Was Matthew's Gospel first written in Aramaic or Hebrew?
Full Question
Is there any truth to the claim that Matthew's
Gospel was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic, not Greek? A
Fundamentalist I know, who insists Matthew wrote originally in Greek,
argues that there's no evidence in favor of the idea that his Gospel was
written first in Aramaic, because there's no extant Aramaic original.
Answer
This
peculiar argument against the long-standing belief that Aramaic (or
Hebrew) was the language in which Matthew originally composed his Gospel
was first raised in the 16th century by the Dutch theologian and
patristics scholar Desiderius Erasmus. He reasoned that, since there is
no evidence of an Aramaic or Hebrew original of Matthew's Gospel, it is
futile to argue that the work originally appeared in Aramaic and was
subsequently translated into Greek (as most patristics scholars hold).
This is not really much of an argument. It is an
argument from silence and can be used just as effectively against the
idea that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Greek, since
there are likewise no extant originals of the Gospel in Greek. After
all, the earliest manuscripts we have of any of the books of the New
Testament are in Greek, yet not a single manuscript is an original.
They're all copies. From the mere fact of Greek manuscripts we can't
conclude that the originals must have been written in Greek yes, there
may be a presumption of that, but not actually a proof.
Your Fundamentalist friend is wrong to assert there
is no evidence to support the idea of an Aramaic original. In fact, the
evidence is quite to the contrary. Since we have no autographs of this
or any other New Testament book, it's wise to look at what the early
Church had to say on the subject. Catholic apologists, theologians, and
Scripture scholars of the second through fifth centuries provide us with
a wealth of information on this subject.
Around 180 Irenaeus of Lyons wrote that
Matthew
also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect,
while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of
the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter
of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by
Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel
preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had
leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his
residence at Ephesus in Asia. (Against Heresies 3:1:1)
Fifty years earlier Papias, bishop of Hieropolis in
Asia Minor, wrote, "Matthew compiled the sayings [of the Lord] in the
Aramaic language, and everyone translated them as well as he could"
(Explanation of the Sayings of the Lord [cited by Eusebius in History of
the Church 3:39]).
Sometime after 244 the Scripture scholar Origen
wrote, "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" (Commentaries on Matthew
[cited by Eusebius in History of the Church 6:25]).
Eusebius himself declared that "Matthew had begun by
preaching to the Hebrews, and when he made up his mind to go to others
too, he committed his own Gospel to writing in his native tongue
[Aramaic], so that for those with whom he was no longer present the gap
left by his departure was filled by what he wrote" (History of the
Church 3:24 [inter 300-325]).
Answered by: Catholic Answers Staff
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