50 Fun Facts About Gospel of Matthew

Where does the Gospel of Matthew sit in the New Testament?

It is one of the four canonical Gospels and one of the three synoptics, alongside Mark and Luke.

Which three gospels are known as the synoptic Gospels?

They share many of the same stories in a similar order and often in near-identical wording; the word means 'seen together'.

With which figure does Matthew's genealogy of Jesus begin?

Luke works backwards all the way to Adam; Matthew, writing for Jews, starts with the father of the Jewish people.

According to Matthew, who was Joseph's father?

Luke names Heli instead, one of many places where the two genealogies part company after King David.

Which two gospels contain accounts of the birth of Jesus?

Both agree on Bethlehem and Herod's reign, but the wise men, the star and the flight into Egypt appear only in Matthew.

In which gospel alone do the Magi appear?

The text never numbers or names them; tradition settled on three because of the three gifts.

What three gifts did the Magi offer the infant Jesus?

They opened treasure chests to present them, and Matthew says the visit took place in a house, not a stable.

In Syriac Christianity, how many Magi are traditionally said to have visited Jesus?

Western and Orthodox tradition settled on three to match the gifts; the gospel itself gives no number.

On which feast day are the Magi commemorated in Western Christianity?

It is sometimes called Three Kings Day; Eastern Christians remember them on Christmas Day itself.

Which king orders the Massacre of the Innocents in Matthew chapter 2?

The story is told in no other gospel, and neither Josephus nor Herod's friend Nicolaus of Damascus mentions it.

How was Joseph warned to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus?

Matthew's Joseph receives guidance by dream again and again, echoing the Old Testament Joseph, son of Jacob, the dreamer.

After returning from Egypt, where did Joseph settle the family?

An angel told him to avoid Herod's son, so he bypassed Judea; Matthew implies Joseph's original home had been Bethlehem.

In Matthew 9:9, Matthew is described as what when Jesus calls him?

He was sitting at the 'receipt of custom' in Capernaum; Mark and Luke tell the same story about a man named Levi.

By what other name do Luke and Mark call the apostle Matthew?

Both call him Levi, son of Alphaeus, which led Eastern Orthodox tradition to make him the brother of James son of Alphaeus.

Which early bishop provides the first attribution of the gospel to Matthew?

He lived around 60 to 130 AD and had met the daughters of Philip the Evangelist; most scholars now treat the gospel as anonymous.

Which city in Roman Syria is often proposed as the place where Matthew's gospel was written?

It was the third largest city in the empire, with a community of Greek-speaking Jewish Christians that fits the gospel's outlook.

Which earlier gospel do most scholars believe Matthew used as a source?

Matthew shares about 600 verses with Mark, a book of only 661 verses, plus roughly 220 with Luke that Mark lacks.

How many blocks of discourse does Matthew alternate with blocks of narrative?

Each ends with the phrase 'When Jesus had finished'; some see a deliberate echo of the five books of Moses.

Matthew's usual term for God's reign is 'Kingdom of' what?

It reflects the Jewish practice of not speaking the name of God directly.

Where in Matthew is the Sermon on the Mount found?

It is the first of the five discourses and one of the most quoted passages in the New Testament.

The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 are usually counted as how many blessings?

Luke's Sermon on the Plain has just four, followed by four woes; Latin beatitudo was a word coined by Cicero.

The Lord's Prayer is also known by which Latin name?

That is simply 'Our Father', its first two words; the closing 'For thine is the kingdom' is a later addition in some manuscripts of Matthew.

How is the Golden Rule of Matthew 7:12 commonly phrased in English?

Luke 6:31 has the same saying, and the early Christian Didache gives it in its negative form.

In the parable that closes the Sermon on the Mount, the wise man builds his house on what?

Rain, floods and wind beat on it and it did not fall; the foolish man's house on sand collapsed.

For how many days did Jesus fast in the wilderness before being tempted?

