Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 
Saint Jerome tells us that Matthew's Gospel was originally written in Hebrew.  
Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of Christ at first 
published in Judea in Hebrew for the sake of those of the circumcision who believed, but this was 
afterwards translated into Greek though by what author is uncertain. The Hebrew itself has been 
preserved until the present day in the library at Caesarea which Pamphilus so diligently gathered. I have 
also had the opportunity of having the volume described to me by the Nazarenes of Beroea, a city of 
Syria, who use it.
651
Jerome's assertion is confirmed by Eusebius, who was a student of Pamphilus. Eusebius actually studied under 
Pamphilus at the library of Caesarea.
652
 Eusebius himself must have seen, read, and studied the Hebrew 
version of Matthew's Gospel. Thus he states unequivocally and without need to cite any evidence that 
Matthew's Gospel was originally written in Matthew's native tongue, Hebrew. 
    Jerome gives us further evidence that Matthew's Gospel was originally written in Hebrew. He tells us that 
copies of the Hebrew version were to be found in Alexandria:   Pantaenus was sent to India by Demetrius 
bishop of Alexandria, where he found that Bartholomew, one of the twelve apostles, had preached the advent 
of the Lord Jesus according to the gospel of Matthew, and on his return to Alexandria he brought this with 
him written in Hebrew characters. 
653
 The name Pantaenus refers to Saint Pantaenus, who lived about 100 
years before Eusebius.
654
 The name  India,  during the time of Pantaenus, was used to refer to various areas 
east of the Red Sea, including Arabia, Persia, and Parthia, but not present day India.
655
    Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew and published it first in Judea, so that, when he went on a 
long missionary journey, they would have a written record of the life and teaching of Christ. But, if most of the 
other Twelve Apostles were still in Judea teaching, Matthew would have had much less incentive to make a 
written record of the Gospel for the Hebrew speaking Christians of Judea. Thus, Matthew wrote his Gospel, 
not only because he was about to leave Judea on a missionary journey, but also because most of the other 
Apostles had left or were soon to leave on missions of their own. Determining the time frame for Matthew and 
the other Apostles' departures from Judea is the key to dating his Gospel. The Apostle Bartholomew, for 
example, seems to have left Judea soon after Matthew completed his Gospel, since he took the Hebrew version 
of Matthew's Gospel with him when he left Judea for his missionary journeys east of Judea. 
    According to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, at the time of the Virgin Mary's Dormition, Bartholomew 
was already in Asia, east of the Red Sea,
656
 which is one area where this apostle is believed to have preached 
the Gospel.
657
 The other Apostles also came to Ephesus for the Virgin Mary's Dormition from various far off 
places where they were preaching the Gospel. Thus, by this time (
A.D.
 34), Matthew, Bartholomew, and the 
other Apostles had already left Judea on various missionary journeys. Matthew must have written the Hebrew 
version of his Gospel sometime before 
A.D.
 34, since he wrote the Gospel before he and most of the other 
Apostles left Judea. But the Gospel of Mark was most likely written after the Dormition of the Virgin Mary 
(
A.D.
 34), just prior to Mark's missionary journey to Egypt. Therefore, Matthew's Gospel was written before 
Mark's Gospel. 
    When did Matthew leave Judea for his missionary journeys? According to Acts, all of the Twelve Apostles 
(Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot, being the 12th Apostle) were still in Judea (Acts 5:27   6:6) at the time 
of the appointment of the first Deacons of the Church. The Twelve gathered together and decided to appoint 
these deacons in the year 
A.D.
 21, a Sabbatical year (as explained above). Matthew was still in Judea in 
A.D.
21. There was some persecution of the early Church in Judea about the time of the martyrdom of Saint 
Stephen (Acts 8:1). However, Acts specifically states:  and they were all scattered throughout the region of 
Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.  (Acts 8:1). Notice here that even the disciples who fled this 
persecution did not go far. They were only scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. And the Apostles 
themselves were not scattered at all, that is, they remained in Jerusalem and Bethany. This minor persecution 
occurred about the time that Pilate left Judea for Rome in late 
A.D.
 21 or early 
A.D.
 22. 
    Tiberius died in March of 
A.D.
 22 (see chapter 13). Gaius (Caligula) succeeded him as emperor. The nearly 
four year reign of Gaius is not a likely time for any major persecution of the early Christian community. Gaius 
hated the Jews because he thought himself to be a god and they refused to worship him.
658
 Those Jewish 
leaders who might wish to harm the Christians did not have the support of the Roman government at this 
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