeting of Jesus with the disciples in Galilee (Matt. xxviii. 16 seq.) is the natural sequel to the message to them related in Mark xvi. 7, as well as in Matt. xxviii. 7. Again, the See also:commission to them to preach throughout the See also:world is supported by Luke xxiv. 47, and by the present ending of Mark (xvi. 15), though neither of these mention Galilee as the place where it was given. The baptismal See also:formula in Matt. xxviii. 19, is, how-ever, peculiar, and in view of its non-occurrence in the Acts and Epistles of the New Testament must be regarded as probably an addition in accordance with Church usage at the time the Gospel was written.

3. The Palestinian See also:

Element.—Teaching is preserved in this Gospel which would have peculiar See also:interest and be specially required in the See also:home of Judaism. The, best examples of this are the passages already referred to near end of §1, as probably derived from the Logian document. There are, besides, a good many turns of expression and sayings peculiar to this Gospel which have a Semitic See also:cast, or which suggest a point of view that would be natural to Palestinian Christians, e.g. " kingdom of See also:heaven " frequently for " kingdom of See also:God "; xiii. 52 (" every See also:scribe "); xxiv. 20 (" neither on a See also:Sabbath"). See also v. 35 and xix. 9; X. 5, 23. Again, several of the quotations which are peculiar to this Gospel are not taken from the LXX., as those in the other Gospels and in the corresponding contexts in this Gospel commonly are, but are wholly or partly See also:independent renderings from the Hebrew (ii.

6, 15, 18; viii. 17, xii. 17-21, &c.). Once more, there is somewhat more See also:

parallelism between the fragments of the Gospel according to the See also:Hebrews and this Gospel than is the case with Luke, not to say Mark. 4. Doctrinal Character.—In this Gospel, more decidedly than in either of the other two Synoptics, there is a doctrinal point of view from which the whole history is regarded. Certain aspects which are of profound significance are dwelt upon, and this without there being any See also:great difference between this Gospel and the two other Synoptics in respect to the facts recorded or the beliefs implied. The effect is produced partly by the comments of the evangelist, which especially take the form of citations from the Old Testament; partly by the frequency with which certain expressions are used, and the prominence that is given in this and other ways to particular traits and topics. He sets forth the restriction of the mission of Jesus during His See also:life on See also:earth.to the people of See also:Israel in a way which suggests at first sight a spirit of Jewish exclusiveness. But there are various indications that this is not the true explanation. In particular the evangelist brings out more strongly than either Mark or Luke the See also:national rejection of Jesus, while the Gospel ends with the commission of Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection to " make disciples of all the peoples." One may divine in all this an intention to " justify the ways of God " to the See also:Jew, by proving that God in His faithfulness to His See also:ancient people had given them the first opportunity of salvation through Christ, but that now their national See also:privilege had been rightly forfeited. He was also specially concerned to show that prophecy is fulfilled in the life and work of Jesus, but the conception of this fulfilment which is presented to us is a large one; it is to be seen not merely in particular events or features of Christ's ministry, but in the whole new See also:dispensation, new relations between God and men, and new rules of conduct which Christ has introduced.

The divine meaning of the work of Jesus is thus made apparent, while of the See also:

majesty and See also:glory of His See also:person a peculiarly strong impression is conveyed. Some illustrations in detail of these points are subjoined. Where there are See also:parallels in the other Gospels they should be compared and the words in Matthew noted which in many instances serve to emphasize the points in question. (a) The Ministry of Jesus among the Jewish People as their promised See also:Messiah, their rejection of Him, and the See also:extension of the Gospel to the Gentiles. The mission to Israel : Matt. i. 21; iv. 23 (See also:note in these passages the use of 6 Xa6r, which here, as generally in Matthew, denotes the chosen nation), ix. 33, 35, xv. 31. For the See also:rule limiting II the work of Jesus while on earth see xv. 24 (and note 4sXBoi3ra in See also:verse 22, which implies that Jesus had not himself entered the See also:heathen See also:borders), and for a similar rule prescribed to the disciples, x. 5, 6 and 23.

