Hebrew Gospel hypothesis - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The modern mainstream consensus is that all of the books of the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

including the Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...

were written in a form of Koine Greek

Koine Greek

Koine Greek is the universal dialect of the Greek language spoken throughout post-Classical antiquity , developing from the Attic dialect, with admixture of elements especially from Ionic....

.

The Hebrew Gospel hypothesis is a group of related theories commonly taking as their starting point the testimony of some early church fathers such as Jerome

Jerome

Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...

that Matthew the Apostle had originally written a gospel in Hebrew, or the "Hebrew language" which at the time

Second Temple Judaism

Second Temple Judaism refers to the religion of Judaism during the Second Temple period, between the construction of the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem in 515 BCE, and its destruction by the Romans in 70 CE This period witnessed major historical upheavals and significant religious changes that...

was just as likely to be the related Aramaic of Jesus

Aramaic of Jesus

It is generally agreed that the historical Jesus primarily spoke Aramaic, perhaps along with some Hebrew and Greek . The towns of Nazareth and Capernaum, where Jesus lived, were primarily Aramaic-speaking communities, although Greek was widely spoken in the major cities of the Eastern Mediterranean...

, and that fragments of this work survive in the quotations of Jewish-Christian Gospels

Jewish-Christian Gospels

Jewish-Christian Gospels are non-canonical Gospels used by various Jewish Christian groups that were declared heretical by other members of the Early Church. They are mentioned by Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Epiphanius and Jerome...

found in the works of Jerome and other authors. Among these the Proto-Gospel hypothesis is particularly associated with Lessing

Lessing

Lessing - German family of writers and artists*Johann Gottfried Lessing pastor primarus in Kamenz, well respected, published theologian, translator and father of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and Karl Gotthelf Lessing...

.

Related is the "Aramaic Matthew hypothesis" of Theodor Zahn

Theodor Zahn

Theodor Zahn or Theodor von Zahn was a biblical scholar born in Rhineland, Prussia . He was professor of Theology at Erlangen, and distinguished for his eminent scholarship in connection with the matter especially of the New Testament canon. He stood at the head of the conservative New Testament...

(1897), who shared a belief in an early lost Aramaic Matthew, but did not connect it to the surviving fragments of the Gospel of the Hebrews

Gospel of the Hebrews

The Gospel of the Hebrews , commonly shortened from the Gospel according to the Hebrews or simply called the Hebrew Gospel, is a hypothesised lost gospel preserved in fragments within the writings of the Church Fathers....

in the works of Jerome.

As with the canonical Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

the traditional ascription of the authorship of the historical tax-collector of Capernaum to these Jewish-Christian Gospels is regarded as unlikely by critical scholars. The fragments of the Jewish Christian gospels attributed to the disciple, like the Synoptic Gospel itself, appear to be anonymous.

The Hebrew Gospel hypotheses have varying views of the relationship, if any, of the Jewish Christian Gospels to the canonical Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

, such as a hypothetical Hebrew or Aramaic proto-Matthew (in German Ur-Matthew).

Proponents of a Hebrew Gospel hypothesis

The first generations of hypotheses concerning a Hebrew Gospel of Matthew were primarily based on the testimony of some early church fathers, not higher criticism of textual sources. For example Grotius (1641) was a notable advocate of a simple approach that assumed that the canonical Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

was simply translated into Greek from a lost Hebrew original. This leads to the view of Theodor Zahn

Theodor Zahn

Lessing, Olshausen

18th Century scholarship was more critical. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...

(1778) posited a lost Hebrew Gospel as a proto-Gospel common source used freely for the 3 Greek Synoptic Gospels. Hermann Olshausen

Hermann Olshausen

Hermann Olshausen was a German theologian.-Biography:Olshausen was born at Oldeslohe in Holstein. He was educated at the universities of Kiel and Berlin , where he was influenced by Schleiermacher and Neander...

(1832) suggested a lost Hebrew Matthew was the common source of Greek Matthew and the Jewish-Christian Gospels mentioned by Epiphanius

Epiphanius of Salamis

Epiphanius of Salamis was bishop of Salamis at the end of the 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by both the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Churches. He gained a reputation as a strong defender of orthodoxy...

, Jerome

Jerome

and others. Leon Vaganay, Lucien Cerfaux, Xavier Leon-Dufour and Antonio Gaboury from 1952 attempted to revive Lessing's proto-gospel hypothesis.

