![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Joshua-Schachterle-Bart-Ehrman-Author-1-1.png\" "\\"Joshua")
<\/span><\/p>\nWritten by <\/a>Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D<\/a><\/p>\n Author | Professor | Scholar<\/p>\n Author | Professor | BE Contributor<\/p>\n Verified! See our editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n Verified! See our guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n\nDate written: July 15th, 2023\n \nDate written: July 15th, 2023<\/p>\n Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n Do we really know who wrote the Gospel of Matthew? Many of the best-known stories about the life and, especially, the infancy of Jesus come down to us through this Gospel. <\/span><\/p>\n These include the story of Jesus\u2019s birth, the Wise Men coming to see him, and his family\u2019s flight to Egypt to escape Herod\u2019s wrath. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s an undeniably fascinating book, so we\u2019ll address who wrote the Gospel of Matthew in this post.<\/span><\/p>\n Although this version of the story of Jesus\u2019s life has been handed down to us as the Gospel of Matthew<\/a>, that title is not original to the text. I\u2019ll still call it Matthew here for the sake of convenience.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n It was originally written anonymously, as we know from our earliest manuscripts which have no title and no author\u2019s name at all. The title was only added in the early 2<\/span>nd<\/span> century CE, decades after it was written. <\/span><\/p>\n In addition, Walter Wilson, in his<\/span> commentary on Matthew<\/span><\/a>, suggests that the absence of an authorial signature may show the author did not think of it as his own individual perspective but rather as a construction by the author\u2019s community. <\/span><\/p>\n It is important to note that during the first century, more men than women were literate. Therefore, most scholars assume that the author of this work has a masculine identity.<\/span><\/p>\n According to the 4th-century church historian Eusebius, a 2nd<\/strong>-century bishop named Papias claimed to have known the author of the Gospel of John.<\/strong> Papias said that Matthew, an apostle<\/a> named only in the Gospel of Matthew (9:9-13), had recorded sayings of Jesus in Hebrew. Most scholars now discount this idea, but the traditional name seems to have come from this reference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since we don\u2019t have the name of the author of Matthew<\/a> or even a title, is there anything we can know about him at all? <\/span><\/p>\n Glad you asked!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Matthew is rightly called the most Jewish of the Gospels for several reasons. <\/strong><\/p>\n Right off the bat, the genealogy of Jesus<\/a> at the beginning of the Gospel links him directly not only to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but also to David, Israel\u2019s greatest king. <\/span><\/p>\n Wilson also notes that the author clearly has knowledge of Hebrew.<\/em> He makes numerous references to the Hebrew Bible in the text and insists on the importance of Torah observance. All of this points to a Jewish author for Matthew.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n NOW AVAILABLE FREE!<\/p>\n Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Actually Write the Gospels?<\/strong><\/p>\n The New Testament Gospels are anonymous. So why did early Christians say they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? And what’s the evidence that they actually did?<\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> GET THE FREE WEBINAR<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> <\/p>\n The Gospel of Matthew was written in Greek, not the Aramaic language spoken in Israel at the time. <\/span><\/p>\n Most scholars concur that Antioch, Syria is the most probable location for the writing of Matthew<\/em>, given that Greek was the primary language spoken there. <\/span><\/p>\n According to Aaron Gale, in the Jewish Annotated New Testament<\/a>, only the Gospel of Matthew mentions that Jesus was recognized in Syria during his lifetime.<\/strong> It is also mentioned in later New Testament texts that a community led by Jesus existed there (Acts 11:19-27, 13:1, Gal 2:11). Moreover, Peter, who was one of the leaders of the disciples, seems to have links to the city (Matt 16-17-19, Gal 2:11).<\/p>\n Most scholars assume it was written between 80 and 90 CE, at least 60 years after Jesus\u2019s death. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Why? First, it refers in several verses to<\/span> the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Roman imperial army (22:7, 21:41, 22:4, 23:38). Since we know this happened in 70 CE, Matthew must have been written after that date.<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, scholars have known for a long time that Matthew\u2019s author used the Gospel of Mark, our oldest Gospel, as one of the main sources for his narrative.<\/strong> Therefore, Matthew had to be written after Mark<\/a>, which was written around the time of the Temple\u2019s destruction in 70 CE.