Is Matthew, Levi?

Matthew & Levi

According to some scholars such as Brent Nongbri, Matthew and Levi are likely separate individuals as He is never specifically attributed to be the same person. Still, there is fair reason to be quite certain they are one and the same. 

The Biblical Text

The Bible, although not explicitly, does show many similarities between “Levi” and “Matthew”. 

The name “Levi” or “Λευὶς” is only used three times in the Bible: Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27, and Luke 5:29. 

In Mark, we read: “As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him,” (Mark 2:14-15 NASB1995). The passage gives us four details of Levi. His father is named Alphaeus, he became a disciple of Jesus, he is a tax collector, and he owns a home. 

The Gospel of Luke provides similar information: “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them,” (Luke 5:27-29 NASB1995). Again, we see Levi is a tax collector, became a disciple of Jesus after he said “follow me”, and owns a home.

The name Matthew or “Μαθθαῖος” is mentioned 5 times: Matthew 9:9, Matthew 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13. 

Matthew 9:9, provides similar information of what is seen in Mark 2 and Luke 5. “As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector’s booth; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and His disciples,” (Matthew 9:9-10 NASB1995). 

Matthew is a tax collector and he becomes a disciple of Jesus after Jesus says “Follow me”. The passage does not seem to say the home was Matthew’s, but they still go to a house. Just like in Mark and Luke, there are also other tax collectors, Pharisees (Matthew 9:11), and sinners in the home.

Matthew 10:3 reaffirms that he was a tax collector and disciple of Jesus. Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, and Acts 1:13 note Matthew was a disciple of Jesus, specifically, an apostle.

It is important to note that in every reference to Matthew or Levi, the same information is said. There is no apparent contradiction between their details that would assume them to be different people.
Names:

We also know that it was very common for people to have more than one name. Paul was also called Saul (Acts 13:9), Mark was also called John (Acts 12:12), Sarah was called Sarai (Genesis 17:15), Abraham was also called Abram (Genesis 17:5), Jacob was also called Israel (Genesis 32:28), Peter was also called Cephas and Simon (John 1:42, Matthew 16:16-18).

Thus, to assume that Levi is another name for Matthew would not be a strange assumption as this was a common practice. Normally, a person has more than one name due to either a change in meaning, such as with Abram to Abraham, or due to names being changed due to different languages. For example, Cephas is Aramaic, Peter is Greek, and Simon is Hebrew. Paul (or Paulus) is Latin while Saul is Hebrew. When it comes to the name Matthew, it likely comes from the Aramaic, "ܡܲܬܲܝ" or "Matthay" while the name Levi comes from the Hebrew "לֵוִי" or "Levi". As mentioned before, it was common for people to have different names depending on what language they were speaking, so it is very possible this is why Matthew has two names.

Even today we do this. The name "Henry" is "Enrique" in French. The name "John" becomes "Jean" in French while in German it becomes "Johannes". These are all the same name, just different based on the language being spoken.

The Early Church

Another way to find out if Levi and Matthew are the same person is by looking at what the early church said on the topic. Origen, born in the late 2nd century, has been rather contradictory in his statements on this topic. As Brent Nongbri, a professor of History of Religions, commentates: “It may well be that Levi who followed Jesus was a tax collector, but he was by no means among the number of his apostles, … So, here Origen appears to argue that Levi the tax collector was not an apostle … “Nor do the gospels reject this custom. For even Matthew says about himself, “When Jesus was passing by, he encountered a certain man sitting at the tax booth named Matthew.” But Luke says about this same person that when Jesus was passing by, “he saw a certain tax collector named Levi and said to him ‘Follow me.’” So, here we have Origen making it quite explicit that Matthew and Levi are the same person. It’s puzzling. Origen seems not to have a firm view on the matter but adjusts his view to the circumstances of whatever argument he is making,” (Nonbri). We see that Origin in one instance asserts Levi was not an apostle, but he also states in another instance that Matthew and Levi are the same person. This, as Brent notes, is quite puzzling. Due to this blunder, it is hard to take Origen as a reliable source on the topic.

Other fathers do not present such contradictory accounts. Jerome, the author of the Latin Vulgate, wrote: “Matthew, who is also Levi, and who from a publican came to be an apostle, first of all composed a Gospel of Christ in Judaea,”

Augustine also wrote: “Here Matthew has not told us particularly in whose house it was that Jesus was sitting at meat along with the publicans and sinners. This might make it appear as if he had not appended this notice in its strict order here, but had introduced at this point, in the way of reminiscence, something which actually took place on a different occasion, were it not that Mark and Luke, who repeat the account in terms thoroughly similar, have made it plain that it was in the house of Levi — that is to say, Matthew,” (The Harmony of the Gospels, Book II).

Rebuttal of Heracleion's List

Some will also quote Heracleion when he says: "Confession with the mouth takes place also before the authorities, and this the multitudes incorrectly consider to be the only confession, for even the hypocrites can make this confession. But it will be found that this word was not spoken universally. For not all who are saved made the confession by mouth, among whom are Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Levi, and many others. The confession by mouth is not universal, but relates to a part" (Donaldson 422). The quote of course notes "Matthew" and "Levi", seeming to show they are distinct persons. There are some major problems with this quote. Firstly, it is not from an original writing of Heracleion, rather, this quote is just a fragment only found in the writing of Clement of Alexandria. There is no reason to accept this quote as reliable in any sense as even the church fathers knew Heracleion as a gnostic. Even if we did believe this quote was in any way reliable, we do not even know which "Matthew" or "Levi" is being mentioned here. It is not as if there was only one "Matthew" and one "Levi" in existence, so we have no reason to be certain who is being spoken of here.

As Dr. Shelton, in his book Quest for the Historical Apostles writes: "Two challenges face this distinction between Matthew and Levi. First, the source for Clement is the gnostic Heracleon, and his full endorsement of the details might not be intended as much as the overarching quality of their common purpose. Second, the reference to “many others” invites the possibility that beginning with Levi, Clement is moving beyond the original Twelve to name others with the common purpose profiled here. There is insufficient evidence from Clement to conclude that Matthew and Levi of the Gospels are different people," (Shelton).

Conclusion:

It is evident based on the data that Levi and Matthew are one and the same. The Bible describes Matthew, or Levi, as having the same qualities. It is known that during this time, it was common to have more than one name. The church fathers too note this same fact. 

References:

Nongbri, Brent. "Matthew and Levi (and James)." Variant Readings, 21 May 2018. https://brentnongbri.com/2018/05/21/matthew-and-levi-and-james/ 

Image by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

Shelton, W. Brian. Quest for the Historical Apostles: Tracing Their Lives and Legacies. United States, Baker Publishing Group.

The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Fathers of the second century: Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and Clement of Alexandria (entire). United States, Christian Literature Company, 1885.

Translated by Ernest Cushing Richardson. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 3. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm>. 

Translated by Frederick Crombie. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04162.htm>.