Commentary on the Teachings of Rabbi Yeshua X - Mt. 5:13-15

בְעֵת הָהִיא אָמַר יֶשׁ“וּ לְתַלְמִידָיו מֶלַח אַתֶם בְעוֹלָמ אִם הַמֶלַח יִבְטֹלַח טַעַמוֹ בַּמֶה יוֹמְלָח ואֵינוֹ שְׁוָה כְלוּם אֶלָּא שְיוֹשְׁלִךְ בַחוּץ לְהָיוֹת מִרְמָס רַגְלַיִם׃ 13

מָאוֹר אַתֶּם בְעוֹלָם  עִיר בָנוֹיה עַל הָהָר לֹא תוּכַל לְהִסָתֵר׃ 14

לֹא יִדְלִיקוּ נֵר לְהָשִׂים אוֹתוֹ בְמָקוֹם נִסְתַר שְלֹא תָאֵיר רַק מְשִימִים אוֹתוֹ עַל  הַמְנוֹרָה לְהָאֵיר לְכָל בְנֵי הַבָיִת׃

15

The verses above are Mt. 5:13-15 in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. The pointing is mine, so there could be errors in it (if you spot any, please point them out to me).

Here is Professor Howard's excellent translation:

13  At that time Jesus said to his disciples: You are salt in the world. If the salt is neutralized in regard to its taste with what will it be salted? It is fit for nothing but to be cast outside to be trampled under foot.

14  You are light in the world. A city built upon a hill cannot be hidden.

15  They do not light a lamp to place it in a hidden place where it cannot shine; but they place it upon a lamp stand so that it might shine for all in the house.

Before I give the canonical version, I would like to point out some interesting and very important things about these verses as they appear in Hebrew:

1) Verses 13 and 14 are connected by the catchword "world," as are verses 14 and 15 by the catchword "hidden."

2) In verse 14, there is an assonance between "city" ("ir") and "light" ("or"). This assonance only works in a Semitic language, in this case Hebrew. This is further evidence for the Semitic substratum in Matthew.

As I've mentioned before, catchwords are a mnemonic device associated with the oral transmission stage. This suggests an early, probably first-century date for Hebrew Matthew.

Now, here is the canonical version, from the RSV:

13  You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.

14  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.

15  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.

The reader will notice that in the canonical, Greek version, the catchword "world" has been lost, because the Greek translation has "earth / world." The catchword "hidden has also been lost, because the Greek has "hid / bushel." Clearly, it is not the Greek version that goes back to the stage of oral transmission.

It is also of great significance that the Hebrew verses have commonalities with Logia 32/33 in the Gospel of Thomas (GTh): In both Hebrew and GTh, the city is "built," rather than set. GTh has BOTH "bushel" and "hidden place," thus maintaining the catchword "hidden." It is interesting that the order of these sayings was maintained in canonical Matthew, even though catchword connections had been lost. GTh was not known in medieval times, only having been rediscovered in 1945. One of the preeminent researchers on GTh, April D. DeConick, considers Logia 32/33 to be part of the "Kernel Gospel," which she dates to 30-50 CE, as opposed to later accretions.. Both Hebrew Matthew and the Gospelof Thomas are, in their core versions, older than our canonical Gospel texts. The evidence is simply overwhelming.

 Text © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.