Who wrote the book of Matthew? Who was the author of Matthew?

Answer

The long-awaited event, prophesied in the Old Testament, was the coming of the Messiah. The Gospels describe this momentous event, portraying Jesus as the Messiah—a carpenter’s son who performed miracles, preached about the kingdom of God, affirmed His divinity, endured crucifixion by opponents, and triumphantly rose from the dead on the third day. The initial Gospel account in the New Testament collection is the book of Matthew, although many scholars believe that Mark was the first Gospel written. Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of both the Law and the Prophets in the Old Testament, and commentators concur that it is the most Jewish Gospel among the four narratives.

The text of Matthew does not explicitly name an author. Nevertheless, Christian tradition credits the Gospel to Matthew, also known as Levi, a former tax collector and disciple of Jesus. His Jewish heritage explains the focus on Old Testament prophecies, as well as his keen interest in Jesus’ teachings and parables, notably the famous Sermon on the Mount. Notably, Matthew includes financial details that are absent in other Gospels, such as Matthew 17:24.

In addition to Matthew’s background and internal evidence, early Christian sources all affirm Matthew as the author. For example, Papias (AD 60–130) states that Matthew “compiled the sayings [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could” (“Fragments of Papias,” The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, eds. Roberts, Donaldson, and Coxe, vol. 1, The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Christian Literature Company, 1885, p. 155). Other early church fathers like Pantaenus, Origen, and Irenaeus also support Matthew as the author of the Gospel. It seems probable that the original Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew before being translated into Greek.

Moreover, contrary to what critics argue, the consistent tradition and evidence from early Christian sources strongly support Matthew as the legitimate author of the Gospel attributed to him.

Currently, all existing manuscripts of Matthew attribute the apostle Matthew as the author. Therefore, there are no anonymous copies of the Gospel of Matthew. In his book, The Case for Jesus (Image Books, 2016), Brant Pitre compares the earliest copies of the Gospels with that of Hebrews, which is considered to be anonymous. While there are various suggested authors for Hebrews, the authorship of Matthew is undisputed in the manuscripts. Additionally, enemy attestations further confirm Matthew’s authorship, as heretics such as Basilides and Cerinthus acknowledged and incorporated the book of Matthew into their teachings.

The unanimous testimony of the early church, internal clues, and manuscript evidence provide sufficient grounds to affirm that Matthew indeed wrote the Gospel that carries his name.