Nicholson, Handmann

Bodley's Librarian

The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at Oxford since about 1320, it had declined by the end...

and a noted Celticist

Celtic Studies

Celtic studies is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to a Celtic people. This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history archaeology and history, the focus lying on the study of the various Celtic languages, living and extinct...

, Edward Nicholson

Edward Nicholson (librarian)

Edward Williams Byron Nicholson was an author and Bodley's Librarian, the head of the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, from 1882 until his death in 1912.-Early life and career:...

(1879) proposed that Matthew wrote two Gospels, the first in Greek, the second in Hebrew. The Westminster Review
Westminster Review
The Westminster Review was a quarterly British publication. Established in 1823 as the official organ of the Philosophical Radicals, it was published from 1824 to 1914. James Mill was one of the driving forces behind the liberal journal until 1828....

of 1880 noted "Mr. Nicholson's hypothesis is that Matthew wrote at different times the Canonical Gospel and the Gospel according to the Hebrews, or that part of it which runs parallel to the former." The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915) article Gospel of the Hebrews notes that; "E.B. Nicholson, after a full and scholarly examination of the fragments and of the references, puts forward the hypothesis that "Matthew wrote at different times the canonical Gospel and the Gospel according to the Hebrews" but also that "it cannot be said that his able argument and admirably marshaled learning have carried conviction to the minds of New Testament scholars."

Rudolf Handmann (1888) proposed an Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews but reasoned that Gospel of the Hebrews was not the Hebrew Matthew and there never was a Hebrew Ur-Matthew, but argued that this Aramaic document was a second source of a proto-Mark.

Parker, Edwards

Pierson Parker

Pierson Parker was professor of New Testament at the General Theological Seminary during the 1960s.Pierson is best known for his work on the origins and priority of the Gospels....

(1940) proposed the hypothesis of a Hebrew Ur-Matthew (or M-Source

M-Source

M-source, which is sometimes referred to as M document, or simply M, comes from the M in "Matthean material". It is a hypothetical textual source for the Gospel of Matthew...

) as a solution to the Synoptic Problem.

James R. Edwards

James R. Edwards

James R. Edwards is an American New Testament scholar and minister of the Presbyterian Church.In 1997 he joined the faculty at Whitworth University, Spokane where he is currently Bruner-Welch Professor of Theology. In 2009 he advanced a "controversial" theory that the synoptic Gospels are partly...

(2009) suggests that the unique elements of Gospel of Luke ("Special Luke", see graphic in Wikipedia article Synoptic Gospels

Synoptic Gospels

The gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes exactly the same wording. This degree of parallelism in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence structures can only be...

and L source

L source

In historical-critical analysis, the L source is an inferred oral tradition that Luke used when composing his gospel. It includes the Christmas story and many of Jesus' best loved parables. Like Matthew's unique source, known as M-Source, the L source has important parables that may be authentic to...

) can be explained by Luke having used a Hebrew source, identified as a lost Hebrew Gospel of Matthew. In the introduction to his book The Hebrew Gospel and the development of the synoptic tradition (2009) Edwards writes that "This book is dedicated to exploring the various ramifications of this hypothesis. Indeed, I hope to offer sufficient evidence to transform a hypothesis into a viable theory of the development of the Synoptic tradition." Edwards acknowledges that his hypothesis is "controversial". Edward's primary thesis is that a lost Hebrew Ur-Matthew is the common source of both the Jewish-Christian Gospels

Jewish-Christian Gospels

and material in Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Luke

The Gospel According to Luke , commonly shortened to the Gospel of Luke or simply Luke, is the third and longest of the four canonical Gospels. This synoptic gospel is an account of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. It details his story from the events of his birth to his Ascension.The...

. A review of Edwards' book, including the reproduction of a diagram of Edwards' proposed relationship, was published by the Society of Biblical Literature

Society of Biblical Literature

The Society of Biblical Literature, founded 1880, is a constituent society of the American Council of Learned Societies , with the stated mission to "Foster Biblical Scholarship"...

's Review of Biblical Literature in March 2010.

Use of Patristic sources in the hypothesis

Various patristic sources form part of the basic hypothesis of an original Hebrew proto-Matthew.

