MATTHEW, St, the Evangelist, was, according to Mark ii. 14, the son of Alphæus; and if it is correct, as is generally supposed, that Jacobus, or James, the son of Alphæus, was a son of Mary, the wife of Cleophas, who was a sister of the mother of Jesus, Matthew was one of the relatives of the Saviour. Matthew was at all events a man of humble birth, and held the office of a portitor, or inferior collector of customs, at Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee, where he was either connected with the port of Capernaum, or collected the customs on the high road to Damascus, which went through what is now called Khan Minych, or the ancient Capernaum. In Mark ii. 14, and Luke v. 27, he is called Levi, and hence we conclude that he had two names. This circumstance is not mentioned in the list of the apostles (Matt. x. and Luke vi.); but the omission does not prove the contrary, as we may infer from the fact that Lebbeus is also called Judas in Luke vi. 16, in which verse the name Lebbeus is omitted. We are informed in Matt. ix. 9, how Matthew was called to be an apostle; yet we must suppose that he was previously acquainted with Jesus, since we read (Luke vi. 13), that when Jesus, before delivering the Sermon on the Mount, selected twelve disciples, Matthew was among their number. After this Matthew returned to his usual occupation; from which Jesus, on leaving Capernaum, called him away. After this event he is mentioned only in Acts i. 13. Clemens Alexandrinus (Pedagog. ii. 1) states that Matthew abstained from animal food, a circumstance which has led some writers to conclude that he belonged to the sect of the Essenes. But while it is true that the Essenes practised abstinence in a high degree, it is not true that they rejected animal food altogether. And even admitting the account in Clemens Alexandrinus to be correct, it proves only a certain ascetic strictness in the disciple, of which there occur not unfrequent vestiges in the habits of other Jews. According to another account, which is as old as the first century, and which occurs in Clemens Alexandrinus (Strom. vi. 15), Matthew, after the death of Jesus, remained about fifteen years in Jerusalem. This agrees with the statement in Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. iii. 24), that Matthew preached to his own nation before he went to foreign coun-
Matthew. tries. Rufinus (Hist. Eccl. x. 9) and Socrates (Hist. Eccl. i. 19) state that he afterwards went into Ethiopia; and other authors mention other countries which he visited. Heracleon and Clemens Alexandrinus agree in the opinion that Matthew was one of those apostles who did not suffer martyrdom.