Whether or not the perception of this fact may have combined to produce this reticence, with the humility engendered by his contemplation of his Lord, certain it is that the evangelist himself is completely hidden behind the bold, broad masses in which are depicted the Messiah of Jewish hope, the Saviour of mankind, the consummate flower of the ancient law, and the per- fect life and unrivalled teaching of the Son of David.
The Gospel (evayyédcov). Signifies originally a present given in return for joyful news. Thus Homer makes Ulysses say to Eumenus, “ Let this reward evayyéXov be given me for my good news” (Od., xiv. 152). In Attic Greek it meant (in the plural) a sacrifice for good tidings. Later-it comes to mean the good news itself—the joyful tidings of Messiah’s kingdom. Though the word came naturally to be used as the title of books con- taining the history of the good tidings, in the New Testament itself it is never employed in the sense of a written book, but always means the word preached.
According to (xara). This is not the same as the phrase Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel is God’s, not Matthew’s nor Luke’s; and is substantially one and the same in all the evan- gelists’ writings. The words “according to,” therefore, imply a generic element in the Gospel which Matthew has set forth in his own peculiar style. The meaning is, the good tidings of the kingdom, as delivered or represented by Matthew.
Matthew (Mar9aiov). The names Matthew and Levi denote the same person (Matt. ix. 9; Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 27). The name Levi is wanting in all lists of the apostles, but Matthew is named in all these lists. 'The Jews marked decisive changes in their life by a change of name (compare Simon and Peter; Saul and Paul); so that it is evident that Levi, after his call to the apostolate, styled himself Matthew, a contracted form of the
10 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. L
Hebrew Mattathias, meaning gift of God ; a name reproduced in the Greek Theodore (Oe6s, God; ddpov, a gift). This name so completely displaced the old one that it is anticipated by Matthew himself in ch. ix. 9, where he is called Matthew ; whereas Mark and Luke, in narrating lis call, more correctly style him Levi (Mark ii. 14; Luke v. 27); while in their lists of the apostles (Mark iii. 18; Luke vi.15; Acts i. 13) they rightly call him Matthew.