As some of you know, I have a special interest in the Beatitudes, which provide a glimpse into the development of the Synoptic tradition. GTh Saying 54 says:
Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Now, "Kingdom of Heaven" is Matthaean language, Luke says, "Kingdom of God." But wait, canonical (Greek) Matthew says "poor in spirit." Where is the "in spirit?" Where did "in spirit" come from? When?
Can we trace this development in the manuscripts? Nope, we can't. The version in canonical (Greek) Matthew is simply there, full-blown, with "in spirit."
Why does the Gospel of Thomas, which here uses Matthaean language, not include "in spirit?" Where did this GTh version come from? If only we had an earlier version of Matthew than the canonical one!
Now I am going to make a controversial statement, fully aware of the controversy and not caring: We do have an earlier version of Matthew. It is the Hebrew Matthew documented by Professor George Howard in his 1987 book, The Gospel of Matthew according to a Primitive Hebrew Text (Mercer University Press, Macon, GA), and in the book's second edition, 1995, simply titled Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, also published by Mercer University Press. If I give any page references to these books, they will be to the 1995 edition.
On Page 17 of that 1995 edition, we find, in Professor Howard's excellent translation, a less-full list of Beatitudes than we are used to, and it does not include "the poor" at all, with or without "in spirit!"
Sowhere did GTh 54 come from?
April D. DeConick considers thea kernel saying in GTh, traceable to primary orality.
Beyond this we can say that both versions of the Beatitudes (Matthew's and Luke's, as well as the oral tradition, grow out of the messianic statement in Isaiah 61:1-2, which mentions the poor, but does not say anything about "in spirit," which phrase seems to be completely bogus editorializing.
This Saying appears to be quite early, and probably not dependent on canonical Synoptic sources.
Text Copyright © 2024 by Donald C. Traxler.
