Hebrew Gospel of Matthew
Encyclopedia
The Rabbinical translations of Matthew are rabbinical versions of the Gospel of Matthew
that are written in Hebrew
; Shem-Tob's Matthew, the Du Tillet Matthew, and the Münster Matthew, and which were used in polemical debate with Christians.
These versions are to be distinguished from the Gospel According to the Hebrews which was one or more works found in the Early Church, but surviving only as fragmentary quotations in Greek and Latin texts.
Most scholars consider all the rabbinical versions to be translated from the Greek or Latin of the canonical Matthew, for the purpose of Jewish apologetics.
in 1492.
Jean Carmignac (Paris 1969, BNES 1978) identified fifty Hebrew translations of the Lord's Prayer
from the 9th to the 18th centuries. Most scholars consider that the medieval Hebrew manuscripts are derived by translation from medieval Greek or Latin manuscripts, and therefore that it is extremely unlikely that any of the unique readings found in these medieval Hebrew manuscripts could be ancient.
Four principal versions in rabbinical Hebrew of Matthew have survived or partially survived:
in the Hebrew language
found interspersed among anti-Christian commentary in the 12th volume of a polemical treatise The Touchstone (c.1380-85) by Shem Tov ben Isaac ben Shaprut (Ibn Shaprut), a Jewish physician living in Aragon
, after whom the version is named. Shem Tov debated Cardinal Pedro de Luna (later Antipope Benedict XIII
) on original sin
and redemption in Pamplona, December 26, 1375, in the presence of bishops and learned theologians. Nine manuscripts of The Touchstone survive, though if an independent version of the text of Matthew used by Ibn Shaprut ever existed then it is lost.
Spanish Jews of Ibn Shaprut's period were familiar with the New Testament in Latin. Jacob Ben Reuben in his Wars of the LORD
translated Gilbert Crispin
's Disputation of Jews and Christians from Latin into Hebrew, along with quotes from Matthew. Lasker (1998) remarks that "By the fourteenth century, most likely every Iberian anti-Christian Jewish polemicist knew Latin." Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas
made proficient use of Latin phrases. Profiat Duran (fl.1380-1420) had extensive knowledge of Latin Christian texts, and devoted a chapter of his Disgrace of the Gentiles (Klimat ha-goyim) to criticism of Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Hayyim ben Judah ibn Musa
argued with Nicholas de Lyra in his Book of Shield and Spear (Sefer magen va-romah). Likewise converts to Christianity such as Abner of Burgos
(Alphonso of Valladolid, ca. 1270-1347) continued to write polemical, theological, philosophical, and scientific works in Hebrew.
Shem Tov's The Touchstone (Eben = stone, bohan = test) has never been translated into English or published. It follows the model of Milhamoth ha-Shem
of Jacob Ben Reuben in use of Matthew but contains not just sections of Matthew as Jacob Ben Reuben, but the whole text of Matthew and parts of Mark. George Howard (Hebraist)
excised the text of Matthew from among Shem Tov's comments and published them separately as The Gospel of Matthew according to a primitive Hebrew text (1987), a revised version Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (1995).
Shem Tov's quotations of Matthew in The Touchstone are marked by Jewish
thought, and are interspaced with the comments of the author. As a consequence several scholars feel it is difficult to determine which parts are Shem Tov's commentary, and which parts are the actual text of the source he was quoting. Many scholars view the text as a mediaeval translation from the Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew, as well as being the likely source of all later Hebrew versions of Matthew prior to the 20th century.
Where the Tetragrammaton
occurs in Tanakh
quotations, instead one finds a single Hebrew He
(ה) except in one place where the word "ha-shem" (השם, the name) is spelled out. There are some interesting readings of Matthew in The Touchstone.
While the quotations in Shem Tov's The Touchstone, which are interspersed in his own commentary, diverge from the canonical text of Matthew, the text of the Münster Matthew and the Du Tillet Matthew are significantly very close to it in many passages.
