Synoptica XIV - The Beatitudes, Revisited, Part 2

In the previous installment of this Synoptica series, we saw evidence that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew. George Howard found eighteen such translation variants and listed them on pp. 226-228 of his book (op. cit.). They are to be explained by similarities in appearance between Hebrew words with different meanings, where no such similarity exists in Greek or Latin.Now we are going to take a look at another type of evidence: catchwords.

Catchwords are words used to connect different thoughts or sayings, for later recitation. They are a mnemonic usually associated with the oral transmission stage, including the material that we call "Q." Now it happens that some of these catchwords exist in the Beatitudes, and you can see more of them when you read the Beatitudes in Hebrew, because they involve an idiomatic play on words that exists in Hebrew, but not in Greek.

In canonical, Greek Matthew 5:9, we have a Beatitude that can be translated as: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." But in Hebrew one does not speak of "peacemakers," but rather of  "peace-pursuers" or "those who pursue peace." Thus, Mt. 5:9 in Hebrew Matthew reads "Blessed are those who pursue peace, for they shall be called sons of God." The verb used in Hebrew is רדף, which happens to mean both "pursue" and "persecute." Because of that double meaning in Hebrew,there is a catchword connection between verse 9 and verse 10. That catchword is, in fact, what connects the two verses (other than the words "blessed are"), and it only works in Hebrew. In Greek such people are called "peace-doers," or "peacemakers." This tells us that the Beatitudes were first composed in Hebrew, whether in oral or written form, and in this case even their order depends upon the Hebrew language.

That same רדף catchword also connects verse 10 to verse 11, and verse 11 to verse 12. These Beatitudes are probably original, and probably go back to the oral tradition. It no doubt took Matthew some time to collect them all from that tradition, which, I believe, is why Luke has fewer.Beatitudes.

When you read the next few verses, on Salt and Light in Hebrew, you see that they are connected by the following catchwords: "world," "hidden," and "light." But if you read them in canonical, Greek Matthew, you will only see "light." This, of course, is further evidence for the original language of the Gospel of Matthew, and justifies the order of these verses. There is more evidence along these lines, but I think the point has been made.

If we have any of the authentic words of Rabbi Yeshua, as I believe we do, we have Matthew, and especially Hebrew Matthew to thank for it.

The above chart is a graphic representation of my Layered Matthew Hypothesis. No hypothetical documents are required, since the evidence for Matthew I is Mark, the evidence for Matthew IIa is Luke, the evidence for Matthew IIb is Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew, and Matthew III is canonical, Greek Matthew.

Text and graphic © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.