(11-24-2020, 07:12 PM)Completed in Israel Wrote: ... And we know for a fact Mathew was originally written in Hebrew, no doubt, there's over 28 manuscripts at least ..that are witnesses to the Hebrew original...not translations from Greek to Hebrew. Along with historical documents, talking about the Hebrew original, and how the Jews used it to that very day...I dont even see a point in that being a debate.
Check your facts. What are the 28 manuscripts you are referring to? How late are they dated? What makes you believe they are manuscripts of an original written in Hebrew as opposed to a translation? Critical scholars in this area are in almost universal agreement that the gospel of 'Matthew' was written in Greek and based largely on the earlier Greek gospel of Mark. One can easily see how 'Matthew' is constantly revising and improving upon 'Mark's less eloquent Greek text. Papias, who is not considered a very reliable source, does indeed speak of a Matthew writing sayings/oracles in the Hebrew dialect, but this is most probably not a reference to the current gospel of 'Matthew.' It may be a reference to a lost source of sayings of Jesus or perhaps a messianic interpretaion of some passages understood to be 'oracles' in the Hebrew scriptures--those are the two leading scholarly views, but it is almost certainly not the current gospel of 'Matthew'. The text of Papias is best understood as indicating that Matthew supplied what was lacking in the earlier Greek gopsel of Mark.