The Layers of Matthew - II

Before reading this blog post, I suggest that you read its predecessor, The Layers of Matthew - I, published in this blog on 31 October 2018, if you have not already done so. Here is a link to that earlier blog post;

https://donaldtraxlerpoetry.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-layers-of-matthew-i.html


A very strong piece of evidence for my version of the Two Gospel Hypothesis (not to be confused with the Two Document Hypothesis) can be found in the Beatitudes, as listed in Mt. V:3-11 and Lk. VI:20-22.

How is it that Matthew needed nine verses to list the Beatitudes, while Luke was able to dispense with them in only three? The answer, of course, is that Matthew lists many more Beatitudes, at least in the canonical version of his gospel that has come down to us, which I call Matthew III.

Why would Luke leave out some Beatitudes, such as "peacemakers," Mt. V:9, which we would consider to be very important. This particular Beatitude, by the way is part of a catchword series that unites verse 9 with verses 10 and 11, and the occurrence of the catchword in verse 9 WORKS ONLY IN HEBREW. Catchwords (linking words), by the way, are a mnemonic device considered to be characteristic of the oral tradition that predated the written gospels.

So again, why would Luke omit this very important, and almost certainly original, Beatitude from his list? The answer is simple: he omitted it because he had never seen it.

Luke was, according to my version of the Two Gospel Hypothesis, taking the Sayings material from an early version of Matthew, either Matthew I (in Hebrew), or Matthew II (in Greek). The canonical Matthew with which we are familiar, Matthew III, was still under construction.


(to be continued)