, written in the Hebrew language
published by Sebastian Münster
in 1537 and dedicated to King Henry VIII of England. He had received the text from Spanish Jews he had converted to Christianity in the 1530s. Apparently, these Jews had been using the text to understand the Christian religion in order to counter it. Münster felt that the text was defective, and set about reworking it. The original manuscript he received no longer exists; only his printed reworking of it survives, and it closely resembles the Du Tillet Matthew. Because the places where Münster changed the text is unknown, this text can be difficult to use for textual criticism
.
, written in Hebrew
, known as Heb.MSS.132, and residing in the National Library, Paris. The manuscript was obtained by Bishop Jean du Tillet
from Italian Jews on a visit to Rome
in 1553, and published in 1555, with editing by Jean Mercier (Hebraist)
and addition of a Latin version, dedicated to cardinal Charles de Guise.
While the text is less divergent from the Greek textual tradition than is the Shem Tov Matthew, this version share some deviations in common with the Shem Tov Matthew; for example, the Tetragrammaton
is replaced with a sign composed of three yodh
s or dots enclosed in a semicircle. Jean Cinqarbres
(Quinquarboreus), Hebrew professor of the College Royal also worked on the Du Tillet Matthew.
's Ha-sepher shel we-'angilu shel ha-Nosarim shel Yeshu [The book of the Gospel belonging to the followers of Jesus] is a polemical translation of Matthew dating from 1750. This may or may not be the same as the polemical rabbinical Hebrew New Testament of Rabbi Ezekiel bought by Claudius Buchanan in Cochin and known as the "Travancore Hebrew New Testament", which led Buchanan to urge Joseph Frey to commence work on a Christian translation.
and Giovanni Battista Jona
, Rudolph Bernhard
, Johan Kemper
, Simon Rosenbaum (of Uppsala), Christian David Ginsburg
and Isaac Salkinson. However the principle modern Hebrew version of Matthew is based on the New Testament of a German, Franz Delitzsch
.
posit that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Scholars who support these hypotheses sometimes appeal to these 3 medieval Hebrew manuscripts. However, the vast majority of scholars believe Matthew was originally written in Greek.
George Howard (Hebraist)
, Associate Professor of Religion and Hebrew at the University of Georgia
has argued (1995) that some or all of these three medieval Hebrew versions may have descended (without any intervening translation) from ancient Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew, which may have been used by early Christians in the 1st or 2nd century, but were nearly extinct by the time of Jerome, late in the 4th century.
However the surviving citations from Jewish-Christian Gospels
(namely Gospel of the Nazarenes, Gospel of the Ebionites
and Gospel of the Hebrews
) preserved in the writings of Jerome
, Epiphanius
and others, lead critical scholars to conclude that those Gospels themselves either were Greek or were translated from Greek Matthew. In fact, most scholars consider that the medieval Hebrew manuscripts were descended (by translation) from medieval Greek or Latin manuscripts, and therefore that it is extremely unlikely that any of the unique readings found in these medieval Hebrew manuscripts could be ancient.
Horbury (1999) notes that the characteristics of ibn Shaprut's Touchstone are better explained by the influence of Latin Gospel harmonies.
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...
that are written in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
; Shem-Tob's Matthew, the Du Tillet Matthew, and the Münster Matthew, and which were used in polemical debate with Christians.
These versions are to be distinguished from the Gospel According to the Hebrews which was one or more works found in the Early Church, but surviving only as fragmentary quotations in Greek and Latin texts.
Most scholars consider all the rabbinical versions to be translated from the Greek or Latin of the canonical Matthew, for the purpose of Jewish apologetics.
Early Rabbinical citations of Matthew, 600-1300
Quotations from Hebrew translations of portions of various New Testament books - including the epistles of Paul - can be found in rabbinical treatises against Christianity. These treatises multiplied wherever Jews lived in proximity to Christians - such as Spain before the expulsion of the Jews from SpainHistory of the Jews in Spain
Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain, before the majority, together with resident Muslims, were forced to convert to Catholicism, be expelled or be killed when Spain became united under the Catholic Monarchs...
in 1492.
