Traditions: Christian Gospels, Mark; Christian Gospels, Matthew Motif: A tax collector is called and eats with outsiders Connection verdict: Related calling and meal episode with different naming Article status: Expanded Date: 2026-10-29
Summary
Mark 2:13–17 names Levi son of Alphaeus; Matthew 9:9–13 names the called tax collector Matthew.
Read the two scenes
A tax collector is summoned from his booth, follows Jesus, and shares a table where critics object to the company. Mark identifies the man as Levi son of Alphaeus. Matthew’s parallel calls him Matthew and adds a quotation from Hosea to interpret the dispute. Readers sometimes assume a fully documented double name, but these passages alone do not explain the variation. The controversy is not simply about an occupation; it asks who can be approached and healed. Matthew’s added prophetic line gives mercy particular interpretive weight.
What connects—and what does not
Matthew adds the instruction to learn “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” citing Hosea, in the meal controversy.
The scenes align closely, but the name difference and scriptural addition deserve notice rather than an unsupported biography.
Why read them side by side?
A changed name can remain an open textual question while a later quotation sharpens the meaning of the meal.
Sources and reading notes
- Mark 2:13-17 — Read the named passage in its surrounding narrative and translation.
- Matthew 9:9-13 — Read the named passage in its surrounding narrative and translation.
Research limit
A named parallel can establish literary reuse or related tradition; a general resemblance alone cannot prove borrowing. Linked editions and translations vary. Where a source is identified as secondary orientation, the comparison does not claim direct close reading of that tradition’s primary text.