why did jesus change levi to matthew why did jesus change levi to matthew

Francis Watson, Gospel Writing: A Canonical Perspective (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2013), 126. prol.) [30] Warren Carter underscores how Papiass erroneous supposition served to underline the antiquity of this gospel and link it to the apostles.[31], Another option is that Papias was referring to a lost source. There are many examples of irresistible grace in God's Word. 2:1-10; Acts 8:9-24). According to Luke 5:29, the aforementioned dinner was given by Levi in his house after his call. Christ redeemed the priesthood of Levi back unto himself and redeemed Matthew the . While Jesus was having dinner at Matthews house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. As Brent Cunningham expressed it the changing of the names represented Jesus' ownership of them. The Calling of Matthew is an episode in the life of Jesus which appears in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew 9:9-13, Mark 2:13-17 and Luke 5:27-28, and relates the initial encounter between Jesus and Matthew, the tax collector who . In both instances, certain copyists of Marks Gospel were unaware of the conflation of Levi with Matthew in Matthew 9:9 and 10:3, yet still turned the character in Mark 2:14 into an apostle. 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. [18] Josef Krzinger and Robert Gundry have tried to line up Papiass testimony with the academic consensus. 3.24.6; Origen, in h.e. 2) Jesus explains his action in having a meal with tax collectors and sin-ners by saying "Go and learn what it means 'I desire mercy and not sacri-fice'" (Matt 9,13; Hos 6,6). Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. 3.1.1; Pantaenus, in Eusebius, h.e. 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. with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. The Gospel According to Matthew consequently emphasizes Christ's fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (5:17) and his role as a new lawgiver whose divine mission was confirmed by repeated miracles. He was a tax collector who was sitting at his booth. Levi - who the Bible tells us was also named Matthew - was a Jew and a tax collector. David: That's right, in the larger church. Marys Perpetual Virginity & Jesus Brothers, Why Pollen on the Shroud of Turin Proves it is Real, Christian Inscriptions in Roman Catacombs, Eruption Of Mt. [Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 5:27-32] 13 Jesus went to the seashore again where large crowds came to him, . Band: Evangelien und Verwandtes. Matthew (also known as Levi in the Gospels of Luke and Mark) was a Jewish tax collector, or publican, living in Capernaum. Aelius Theon, Prog. I. 2.9.45.5; Origen, Jo. Sometimes the men took too much money. Born in Palestine sometime in the 1st century, Saint Matthew was one of Jesus's 12 apostles and also one of the four Evangelists, according to the Bible. [48] Frey, Die Fragmente des Nazorerevangeliums, 626; Gregory, Gospel according to the Hebrews, 50, 50n.35. Ancient and modern scholars have been perplexed by the fact that the name of the toll collector in Matthew 9:9 differs from its synoptic counterparts. 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). Vose Seminary Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. Mark 2:1, 1314). [8] 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. [23] Krzinger, Papias, 24, 3342; cf. Luke, also, describes his calling: After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. 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. Legend differs as to the scene of his missions and as to whether he died a natural death or a martyrs. 2. Matthew authored the first Gospel of the . You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. 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. Excessive. Clement. Scripture both prohibits and mocks astrology (Jer. As a tax collector, Matthew . 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. Matthew, of course. Acts 1:1-2 appears to tie the two books to the same author. Saint Matthew's decision lives on into eternity and benefited not millions . [37] See B. H. Streeter, The Four Gospels: A Study of Origins (London: MacMillan, 1924). 13:3; Pol. A few scholars have likened Papiass oracles to a testimonium source or collection of prophetic proof-texts from the Hebrew Bible that were translated and integrated into the Gospel of Matthew. 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. Jesus sent out 70 Disciples to preach His Good News. Verse 15. The Calling of St. Matthew, by Vittore Carpaccio, 1502. 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 Dan. 4.9). Several theories have been offered to account for why the toll collector Levi was re-named Matthew in Matthew 9:9 (cf. Even so, most readers of the New Testament throughout history have taken the identification of Levi with Matthew for granted. [21] Krzinger, Papias, 1214, 2122, 5256; Gundry, Matthew, xxixxii, 61820; idem, Pre-Papian Tradition, 6364, 6768. 