The rejection of Jesus by the people in Galilee, xi. 21; xiii. 13–15, and by the heads of " the nation," See also:

xxvi. 3, 47 and by " the whole nation," xxvii. 25; their condemnation xxiii. 38. See also:Mercy to the Gentiles and the See also:punishment of " the sons of the kingdom " is foretold viii. I I, 12. The commission to go and convert See also:Gentile peoples (Beni) is given after Christ's resurrection (xxviii. 19). (b) The Fulfilment of Prophecy.—In the See also:birth and childhood of Jesus, i. 23; ii.

6, 15, 18, 23. By these citations See also:

attention is See also:drawn to the lowliness of the beginnings of the Saviour's life, the unexpected and See also:secret manner of His appearing, the dangers to which from the first He was exposed and from which He escaped. The ministry of Christ's forerunner, iii. 3. (The same prophecy, Isa. xl. 3, is also quoted in the other Gospels.) The ministry of Jesus. The quotations serve to bring out the significance of important events, especially such as were turning-points, and also to mark the broad features of Christ's life and work, iv. 15, 16; viii. 17 ; xii. 18 seq. ; xiii. 35; xxi.

5; xxvii. 9. (c) The Teaching on the Kingdom of God.—Note the collection of parables " of the Kingdom " in xiii. ; also the use of q i ,+aosX eta (" the Kingdom ") without further See also:

definition as a See also:term the reference of which could not be misunderstood, especially in the following phrases peculiar to this Gospel: re e6ayyiXio sic ,BanXeias (" the Gospel of the Kingdom ") iv. 23, ix. 35, xxiv. 14; and 6 a6yos riffs /3aatXetas (" the word of the kingdom xiii. 19. The following descriptions of the kingdom, peculiar to this Gospel, are also interesting ii 3ainXeta rou 'See also:war pas akr&w (" the kingdom of their See also:father ") xiii. 43 and rou irarp6s µ0v (" of my father ") xxvi. 29. (d) The Relation of the New See also:Law to the Old.—Verses 17–48, cf. also, addition at xxii.

40 and xix. 19b. Further, his use of 6LKawcriam (" righteousness ") and 6LKa&off (" righteous ") (specially frequent in this Gospel) is such as to connect the New with the Old; the See also:

standard in mind is the law which " fulfilled " that previously given. (e) The Christian See also:Ecclesia.—See also:Chap. xvi. 18, xviii. 17. (f) The Messianic Dignity and Glory of Jesus.—The narrative in i. and ii. show the See also:royalty of the new-See also:born See also:child. The See also:title " Son of•See also:David " occurs with See also:special frequency in this Gospel. The following instances are without parallels in the other Gospels: ix. 27; 23; xv. 22; xxi. 9; xxi.

15. The title " Son of God " is also used with somewhat greater frequency than in Mark and Luke: ii. 15; xiv. 33; xvi. 16; xxii. 2 seq. (where it is implied); xxvii. 40, 43. The thought of the future coming of Christ, and in particular of the See also:

judgment to be executed by Him then, is much more prominent in this Gospel than in the others. Some of the following predictions are peculiar to it, while in several others there are additional touches: vii. 22, 23; X. 23, 32, 33; xiii.

39–43; xvi. 27, 28; xix. 28; xxiv 3, 27, 30, 31, 37, 39; xxv. 31–46; xxvi. 64. The majesty of Christ is also impressed upon us by the signs at His crucifixion, some of which are related only in this Gospel, xxvii. 51-53, and by the See also:

sublime See also:vision of the Risen Christ at the See also:close, xxviii. 16–20. Compelled to abdicate, he withdrew to a monastery, where he busied himself with writing commentaries on the Scriptures. MATTHEW OF See also:PARIS (d. 1259), See also:English See also:monk and chronicler known to us only through his voluminous writings. In spite of his surname, and of his knowledge of the See also:French language, his attitude towards foreigners attests that he was of English birth.

