The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew by slaveofone
Was the Gospel of Matthew originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic instead of Greek? Some say yes, others no. There are, surprisingly, quite a few fathers of the early church that believed it was. Here is a short selection.
Matthew collected the oracles in the Hebrew language, and each interpreted them as best he could.
Papias (Eusebius, H.E. 3.39.16)
Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the church.
Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. 3.1.1
As having learned by tradition concerning the four Gospels, which alone are unquestionable in the Church of God under heaven, that first was written according to Matthew, who was once a tax collector but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, who published it for those who from Judaism came to believe, composed as it was in the Hebrew language.
Origen (Eusebius, H.E. 6.25.4)
Matthew had first preached to Hebrews, and when he was on the point of going to others he transmitted in writing in his native language the Gospel according to himself, and thus supplied by writing the lack of his own presence to those from whom he was sent.
Eusebius, H.E. 3.24.6
I have not done enough research on the matter to take either position. However, it is nice to know that at least one of those Hebrew texts, the Shem Tov Manuscript, is now available to all and sundry online. There is also a fascinating article discussing the manuscript that I hope to read in the near future: Some Observations on a Recent Edition of and Introduction to Shem-Tob’s Hebrew Matthew
by William L. Petersen.
UPDATE: Another Hebrew Matthew Manuscript, the DuTillet, is also available online at the DuTillet Matthew Page.