HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 4 (Part 2) — Section 010 [MT 4:12–16]

פרק עשירי

Note on Textual Divisions & Concordance Markers

The section titles (פרק ראשון, פרק שני, etc.) follow the authentic internal layout of Shem-Tob's Hebrew text, which organizes the Gospel of Matthew into 116 structural pericopes. The traditional 28-chapter and verse divisions ([MT X:X–X]) did not exist in ancient manuscripts; they were devised centuries later by Western scholars (Stephen Langton in 1205 and Robert Estienne in 1551) to build Latin concordances. The standard chapter/verse citations are included in brackets solely as a concordance reference for readers navigating standard printed Bibles.

Manuscript Reality: Section 10 is Section 10

Modern scholars have often inserted editorial breaks and brackets here to force the text into alignment with Western Latin and Greek chapters. In this presentation, we do not rationalize or smooth away the authentic Hebrew structure: Section 10 (פרק עשירי) encompasses the complete unbroken textual unit down through verse 16. The subsequent Hebrew heading (פרק י״א / Section 11) does not begin until verse 17. Readers comparing this to standard translations will see numerical and sectional discrepancies, but this reflects the unaltered parchment: in the original Semitic manuscript layout, Section 10 is Section 10.

#	Shem-Tob Hebrew Text	Literal Translation
12	ויהי בימים ההם וישמע יש״ו כי נמסר יוחנן במאסר וילך אל הגלגל׃	And it came to pass in those days, and Yeshu heard that Yochanan was delivered into prison, and he went unto ha-Gilgal.
13	ויעבור את נאזראל וישכון בכפר נחום ראיתה לעז מַארִיטְמָה בקצה ארץ זבולון	And he passed beyond Nazarel and dwelt in Kefar Nachum, looking toward, in a foreign tongue Maritima, at the edge of the land of Zevulun,
14	לקיים מה שאמר ישעיהו הנביא	to establish what Yeshayahu the prophet spoke:
15	ארצה זבולון וארצה נפתלי דרך הים עבר הירדן גליל הגוים׃	"Land of Zevulun and land of Naftali, way of the sea, across the Yarden, Galil of the nations;
16	העם ההולכים בחושך ראו אור גדול יושבי בארץ צלמות אור נגה עליהם׃	the people walking in darkness saw a great light; dwellers in the land of death's shadow, light shone upon them."

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק עשירי (Tenth Section — Unbroken Unity): Preserves the authentic Hebrew boundary encompassing verses 12 through 16 as an organic whole. Section 11 (פרק י״א) explicitly begins at verse 17 on the manuscript parchment.
• Verse 12 (אל הגלגל vs. הגליל):
  • נמסר יוחנן במאסר: Passive Niphal form from root מסר (masar — to deliver up, hand over into custody).
  • אל הגלגל: The consonants explicitly read אל הגלגל (el ha-Gilgal), retaining the distinct geographical reading found earlier in Section 5, rather than the smoothed reading ha-Galil.
• Verse 13 (נאזראל & לעז מַארִיטְמָה):
  • נאזראל: Preserves the authentic Semitic manuscript spelling ending in Aleph-Lamed (נאזראל / Nazarel).
  • ראיתה לעז מַארִיטְמָה: The noun ראיתה specifies orientation ("its view / looking out toward the water"). The scribe explicitly marks the non-Semitic descriptive loanword with the boundary phrase לעז (la'az — "in a foreign tongue"), providing pointed Hebrew characters for מַארִיטְמָה (Maritima — maritime / coastal).
  • בקצה ארץ זבולון: Concrete spatial boundary syntax: "at the end/border of the land of Zevulun."
• Verse 14 (לקיים מה שאמר):
  • לקיים: Piel infinitive of קום (qum — to cause to stand, uphold, establish, confirm). The fulfillment of prophetic utterance is an active upholding of what was spoken.
• Verses 15–16 (Direct Tanakh Consonants from Isaiah 8:23–9:1 [Isa 9:1–2]):
  • ארצה זבולון וארצה נפתלי: Directional Heh suffix attached directly to both proper names: "unto the land of / toward the land of."
  • עבר הירדן גליל הגוים: Concrete Semitic topography: "across the Yarden, circuit/district of the nations."
  • צלמות: Ancient compound construct noun צלמות (tsalmavet — death-shade / deep darkness).
  • נגה עליהם: Root נגהּ (nagah — to shine brightly, shed radiant light): "light shone upon them."