ek ton biblion. These words have been interpreted by many critics as implying that Papias considered the written Gospel accounts, which were extant in his time, of small value, and preferred to them the oral traditions which he picked up from "the elders." But as Lightfoot has shown.
The idea that some or all of the gospels were originally written in a language other than Greek begins with Papias of Hierapolis, c. 125–150 CE.
The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis ( proto-Gospel hypothesis or Aramaic Matthew hypothesis) is that a lost gospel, written in the Hebrew language or the Aramaic language, predated the four canonical gospels.
It must be noticed that Eusebius does not say that Papias took the story from the Gospel according to the Hebrews, but only that it was contained in that Gospel.
A further, and very minority, theory is that there was a gospel written in Hebrew or Aramaic that was used as a source by one or all of the other synoptics gospel - most often suggested a Hebrew or Aramaic proto-Matthew.
These books are called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John because they were traditionally thought to have been written by Matthew, a disciple who was a tax collector; John, the "Beloved Disciple" mentioned in the Fourth Gospel; Mark, the secretary of the disciple Peter; and Luke, the traveling companion of Paul.
The four gospels that we find in the New Testament, are of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three of these are usually referred to as the "synoptic gospels," because they look at things in a similar way, or they are similar in the way that they tell the story.
In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament that bear the following titles: the Gospel of Matthew; the Gospel of Mark; the Gospel of Luke; and the Gospel of John.
The four gospels all tell a unique perspective of the same story. They all claim Jesus is the Jewish Messiah who fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures. Mark is widely considered to be the oldest Gospel. The genealogies at the start of Matthew have hidden design patterns in them that unify the Old and New Testaments.
Like the rest of the New Testament, the four gospels were written in Greek. The Gospel of Mark probably dates from c. AD 66–70, Matthew and Luke around AD 85–90, and John AD 90–110. Despite the traditional ascriptions, all four are anonymous and most scholars agree that none were written by eyewitnesses.
Nevertheless, all four Gospels record at least 18 of the same short narratives. Strikingly enough, only four events before the last week of Jesus' life are recorded by all four authors: John the Baptist and his preaching, the baptism of the Savior, Jesus' rejection at Nazareth, and the feeding of the five thousand.
God divinely inspired the four Gospel writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—each with a unique style and content, and a unique purpose. This book, with its simplified, bird's-eye view of the four Gospels, will serve as a kick-start toward deeper study of the original Gospel texts.
The four Gospel writers were no different. They had a story to tell and a message to share, but they also had a definitive audience to which that message was intended.
Matthew and John were two of the original Twelve Apostles. They were with the Savior often as He taught. But who were Mark and Luke, and how did they come to write about the Savior's life and ministry? Here are a few things scholars know about the four men who wrote their testimonies of the Savior.
Luke, also called Saint Luke the Evangelist, (flourished 1st century ce; feast day October 18), in Christian tradition, the author of the Gospel According to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, a companion of St. Paul the Apostle, and the most literary of the New Testament writers.
It has traditionally been attributed to St. Matthew the Evangelist, one of the 12 Apostles, described in the text as a tax collector (10:3). The Gospel According to Matthew was composed in Greek, probably sometime after 70 ce, with evident dependence on the earlier Gospel According to Mark.
Early in the first half of the second century A.D., Papias was bishop of Hierapolis in the Phrygian region of the province of Asia—a city about 20 miles west of Colosse and 6 miles east of Laodicea. [11] Nothing much is known of Papias’s life beyond the comment of Irenaeus that he was “one of the ancients” (ἀρχαῖος ἀνήρ, archaios aner ).
EDWARD D. ANDREWS (AS in Criminal Justice, BS in Religion, MA in Biblical Studies, and MDiv in Theology) is CEO and President of Christian Publishing House. He has authored ninety-five books. Andrews is the Chief Translator of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV). View all posts by Christian Publishing House
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The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis theories posit that a lost gospel in Hebrew or Aramaic preceded the four canonical gospels. The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis (or proto-Gospel hypothesis or Aramaic Matthew hypothesis) is a group of theories based on the proposition that a lost gospel, written in the Hebrew language or the Aramaic language, ...
