"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
These words, known as the Great Commission (hereinafter GC), constitute verses 19 and 20 of chapter 28 in canonical, Greek Matthew. But did Rabbi Yeshua ever say them? I think not. Let's look at some pros and cons.
Pro: 1) The GC is present in all the Greek manuscripts that have survived..
Con: 1) If the baptismal formula in verse 19 is trinitarian, rather than simply triadic, it is anachronistic. Trinitarianism did not get the stamp of approval from the institutional Church until 381 CE (First Council of Constantinople).
2) Church historian Eusebius, in the fourth century, knew of a shorter, presumably older, ending to the Gospel of Matthew. Its approximate translation:
"Going out, make disciples of all the nations in my name, teaching them to keep all the things that I have commanded you."
This earlier ending , as pointed out by George Howard, also appears to be reflected in some writings of Justin Martyr and Hermas.
3) Also as pointed out by George Howard (in his 1995 book, HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, p. 194), Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew has an even shorter ending:
לכו אתם
ושמרו אותם לקיים כל הדברים אשר ציויתי אתכם עד עולם׃
George Howard's translation:
19 Go
20 and (teach) them to carry out all the things
which I have commanded you forever.
The ending in Hebrew Matthew seems to me to be more likely than the others.
It should be mentioned that the trinitarian baptismal formula occurs in the Didache, a sort of catechism dating from the late first or early second century, in its seventh chapter:
βαπτίσατε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν ὕδατι ζῶντι.
"Baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in living water."
The Didache, or "Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles," is a very interesting document that had been lost, but was rediscovered in 1873 and first published in 1883. It appears to come from a Jewish Christian milieu, just as does the Gospel of Matthew. Unfortunately, the complete text is in only one manuscript, written in 1056 CE. Since the Didache appears to have closely followed Greek Matthew, and because we have it only in a late manuscript, the presence in it of the triadic/trinitarian baptismal formula doesn't really prove anything.
Text © 2020 by Donald C. Traxler aka Donald Jacobson Traxler.
