Matthew is the first book in the New Testament, and according to ancient church tradition, it was the first of the four gospels to be written.
Matthew, Mark and Luke together are called the synoptic gospels. This is due to the close relationship between the three, as all three tell many of the same stories, often in the same way and with the same words. One clear example of the connection between the gospels is the story of the man who was sick of the palsy (Mark 2:1-12, Matt 9:1-8 and Luke 5:17-26). The accounts are so similar that even a little parenthesis -“he said to the sick of the palsy“- occurs in all three accounts in exactly the same place.
An additional point to make about the relationship between Mark and Matthew is found by comparing Mark 13:14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains” with Matt 24:15-16 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” Here both books interrupt a speech by Jesus in the same place, – “let the reader understand” What was written in the book of Daniel!
Some early Christians believe that Matthew was written in Hebrew, others believe it was written in Aramaic. Today, in the KJV we have the English translation from Greek manuscripts. Matthew and Mark were originally written close in time to the life of Christ. These gospels were nurtured, revised, and extended by the early church until they came into the form we have today. In the case of Matthew, the modern form of the gospel is in Greek, but the first version was written in Hebrew to Jews prior to the destruction of the Temple.
Most modern scholars deny that Matthew was written in Hebrew originally, but the question is actually very complex. It is nearly certain that the dialogue between characters in the gospels was originally almost entirely in Hebrew or Aramaic. Therefore, any verse that quotes someone speaking is necessarily a translation – the only question is whether the translation occurred from a spoken Hebrew/Aramaic into written Greek, or from a written Hebrew/Aramaic into written Greek. For example, Matthew 1:21 says “You shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” This verse, though very familiar, doesn’t actually make sense in Greek (or English). It is only when one reads the text in Hebrew, and realizes that the name “Jesus” (Yeshua) is derived from the word “save” (Yoshia) that the sentence makes sense. There are numerous cases like this, and they are not limited to just Matthew.
In Matthew 17:24-27, Peter is challenged as to whether or not Jesus pays the two-drachma tax. This was a tax collected to maintain the temple. The short account ends with Jesus and Peter both paying the tax. The most immediate application of the story seems to address Jewish Christian readers, to inform them that they ought to continue to pay this tax. Needless to say, this points to a date of writing before 70 A.D. Matthew also has a good deal to say about the Sadducees, a sect controlling the priesthood and dependent on Roman favor. The Sadducees essentially disappeared after 70 A.D. Matthew 12:6 quotes Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” This Old Testament passage may have been chosen instead of other similar passages, in order to negate the requirement for sacrifices for Jewish Christians.
So overall, the culture behind the book of Matthew seems to indicate an audience of Jewish Christians, who still have a connection to the Jewish faith and ought to continue paying the temple tax, but who are beginning to separate themselves from non-Christian Jews in other ways, such as the practice of animal sacrifice. The Jewish Christians abandoned Jerusalem sometime after 62 A.D., but either before the Roman Jewish war or shorty after its start in 66 A.D. This would have been a major step in the breach between Jewish Christians and non-Christian Jews. The gospel of Matthew was likely completed before such a permanent breach was in sight. A date around 60 A.D. would seem reasonable.
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