Synoptica IV - Hebrew Matthew and the Formation of Canonical Matthew

Here are the same verses that we have just shown (Mt. 5:17-20), this time from Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew:

בעת ההיא אמר יש''ו לתלמידיו אל תחשבו שבאתי להפר תורה

אלא להשלים׃

באמת אני אומר לכם כי עד שמים וארץ אות אחת ונקודה אחת לא

תבטל מהתורה או מהנביאים שהכל יתקיים׃

ואשר יעבור מאמר אֿ מהמצוות אלו אשר אלמד אחרים בן הבל

יקרא מלכות שמים והמקיים והמלמד גדול יקרא במלכות שמים׃

בעת ההיא אמר יש''ו לתלמידיו באמת אני אומר לכם אם לא תגדל

צדקתכם יותר מהפרושים והחכמים לא תבואו במלכות שמים׃

First of all, we should note that verses 17 and 20 in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew both begin with the unnecessary and disruptive introductory phrase 

בעת ההיא אמר יש''ו לתלמידיו

(At that time Jesus said to his disciples. . . ) These introductory phrases, which do not belong in a continuous Sermon on the Mount, are from an earlier version of Matthew (Mt. IIb), here reflected in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. They had already been edited out of Greek, canonical Matthew (Mt. III). Shem-Tob's Hebrew text is thus older than our canonical Gospel of Matthew.

Secondly, we note that the phrase "or the words of the prophets" is new in canonical Matthew (Matthew III). So Jesus' defense of Scripture not only did not go away in the Gospel of Matthew, it was expanded to also include the prophets.

In vs. 20, Shem-Tob has "in truth I say to you," where canonical Matthew simply has "for I say to you."

Shem-Tob has "sages" where canonical Matthew has "scribes."

Other differences are just word choices.

(to be continued)

Text and graphic © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler. 

Synoptica III - Hebrew Matthew and the Formation of Canonical Matthew

Mt. 5:17-20 (The Law)

The unnecessary and inappropriate (in a continuous Sermon on the Mount) introductory phrase indicates that the comments of Jesus on the Law were already present in an earlier, differently-arranged version of the Gospel of Matthew. George Howard found sixteen of these out-of-place introductory phrases in the Shem-Tob Hebrew Matthew (see his pp. 200-201). They were edited out in canonical, Greek Matthew (my Mt. III). The comments of Jesus on the Law are not present in Mark, or in Luke (who probably would have omitted them for demographic reasons, since his Gospel was written for the Gentiles). The omission of Jesus's comments on the Law creates the impression of a greater break with Judaism than was intended. Before there was any Christianity as we know it, Rabbi Yeshua offered the world the first Reform Judaism, and the first Jewish Renewal. The religious leaders of his time didn't go for it. But these comments of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew are so important to religious history that it is worth taking a look at them in their original Hebrew.

First, to better familiarize ourselves with the unpointed words of Shem-Tob's text, we'll look at these verses in a couple of standard New Testament translations into Biblical Hebrew. These are, of course, only retro-translations of canonical, Greek Matthew (my Mt. III).

Delitzsch (10th ed.):

אַל־תַּחְשְׁבוּ כִּי בָאתִי לְהָפֵר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה אוֹ אֶת־דִבְרֵי הַנְּבִיאִים לאׁ בָאתִי לְהָפֵר כִּי אִם־לְמַלּאׁת׃ כִּי אָמֵן אֹמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם עַד כִּי־יַעַבְרוּ הַשָׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ לאׁ תַעֲבֹר יוֹד  אַחַת אוֹ־קוֹץ אֶחָד

מִן־הַתּוֹרָה עַד אֲשֶׁר יֵעָשֶׂה הַכֹּל׃ לָכֵן מִי אֲשֶׁר יָפֵר אַחַת מִן־הַמִצְוֹת

הַקְּטַנּוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְכֵן יְלַמֵד אֶת־בּנֵי הָאָדָם קָטוֹן יִקָּרֵא בְּמַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם

וַאֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה וִילַמֵד אוֹתָן הוּא גָדוֹל יִקָּרֵא בְּמַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם׃

כִּי אֲנִי אֹמֵר לָכֶם אִם לאׁ־תִרְבֶּה צִדְקַתְכֶם מִצִּדְקַת הַסּוֹפְרִים

וְהַפְּרוּשִׁים לאׁ תָבֹאוּ אֶל־מַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם׃

[The inconsistent line spacing is due to a data-entry problem.] 

