<P> The author of Matthew wrote for a community of Greek - speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria ( Antioch , the largest city in Roman Syria and the third - largest in the empire , is often mentioned ) . Unlike Mark , Matthew never bothers to explain Jewish customs , since his intended audience was a Jewish one ; unlike Luke , who traces Jesus ' ancestry back to Adam , father of the human race , he traces it only to Abraham , father of the Jews ; of his three presumed sources only `` M '' , the material from his own community , refers to a `` church '' ( ecclesia ) , an organised group with rules for keeping order ; and the content of `` M '' suggests that this community was strict in keeping the Jewish law , holding that they must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees in `` righteousness '' ( adherence to Jewish law ) . Writing from within a Jewish - Christian community growing increasingly distant from other Jews and becoming increasingly Gentile in its membership and outlook , Matthew put down in his gospel his vision `` of an assembly or church in which both Jew and Gentile would flourish together '' . </P>
<P> The author of Matthew wrote for a community of Greek - speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria ( Antioch , the largest city in Roman Syria and the third - largest in the empire , is often mentioned ) . Unlike Mark , Matthew never bothers to explain Jewish customs , since his intended audience was a Jewish one ; unlike Luke , who traces Jesus ' ancestry back to Adam , father of the human race , he traces it only to Abraham , father of the Jews ; of his three presumed sources only `` M '' , the material from his own community , refers to a `` church '' ( ecclesia ) , an organised group with rules for keeping order ; and the content of `` M '' suggests that this community was strict in keeping the Jewish law , holding that they must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees in `` righteousness '' ( adherence to Jewish law ) . Writing from within a Jewish - Christian community growing increasingly distant from other Jews and becoming increasingly Gentile in its membership and outlook , Matthew put down in his gospel his vision `` of an assembly or church in which both Jew and Gentile would flourish together '' . </P>
who was the audience to whom the gospel of mathew was written
who was the audience to whom the gospel of mathew was written
a community of Greek - speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria
a community of Greek - speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria