{E2 Dictionary of Biblical People}
MATTHEW GREEK: MATHTHAIOS; HEBREW or ARAMAIC: MATTAI or MATTIYAH "gift of God" _______________
All four New Testament lists of the 12 apostles (Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16, Acts 1:13) include the name Matthew. His call is described in the Gospel of Matthew: "Jesus... saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax office; and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he rose and followed him" (Matthew 9:9). This same story appears in the Gospels of Mark and Luke, but the tax collector is called "Levi the son of Alphaeus" (Mark 2:14) or simply "Levi" (Luke 5:27). consequently, most scholars assume that Matthew and Levi were the same person and suggest that Jesus may have renamed Levi, just as he had given Simon the new name Peter. If so, Matthew may also have been a brother of James the son of Alphaeus, who was also one of the 12 apostles - though nowhere in the Scriptures are the two identified as brothers.
As a tax collector, Matthew could have been one of the local inhabitants who bid for the office, agreeing to pay Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, a certain sum in advance; any money collected over that amount went into his own pocket. His tax office would have been located at the border to collect tolls on goods being brought from one district to another. Understandably, tax collectors were widely despised, not only because they at least indirectly served the oppressors of the Jews, the Romans, but also because they made a profit by adding their own charges to the established levies. They were classified as unclean individuals with whom pious Jews could not associate. When Jesus ate at Matthew's home in a company of "tax collectors and sinners," he scandalized the Pharisees. Yet to Jesus, this action was a symbol that his kingdom included all people no matter how the world viewed them, "for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Matthew 9:10, 13).
By a tradition recorded in the second century, the apostle Matthew was the author of the Gospel that now bears his name. About the actual writer of the first Gospel, whether Matthew or not, we know very little. He was probably a Jewish Christian with some rabbinic training who evidently lived in Antioch of Syria. His narrative emphasizes Jesus as one who taught with such authority that his listeners were astounded. Although Jesus was increasingly in conflict with the Pharisees over his interpretation of the Law, he nevertheless affirmed that he had come not "to abolish the law and the prophets... but to fulfil them" (Matthew 5:17). This emphasis seems well tailored for Matthew's presumed audience, a group of Jewish Christians who were involved in tense debate with members of the local synagogue and who needed an affirmation of their new identity as a people of God separate from the Jews and with a mission to all nations.
Other than his calling, there are no independent stories about Matthew in the New Testament. According to tradition, he later preached as far afield as Ethiopia, Persia, and Macedonia and died a martyr.