ONE OF THE TWELVE

Matthew

“sitting at the receipt of custom”

Also called Levi · Matthew the publican

VERSES THAT NAME HIM

RECORDS WITH JESUS

NAMED BESIDE HIM

SOURCES OUTSIDE SCRIPTURE on how it ends

HIS LIFE IN FOUR PARTS

How much does Scripture tell?

Called from the tax office: “Follow me.” Scripture gives no years for his life, so the ring is divided by how much is recorded: 6 records of what he did or what was said to him, one bead each. The last part is tradition and is drawn dashed. Choose a part to read it.

I · HOME, TRADE AND FAMILY

Before the call

A tax office near Capernaum Mark 2:1
A publican Matthew 9:9
Son of Alphaeus Mark 2:14
“The son” is supplied Mark 2:14

CHAPTER BY CHAPTER

Where is he named?

One square for each chapter of the books that name Matthew: 8 verses in 7 chapters. The darker the square, the more verses in it name him. Choose a chapter to read what happens there.

THE GOSPELS AND ACTS

LUKE 5

2 verses name him

¶ And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, Follow me.

WHAT HAPPENS HERE

A publican
Called at the tax office
The feast with publicans and sinners

No verse in John names him.

CHAPTER I · BEFORE THE CALL

At the receipt of custom

Home, trade and family · 4 records

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 9:9

A publican

¶ And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

A publican, a collector of taxes and tolls. He was “sitting at the receipt of custom” when Jesus called him, and Matthew's own list calls him “Matthew the publican”.

NAMED WITH HIM

Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Alphaeus

TOLD IN 3 BOOKS

Matthew 9:9·Matthew 10:3·Mark 2:14·Luke 5:27

FROM THE TEXT · MARK 2:1

A tax office near Capernaum

And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphæus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Mark tells the call straight after Jesus came back to Capernaum and went out “by the sea side”, so the tax office stood at or near Capernaum by the order of events. No verse names his home town.

WHERE

Capernaum, Sea of Galilee

PASSAGE

Mark 2:1·Mark 2:13–14

CHAPTER II · WITH JESUS

“Follow me”

The Gospels, in the harmony’s order · 4 records

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 9:9

Called at the tax office

¶ And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

NAMED WITH HIM

Alphaeus

IN THE HARMONY

§47 · The call of Matthew (Levi) and his reception in honor of Jesus

TOLD IN 3 BOOKS

Matthew 9:9·Mark 2:14·Luke 5:27–28

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 9:10–13

The feast with publicans and sinners

¶ And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.

IN THE HARMONY

§47 · The call of Matthew (Levi) and his reception in honor of Jesus

TOLD IN 3 BOOKS

Matthew 9:10–13·Mark 2:15–17·Luke 5:29–32

SCRIPTURE · MATTHEW 10:1–5

Sent out with the Twelve

Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

NAMED WITH HIM

Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John son of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew and 7 more

IN THE HARMONY

§70 · The third tour of Galilee after instructing the Twelve and sending them forth by twos

PASSAGE

Matthew 10:1–5

CHAPTER III · THE CHURCH IN ACTS

One verse in Acts

Acts and the letters · 2 records

SCRIPTURE · ACTS 1:13

In the upper room

And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.

He is named with the other apostles in the upper room in Jerusalem after the ascension.

NAMED WITH HIM

Peter, Andrew, James son of Zebedee, John son of Zebedee, Philip, Bartholomew and 5 more

WHERE

Jerusalem

PASSAGE

Acts 1:13

FROM THE TEXT · ACTS 1:13

Never named again

The last verse that names him is Acts 1:13. After that Acts speaks of “the eleven” and “the twelve” as a body (Acts 2:14; 6:2) but never names him again.

WHERE

Jerusalem

PASSAGE

Acts 1:13·Acts 2:14·Acts 6:2

CHAPTER IV · AFTER SCRIPTURE

After Scripture

Tradition, by who said it and when · 5 sources

SCRIPTURE FIRST

What Scripture says of his end

Scripture's last mention of Matthew is Acts 1:13. It says nothing of where he went or how he died.

From the text Acts 1:13

THEN TRADITION · 5 SOURCES, EARLIEST FIRST

c. 170 Heracleon, quoted by Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 4.9 Early church
c. 325 Eusebius, Church History 3.24.6 Early church
c. 440 Socrates Scholasticus, Church History 1.19 Early church
1th c. Acts and Martyrdom of St. Matthew (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 8) Later tradition
4th c. The Contendings of the Apostles (Ethiopic), trans. Budge, pp. 130-136 Later tradition

Each is labelled with who said it and when; none is blended into Scripture.

THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM

Who was with him?

Every record of Matthew in Scripture, in story order (the Gospels in the order of Robertson's harmony, then Acts and the letters). A person counts as "with him" only where a verse of that record names them both. 13 people in all.

named in the passage from first to last mention Point at a column to see what happens; click it to keep it (click again to let go); choose a name to follow that person.

I · BEFORE THE CALL

A publican

¶ And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

NAMED WITH HIM HERE

Philip Matthew 10:3
Bartholomew Matthew 10:3
Thomas Matthew 10:3
James son of Alphaeus Matthew 10:3
Thaddaeus Matthew 10:3
Alphaeus Matthew 10:3

SIDE BY SIDE

One moment, several accounts

4 moments of his story told by more than one book, each in its own words in the King James Version. His names are marked; switch on "only here" to underline the words that just one account has.

Matthew

Matthew 9:9

9:9 ¶ And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Mark

Mark 2:14

2:14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphæus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.

Luke

Luke 5:28

5:28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.

NEAR AND FAR

Where was he?

5 places named in his story, with what happened there and how far each lies from Jerusalem. Tradition's places are dashed, with who placed him there and when. Choose a card or a pin.

Scroll to zoom · drag to move · the map stays on his places Land outline: the Atlas (Natural Earth)

Not on the map, because our places data gives no coordinates: Parthia (Tradition: an Ethiopic martyrdom of Matthew (Budge, 1901)).

OPEN QUESTIONS

What readers still ask

7 questions the reviewed sources leave open for Matthew, with the answers given and who gives them, and 4 things Scripture does not say, in italic. Choose one.

VIEWS, WITH WHO HOLDS THEM · THIS PAGE

Are Matthew and Levi the same man? (Most widely held view first.)

One man

Easton (1897); G. H. Schodde, ISBE (1915): “practically beyond all doubt”

The three call stories agree in setting, words and sequence, and Mark's and Luke's lists of the Twelve include a Matthew but no Levi.

Scholars Matthew 9:9·Mark 2:14·Luke 5:27·Mark 3:18 M. G. Easton, 1897·G. H. Schodde, 1915

Two men

Heracleon (about AD 170), as quoted by Clement of Alexandria (about AD 200)

Heracleon names “Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi” as four separate examples.

Early church Clement of Alexandria (trans. William Wilson, 1885

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