![]() Yeshua (a shortened form of Yehoshua) means “Yehovah is salvation.” Yoshia means “He will save.” In English and Greek, this obvious word pun is lost. You will call him Yeshua because yoshia my people. According to Hebrew Matthew, the angel appeared to Joseph and said, “And she shall give birth to a son and you shall call His name Yeshua ( ישוע) for He will save ( yoshia יושיע) my people from their iniquities.” This statement uses a Hebrew word pun with Yeshua and yoshia. 1Īn interesting and important detail in the Shem Tov manuscript is that it contains the original form of the Messiah’s Hebrew name, Yeshua. George Howard, an American Hebraist and professor, published Shem Tov’s version, along with an English translation, and critical analysis in 1987 (revised, 1995). Despite this, it does serve as a witness to the original and preserves much of the nuance and character of the message preached by Jesus Himself. The surviving version of this Gospel is not an exact copy of the original, but has come through a complicated process of transmission and possible corruption. The Western world has known about Shem Tov’s version for over a hundred years but it was assumed to be a translation from Greek or Latin. This may indicate that Shem Tov manipulated the original in order to use it to refute Christianity during debates with the Roman Catholic Church that were common during the middle ages. The quotations by Church fathers from the 1st century from the original source version mentioned above differ from the Shem Tov version. The Hebrew Matthew contained in it was used as a polemic against the Catholics during that time period. ( Even Bochan was an anti-Christian treatise completed in 1380 and revised in 13. There are currently 28 known manuscripts or fragments of this Gospel of Matthew written in Hebrew. Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel resurfaced over a thousand years later when Spanish Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut copied it and included it as an appendix to his book Even Bochan ( The Touchstone). Nehemia Gordon, The Naming of Jesus in Hebrew Matthew, page 4. When Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Nazarenes were forced underground and the Hebrew version of Matthew slipped into obscurity.” “The original Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew was widely disseminated and read among Jesus’ Jewish followers known as the Nazarenes. Nehemia Gordon states in his book The Naming of Jesus in Hebrew Matthew: “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the church.” Irenaeus, another noted Church father, wrote: “Matthew composed his history in the Hebrew dialect, and everyone translated it as he was able.” A number of early Church fathers wrote about the existence of Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel and quotations from it are contained among the writings of Cyril of Jerusalem, Jerome, Origen, Didymus, and Clement of Alexandria.Īround 100 AD, Papias, an early Christian author and bishop wrote the following about Matthew’s Gospel. It was known since the earliest days of the Church that Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, but this had largely been forgotten or gone unnoticed until fairly recently. ![]() I am happy to be able to say that there is manuscript evidence that indicates that Matthew originally wrote his Gospel in Hebrew! It was later translated into Greek and Latin. ![]() It just didn’t seem plausible to me that the Jews of 1 st century Judea would not know or speak Hebrew. I have always wondered if this was indeed true. I also was taught that Jesus spoke Aramaic and/or Greek, not Hebrew. I grew up hearing that the New Testament was written in Greek and not Hebrew. Wait! What? Did you just read that there are Gospels in HEBREW? Let’s look at some evidence, shall we? The Hebrew Gospel of Matthew As we draw closer to wrapping up our study of God’s hidden name, let’s turn our focus back to the Hebrew language.
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