The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew


This website gives the historical literary evidence that demonstrates Matthew the apostle wrote both the Hebrew and Greek Versions of the Gospel of Matthew. He first wrote an original briefer version of his gospel in Hebrew (Aramaic) for the Hebrew Christians in Palestine and then wrote an expanded version of his gospel in Greek for Christians everywhere. This is the testimony of the early church.

As Robert Thomas states concerning the view of the early church, “Without exception they held that the apostle Matthew wrote the canonical Matthew and that he wrote it first in a Semitic language.” (Robert Thomas, F. David Farnell, The Jesus Crisis, Kregel Publications, 1998, 43)

There are two kinds of historical evidence, literary and archaeological. The literary evidence comes in the form of testimonies and the archaeological evidence comes in the form of relics.

According to Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier in their book, From Reliable Sources, the basis of our knowledge of the past are “sources.” They write,

“Sources are artifacts that have been left by the past. They exist either as relics, what we might call “remains,” or as the testimonies of witnesses to the past. The first kinds of sources, relics or remains, offer the researcher a clue about the past simply by virtue of their existence. The wooden columns found at the site of a prehistoric settlement testify, for example, to the existence of a people and tell historians something about their culture. The pegs or dowels they used to fasten building materials further enlighten scholars about their technical skills and artistic capacities. In contrast, testimonies are the oral or written reports that describe an event, whether simple or complex, such as the record of a property exchange." (Howell, Martha, Prevenier, Walter, Reliable Sources, Cornell University Press, 2001, 17)

The literary evidence of testimonies in the form of documents is powerful in bringing understanding of the past because of the nature of documents. Documents are a form of written communication. As we read them, people from the past are allowed to speak to us in the present.

The purpose of this site is to bring you the historical literary evidence for the Matthean authorship of the Gospel of Matthew, both in Hebrew (Aramaic) and Greek, so that you can read the ancient documents for yourself. Many people talk about the ancient documents, but they are never presented so they can actually be read by those seeking the truth about this issue. This site presents the text of these documents that speak about the authorship of the Gospel of Matthew.

As founder and author of this website, my desire is to give you the opportunity to read for yourself the ancient texts. I have been trained at the University of Southern California where I did my undergraduate work in Classics, the study of the ancient Greek and Latin Literature, and learned the value of actually reading the ancient texts for myself and not being dependent on others to tell me about the texts.

As E.M. Blaiklock, Professor Emeritus of Classics, University of Auckland, wrote,
“I knew that the first task in understanding a document, any piece of literature or history, was to ask what it has to say, to read it, in a word. Only then is it profitable, and, for a teacher or student, necessary to turn to what others have to say about it.”

It is my privilege to give you that opportunity!

Ron Jones, D.D.

President, The Titus Institute