- Sefer Nestor ha-KomerSefer Nestor ha-KomerSefer Nestor Ha-Komer or The Book of Nestor the Priest is the earliest surviving anti-Christian Jewish polemic. The book is in Hebrew, but also exists in an Arabic translation. It cites extensively and critically from New Testament and Church sources...
; "The Book of Nestor the Priest", 7th C. - contains significant quotes from Matthew, apparently from a Latin text. - Toledot YeshuToledot YeshuSefer Toledot Yeshu is a medieval version of the story of Jesus from a Jewish perspective. The book concerns Yeshu, son of Joseph and Mary, born in Bethlehem, but also makes this Yeshu a contemporary of Queen Salome Alexandra...
; "Life of Jesus", 7th C. - Milhamoth ha-ShemMilhamoth ha-ShemMilhamoth ha-Shem , "The Wars of the NAME", is the title of several Hebrew texts. Among these the most notable are:-Milhamoth ha-Shem of Salmon ben Jeroham, 10th C.:...
; "Wars of the Lord" of Jacob Ben Reuben 12C, which cites texts including Matthew 1:1-16, 3:13-17, 4:1-11, 5:33-40, 11:25-27, 12:1-8, 26:36-39, 28:16-20. - Sefer Nizzahon YashanSefer Nizzahon YashanSefer Nizzahon Yashan “The Book of Victory” is a 13th Century anonymous Jewish apologetic text. In medieval times this was known in Latin as the Nizzahon Vetus. A modern edition was published by Mordechai Breuer in 1978....
; "The Book of Victory" (in Latin Nizzahon vetus), 13C - Sefer Joseph HamekaneSefer Joseph HamekaneSefer Joseph Hamekane the Book of Joseph the Official is a 13th C. Jewish apologetic text. The primary edition is by Judah Rosenthal...
; "Book of Joseph the Official" of rabbi Joseph ben Nathan, 13C (Paris MS)
Jean Carmignac (Paris 1969, BNES 1978) identified fifty Hebrew translations of the Lord's Prayer
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthew as part of the discourse on ostentation in the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke, which records Jesus being approached by "one of his...
from the 9th to the 18th centuries. Most scholars consider that the medieval Hebrew manuscripts are derived by translation from medieval Greek or Latin manuscripts, and therefore that it is extremely unlikely that any of the unique readings found in these medieval Hebrew manuscripts could be ancient.
Four principal versions in rabbinical Hebrew of Matthew have survived or partially survived:
Shem Tov's Matthew, 1385
The Shem Tov Matthew (or Shem Tob's Matthew) consists of a complete text of Gospel of MatthewGospel 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...
in the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
found interspersed among anti-Christian commentary in the 12th volume of a polemical treatise The Touchstone (c.1380-85) by Shem Tov ben Isaac ben Shaprut (Ibn Shaprut), a Jewish physician living in Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
, after whom the version is named. Shem Tov debated Cardinal Pedro de Luna (later Antipope Benedict XIII
Antipope Benedict XIII
Benedict XIII, born Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor , known as in Spanish, was an Aragonese nobleman, who is officially considered by the Catholic Church to be an antipope....
) on original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
and redemption in Pamplona, December 26, 1375, in the presence of bishops and learned theologians. Nine manuscripts of The Touchstone survive, though if an independent version of the text of Matthew used by Ibn Shaprut ever existed then it is lost.
Spanish Jews of Ibn Shaprut's period were familiar with the New Testament in Latin. Jacob Ben Reuben in his Wars of the LORD
Milhamoth ha-Shem
Milhamoth ha-Shem , "The Wars of the NAME", is the title of several Hebrew texts. Among these the most notable are:-Milhamoth ha-Shem of Salmon ben Jeroham, 10th C.:...
translated Gilbert Crispin
Gilbert Crispin
Gilbert Crispin was a Christian author and Anglo-Norman monk, appointed by Archbishop Lanfranc in 1085 to be the abbot, proctor and servant of Westminster Abbey, England...
