Most scholars agree that the Gospel of Matthew is formally anonymous and that we do not know its author with certainty, but early Christian tradition attributes it to Matthew, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and a former tax collector.

Traditional view: Matthew the apostle

Early church writers consistently said that Matthew wrote this Gospel.

  • Papias of Hierapolis (early 2nd century) is quoted as saying that Matthew compiled the “oracles” or sayings of Jesus, originally in a Hebrew or Aramaic form.
  • Later writers such as Irenaeus, Origen, and Eusebius also repeat that Matthew was the author.
  • Many Christian introductions and study resources still present “Matthew the tax collector” as the author, noting that all early manuscript titles connect the book with Matthew and no alternative author is proposed in early church sources.

From this perspective, the answer to “who wrote the Gospel of Matthew?” is: Matthew the apostle, composing a Gospel sometime in the mid‑1st century, possibly first in a Semitic language and then in Greek, or with help from a scribe.

Modern scholarly view: anonymous Jewish Christian

Academic New Testament scholarship typically makes a distinction between tradition and what can be proven from the text itself.

  • The Gospel never names its author inside the narrative, so by strict literary standards it is anonymous.
  • Most scholars date it to the last quarter of the first century (around 80–90 CE) and see it as written by an educated Jewish Christian male who knew Jewish law and Scripture well and wrote in polished Greek.
  • On this view, the author might have used earlier sources (such as Mark and collections of Jesus’ sayings) and then shaped them into the strongly Jewish‑themed Gospel we have.

Because of this, many critical scholars say: we cannot prove that Matthew the apostle wrote it; we can only say the early church ascribed it to him, while historically the author’s precise identity remains unknown.

Different viewpoints in one glance

Here is a compact overview of the main perspectives:

[9][5][7][3] [10][5][3] [1]
Viewpoint Who wrote it? Main reasoning
Early church tradition Matthew the apostle (tax collector, disciple of Jesus) Uniform attribution by early Christian writers like Papias, Irenaeus, Origen; early manuscript titles name Matthew and no rival author is offered.
Conservative Christian scholars Likely Matthew, possibly using sources and/or a scribe Trust in early church testimony, internal details that seem to fit a financially literate eyewitness, and lack of competing ancient attributions.
Critical / mainstream academic scholars An anonymous, educated Jewish Christian Text itself is unsigned; language and use of earlier sources (including Mark) suggest a later, highly literate author steeped in Jewish law and Scripture.

Quick takeaway

  • If you are asking from a church or faith angle: the traditional answer is that Matthew the disciple wrote the Gospel that bears his name.
  • If you are asking from a historical‑critical angle: the safer answer is that we do not know the author’s name, only that he was an anonymous Jewish Christian writer whose work the early church later associated with Matthew.

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