_Hebrew_, which may either mean the sacred language of the
synagogues, or the popular language of Palestine which we now call
Aramaic. It should, however, be remembered that Papias, our earliest
authority, describes St. Matthew's composition by the word _Logia_,
which seems to point to a list of sacred sayings or "oracles" of our
Lord, rather than to a historical narrative. About A.D. 125, Papias
writes: "Matthew then composed the Logia in the Hebrew tongue, and
every one interpreted them as he was able." [2] About A.D. 185, St.
Irenaeus writes: "Matthew published a Gospel among the Hebrews in their
own dialect." [3] Origen and Eusebius make similar statements. St.
Jerome, in A.D. 392, writes: "Matthew, also called Levi, who from being
a publican became an apostle, first wrote a Gospel of Christ in Judaea,
and in Hebrew letters and words for the benefit of those of the
circumcision who believed. Who afterwards translated it into Greek is
not quite certain." [4] We naturally inquire what became of this
Hebrew Gospel?

St. Jerome, in A.D. 392, believed that he had found it. He says that
it was still preserved at Caesarea, and that the Nazarenes, a Jewish
Christian sect of Palestine, allowed him to transcribe a copy of it at
Beroea (now Aleppo). In A.D. 398, he says that he had translated this
Gospel into Greek and Latin. It is known that it was used by the
Nazarenes and by the Ebionites, a Jewish sect which admitted that Jesus
was the Messiah, but denied that He was divine. Lastly, we find St.
Epiphanius, about the same time as St. Jerome, describing the Hebrew
"Gospel according to the Hebrews" as the Gospel written by St. Matthew.

So at the end of the 4th century it was generally believed that the
Gospel used by the Nazarenes, and ordinarily known as "the Gospel
according to the Hebrews," was the original {35} Hebrew version of
Matt. The opinion arose from the two simple facts that it was known
that (1) St. Matthew originally wrote in Hebrew, and that (2) the
Nazarenes possessed _a_ Gospel in Hebrew. The conclusion was natural,
but it was false. Clement of Alexandria and Origen, who quote the
Gospel according to the Hebrews, do not represent it as the work of St.
Matthew. St. Jerome himself felt doubts. When he first discovered the
Hebrew Gospel, he felt the enthusiasm of a critic who has made an
important find. He believed that he had discovered the original
Gospel. He afterwards became more cautious