's Disputation of Jews and Christians from Latin into Hebrew, along with quotes from Matthew. Lasker (1998) remarks that "By the fourteenth century, most likely every Iberian anti-Christian Jewish polemicist knew Latin." Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas
Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas
Moses ha-Kohen de Tordesillas was a Spanish Jewish controversialist of the fourteenth century.An attempt was made to convert him to Christianity by force. Despite persecution, he remained true to his convictions, although he was robbed of his possessions and reduced to poverty...
made proficient use of Latin phrases. Profiat Duran (fl.1380-1420) had extensive knowledge of Latin Christian texts, and devoted a chapter of his Disgrace of the Gentiles (Klimat ha-goyim) to criticism of Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Hayyim ben Judah ibn Musa
Hayyim ben Judah ibn Musa
Hayyim ben Judah ibn Musa was a Jewish physician and apologist who contended with Nicholas de Lyra. His main work is Magen va-Romah .-References:...
argued with Nicholas de Lyra in his Book of Shield and Spear (Sefer magen va-romah). Likewise converts to Christianity such as Abner of Burgos
Abner of Burgos
Abner of Burgos was a Jewish philosopher, a convert to Christianity and polemical writer against his former religion. Known after his conversion as Alfonso of Valladolid.-Life:...
(Alphonso of Valladolid, ca. 1270-1347) continued to write polemical, theological, philosophical, and scientific works in Hebrew.
Shem Tov's The Touchstone (Eben = stone, bohan = test) has never been translated into English or published. It follows the model of Milhamoth ha-Shem
Milhamoth ha-Shem
Milhamoth ha-Shem , "The Wars of the NAME", is the title of several Hebrew texts. Among these the most notable are:-Milhamoth ha-Shem of Salmon ben Jeroham, 10th C.:...
of Jacob Ben Reuben in use of Matthew but contains not just sections of Matthew as Jacob Ben Reuben, but the whole text of Matthew and parts of Mark. George Howard (Hebraist)
George Howard (Hebraist)
George Howard is an American Hebraist, noted for his theories of Hebrew-language origins to the New Testament - including the possible use of the Tetragrammaton in the New Testament, and possible Hebrew origins of Matthew...
excised the text of Matthew from among Shem Tov's comments and published them separately as The Gospel of Matthew according to a primitive Hebrew text (1987), a revised version Hebrew Gospel of Matthew (1995).
Shem Tov's quotations of Matthew in The Touchstone are marked by Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
thought, and are interspaced with the comments of the author. As a consequence several scholars feel it is difficult to determine which parts are Shem Tov's commentary, and which parts are the actual text of the source he was quoting. Many scholars view the text as a mediaeval translation from the Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew, as well as being the likely source of all later Hebrew versions of Matthew prior to the 20th century.
Where the Tetragrammaton
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
occurs in Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
quotations, instead one finds a single Hebrew He
He (letter)
He is the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician , Aramaic, Hebrew , Syriac and Arabic . Its sound value is a voiceless glottal fricative ....
(ה) except in one place where the word "ha-shem" (השם, the name) is spelled out. There are some interesting readings of Matthew in The Touchstone.
- Matt 12:37 "According to your words you will be judged, and according to your deeds you will be convicted."
- Matt 24:40-41 "40 Then if there shall be two ploughing in a field, one righteous and the other evil, the one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at a mill; one will be taken and the other left. This is because the angels at the end of the world will remove the stumbling blocks from the world and will separate the good from the evil."
- Matt 28:9 "As they were going Jesus passed before them saying: 'May the Name deliver you.'"
- Matt 28:19-20 "Go and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever."
