 |
| Origen |
It is thought to have been a version of Matthew's Gospel, but what we have of it is only what has been preserved, some seven fragments in total, in the writings of the early Church Fathers. These are:
Origen (Commentary on John 2.12.87);
Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 2.9.45.5, 5.14.96.3),
Jerome (Commentary on Isaiah 4, Commentary on Ephesians 3, Commentary on Ezekiel 6, De viris illustribus 2).
The main source is therefore Jerome, who apparently received a copy from a group of Nazarene Christians when he was visiting Chalcis, on the Greek island of Euboea, somewhere between 373 and 376. Jerome tells us that both the Nazarenes and the Ebionites believed it was the original version of Matthew, and that the full text offered an account of the life and ministry of Jesus, from his Baptism to the Resurrection.
There is, nonetheless, even within these tiny residual fragments, evidence that this cannot have been an early version of the Book of Matthew... but rather than me trying to explain the complex doxological differences, my advice to the interested is to click here, and let an expert (Montague Rhode James is his name) take you through the matter line by line.
Such text as exists can be found here.
Clement of Alexandria (Stromateis 2.9.45.5, 5.14.96.3),
Jerome (Commentary on Isaiah 4, Commentary on Ephesians 3, Commentary on Ezekiel 6, De viris illustribus 2).
The main source is therefore Jerome, who apparently received a copy from a group of Nazarene Christians when he was visiting Chalcis, on the Greek island of Euboea, somewhere between 373 and 376. Jerome tells us that both the Nazarenes and the Ebionites believed it was the original version of Matthew, and that the full text offered an account of the life and ministry of Jesus, from his Baptism to the Resurrection.
There is, nonetheless, even within these tiny residual fragments, evidence that this cannot have been an early version of the Book of Matthew... but rather than me trying to explain the complex doxological differences, my advice to the interested is to click here, and let an expert (Montague Rhode James is his name) take you through the matter line by line.
Such text as exists can be found here.
Copyright © 2020 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
No comments:
Post a Comment