Here are the same verses in the Salkinson-Ginsburg translation:

אַל־תְּדַמּוּ כִּי בָאתִי לְהָפֵר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָה אוֹ אֶת־דִּבְרֵי הַנְּבִיאִים לׂא בָאתִי לְהָפֵר כִּי אִם־לְמַלּאת׃	יז	17	Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil.
כִּי אָמֵן אׂמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם עַד כִּי־יַעַבְרוּ הַשָׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ לׂא תַּעֲבֹר יוֹד אַחַת אוֹ־קוֹץ אֶחָד מִן־הַתּוֹרָה עַד אֲשֶׁר יְקֻיַּם הַכּׂל׃	יח	18	For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.
לָכֵן הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יָפֵר אַחַת מִן־הַמִּצְוֹת הַקְּטַנּוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וִילַמֵּד אֶת־בְּנֵי הָאָדָם לַעֲשׂוֹת כָּמוֹהוּ קָטוֹן יִקָּרֵא לוֹ בְּמַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם וַאֲשֶׁר יַעָשֶׂה וִילַמֵּד אוֹתָן לָזֶה גָּדוֹל יִקָּרֵא בְּמַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם׃	יט	19	Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
כִּי אֲנִי אׂמֵר לָכֶם אִם לׂא־תִהְיֶה צִדְקַתְכֶם מְרֻבָּה מִצִּדְקַת הַסּוֹפְרִים וְהַפְּרוּשִׁים לׂא תָבֹאוּ בְּמַלְכוּת הַשָׁמָיִם׃	כ	20	For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(to be continued)

Synoptica II - Hebrew Matthew and the Formation of Canonical Matthew

Now comes the tricky part.

Mt. 5:13  "At that time Jesus said to his disciples"

Mt. 5:17  "At that time Jesus said to his disciples"

These introductory phrases, inappropriate in a single, continuous Sermon on the Mount, were clearly edited out of the final, canonical, Greek version of the Gospel of Matthew (which I have called Matthew III). But they are still in the text at the level of Matthew IIb (reflected in the Shem Tob Hebrew Gospel of Matthew). This is extremely revealing of "Matthew's" methods in forming the First Gospel.

George Howard (see his Page 200) found sixteen of these unnecessary and disruptive introductory phrases in the Hebrew text of the Sermon on the Mount. He did an interesting analysis, presented in a table on pp. 200-201, in which he shows that every time one of these unnecessary introductory phrases occurs, Luke jumps to another place in his Gospel, or has a void.

What is going on here? Is Matthew copying from Luke to form his Sermon on the Mount? No. He is rewriting his own earlier edition (my Matthew IIa), reflected in Luke, to form a later, but also intermediate edition (my Matthew IIb), which would later be further revised and translated into Greek to form canonical Matthew (my Matthew III).

A further, interesting point is that the verses in Mt. 5:13-17 are all connected by catchwords, some of which can only be seen in the Hebrew. Catchwords are a memory aid usually associated with the oral-transmission stage. As we shall see, there are many more of them.

There is no need to posit a hypothetical "Q Document." Matthew collected the logia of Jesus from oral transmission. Then he wrote them down in Hebrew, just as Papias told us in the early second century. There is close, but not exact, agreement between Matthew and Luke in this Sayings material because Luke got it from an early, intermediate version of Matthew (my Matthew IIa).

The (mostly Sayings) material that some scholars refer to as "Q," which stands for the German "Quelle," meaning "source," was evidently unknown to Mark. This may be because Mark wrote his Gospel before Matthew began his ("Markan priority"), or it may be because Mark took most of his content from an early version of the Gospel of Matthew (my Mt. I), one that still lacked the Sayings material shared by Matthew and Luke. I still don't know which of these scenarios is correct, so I don't yet know whether Markan priority can be dispensed with.

(to be continued)

Text and graphic © 2019 by Donald C. Traxler.

E Pluribus Unum

This house is one of many,
so also this language
and this life,
now united into one
that is stronger
for the many.

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson בן נֹח ꮨᏺꭽꮅ Traxler.

Fractured

Fractured,
into planes of
time and space,
and place,
a hundred lands
and tongues,
born into a hundred clans,
and we
are all alive.

We are all
alive.

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson Traxler.

Synoptica I - Semitisms in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew

To begin, let's review a bit:

The above graphic represents my Layered-Matthew Hypothesis, as it currently exists.


Matthew I (lacking Q entirely) is reflected in Mark.

Matthew IIa (containing most of the Q material in an earlier form, but still incomplete) is reflected in Luke.

Matthew IIb (containing the Q material in an intermediate, but still incomplete form) is reflected in Shem-Tob ben Isaac ben Shaprut's Hebrew Matthew, which has survived to our time in twenty-eight manuscripts, of which George Howard examined nine. Other, related texts of Hebrew Matthew (such as Münster and DuTillet) have, as Howard pointed out, been brought into closer conformity to canonical Matthew.