- Mark 9:20-28 is placed into the text of Matthew between Matt 17:17 and 17:19. Matt 17:18 is omitted.
While the quotations in Shem Tov's The Touchstone, which are interspersed in his own commentary, diverge from the canonical text of Matthew, the text of the Münster Matthew and the Du Tillet Matthew are significantly very close to it in many passages.
Sebastian Münster's Matthew, 1537
The Münster Matthew is printed version of the Gospel of MatthewGospel 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...
, written in the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
published by Sebastian Münster
Sebastian Münster
Sebastian Münster , was a German cartographer, cosmographer, and a Hebrew scholar.- Life :Münster was born at Ingelheim near Mainz, the son of Andreas Munster. He completed his studies at the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen in 1518. His graduate adviser was Johannes Stöffler.He was appointed to...
in 1537 and dedicated to King Henry VIII of England. He had received the text from Spanish Jews he had converted to Christianity in the 1530s. Apparently, these Jews had been using the text to understand the Christian religion in order to counter it. Münster felt that the text was defective, and set about reworking it. The original manuscript he received no longer exists; only his printed reworking of it survives, and it closely resembles the Du Tillet Matthew. Because the places where Münster changed the text is unknown, this text can be difficult to use for textual criticism
Textual criticism
Textual criticism is a branch of literary criticism that is concerned with the identification and removal of transcription errors in the texts of manuscripts...
.
Jean du Tillet's Matthew, 1555
The Du Tillet Matthew is a version of the Gospel of MatthewGospel 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...
, written in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, known as Heb.MSS.132, and residing in the National Library, Paris. The manuscript was obtained by Bishop Jean du Tillet
Jean du Tillet
Jean du Tillet , son of a mayor and captain of Angoulême under Francis I of France, was appointed bishop of St. Brieuc in 1553, in which capacity he took part in the Council of Trent where he encouraged Gentian Hervet to undertake a Latin translation of Photius' Syntagma together with Balsamon's...
from Italian Jews on a visit to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
in 1553, and published in 1555, with editing by Jean Mercier (Hebraist)
Jean Mercier (Hebraist)
Jean Mercier, Latin Joannes Mercerus was a French Hebraist.He was a pupil of the less known François Vatable, and succeeded Vatable as professor of Hebrew at the Collège Royal. His students included Philippe du Plessis-Mornay, and Pierre Martinius who became professor at La Rochelle...
and addition of a Latin version, dedicated to cardinal Charles de Guise.
While the text is less divergent from the Greek textual tradition than is the Shem Tov Matthew, this version share some deviations in common with the Shem Tov Matthew; for example, the Tetragrammaton
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
is replaced with a sign composed of three yodh
Yodh
Yodh is the tenth letter of many Semitic alphabets, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Yud , Syriac and Arabic...
s or dots enclosed in a semicircle. Jean Cinqarbres
Jean Cinqarbres
Jean Cinqarbres, Latin name Quinquarboreus, was a French grammarian of Hebrew. With his colleague Jean Mercier he shared the role of conjunct royal professor of Hebrew and Chaldee.-References:...
(Quinquarboreus), Hebrew professor of the College Royal also worked on the Du Tillet Matthew.
Rahabi Ezekiel's Matthew, 1750
Rabbi Rahabi EzekielRahabi Ezekiel
Rabbi Rahabi Ezekiel, or Ezekiel Rahabi, was a rabbinical writer known only through his polemical Hebrew translation of the New Testament - The Book of the Gospel Belonging to the Followers of Jesus ....
's Ha-sepher shel we-'angilu shel ha-Nosarim shel Yeshu [The book of the Gospel belonging to the followers of Jesus] is a polemical translation of Matthew dating from 1750. This may or may not be the same as the polemical rabbinical Hebrew New Testament of Rabbi Ezekiel bought by Claudius Buchanan in Cochin and known as the "Travancore Hebrew New Testament", which led Buchanan to urge Joseph Frey to commence work on a Christian translation.