Papias

A prominent form of this hypothesis is that the logia of Papias formed an entire Hebrew Gospel, originating from Matthew the Evangelist c64-67AD and being translated into Greek by unknown writers c.90AD. However this reading of Papias words is disputed, and in the opinion of Walter Bauer

Walter Bauer

Walter Bauer was a German theologian and scholar of the development of the early Christian churches.-Life:...

(1934) Papias' statement should be understood as an attempt to defend the canonical Greek Gospel of Matthew

Gospel of Matthew

from being used improperly, since he considered heretics in Asia Minor were misusing it.

Jerome

While Jerome

Jerome

was beginning his studies at Chalcis

Chalcis

Chalcis or Chalkida , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from antiquity and is derived from the Greek χαλκός , though there is no trace of any mines in the area...

on Euboea

Euboea

Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...

he had sent to him a copy of a Nazarene

Nazarene (sect)

The Nazarene sect is used in two contexts:* Firstly of the New Testament early church where in Acts 24:5 Paul is accused before Felix at Caesarea by Tertullus of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes."...

edition of Matthew in Hebrew. This is to be distinguished from fictitious letters of Jerome found in the preface of some copies of the 6thC Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew

The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is a part of the New Testament apocrypha, and sometimes goes by the name of The Infancy Gospel of Matthew, but the actual name of the text in antiquity was The Book About the Origin of the Blessed Mary and the Childhood of the Savior...

noted in the edition of New Testament Apocrypha

New Testament apocrypha

The New Testament apocrypha are a number of writings by early Christians that claim to be accounts of Jesus and his teachings, the nature of God, or the teachings of his apostles and of their lives. These writings often have links with books regarded as "canonical"...

by Tischendorf.

Criticism of the hypothesis

Carl August Credner (1832) identified three Jewish-Christian Gospels

Jewish-Christian Gospels

; Jerome's Gospel of the Nazarenes, the Greek Gospel of the Ebionites

Gospel of the Ebionites

Gospel of the Ebionites is the conventional name given to the description by Epiphanius of Salamis of a gospel used by the Ebionites. All that is known of the gospel text consists of seven brief quotations found in Chapter 30 of a heresiology written by Epiphanius known as the Panarion...

cited by Epiphanius in his Panarion, and a third cited by Origen

Origen

Origen , or Origen Adamantius, 184/5–253/4, was an early Christian Alexandrian scholar and theologian, and one of the most distinguished writers of the early Church. As early as the fourth century, his orthodoxy was suspect, in part because he believed in the pre-existence of souls...

. In the 20th Century the majority school of critical scholarship, such as Hans Waitz

Hans Waitz

Johannes Waitz, also Hans Waitz, was a German Biblical scholar specializing in the New Testament Apocrypha and source-critical studies. He was Evangelical pastor in Darmstadt till 1927, and not to be confused with the Austrian Catholic bishop of the same name.He was the advocate of a Petrine source...

, Philip Vielhauer and Albertus Klijn, proposed a tripartite distinction between Epiphanius' Greek Jewish Gospel, Jerome's Hebrew (or Aramaic) Gospel, and a Gospel of the Hebrews

Gospel of the Hebrews

, which was produced by Jewish Christians in Egypt, and like the canonical Epistle to the Hebrews

Epistle to the Hebrews

The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the books in the New Testament. Its author is not known.The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his...

was Hebrew only in nationality not language. The exact identification of which Jewish Gospel is which in the references of Jerome, Origen and Epiphanius, and whether each church father had one or more Jewish Gospels in mind, is a problematic area. However the presence in patristic testimony concering three different Jewish Gospels with three different traditions regarding the baptism of Christ suggests multiple traditions.

The traditional Lutheran commentator Richard Lenski

Richard C. H. Lenski

Richard C. H. Lenski was a German-born American-naturalized Lutheran scholar, and author, published posthumously, of a series of Lutheran New Testament commentaries. He was editor of Die Lutherische Kirchenzeitung for twenty years...

(1943) wrote regarding the "hypothesis of an original Hebrew Matthew" that "whatever Matthew wrote in Hebrew was so ephemeral that it disappeared completely at a date so early that even the earliest fathers never obtained sight of the writing" Helmut Köster (2000) casts doubt upon the value of Jerome's evidence for linguistic reasons.

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