Matthew

Etymology

From 'mattanah' (gift) and 'Yah' (God). The full Hebrew form Mattithyahu means 'gift of Yahweh.' His tax-collector name was Levi; Matthew was either given to him at his calling or used alongside it.

Who they were

Matthew's calling is told in a single verse that has shaped Christian art for centuries: 'As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. Follow me, he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.' Tax collectors in first-century Palestine were despised — they collected revenue for the Roman occupation and were assumed to be corrupt. Matthew was a collaborator, a traitor to his people, wealthy from extracted taxes. Jesus called him anyway. Matthew's response was to throw a banquet and invite all his tax collector friends to meet Jesus. When the Pharisees complained ('Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?'), Jesus replied with one of his most quoted statements: 'It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.' The Gospel that bears Matthew's name is the most Jewish of the four — structured around five great discourses (echoing the five books of Moses), meticulously connecting every event to Old Testament prophecy. It contains the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer, and the Great Commission. Matthew the despised tax collector became the author of the text that has defined Christian ethics and mission for two millennia.

Family

Father

Alphaeus

Character qualities

• Immediate response to calling
• Willingness to leave wealth
• Hospitality to outsiders
• Careful scholarship
• Connection of old and new

Where they appear

Themes

Variants & related forms

Matt · Mateo · Matteo · Matthieu · Mattias · Matthias

Related names