He may have studied at Paris in his youth, but the earliest fact which he records of himself is his See also:

admission as a monk at St Albans in the See also:year 1217. His life was mainly spent in this religious See also:house. In 1248, however, he was sent to See also:Norway as the See also:bearer of a message from See also:Louis IX. of See also:France to See also:Haakon VI.; he made himself so agreeable to the See also:Norwegian See also:sovereign that he was invited, a little later, to superintend the reformation of the See also:Benedictine monastery of St Benet Holme at See also:Trondhjem. Apart from these See also:missions, his activities were devoted to the composition of history, a pursuit for which the monks of St Albans had See also:long been famous. Matthew edited anew the See also:works of See also:Abbot John de See also:Cella and See also:Roger of See also:Wendover, which in their altered form constitute the first part of his most important work, the Chronica majora. From 1235, the point at which Wendover dropped his See also:pen, Matthew continued the history on the plan which his predecessors had followed. He derived much of his See also:information from the letters of important personages, which he sometimes inserts, but much more from conversation with the See also:eye-witnesses of events. Among his informants were See also:Earl See also:Richard of See also:Cornwall and See also:Henry III. With the latter he appears to have been on terms of intimacy. The See also:king knew that Matthew was writing a history, and showed some anxiety that it should be as exact as possible. In 1257, in the course of a See also:week's visit to St Albans, Henry kept the chronicler beside him See also:night and See also:day, " and guided my pen," says Paris, "with much good will and See also:diligence." It is therefore curious that the Chronica majora should give so unfavourable an account of the king's policy. Luard supposes that Matthew never intended his work to see the See also:light in its present form, and many passages of the autograph have against them the note offendiculum, which shows that the writer understood the danger which he ran.

On the other hand, unexpurgated copies were made in Matthew's lifetime; though the offending passages are duly omitted or softened in his abridgment of his longer work, the Historia Anglorum (written about 1253), the real sentiments of the author must have been an open secret. In any case there is no ground for the old theory that he was an See also:

official historiographer. Matthew Paris was unfortunate in living at a time when English politics were peculiarly involved and tedious. His See also:talent is for narrative and description. Though he took a keen interest in the See also:personal See also:side of politics he has no claim to be considered a See also:judge of character. His appreciations of his contemporaries throw more light on his own prejudices than on their aims and ideas. His work is always vigorous, but he imputes motives in the spirit of a See also:partisan who never pauses to weigh the See also:evidence or to take a comprehensive view of the situation. His redeeming feature is his generous admiration for strength of character, even when it goes along with a policy of which he disapproves. Thus he praises See also:Grosseteste, while he denounces Grosseteste's See also:scheme of monastic reform. Matthew is a vehement supporter of the monastic orders against their rivals, the See also:secular See also:clergy and the mendicant friars. He is violently opposed to the See also:court and the See also:foreign favourites. He despises the king as a statesman, though for the man he has some kindly feeling.

The frankness with which he attacks the court of See also:

Rome for its exactions is remarkable; so, too, is the intense nationalism which he displays in dealing with this topic. His faults of presentment are more often due to carelessness and narrow views than to deliberate purpose. But he is sometimes guilty of inserting rhetorical speeches which are not only fictitious, but also misleading as an account of the See also:speaker's sentiments. In other cases he tampers with the documents which he inserts (as, for instance, with the See also:text of Magna Carta). His See also:chronology is, for a contemporary, inexact; and he occasionally inserts duplicate versions of the same incident in different places. Hence he must always be rigorously checked where other authorities exist and used with caution where he is our See also:sole informant. None the less, he gives a more vivid impression of his age than any other English chronicler; and it is a matter for regret that his great history breaks off in 1259, on the See also:eve of the crowning struggle between Henry III and the baronage. (5) Time of Composition and Readers addressed.—The signs of dogmatic reflection in this Gospel point to its having been composed somewhat See also:late in the 1st century, probably after Luke's Gospel, and this is in See also:accord with the conclusion that some insertions had been made in the Marcan document used by this evangelist which were not in that used by Luke (see LUKE, GOSPEL OF Sr). We may assign A.D. 8o-See also:ioo as a probable time for the composition. The author was in all probability a Jew by See also:race, and he would seem to have addressed himself especially to Jewish readers; but they were Jews of the See also:Dispersion. For although he was in specially close See also:touch with See also:Palestine, either personally or through the sources at his command, or both, his book was composed in Greek by the aid of Greek documents.

See commentaries by Th. Zahn (1903) and W. C. See also:

Allen (in the See also:series of See also:International See also:Critical Commentaries, 1907); also books on the Four Gospels or the Synoptic Gospels cited at the end of, GOSPEL. (V. H.

End of Article: MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF ST

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