HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 4 (Part 3) — Section 011 [MT 4:17–22]

פרק י״א

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.

#	Shem-Tob Hebrew Text	Literal Translation
17	מכאן ואילך התחיל יש״ו לדרוש ולדבר חזרו בתשובה שמלכות שמים קרובה׃	From here and onward Yeshu began to expound and to speak: "Return in repentance, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
18	וילך יש״ו על שפת הים הגליל וירא שני אחים שמעון שיקרא סימ״ון ונקרא פִּייטְ״רוֹס וְאַנְדִּירְ״יָאה אחיו משליכים מכמרותיהם בים שהיו דייגים׃	And Yeshu walked upon the lip of the sea of the Galil, and he saw two brothers: Shim'on who one shall call Simon, and he was called Pietros, and Andiryah his brother, casting their drag-nets into the sea, for they were fishers.
19	ויאמר להם לכו אחרי ואעשה אתכם מדייגים אנשים׃	And he said to them: "Go after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20	ויעזבו מכמרותיהם באותה שעה וילכו אחריו׃	And they abandoned their drag-nets in that hour and walked after him.
21	ויט משם וירא שני אחים אחרים יעקב ויוחנן בני זבדיאל בלעז זְבָאדְ״אוֹ וְזַאבְּ״אַדָּה ואביהם באניה מכינים מכמרותיהם ויקרא אותם׃	And he turned aside from there and saw two other brothers: Ya'akov and Yochanan the sons of Zavdi'el, in a foreign tongue Zevadeo and Zab'addah, and their father, in the ship preparing their drag-nets, and he called them.
22	וימהרו ויניחו מכמרותיהם ואת אביהם וילכו אחריו׃	And they hastened and left their drag-nets and their father, and walked after him.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק י״א (Eleventh Section): Preserves the authentic 11th pericope of the 116 units, opening the public preaching and disciple-calling phase in Galilee [MT 4:17–22].
• Verse 17 (מכאן ואילך & חזרו בתשובה):
  • מכאן ואילך: Technical Talmudic chronological phrase: "From here and onward / henceforth."
  • לדרוש ולדבר: Paired active infinitives: "to expound / homiletically teach" (root d-r-sh) and "to speak" (root d-b-r).
  • חזרו בתשובה: Concrete Semitic idiom for repentance: "Return in repentance" (from root shuv — physical turning).
• Verse 18 (שפת הים, מכמרותיהם, & Foreign Transliterations):
  • על שפת הים: "upon the lip of the sea" — Semitic coastline idiom.
  • שיקרא vs. ונקרא: שיקרא סימ״ון (active 3rd-person singular prefix: "whom one shall call Simon") paired with ונקרא פִּייטְ״רוֹס (passive: "and he was called Pietros").
  • וְאַנְדִּירְ״יָאה: Vocalized with pointed Hebrew characters showing the phonetic vernacular pronunciation Andiryah (Andrew).
  • מכמרותיהם: Specific biblical Hebrew noun for commercial drag-nets (root k-m-r / mikhmoret), preserving authentic marine technical terminology rather than generic net words.
• Verses 18 & 21 (The Multiplicity of Names & The Repurposing of Living Figures):
  • The Density of Dual Naming: Readers often overlook why this brief calling scene suddenly halts the narrative flow to pile on secondary titles, phonetic transliterations, and foreign glosses (שמעון שיקרא סימ״ון ונקרא פִּייטְ״רוֹס, along with זבדיאל בלעז זְבָאדְ״אוֹ וְזַאבְּ״אַדָּה). This is not casual scribal repetition; it is an intentional manuscript signal exposing the historic rebranding and repurposing of living men into institutional figures.
  • True Authority vs. The Romanced Construct: The narrative takes an authentic Semitic laborer working on the living water and shows his organic identity being cloaked under layers of outside phonetic naming. Shim'on (root sh-m-' — the one who hears and obeys) is steadily morphed into the phonetic hybrid סימ״ון (Simon) and ultimately enveloped in the foreign, Latinized mantle of פִּייטְ״רוֹס (Pietros). If authority, covenant stewardship, or "keys" were ever committed to a living emissary, they were delivered to the historical, obedient Hebrew person—they were never handed over to a romanced, manufactured persona constructed centuries later to anchor a Western ecclesiastical hierarchy.
  • Clarification on the Term "Hebrew" (Kinetic Status, Not an Ethnic Badge): When we speak of the original "Hebrew person" here, this is not an expression of ethnic bias or a linguistic elevation of one group of people over another. In its primary Semitic linguistics, the word עִבְרִי (Ivri / Hebrew) is not an ethnic bloodline badge; it is a direct kinetic description derived from the verb root עָבַר ('avar — to cross over, traverse, or step beyond a boundary). Historically, an Ivri is simply a "crosser-over"—someone who physically cuts ties with imperial, coercive systems on one side of the river and steps across into direct accountability under the Creator. The stewardship was entrusted to someone acting in that reality of having "crossed over," never to a Romanced political title invented to manage an institutional collective.
  • The Stripping of the Divine Title (בלעז): A parallel displacement occurs in verse 21 with the father of Ya'akov and Yochanan. On the parchment, his authentic Hebrew covenant name is זבדיאל (Zavdi'el — "the endowment of El"), explicitly bound to the archaic divine title אל (El). Yet the scribe immediately draws a boundary line with בלעז ("in a foreign tongue"), documenting how outside tongues severed the root of El entirely, leaving behind empty phonetic shells (Zevadeo / Zab'addah). The text preserves both layers so the reader can see where authentic covenant commission ends and institutional stagecraft begins.
• Verse 19 (מדייגים אנשים):
  • Plural construct/substantive: "fishers of men."
• Verse 20 (באותה שעה):
  • Idiomatic Rabbinic temporal expression: "in that very hour / immediately."
• Verse 21 (זבדיאל, בלעז, & באניה):
  • בני זבדיאל: Authentic Hebrew theophoric name זבדיאל (Zavdi'el — "gift/endowment of El"), preserving the archaic Semitic title El, in contrast to the later truncated Greek Zebedee.
  • בלעז זְבָאדְ״אוֹ וְזַאבְּ״אַדָּה: Explicit foreign language marker בלעז followed by two distinct vernacular Romance/Latin transliterations fully pointed with nikkud (Zevadeo / Zabbaddah).
  • ויט משם: Kinetic verb root נטה (natah — to turn aside, incline, veer off from there).
  • באניה: "in the ship / boat" (Biblical Hebrew oniyyah).
• Verse 22 (וימהרו ויניחו):
  • Kinetic sequence: וימהרו ("and they hastened / rushed", root m-h-r) followed by ויניחו (Hif'il of n-w-ch — "and they caused to rest / left behind / deposited").