Reading Matthew in Hebrew - IV

We now move to my favorite part of Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount. First we'll look at Mt 5:9-10, two of the Beatitudes. In the RSV, these verses read:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In this English translation, and in the Greek texts on which it is based, there is no particular connection between these two thoughts. Let's see how they read in Hebrew:

Salkinson

אַשְׁרֵי עֹשֵׂי שָׁלוֹם כִּי־הֵם יִקָּרְאוּ בְּנֵי־אֱלֹהִים ׃

אַשְׁרֵי הַנִרְדָּפִים עֵקֶב צִדְקָתָם כִּי לָהֶם מַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם ׃

Shaprut

אשרי רודפי שלים שבני אלקים יקראו ׃

אשרי הנרדם לצדק שלהם מלכות שמים ׃

Delitzsch

אַשְׁרֵי רֹדְפֵי שָׁלוֹם כִּי־בְנֵי אֱלֹהִים יִקָּרֵאוּ ׃

אַשְׁרֵי הַנִרְדָּפִים עַל־דְּבַר הַצְּדָקָה כִּי לָהֶם מַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם ׃

Salkinson has followed the "original" Greek, so in his Hebrew we still see no particular connection between the two thoughts. The situation changes, though, in Shaprut, where we see that these two Beatitudes are actually connected by the Hebrew verb "רדפ," which means both "pursue" and "persecute." Such connecting/linking words, or "catchwords" are a memory aid that is common in texts that go back to the oral tradition, especially collections of sayings. Most of the sayings in the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, for example, are connected by such catchwords. In this case, and in quite a few others, the connection only works in Hebrew or Aramaic. This is one reason (not the only one) why many people believe that all or part of this Gospel was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic.

In Greek, "peacemakers" are literally "peace-doers." Salkinson calls them "makers of peace," which is similar to the Greek phrase. The Shaprut Hebrew calls them "pursuers of peace." "Peacemaker" does not occur anywhere in the Bible before or after this one verse. But the phrase in the Shaprut Hebrew echoes Ps.34.14, where it says "Seek peace and pursue it." The phrase in Shaprut's Hebrew seems likely to be more original 

It is interesting to note that, while we do not see the connection in the Hebrew of Salkinson, we do see it in that of Delitzsch, who uses the same phrase, "pursuers of peace," as in the Shaprut text. This may indicate that Delitzsch had, and was influenced by, a text of the Shaprut type. It is known that Delitzsch's translation originally had more variant readings. The British and Foreign Bible Society, though, refused to publish his translation unless he brought it into conformity with the Recieved Greek Text. This was, in effect, a rejection of all modern textual criticism. If he wanted his translation to be published by the BFBS, Delitzsch had no choice but to comply. It is interesting that he allowed this reading to stand, in spite of the instructions of the BFBS. It could, of course, have simply slipped through, but I believe that Delitzsch allowed it to stand because it gave such strong support to the theory of a Semitic substratum in Matthew.

(to be continued)