Question: Re. The Book of Matthew. You pointed out additional stories and inconsistencies in this book. Is this book really written by Saint Matthew?

God’s answer:

To my surprise, this is actually true. The following is from an article written by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D., The Gospel according to Matthew: Literary Aspects, Features & Themes

I) Composition and History of Matthew's Gospel:

• Attributed Author:

  • Matthew was a tax collector, one of the twelve apostles (see Matt 9:9; 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13).

  • Although not all the apostles could read and write, tax collectors like Matthew certainly could.

  • The apostle Matthew himself may have written an early collection of Jesus' sayings in Hebrew or Aramaic, but probably not the full 28-chapter Gospel written in Greek as found in the New Testament (the "canonical Gospel").

• Actual Author:

  • An anonymous second-generation Jewish-Christian teacher used various sources (inc. Matthew's writing?) to create what we call the Gospel according to Matthew.

  • This author was a trained "scribe" (cf. Matt 13:52), very familiar with the Hebrew Bible and fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

  • Just as for the other Gospels, the title "Gospel according to Matthew" was not added to the text until the second century.

• Date of Composition:

  • For many centuries, most people thought Matthew was the oldest of the four Gospels, but most scholars today believe that Mark was first.

  • The canonical Gospel of Matthew was probably not finalized until the late 70's or 80's of the first century, although it incorporates older sources.

  • Its main sources are the Old Testament, the Gospel of Mark, the Q-Document, and other oral or written material about Jesus.

• • The final composition of Matthew was almost certainly after the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70 (see Matt 21:41; 22:7; 24:15-16)

II) Sources and Contents of Matthew's Gospel:

• Main Sources of Matthew's Gospel:

  • Old Testament: Matthew's Gospel quotes extensively from the Old Testament, especially the prophetic books (see below).

  • Gospel of Mark: Most scholars today believe that Mark is the oldest surviving Gospel, and that the author of Matthew's Gospel used Mark's text as one of his primary written sources.

  • Q-Document: Matthew and Luke both supplemented the Markan material with many more stories and teachings of Jesus from another written source, which is now lost, but which scholars call the Q-Document (from the German word "Quelle," meaning "source").

  • Sayings of the Lord, recorded by Matthew: The 4th-century church historian Eusebius of Caesarea refers to the 2nd-century bishop Papias of Hierapolis regarding the composition of Matthew's Gospel [see Eusebius on the Four Gospels].

    • Papias is quoted as saying, "So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able."

    • This collection is often called the "Sayings of the Lord," but may have been written in Aramaic, the common spoken language of the Jews at the time of Jesus, rather than in Hebrew (the language of the ancient Israelites, in which most of the Old Testament is written).

    • If Matthew's early document was one of its sources, this would explain why the later Greek text came to be called the "Gospel according to Matthew."

  • Other Material: Matthew also incorporated some material from other written and/or oral sources.¹