Nevertheless, on the basis of this and other information Jerome (c. 327–420) claimed that all the Jewish Christian communities shared a single gospel, identical with the Hebrew or Aramaic Matthew; he also claimed to have personally found this gospel in use among some communities in Syria.
Group of theories for the synoptic problem, stating that a lost Hebrew or Aramaic gospel predated the canonical gospels; based upon a 2nd-century tradition from Papias of Hierapolis, that the apostle Matthew composed such a gospel. The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis theories posit that a lost gospel in Hebrew or Aramaic preceded ...
Some have claimed that by "Hebrew" Papias would have meant Aramaic, the common language of the Middle East beside koine Greek. A 2014 survey of contemporary texts asserts that "Hebraïdi" meant Hebrew and never Aramaic. Nevertheless, Matthew's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation.".
The idea that some or all of the gospels were originally written in a language other than Greek begins with Papias of Hierapolis, c. 125–150 CE. In a passage with several ambiguous phrases, he wrote: "Matthew collected the oracles ( logia – sayings of or about Jesus) in the Hebrew language ( Hebraïdi dialektōi — perhaps alternatively "Hebrew style") and each one interpreted ( hērmēneusen — or "translated") them as best he could." Some have claimed that by "Hebrew" Papias would have meant Aramaic, the common language of the Middle East beside koine Greek. A 2014 survey of contemporary texts asserts that "Hebraïdi" meant Hebrew and never Aramaic. Nevertheless, Matthew's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation." However, Blomberg states that "Jewish authors like Josephus, writing in Greek while at times translating Hebrew materials, often leave no linguistic clues to betray their Semitic sources."
He (Shaul) being a Hebrew wrote in Hebrew, that is, his own tongue and most fluently; while things which were eloquently written in Hebrew were more eloquently turned into Greek. — Jerome, 382 CE, On Illustrious Men, Book V. Matthew also issued a written gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect.
Multiple Jewish-Christian Gospels. Carl August Credner (1832) identified three Jewish-Christian Gospels: Jerome's Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Greek Gospel of the Ebionites cited by Epiphanius in his Panarion, and a Greek gospel cited by Origen, which he referred to as the Gospel of the Hebrews.
Nevertheless, Papias’s remarks about a book of sayings in Aramaic by Matthew may well refer to a text extant in his time, which may have been used by the evangelists, whose gospels do not emerge clearly in the historical record until the late second century.
Fingerprints of The Christ. Christian apologetics for the early, first-century dates for the Bible’s gospels rely on the slimmest of evidence, including a very late third-hand testimony of a late second-hand testimony that the evangelist Mark had written a narrative, supposedly based on the experiences of Peter as related by the apostle himself.
This, too, the presbyter used to say. “Mark , who had been Peter’s interpreter, wrote down carefully, but not in order, all that he remembered of the Lord’s sayings and doings. For he had not heard the Lord or been one of His followers, but later, as I said, one of Peter’s.
This was done out of necessity because an actual witness to the ministry of Jesus would no longer be with them.
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.
Not only did Irenaeus teach that Matthew’s Gospel was first written in the Hebrew dialect, he also provided the order in which all four of the Gospels were written. Note that the order is in harmony with how the Gospels are arranged in the Canon and not in line with modern liberal theories.
Around 170 A.D., Irenaeus confirms and elaborates upon Papias’ report: 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.
Around 130 A.D., Church father Papias (a former student of the Apostle John) explained: So then Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew language, and everyone interpreted them as he was able. (Recorded by Eusebius in Church History, 3:39) Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp, who was a student of the Apostle John.
Matthew was responsible enough to leave the first group of people he witnessed to a copy of his Gospel in their own language. It only follows that he did the same with a subsequent group (or groups) who read Greek. Some desire to ignore or question the scholarship of the men quoted here out of a fear that a Hebrew copy of Matthew would undermine ...
During the early fourth century, preeminent church historian Eusebius of Caesarea wrote: 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.