The Etymology of Matthew: From Palestinian Mattay through Greek and Latin to the European Languages

Željko Stanojević

Institute for Hebrew Language and Literature, Belgrade

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-0717-6184

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21709006

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Abstract

This study investigates the Semitic etymology of the name Matthew by examining the Hebrew anthroponym מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityāhū), its relationship to shorter Semitic forms, and the history of transmission that produced the modern South Slavic names Matej and Mateja and related European forms.

The analysis employs historical-comparative, morphological, philological, and onomastic methods and draws on Biblical and epigraphic Hebrew, Palestinian Jewish onomastics of the Second Temple period, Ugaritic and Phoenician-Punic material, West Semitic names preserved in Babylonian cuneiform sources, and Greek, Syriac, Latin, Old Church Slavonic, and later European attestations.

Particular distinctions are drawn among the Hebrew nominal stems mattan- and mattat-, the bound element mattit-, the Yahwistic elements -yāhū and -yāh, and the Palestinian anthroponym מתי (mty), reconstructed as Mattay. Palestinian epigraphic evidence demonstrates that mty functioned as a masculine personal name in the chronological and geographical environment relevant to the emergence of Greek Μαθθαῖος/Ματθαῖος.

On the basis of epigraphic, morphological, geographical, and textual evidence, the study concludes that Mattay is the most probable immediate Semitic antecedent of Greek Μαθθαῖος/Ματθαῖος, although this relationship is not confirmed by a bilingual attestation referring to the same historical bearer.

The study strictly distinguishes the Greek anthroponymic types Μαθθαῖος, Μαθθίας, and Ματταθίας and their respective Latin and European continuations. The Western branch of transmission proceeds through Latin Matthaeus, whereas South Slavic Matej is primarily associated with the Greek–Old Church Slavonic tradition and does not require Latin as an intermediary.

Serbian Mateja belongs to the same broader onomastic tradition and is fully integrated into the declensional system of masculine names ending in -a, but its direct diachronic development from Matej is not historically documented. The traditional interpretation “gift of God” is semantically grounded in the theophoric family Mattityāhū/Mattityāh, but it does not constitute a direct morphological analysis of the modern forms Matthew, Matej, or Mateja.

Keywords

Matthew; Matej; Mateja; Mattityāhū; Mattityāh; Mattay; Hebrew anthroponymy; Biblical onomastics; Semitic etymology; theophoric names; hypocoristic forms; Greek Μαθθαῖος; Latin Matthaeus; Old Church Slavonic; South Slavic languages; European name transmission; historical linguistics; Biblical Hebrew; מַתִּתְיָהוּ

How to cite this work

Stanojević, Ž. (2026). The Etymology of Matthew: From Palestinian Mattay through Greek and Latin to the European Languages. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21709006

Description

This study presents a comprehensive philological, onomastic, and historical-comparative investigation of the names Matthew, Matej, and Mateja. It traces their development from ancient Hebrew and Palestinian Jewish naming traditions through Greek, Syriac, Latin, Old Church Slavonic, and modern European languages.

The analysis begins with the Hebrew theophoric anthroponyms מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityāhū) and מַתִּתְיָה (Mattityāh), traditionally understood in the sense of “YHWH’s gift” or “gift of God.” The study demonstrates, however, that this traditional interpretation represents the semantic meaning of the full theophoric name family and should not be treated as a direct morphological analysis of the later forms Matthew, Matej, or Mateja.

Particular attention is devoted to distinguishing the Hebrew nominal stems mattan-, mattat-, and mattit-, as well as the shorter Palestinian personal name מתי (mty), reconstructed as Mattay. These forms belong to a related lexical and onomastic network associated with the semantic field of giving and gift, but they cannot be represented as consecutive stages in a single, mechanically reconstructed historical development.

Palestinian epigraphic attestations demonstrate that mty functioned as a genuine masculine personal name during the Second Temple period. On chronological, geographical, syllabic, and morphological grounds, Mattay represents the most probable immediate Semitic antecedent of Greek Μαθθαῖος/Ματθαῖος. The relationship is strongly supported by historical-linguistic evidence, although no bilingual inscription identifies the same historical bearer under both the Semitic and Greek forms.

The study also distinguishes Μαθθαῖος/Ματθαῖος, the Greek form associated with Matthew the Evangelist, from Μαθθίας/Ματθίας and Ματταθίας. Although these forms probably belong to the same broader Semitic onomastic family, they represent different Greek anthroponymic types and developed into different names in later European languages.

The Western branch of transmission proceeds from Greek Μαθθαῖος through Latin Matthaeus to forms such as English Matthew, German Matthäus, Italian Matteo, French Mathieu and Matthieu, Spanish Mateo, Catalan Mateu, Portuguese Mateus, and Romanian Matei.

The South Slavic name Matej, by contrast, is primarily associated with the Eastern Greek–Old Church Slavonic tradition. Old Church Slavonic forms document the early morphological integration of the name into the Slavic linguistic and liturgical system. Latin Matthaeus is therefore not a necessary intermediary between Greek Μαθθαῖος and South Slavic Matej. The Western Latin and Eastern Greek–Old Church Slavonic traditions should be understood as parallel branches of European transmission.

The Serbian masculine name Mateja belongs to the same broader onomastic tradition as Matej and is fully integrated into the Serbian declension of masculine names ending in -a. However, its direct historical development from Matej has not been documented and should not be reduced to the simplified formula “Matej + -a.”

By integrating Hebrew and Semitic philology, Palestinian epigraphy, Greek and Latin name transmission, Slavic linguistic history, and European onomastics, the study contributes to Biblical Hebrew studies, Biblical onomastics, historical linguistics, Semitic etymology, New Testament name studies, and comparative anthroponymy.

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Stanojević, Ž. (2026). Onomastikon biblijskih imena. Tom I: Starozavetna imena (Preview edition). Centar za hebrejski jezik i književnost.

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Stanojević, Ž. (2026). Names Daniel, Danilo, and Daniela: A Stratified Model of Onomastic Transmission from Hebrew to European Languages. Zenodo.

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Additional Keywords

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