Matthew and Luke list three temptations: stones into bread, a leap from the Temple pinnacle, and the kingdoms of the world.

In the Parable of the Tares, what did the enemy sow among the wheat?

The servants are told to let both grow until the harvest; Jesus later explains the harvest is 'the end of the age'.

In Matthew 13, which precious object does a merchant sell everything to buy?

The Parable of the Pearl comes just before the Parable of the Dragnet at the end of the chapter.

Which miracle is the only one, apart from the resurrection, recorded in all four gospels?

Matthew places it at 14:13–21 and is one of only two gospels to add a second feeding, of 4,000, with seven loaves.

How many loaves were used for the 4,000, in the second multiplication miracle?

The more famous feeding of the 5,000 used five loaves and two fish; Luke and John skip the second miracle.

Which disciple, in Matthew's account alone, asks to walk out to Jesus on the water?

He begins to sink when he takes fright, and Jesus catches him; the episode follows the feeding of the 5,000.

In Matthew 16:16, Peter calls Jesus 'the Messiah, the Son of' whom?

Mark has the shorter 'You are the Messiah'; Jesus responds that the Father in Heaven revealed it to Peter.

What does the Greek name Petros, given to Simon, mean?

It comes in the same passage where Jesus says he will build his church 'on this rock'.

Which two Old Testament figures appear with Jesus at the Transfiguration?

Peter, James and John are the only apostles present on the mountain in Matthew 17.

How often does Jesus tell Peter to forgive, in Matthew 18?

It introduces the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, whose debt of ten thousand talents is written off before he refuses to forgive a tiny one.

In the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, what daily wage do the labourers agree to?

Those hired at the last hour receive the same coin as those who toiled all day, which makes the early workers grumble.

The Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24–25 is also known by what nickname?

Jesus delivers it privately to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, opposite Herod's Temple.

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, how many of the virgins brought enough oil?

The other five go off to buy more, miss the bridegroom's arrival and are shut out.

In Matthew 25, the Parable of the Talents tells of a master who does what before travelling?

Luke tells a parallel story with minas; the line 'to every one who has will more be given' gave sociology the term 'Matthew effect'.

The sociological 'Matthew effect' is summed up by which saying?

Robert K. Merton named it after Matthew 25:29, the verse that closes the Parable of the Talents.

In the Judgement of the Nations in Matthew 25, on which side does the King set the sheep?

The goats go to the left; the sheep are praised for feeding, clothing and visiting 'the least of these'.

Which gospel specifies that Judas was paid thirty pieces of silver?

Mark says only that he was paid; John mentions no fee and instead notes that Judas kept the money bag.

According to Matthew 27, what did Judas do after trying to return the money?

The Acts of the Apostles tells a different story, in which Judas falls headlong in a field he bought himself.

What did the chief priests buy with the returned silver, according to Matthew?

They refused to put blood money in the treasury; the plot became known as Akeldama, the Field of Blood.

Matthew presents the buying of the Field of Blood as fulfilling which prophet?

The coins may have been Tyrian shekels, about 14 grams of silver each.

Whose wife appears only in Matthew 27:19, pleading for Jesus after a dream?

She is unnamed in the gospel; later tradition called her Procula and eventually Claudia Procula.

Where does the risen Jesus deliver the Great Commission in Matthew 28?

He tells the disciples to make disciples of all nations and baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Which Roman orator coined the Latin noun 'beatitudo', later used for the Beatitudes?

It describes a state of blessedness and was adopted in chapter headings for Matthew 5 in printed Vulgates.

In the Parable of the Mustard Seed, the seed is described as what?

The parable also appears in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas, as saying 20.

Matthew's gospel was written for a community speaking which language?

The author drew on Greek translations of Isaiah and the Psalms as well as Mark and the oral stories of his community.

Matthew shares roughly how many verses with Mark, a book of only 661 verses?

It also shares around 220 verses with Luke that Mark lacks, the material scholars label Q.