Matthew or Matityahu?
It’s common knowledge among believers of Messiah that the “New Testament” was written in Greek before being translated into Latin, German, and so on. But is the common knowledge correct knowledge? Is Greek the language these manuscripts were originally drafted in, or were the gospels and letters of the apostles first translated into Greek from yet another language? Evidence supports the idea that the gospel of Matthew, at least, was originally composed in the language of the Messiah himself: Hebrew.
I was introduced to this concept one yom shabbat morning when my rabbi glibly mentioned it during his drash. I was shocked and intrigued, wondering why I’d never heard this before. I looked into it and discovered that, while the debate goes on, most resources assert that the answer is clear: Matthew was originally written in Greek. Quoting from biblical scholars, they lay the old nine-out-of-ten-experts-agree card on the table.
So why was my rabbi so sure that the gospel of Matthew (or Matityahu, as he was known) was originally written in the Hebrew language? If biblical scholars disagree, where else can we look? How about the historians of the time? Wouldn’t they know more than any modern experts?
HISTORIANS SPEAK
Josephus, who was active during the first century CE, claims that the Jews at the time spoke Hebrew as well as Greek and Aramaic:
“And being sensible that exhortations are frequently more effectual than arms, [Titus] persuaded [the Jews] to surrender [Jerusalem], now in a manner already taken, and thereby to save themselves, and sent Josephus to speak to them in their own language; for he imagined they might yield to the persuasion of a countryman of their own.” Josephus, The Jewish War 5.9.2 (c. 75 CE)
Here are a few references to Matityahu’s gospel itself from other historians:
“So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and every one interpreted them as he was able.” Papias (150-170 CE) as quoted by Eusebius, Church History 3.39.16 (c. 324 CE)
“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church.” Ireneus, Against Heresies 3.1.1 (c. 180 CE)
“Among the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew language.” Origen (c. 210 C.E.) as quoted by Eusebius, Church History 6.25.4 (c. 324 CE)
“For Matthew, who had at first preached to the Hebrews, when he was about to go to other peoples, committed his Gospel to writing in his native tongue, and thus compensated those whom he was obliged to leave for the loss of his presence.” Eusebius, Church History 3.24.6 (c. 324 CE)
“[The Nazarenes] have the Gospel according to Matthew quite complete in Hebrew, for this Gospel is certainly still preserved among them as it was first written, in Hebrew letters”. Epiphanius, Panarion 29:9:4 (c. 378 CE)
“Matthew, who is also Levi, and from a tax collector came to be an emissary first of all evangelists composed a Gospel of Messiah in Judea in the Hebrew language and letters, for the benefit of those of the circumcision who had believed, who translated it into Greek is not sufficiently ascertained. Furthermore, the Hebrew itself is preserved to this day in the library at Caesarea, which the martyr Pamphilus so diligently collected.” Jerome, On Illustrious Men (c. 392 CE)
This is not to say, however, that all of the texts of Matityahu’s gospel in Hebrew are legitimate. One in particular, the Shem-Tov, claims that gentiles will not be converted until the Thousand Year Reign of Messiah, and that any attempt to do so now is the work of Anti-Messiah (a contention which obviously does not conform with the rest of scripture, let alone history).
WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The testimony of the historians is just the beginning of our understanding of this topic. If these historians are to be believed, however, then we have to agree that the debate is over. Matityahu, a Jew writing for a Jewish audience, wrote his account of the Jewish messiah in the Jewish language: Hebrew.
So, why does this matter? The same reason that studying alI of scripture from the Jewish perspective matters: a deeper understanding of God’s Word. Scripture was written by Jews for Jews. It is Jewish from cover to cover. If Matityahu’s gospel was originally written in Hebrew, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that it flows better and contains secondary layers of meaning that would otherwise be lost in a Greek translation.
But the debate goes on.
J. White