Matthew III (containing full Q material in revised, Matthaean form and translated into Greek) is reflected in canonical Matthew.

There are, thus, no hypothetical sources with the exception of Q, whose existence as a separate, written document is uncertain.. Q may simply represent the stage of oral transmission. The evidence does not support Markan priority.


We shall now move ahead by examining the Semitisms in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. We are using HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW by George Howard (1995 Macon, Georgia USA, published by Mercer University Press ISBN 0-86554-989-3) as our text.


Mt. 1:18   "it came to pass" [not in canonical Mt.]

Mt. 1:21   "you will call his name" = canonical Mt.

Mt. 2:1 "it came to pass" [not in canonical Mt.]

             "behold" = canonical Mt.

Mt. 2:6 "behold" [not in canonical Mt.]

Mt. 3:2 "turn" in repentance [not in canonical Mt.]

Mt. 3:4 "behold" [not in canonical Mt.]

Mt. 4:11 "behold" = canonical Mt.

Mt. 4:12 "it came to pass" [not in canonical Mt.]

Mt. 5:1  "it came to pass"[not in canonical Mt., but it IS in Lk 6:12]

Mt. 5:2  "he opened his mouth and spoke to them, saying" = canonical Mt.

Excursus: The Beatitudes

Mt. 5:3  "blessed are the poor [in spirit]" (Only one manuscript, of the nine that George Howard examined, has this verse at all.) Lk does have it, but without "in spirit."

Mt. 5:4  "blessed are they who wait, for they shall be conforted" canonical = "they that mourn" No parallel in Luke.

Mt. 5:5 "blessed are the meek" (Only one ms out of the nine examined has this verse; there is no parallel in Luke.)

(Verses 5:6 and 5:7 are not present in Shem Tob's Hebrew Matthew. The first of them is present in an earlier form in Luke; the second is not present in Luke.)

Mt. 5:8 "innocent of heart" is sim. to canonical Mt. No parallel in Luke.

Mt. 5:9 "who pursue peace" is sim.to the "peacemakers" of canonical Mt.No parallel in Lk. Note that "pursue peace" forms a wordplay with the following verse, which only works in Hebrew. The Hebrew root "rdf" רדף means both "to pursue" and "to persecute." "Peace pursuers" is the normal way to say "peacemakers" in Hebrew. The four verses Mt. 5:9-12 are also linked together by this "rdf" רדף catchword. The "persecute" part of the catchword connection can also be seen in Greek or English, but the catchword only links 5:9 to the others in Hebrew. The "rdf" רדף connection between all four verses can be seen in every Hebrew translation that I checked (Delitzsch 10th ed., Salkinson-Ginsburg, Delitzsch-Dalman 1901, and New World Translation). The connection with Mt. 5:9 cannot be seen in any Greek, Latin, or English that I have available.

Mt. 5:10 "who are persecuted" play on words, based on "rdf," רדף only works in Hebrew. No parallel in Lk.

Mt. 5:11-12 (parallel to Lk. 6:22-23, but very different wording). The very divergent wording seems to militate against the existence of "Q" as a separate, written source. For now, I'll consider this an open question.

We have only begun our study of the Semitisms in Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. As we will see, many Semitisms were edited out of canonical Matthew, possibly at the time of translation into Greek. Thus, Shem-Tob's text appears to be older than canonical Matthew. Canonical Luke appears to reflect an even earlier stage of the Matthaean text than does Shem-Tob.

We must also take into account the Shem-Tob text's agreement in some cases with very ancient text types, such as the Old Syriac, that were unknown in the fourteenth century, only being discovered in the nineteenth. The Shem-Tob textual type is most similar to the Old Syriac and Old Latin, the oldest text types to have survived (just barely, the former in only two mss) in the Church. There are also similarities to some of the logia in the Gospel of Thomas, which was unknown in the fourteenth century, only being rediscovered in 1946.

We are far from exhausting the evidence in this research, but already it is clear to me that there are really only two possibilities: Either Shem-Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew is a forgery that was somehow able to take advantage of texts that were not yet known, or it is older than canonical Matthew. If the former, then the forgers must have had a truly wonderful crystal ball.

(to be continued)

Life, Raw and Unplanned

Life, raw and unplanned,
mocks the boundaries
of civilization,
sprouting everywhere,
and laughing
at death.

Text and image © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson Traxler.

ᎤᏰᏣᏍᎦᏁᏖ ᎠᏲᎱᎯᏍᏗ ᎾᎿᎢ