E.H.C. ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES Aorist. Dr. Weymouth's Pamphlet on the Rendering of the Greek Aorist and Perfect Tenses into English. A.V. Authorised English Version, 1611. Cp. Compare. ED. Notes for which the Editor is responsible, wholly or in part. I.E. That is. Lit. Literally. LXX. The Septuagint (Greek) Version of the Old Testament. n. Note. nn. Notes. N.T. New Testament. O.T. Old Testament. R.V. Revised English Version, 1881-85. S.H. Sanday and Headlam's Commentary on 'Romans.' V.L. Varia Lectio. An alternative reading found in some Manuscripts of the New Testament. V.V. Verses. In accordance with modern English custom, _ITALICS_ are used to indicate emphasis. [In the etext, surounded by **] Old Testament quotations are printed in small capitals. [In the etext, surrounded by <>] During Christ's earthly ministry even His disciples did not always recognize His super-human nature and dignity. Accordingly, in the Gospels of this Translation, it is only when the Evangelists themselves use of Him the words "He," "Him," "His," that these are spelt with capital initial letters. The spelling of "me" and "my" with small initial letters, when used by Christ Himself in the Gospels, is explained by the fact that, before His Resurrection, He did not always emphasize His own super-human nature and dignity. The Good News as Recorded by Matthew There are ample reasons for accepting the uniform tradition which from earliest times has ascribed this Gospel to Levi the son of Alphaeus, who seems to have changed his name to 'Matthew' on becoming a disciple of Jesus. Our information as to his subsequent life is very scanty. After the feast which he made for his old friends (Lu 5:29) his name only appears in the New Testament in the list of the twelve Apostles. Early Christian writers add little to our knowledge of him, but his life seems to have been quiet and somewhat ascetic. He is also generally represented as having died a natural death. Where his Gospel was written, or where he himself laboured, we cannot say. Not a little controversy has arisen as to the form in which this Gospel first appeared, that is, as to whether we have in the Greek MSS. an original document or a translation from an earlier Aramaic writing. Modern scholarship inclines to the view that the book is not a translation, but was probably written in Greek by Matthew himself, upon the basis of a previously issued collection of "Logia" or discourses, to the existence of which Papias, Irenaeus, Pantaenus, Origen, Eusebius and Jerome all testify. The date of the Gospel, as we know it, is somewhat uncertain, but the best critical estimates are included between 70 and 90, A.D. Perhaps, with Harnack, we may adopt 75, A.D.