<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, the earliest written reference to the text of Matthew after the New Testament is found in letters written by a bishop from Antioch named Ignatius. In these letters, written around 110 CE, he quotes phrases from the Gospel. <\/span><\/p>\n This makes a date of 80-90 CE, between the destruction of the Temple and Ignatius\u2019 letters, a reasonable assumption for Matthew\u2019s composition.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n In<\/span> Scripting Jesus<\/span><\/a>, L. Michael White writes that Jesus is portrayed in three key ways in Matthew. <\/span><\/p>\n Throughout the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus delivers five sermons that offer insight into the central themes of his message. By examining the teachings presented in these sermons, one gains a clearer understanding of the overarching themes of the Gospel. <\/span><\/p>\n Here I summarize them in the order they appear in the text.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The Sermon on the Mount<\/b><\/span> focuses on observance of the Jewish Law (Torah)<\/a> and devotion to God as the way to attain righteousness. Jesus often modifies specific commandments from the Torah, using the \u201cYou have heard it said\u2026 but I say\u2026\u201d to show that his followers should be even more stringent about following the Torah than the Jewish religious authorities.<\/span><\/p>\n The Mission Discourse <\/b><\/span>is about the pressures of following Jesus during persecution. At the time of Matthew\u2019s writing, the Temple had already been destroyed, and Jewish Christians were rejected by the larger Jewish community in Antioch.<\/span><\/p>\n Mark emphasizes that Jesus is both the Son of God and the Jewish Messiah who had to endure suffering and death for the benefit of others.<\/strong><\/p>\n Parables of the Kingdom<\/span> <\/b>explain the coming kingdom of heaven and outline the proper choices and behaviors that will bring this kingdom about.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n On Discipline and Forgiveness<\/span> <\/b>is about division within Matthew\u2019s community and what to do to resolve it.<\/span><\/p>\n On Judgment,<\/b><\/span> <\/b>the last sermon contains warnings to the Jewish religious authorities<\/span> (\u201cWoe to you, Pharisees!\u201d) and a speech about the end of the current world.<\/span><\/p>\n What can we know about who wrote the Gospel of Matthew and when it was written? <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The author in question was a Jewish individual who spoke Greek and was a part of the early Jesus community. It is believed that he resided in Antioch, Syria.<\/p>\n He was concerned with observing the Torah, staying true to Jesus despite intimidation, the imminent arrival of God\u2019s kingdom, group harmony, and being on the right side of the last judgment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In short, even though we can\u2019t know the name of the author of the Gospel of Matthew, scholars have been able to learn quite a lot about him just from clues in the text.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to know more about this topic, check out Bart\u2019s course \u201cInvestigating the Unknown Gospels.” Click below for more information.<\/span><\/p>\n TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE of the Historical Jesus!<\/p>\n Think you know the Jesus of the Bible? Uncover the historical figure behind the texts!<\/p>\n __CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default”,”value”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”}},”gradients”:[]},”original”:{“colors”:{“10c55”:{“val”:”rgb(19, 114, 211)”,”hsl”:{“h”:210,”s”:0.83,”l”:0.45,”a”:1}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> sTART QUIZ<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> <\/p>\n It’s free!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Who Wrote the Gospel of Matthew: Exploring the Mystery Written by Joshua Schachterle, Ph.D Author | Professor | Scholar Author | Professor | BE Contributor Verified! See our editorial guidelines Verified! See our guidelines Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":7865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","tve_updated_post":"![\"Who](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Who-Wrote-the-Gospel-of-Matthew-.png\" "\\"Who")
<\/span><\/p>\nWhat\u2019s in a Name?<\/h2>\n
So how did we get this title? <\/h3>\n
He was almost certainly Jewish<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Did-MMLJ-Actually-Write-PBS-16x9-1.jpg\" "\\"Did")
<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nHe was probably not from Palestine<\/h3>\n
When was Matthew Written and How Can this Help us Understand the Author?<\/h2>\n
![\"Who](\"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Who-Wrote-the-Gospel-of-Matthew-and-When-Was-It-Written.png\" "\\"Who")
<\/span><\/p>\nHow Does MAtthew Portray Jesus? <\/h2>\n
\n
Exploring the Themes in the Gospel of Matthew<\/h3>\n
Summing Up: Who Wrote the Gospel of Matthew?<\/h2>\n