Matthew, also known as Levi, is the apostle and evangelist traditionally credited with the first Gospel of the New Testament. His name, derived from the Hebrew Mattityahu (מַתִּתְיָהוּ), means "Gift of Yahweh." Before his calling, he served as a tax collector in Capernaum, a profession despised by his fellow Jews for its collaboration with Roman authorities and frequent corruption. His immediate response to Jesus' invitation—"Follow me"—and the subsequent feast he held for other tax collectors and sinners (Mark 2:14-17) mark a central theme of his Gospel: divine mercy extended to the outcast.

Position on the Tree of Life

Matthew corresponds to Path 11, the eleventh path of the Tree of Life, which connects Keter (Crown) to Chokmah (Wisdom). This path is associated with the Hebrew letter Aleph and the element of Air. In the 777 system, this placement links Matthew to the intellectual and communicative flow from the highest unity to the first principle of wisdom, fitting for an evangelist whose Gospel is structured as a systematic teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

No direct astrological or planetary correspondence is assigned to Matthew in the 777 table. His placement on Path 11, governed by Aleph and Air, aligns him with the sphere of the intellect and the transmission of divine wisdom, rather than with any specific celestial body.

Historical context

The figure of Matthew emerges from a complex historical and theological tradition. Early church fathers, including Papias of Hierapolis (c. 110 CE) and Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 180 CE), unanimously attributed the first canonical Gospel to Matthew, stating it was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic for a Jewish-Christian audience. Modern scholarship, however, generally regards the Gospel of Matthew as a Greek composition dating to circa 80-90 CE, drawing on the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical sayings source (Q). The historical Matthew, as an apostle, would have been an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry, though the Gospel's final form likely reflects the work of a later Christian scribe or school. His symbol in Christian iconography is a winged man or angel, derived from Ezekiel's vision and Revelation 4:7, representing the human nature of Christ emphasized in his Gospel. In the 777 system, Matthew is grouped among the "Selection of Christian Gods (10); Apostles (12); Evangelists (4) and Churches of Asia (7)" at scale step 11, placing him alongside other apostolic and evangelistic figures in a hierarchy of divine manifestation.

Matthew appears in the 777 table at Path 11 as a specific correspondence within the Christian pantheon, representing the apostolic witness to the divine kingship of Christ. His Gospel's emphasis on Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and its structured presentation of Jesus' teachings, make him a fitting symbol for the intellectual and orderly transmission of divine wisdom on this path.