Was Matthew a Levite?

[Lulav]

Mark 2
13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

From Matthew 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.
10 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. 11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

From Luke 5:

27 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. 28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. 30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

It seems from these three accounts that we can determine the following:

1. Levi the son of Alphaeus
2. in all cases Yeshua used the words 'Follow me'
3. " sitting at the receipt of custom" is used in all three versions
4. He is called Matthew in the book of Matthew but Levi in the other two
5. He asked Yeshua to come to his house where he was obviously very rich as it says he made a great feast and a great company sat down to eat with them.
6. His other disciples must have accompanied him because it was them the scribes and Pharisees questioned.
7. He was a tax collector for the Romans.

 

[visionary]

So he is Matthew Levi, the son of Alphaeus.

 

[Lulav]

'Levi the son of Alphaeus'

Who was Alphaeus?

Name or title comes from 'Alpha' or in Hebrew 'Aleph' meaning beginning or first.

Supposed to be related to

Cheleph: a place in Naphtali territory

In Acts 1 Luke writes:

13 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.


I find it interesting that there are 11 mentioned of the Apostles, but a total of 13 names.

Two familial names are given

Son of Alphaeus
Brother of James

However in the original language there is another familial name given.

'Bartholomew'

Which is Bar (son of) Tolmai

Now also notice

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.

There are three names (I've bolded) that are not given the addition of 'and' but instead grouped with another apostles.

Andrew with Philip
Thomas with Bartholomew
and Matthew and James

Which brings me to

James the son of Alphaeus (Acts 1)
Levi the son of Alphaeus (Mark 2)

Spelling is the same.

Commentators have said these were two different men, but given the fact that James is the only one listed with a father in the Acts (besides the 'hidden' Bartholomew) it stands out and there must be a purpose.

 

[Lulav]

Alphaeus' originally Semitic name is the same as Clopas (same name, different dialect)

 

[timothyu]

What of James son of Alphaeus? Was Levi given a Christian name as Peter was? By who? The passages also say 'follow me' where the tax collector set up a meal etc for Jesus as a host, no mention of becoming an apostle but one of many benefactors Jesus had.

Sorry this is all I will say I as I just noticed this is a group thread.

 

[Lulav]

What of James son of Alphaeus? Was Levi given a Christian name as Peter was? By who? The passages also say 'follow me' where the tax collector set up a meal etc for Jesus as a host, no mention of becoming an apostle but one of many benefactors Jesus had.

Sorry this is all I will say I as I just noticed this is a group thread.

Not a problem as long as you don't post against the SOP.
A Christian name?

If Levi was the same as Matthew their are no 'Christian names'.

Levi is Levi, but Matthew would be the Greek version of Mattathias. The same as the great Jewish Hero Mattathias ben Johanan who was a Kohen whose role in the religion-driven Maccabean Revolt was the center of the Hanukkah story.

Also related to the one mentioned in Luke genealogy, of Hebrew origin Mattithyah

 

[Lulav]

It seems from these three accounts that we can determine the following:

1. Levi the son of Alphaeus

and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus,

Two familial names are given

Son of Alphaeus
Brother of James

However in the original language there is another familial name given.

'Bartholomew'

Which is Bar (son of) Tolmai

Looking at this a little further it may be easy to explain if we don't assume this was showing a familial relationship. I mean why only two of them having a 'father's name'?


Take a look at Bartholomew, we aren't given his name, but only that he is the son of Tolmai, so why aren't the others called

BarAlphaeus ?

 

[Lulav]

This is it in Greek

Λευεὶν τὸν τοῦ Ἀλφαίου
Levi the the of Alphaeus


In Acts we see this:

Ἰάκωβος Ἁλφαίου
James or Jacob Alphaeus
You can see by these two versions the 'son' has been added in.

KJV: [the son] of Alphaeus,
INT: the [son] of Alphaeus


Let's look at something else

1 Corinthians 4:6 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

He is not saying that they are the son's of Paul or Apollos but speaking of their teachings.

Those familiar with the Sages of the day will recall the schools of thought of the time that there was the
'House' of Shammai, and the House of Hillel

So if you said, I am of Hillel it doesn't mean he is your father.

So these two names are attached in some way to the word Alpheus

Levi
James which means Jacob

Jacob became Israel and Levi was his third son.

The name Alpheus can be related to change, in direction or thought.

Just like Abrams name was changed and many others in the Bible, this could be the real meaning behind this and not a shared father.

 

[Dave-W]

I have always taken it that Matthew Levi and James were brothers. I started looking into that about 40 years ago when I was cast in a play as “James son of Alphaeus,”

 

[Lulav]

I have always taken it that Matthew Levi and James were brothers. I started looking into that about 40 years ago when I was cast in a play as “James son of Alphaeus,”

Which James?

 

[Dave-W]

Which James?

Jacob actually.

2 disciples named Jacob, one the son of Zebedi and the other son of Alphaeus. And again, not the brother of the Lord.

 

[pinacled]

A levite and scribe

 

[timothyu]

A levite and scribe

A non-Jew writing an Aramaic book. Sounds logical if it was a common language among the tribes/nations.

 

[pinacled]

A non-Jew writing an Aramaic book. Sounds logical if it was a common language among the tribes/nations.

A Raven without bread is a meal worth while.

 

[pinacled]

Not only was Matthew a levite following the lamed as a true scribe.

He had family

 

[Tigger45]

.

 

[pinacled]

And lulav will never forget such an aromah

 

[pinacled]

Mark 2
13 And he went forth again by the sea side; and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them.
14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? 17When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

From Matthew 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.
10 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. 11And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? 12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

From Luke 5:

27 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. 28 And he left all, rose up, and followed him.
29 And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. 30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31 And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. 32 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

It seems from these three accounts that we can determine the following:

1. Levi the son of Alphaeus
2. in all cases Yeshua used the words 'Follow me'
3. " sitting at the receipt of custom" is used in all three versions
4. He is called Matthew in the book of Matthew but Levi in the other two
5. He asked Yeshua to come to his house where he was obviously very rich as it says he made a great feast and a great company sat down to eat with them.
6. His other disciples must have accompanied him because it was them the scribes and Pharisees questioned.
7. He was a tax collector for the Romans.

Matthew was not a tax collector for the Greco/roman Providence.

He is a wealthy scribe that was taught the value of ink and where to place his thoughts.
Though some are desperate to record their work in destruction. To mark the earth with a worthy pen ..

Matthew was taught the value of a scabbarded sword.

While sitting I imagine he found his legs given strength to stand firm.
And with vigor Matthew was reminded that ink was not only apart of his hand.
The ink was a gift blended from .....

 

[Lulav]

Matthew was not a tax collector for the Greco/roman Providence.

He is a wealthy scribe that was taught the value of ink and where to place his thoughts.
Though some are desperate to record their work in destruction. To mark the earth with a worthy pen ..

Matthew was taught the value of a scabbarded sword.

While sitting I imagine he found his legs given strength to stand firm.
And with vigor Matthew was reminded that ink was not only apart of his hand.
The ink was a gift blended from .....

Do you have information to cite to back that up?

 

[pinacled]

Do you have information to cite to back that up?

Yes,
His name is recorded with a mem and two lameds.