Christian Hebrew versions
Around half of the 20 known Christian translations of Matthew were also done by authors who were formerly rabbis, or came from a rabbinical training: Domenico GerosolimitanoDomenico Gerosolimitano
Domenico Gerosolimitano, originally Rabbi Samuel Vivas of Jerusalem, was a notable ecclesiastical censor of Hebrew books. His Sefer Hazikkuk, played an important role in the censorship of Hebrew books in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries."...
and Giovanni Battista Jona
Giovanni Battista Jona
Giovanni Battista Jona, originally Judah Jonah of Safed, , was a Hebrew writer at the Vatican. Along with the censor Domenico Gerosolimitano he was one of two converted Jewish Scriptens at the Vatican who each produced translations of the New Testament into Hebrew.-References:...
, Rudolph Bernhard
Rudolph Bernhard
Rudolph Bernhard , originally rabbi Jacob Levi of Prague, was a Christian writer. He was baptised at Berne in 1694. In 1705 he published the proselytzing letter Sendschreiben: Geschrieben an die so genannten Juden. When he died he left a manuscript translation in Hebrew of Matthew, Mark, and Luke...
, Johan Kemper
Johan Kemper
Johan Christian Jacob Kemper , formerly Moshe ben Aharon of Kraków, was a Polish Sabbatean Jew who converted from Judaism to Lutheran Christianity...
, Simon Rosenbaum (of Uppsala), Christian David Ginsburg
Christian David Ginsburg
Christian David Ginsburg was a Polish-born, British Bible scholar and student of the masoretic tradition in Judaism....
and Isaac Salkinson. However the principle modern Hebrew version of Matthew is based on the New Testament of a German, Franz Delitzsch
Franz Delitzsch
Franz Delitzsch was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Born in Leipzig, he held the professorship of theology at the University of Rostock from 1846 to 1850, at the University of Erlangen until 1867, and after that at the University of Leipzig until his death...
.
Shem Tov's Touchstone in Christian Aramaic primacy debate
The hypotheses of Hebrew and Aramaic primacyAramaic primacy
The hypothesis of Aramaic primacy holds that the original text of the New Testament was not written in Greek, as held by the majority of scholars, but in the Aramaic language, which was the primary language of Jesus and his Twelve Apostles....
posit that the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Scholars who support these hypotheses sometimes appeal to these 3 medieval Hebrew manuscripts. However, the vast majority of scholars believe Matthew was originally written in Greek.
George Howard (Hebraist)
George Howard (Hebraist)
George Howard is an American Hebraist, noted for his theories of Hebrew-language origins to the New Testament - including the possible use of the Tetragrammaton in the New Testament, and possible Hebrew origins of Matthew...
, Associate Professor of Religion and Hebrew at the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
has argued (1995) that some or all of these three medieval Hebrew versions may have descended (without any intervening translation) from ancient Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew, which may have been used by early Christians in the 1st or 2nd century, but were nearly extinct by the time of Jerome, late in the 4th century.
However the surviving citations from 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...
(namely Gospel of the Nazarenes, 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...
and 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....
) preserved in the writings of 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...
, Epiphanius
Epiphanius
Epiphanius was the name of several early Christian scholars and ecclesiastics:*Epiphanius of Pavia *Epiphanius of Salamis , bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, author of the Panarion, or Medicine Chest against Heresies*Epiphanius of Constantinople, , Patriarch of Constantinople*Epiphanius Scholasticus ,...
and others, lead critical scholars to conclude that those Gospels themselves either were Greek or were translated from Greek Matthew. In fact, most scholars consider that the medieval Hebrew manuscripts were descended (by translation) from medieval Greek or Latin manuscripts, and therefore that it is extremely unlikely that any of the unique readings found in these medieval Hebrew manuscripts could be ancient.
Horbury (1999) notes that the characteristics of ibn Shaprut's Touchstone are better explained by the influence of Latin Gospel harmonies.