3.39.16 with the Gospel according to the Hebrews in h.e. Even if this guy gets over the fact that I'm a tax collector, how could he ever be interested in me? [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. Perhaps most plain is the calling of the disciple Matthew, also known as Levi the tax collector. [4] See Manlio Simonetti, Matthew 113, ACCS New Testament 1a (Downers Grove: IVP, 2001), 177; Ulrich Luz, Matthew 820, trans. Even Jesus acknowledges the hatred people had for tax collectors: " If they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector" (Matthew 18:17). Per tradition, Matthew was killed by by a soldier on the order of the king of Ethiopia. He had the ability, the means, the opportunity, the motivation, and he wouldnt have done it? [18] B. C. Butler, The Originality of St Matthew: A Critique of the Two-Document Hypothesis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1951), 16566; Albright and Mann, Matthew, XXXVIXLVIII; Powers, Progressive Publication, 4749. Matthew, the seventh apostle, was chosen by Andrew. [43] Further, the Gospel according to the Ebionites features a pun that only works in Greek (cf. Matthew (also known as Levi) doubtless was one of the tax collectors who responded to John the Baptist's call to repentance. ill. 3) and, after comparing it to the textual fragments that he received from Jewish Christ-followers living in Beroea known as the Nazarenes, would translate the entire work. Levi: Luke 5:27, "And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, 'Follow Me.' ". F. C. Burkitt, Levi Son of Alphaeus. A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. 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. Christian Soldiers in the Ancient Roman Army, Destruction of Jerusalem, c. 586 BCEyewitness Account, Assassination of Julius CaesarAncient Accounts, Claudia ActeNeros Mistress, Secret Christian, Emperor Tiberius & The Resurrection Of Jesus, Plinys Letter To Trajan About Christians, Ancient TechnologyThe Antikythera Mechanism, The Lycurgus CupNanotechnology in Ancient Rome, Monte TestaccioAncient Romes Garbage Dump, Metal Detector FindRoman Coins & Lost Emperor of Britain, Stirring of Water in the Pool of Bethesda. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. For criticism of their theory, see France, Matthew, 70. Levi's work was to take the money. Third, Matthew Wanted to Tell Others about Christ. VesuviusAugust 24, 79 AD. Jesus Calls Levi | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org | Reformed Bible Studies & Devotionals at Ligonier.org One of the themes of Jesus' ministry is that He is not bound to choose the most obvious candidates for ministry according to social convention. Supported by: [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. The Patristic Traditions about the Evangelist Matthew. On the other hand, after scrutinizing the onomastic data compiled by Tal Ilan. Indeed, Levi is Israel's priestly tribe, as stated in the Bible: "The priests the Levites the priests the Levites the priests the Levites" (Deuteronomy 17:9, 17:18, 18:1). Luke, with greater fullness, says that "Levi made him a great feast in his house."From this it appears that Matthew at once marked the . But let's hear Matthew's own account of his calling: [12] Neither Matthew 9:9 nor 10:3 advances an explicit authorial claim. Another option is that Papias was referring to a lost source. [44] As for Jerome, he boasted that he translated the Gospel according to the Hebrews (e.g., Vir. See W. F. Albright and C. S. Mann, Matthew, AB (Doubleday: New York, 1971), CLXXVIII. [38] There are a number of Patristic and Medieval quotations that purportedly derive from a text that was commonly dubbed as the Gospel according to the Hebrews. 29.7.4). ; ; ; ; () Brezhoneg; Catal; etina; Dansk; Deutsch; Eesti A survey of the ancient traditions about how the evangelist Matthew wrote his Gospel in Aramaic for a Jewish audience before it was translated into Greek suggests that the modern assumptions about the Apostles fluency in Greek or education in rhetorical composition may not have necessarily been shared by the Patristic intelligentsia. 30.13.45), indicating that it was published in Greek at the outset. People had to pay taxes to the *Romans. It was to that man, the most despised of the despicable, to whom Jesus said, "Follow Me!" Alternate titles: Levi, St. Matthew the Apostle, St. Matthew the Evangelist. 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. The most natural reading is that a language was meant by the combination of the noun. [29] Thus, some scholars who otherwise defend the traditional authorship of Matthews Gospel admit that Papias erred in his belief about the original language in which it was written. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 167; Klijn. h.e. 6:25 (300s AD). It is the contracted name of Mattathias. 135; Matt. Could Ancient Sparta Defeat Ancient Rome? Brian McNeil (London: T&T Clark, 2003), 40; Jennifer Wright Knust, Early Christian Re-writing and the History of the Pericope Adulterae, JECS 14 (2006): 495n34; Norelli, Papia, 33132, 335; MacDonald, Two Shipwrecked Gospels, 14, 1922, 24653; Jrg Frey, Die Fragmente des Hebrerevangeliums, in Antike christliche Apokryphen in deutscher bersetzung. Wright --University of Arizona, Center for Judaic Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1994), 166; Hagner, Matthew 113, 238; Carson, Matthew, 224; Ben Witherington III, Matthew (Macon: Smyth & Helywys, 2006), 197; Osbourne, Matthew, 334; Powers, Progressive Publication, 2829. The reason for Papiass error may simply be that he made the natural assumption that a Galilean Apostle would be writing primarily in Aramaic. Answer (1 of 3): In Mark, the first New Testament gospel written, Matthew and Levi are very definitely two different people. To follow Jesus requires renouncement. This could be a good possibility for the changing of the names. http://www.brentcunningham.org/?p=316 20.5; Vir. