Eusebius on Papias
on the Authorship of Mark and Matthew's Gospels


Sometime early in the second cuntury CE a little known bishop of Hierapolis named Papias (Παπίας) wrote a five-volume work entitled Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord (Κυριακῶν Λογίων Ἐξηγήσις). Papias' work is now lost, but some fragments of it are preserved in quotations by a few later writers. Eusebius preserves  the following comments in his Ecclesiastical History.


Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.15—16 (c. 325):
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The translation provided below was produced by Micheal Palmer. You can read a different translation online at
http://www.mindspring.com/~scarlson/synopt/ext/papias.htm
15 καὶ τοῦθ' ὁ πρεσβύτερος ἔλεγεν· Μάρκος μὲν ἑρμηνευτὴς Πέτρου γενόμενος, ὅσα ἐμνημόνευσεν, ἀκριβῶς ἔγραψεν, οὐ μέντοι τάξει τὰ ὐπὸ τοῦ κυρίου η λεχθέντα ἢ πραχθέντα. οὔτε γὰρ ἤκουσεν τοῦ κυρίου οὔτε παρηκολούθησεν αὐτῷ, ὕστερον δὲ, ὡς ἔφην, Πέτρῳ· ὃς πρὸς τὰς χρείας ἐποιεῖτο τὰς διδασκαλίας, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὥσπερ σύνταξιν τῶν κυριακῶν ποιούμενος λογίων, ὥστε οὐδὲν ἥμαρτεν Μάρκος οὕτως ἔνια γράψας ὡς ἀπεμνημόσευσεν. ἐνὸς γὰρ ἐποιήσατο πρόνοιαν, τοῦ μηδὲν ὧν ἤκουσεν παραλιπεῖν ἢ ψεύσασθαί τι ἐν αὐτοῖς. 15 And the presbyter used to say this: Mark, who had been Peter's interpreter, wrote with precision as much as he remembered, though not in order, about those things either said or done by the Lord. For he neither heard the Lord nor was called by him, but later, as I said, by Peter, who used to deliver the teachings as needed but not producing anything like an orderly arrangement of the Lord's sayings.1 So Mark did not err by writing some things in this way as he remembered them. For he had one intention, neither to omit any of the things he heard nor to falsely represent them.
16 ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἱστόρηται τῷ Παπίᾳ περὶ τοῦ Μάρκου· περὶ δὲ τοῦ Ματθαῖου ταῦτ' εἴρηται· Ματθαῖος μὲν οὖν Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ τὰ λόγια συνετάξατο, ἡρμήνευσεν δ' αὐτὰ ὡς ἧν δυνατὸς ἕκαστος. 16 Now these things are reported by Papias about Mark, but about Matthew he said this: Now Matthew compiled the sayings1 in a Hebrew dialect,2 but each translated3 them as he was able.


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1. I have translated λογίων as "sayings" here, following the usage in the LXX (Ps 11[12]:6) and in a number of places in the New Testament (Acts 7:38; Romans 3:2; and First Peter 4:11). [Return to text on Mark. Return to text on Matthew.]
2. Or "in a Hebrew manner of speech" [Return to text.]
3. Or "interpreted" [Return to text.]
For an alternative translation, see Stephen C. Carlson, "External Evidence [In Synoptic Source Criticism]: Papias."