Original Language of Matthew

Concerning Matthew’s Gospel, Papias writes as follows: “Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect [Syro-Chaldaic], and every one translated it as he was able” 1 Irenaeus confirms this by also stating that Matthew “issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect....” 2 The argument for a Hebrew Gospel, rather than a Greek Gospel, seems to be supported by the statements of these church fathers. Five theories have been asserted to solve this issue.

The first theory is that the Greek Gospel is the work of a later compiler. However, internal evidence of Matthean authorship and the early quotations of early church fathers from it refute this theory. The second theory that Matthew used his Hebrew Gospel to translate a Greek Gospel with the companionship of Mark’s Gospel is highly likely, but the evidence for parallels between Matthew and Mark in some passages is lacking, which strongly leads one to conclude that the non-Marcan parallels were not translated from the Hebrew. Furthermore, this theory does not explain why an eyewitness would depend on someone else’s account.

Thirdly, some believe that someone else translated the Hebrew Gospel of Matthew into the Greek. This view is a matter of conjecture that fails to account for the fact that the Greek Gospel bears no evidence of being a translation. A fourth theory is that Mark translated the Hebrew Gospel into Greek for himself, and then Matthew used Mark’s translation for his gospel. This view is also flawed because of the dissimilarities in content. Matthew is commonly known as the “Gospel of Discourse,” whereas Mark is highly narrative. Furthermore, Peter’s speech to the Roman centurion, Cornelius, (Acts 10:36-43) fits the outline of Christ’s life in Mark’s Gospel. This outline is unparalleled to any other gospel, thus leading one to conclude with Irenaeus’ statement that Mark was “the disciple and interpreter of Peter.” 3

Lastly, some assert that Matthew wrote two gospels, one in Hebrew and one in Greek. This is the view that should be defended, although modern criticism is not in favor of it. It seems likely that Matthew originally wrote in Hebrew for the Jewish people and later provided a Greek edition which became widely known and gained extensive circulation. The external evidence, primarily of Papias, and the internal evidence of Matthean authorship of the Greek Gospel are the strong points in defending this view.

1 Eusebius Pamphilus, Ecclesiastical History, trans. Christian Frederick Cruse (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 3.39.

2 Irenaeus, “Against Heresies,” in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1995), 3.1.1.

3 Ibid.