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. Thom. [10] Even so, most readers of the New Testament throughout history have taken the identification of Levi with Matthew for granted. Omissions? Follow me, Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him. [9] Lindars, Western Text,222; cf. I.2.26; Eusebius, h.e. Curiously, Origen answered the philosopher Celsus's criticism that Jesus assembled a motley crew of "toll collectors and sailors" by stressing that Matthew was the sole toll collector within the apostolic circle and that Levi was not numbered among the twelve apostles except for in select manuscripts of Mark's Gospel (Cels. 6.14.2; Epiphanius, Pan. 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. [13] 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. Caseys efforts have been critiqued by Peter M. Head and P. J. Williams, Q Review TB 54.1 (2003): 13144. 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. Matthew's Gospel was written in approximately A.D.___, before the destruction of Jerusalem. Tradition notes his ministry in Judaea, after which he supposedly missioned to the East, suggesting Ethiopia and Persia. Baum, Ein aramischer Urmatthus, 26364. Levi had to keep very accurate records. Meier, The Vision of Matthew, 24; Luz, Matthew 820, 32, 32n.14. After his conversion, Matthew ardently preached Jesus as Messiah to his Jewish community. [36] Ultimately, the identification of Matthews oracles with Q or M may depend on a given scholars acceptance or not of the Four Source theory as classically formulated. [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. But Levis guests were of his social ilksinners and other tax collectors.The Pharisees (we get our word pharisaical meaning self-righteous; hypocritical from this sect in ancient Judaism) were always watching whatever Jesus did and said and they followed him to Levis house and were appalled to see Him eating and talking with tax collectors and sinners.Several of Jesus other disciples were near. Krzinger and Gundry re-read the Papian fragment through the lens of rhetorical categories. Zavada, Jack. In the Christian Bible, he was cited as one of the Jesus' apostles. Dr. Beth Harris: In the Contarelli Chapel. But Pilate replied, I imagine, "What happens in Jerusalem, stays in . [15], The Original Language of Matthews Gospel, Unlike the modern deductions about Matthews level of literacy, Papias did not presuppose Matthews facility in Greek. Levi asked Jesus to come to dinner at his home. 3.2) that the Gospel according to the Hebrews was associated with Matthew. 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. 2. The meaning in Hebrew of the word day always means a 24 hour period of time. Matthew was a Levite from the priestly tribe of Levi, making his role that of writing on Christ's priesthood. 1) The name of the collector whom Jesus summons is not "Levi, son of Alphaeus", but "Matthew" (9,9). We soon discover the difference between the man and the rock. [5] Mounce, Matthew, 83; France, Evangelist and Teacher, 69, 69n.54; Morris, Matthew, 219; Robert H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Handbook for a Mixed Church Under Persecution, 2nd ed. The First Disciples [Matthew 4:18-22, Luke 5:1-11, John 1:35-51] . A minority view during the Patristic period was that Levi and Matthew were separate individuals. [17] 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. The Western reading attested in Codex Bezae that switched Thaddaeus with Lebbaeus, the Latinized form of Levi, in the list of the twelve apostles in Mark 3:18, influenced the textual transmission of Matthew 10:3. 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. [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. The Ipuwer PapyrusWere The 10 Biblical Plagues Real? Jesus was becoming popular. Matthew belonged to a family of tax gatherers, or publicans, but was himself a customs collector in Capernaum, where he lived. [27] The most natural reading is that a language was meant by the combination of the noun dialektos, especially when modified with the name of an ethnic group (cf. In Matthew, because of the use of Q and Matthew's theological organization, there is stress on Jesus as teacher, his sharpening or radicalizing of the Law in an eschatological context; and Jesus is presented not in secret but as an openly proclaimed Messiah, King, and Judge. 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. 2.12.87; Didymus, Comm. Tax collectors at that time were known as dishonest and corrupt people. Logion could be translated as an oracle or divine utterance. For example, the Valentinian theologian Heracleon differentiated Levi from Matthew (cf. Because of that, Levi later threw a party at his house and invited his sinner friends to meet Jesus. [31] Warren Carter, Matthew: Storyteller, Interpreter, Evangelist (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004), 17. Vielhauer and Strecker, Jewish Christian Gospels, 15465; Klijn. CHICAGO (RNS) The first time the Rev. Mark 10:35) and swapped Salome for her in another (Matt 27:56; cf. This is very possible, as scholars point to Simon (Peter) and Saul. Watchthe video below. For example, the Valentinian theologian Heracleon differentiated Levi from Matthew (cf. Ps. Despite the pain and agony of the cross, Jesus chose to die for the sins of the world because He loves us. 8:2; 19:13; Isa. Based on Papiass title Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord and his summary of Marks account of the oracles of the Lord, Papiass usage of the term logion encompassed both teachings and short narrative episodes (cf.