Upvote:1
Here is the provided English translation:“ Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐν τῷ προειρημένῳ τίθησι συγγράμματι. Ἐν δὲ τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν εἰς τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον Εὐαγγέλιον, τὸν ἐκκλησιαστικὸν φυλάττων κανόνα, μόνα τέσσαρα εἰδέναι Εὐαγγέλια μαρτύρεται, ὧδέ πως γράφων· “Ὡς ἐν παραδόσει μαθὼν περὶ τῶν τεσσάρων Εὐαγγελίων, ἃ καὶ μόνα ἀναντίρρητά ἐστιν ἐν τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν Ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅτι πρῶτον μὲν γέγραπται τὸ κατὰ τόν ποτε τελώνην, ὕστερον δὲ ἀπόστολον Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ Ματθαῖον, ἐκδεδωκότα αὐτὸ τοῖς ἀπὸ Ἰουδαϊσμοῦ πιστεύσασι, γράμμασιν Ἑβραϊκοῖς συντεταγμένον· δεύτερον δὲ τὸ κατὰ Μάρκον, ὡς Πέτρος ὑφηγήσατο αὐτῷ, ποιήσαντα. Ὃ καὶ υἱὸν ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ ἐπιστολῇ διὰ τούτων ὡμολόγησε φάσκων· “Ἀσπάζεται ὑμᾶς ἡ ἐν Βαβυλῶνι συνεκλεκτή, καὶ Μάρκος ὁ υἱός μου.” αὶ τρίτον τὸ κατὰ Λουκᾶν, τὸ ὑπὸ Παύλου ἐπαινούμενον Εὐαγγέλιον, τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πεποιηκότα· ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸ κατὰ Ἰωάννην.” (6Euseb. 25:3-6 EUSEB-T)
We notice a number of details:“ In his first book on Matthew’s Gospel, maintaining the Canon of the Church, he testifies that he knows only four Gospels, writing as follows: “Among the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism, and published in the Hebrew language. The second is by Mark, who composed it according to the instructions of Peter, who in his Catholic epistle acknowledges him as a son, saying, ‘The church that is at Babylon elected together with you, salutes you, and so does Marcus, my son.’ And the third by Luke, the Gospel commended by Paul, and composed for Gentile converts. Last of all that by John.”” (6Euseb. 25:3–6 EUSEB-E)
Here's the challenge with addressing the thought brought up in this paragraph:Now, Paul's Epistles must have been written in many languages. He wrote the Epistle to Romans so that scripture must have been written in Latin if it was for the Romans, plus Paul was a Roman citizen so he probably knew Latin. He has a lot of Epistles to Greek cities (Corinth, Thessalonica, etc.) which must have been written in Greek. Also, he has a letter to Jews so he probably wrote this in Hebrew.
Upvote:1
For most of the books of the New Testament, there is no tradition competing with the view that the book was originally written in Greek. I am aware of ancient tradition claiming a non-Greek origin for 3 of the New Testament texts: Matthew, Mark, and Hebrews.
Matthew
Every early Christian historian who wrote on the matter stated that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew, not Greek. Relevant testimony was given by Papias, Pantaneus, Irenaues, Origen, Epiphanius, Eusebius, Jerome, and others. This site offers a review of the statements made by early church fathers on the matter.
Those rejecting this view must claim that the early historians were unanimously wrong. This is a tall order considering that Pantaneus claimed to have a copy of Matthew in Hebrew, and Origen was one of the greatest Hebrew scholars in Christian history.
A textual witness to a Hebrew original may survive: Shem Tob Matthew. It's a copy of the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew that was written into a 14th century Jewish polemic against Christianity.
George Howard, who published an extensive review of Shem Tob Matthew (The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew), contended that the Hebrew text was not a translation but was a corrupted descendant of an original Hebrew composition. One of the most compelling pieces of evidence he marshalled was the existence of numerous word-plays in the Hebrew text that are not present in Greek.
Since the author of the 14th century polemic was trying to discredit Christianity, it is implausible that he introduced literary flair into the text of Matthew--that would make the text look better; he wanted to make it look worse. If Judaism had in fact preserved a corrupted version of Hebrew Matthew for ~1300 years, it is unlikely other Jewish scribes would have added literary flourish to the text either.
My own work on the Synoptic Problem has led me to the conclusion that Matthew was originally composed in Hebrew, and the Greek is a translation.
The principal reasons many modern scholars reject the claim that Matthew was originally composed in Hebrew are:
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Mark
Although early historians are unanimous that Mark was composed in/near Rome, they do not specify whether it was composed in Greek (the lingua franca of the eastern empire and the early Christian church) or in Latin (the lingua franca of the western empire and of Roman government). There would be nothing unusual about a Christian missionary from outside of Rome teaching an audience in Rome in the Greek language: it's the one language both the missionary and everybody in the audience could be expected to understand.
The overwhelming majority of the evidence (manuscript, textual, patristic) supports the view that Mark was composed in Greek. Competing with this view are:
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Hebrews
Most sources accept that the Epistle to the Hebrews was originally written in Greek. Competing with this view is the statement by 2nd/3rd century scholar Clement of Alexandria who stated:
the Epistle to the Hebrews is the work of Paul, and that it was written to the Hebrews in the Hebrew language; but that Luke translated it carefully and published it for the Greeks (as preserved in Eusebius Church History 6.14.2)
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Conclusion
The evidence for a non-Greek origin is strongest for Matthew. There is some evidence (later, less consistent) for a non-Greek origin of Mark and Hebrews. I am unware of any ancient witness supporting a non-Greek origin of any of the other 24 New Testament books.
Re chronology, referenced in the OP, for a textual & chronological argument that the Gospels were written earlier (and for the Synoptics, much earlier) than 70-80 years after the crucifixion, see my video series here: Who, When, and Why - the Writing of the Gospels.