HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 12

CHAPTER 4 (Part 4) — Section 012 [MT 4:23–25]

פרק י״ב

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
23	ויסב יש״ו אל ארץ הגליל ללמד קהלותם ומבשר להם זבד טוב לעז מַאַוָנְגִּ״יילְיִיו ממלכות שמים ומרפא כל חולים וכל מדוה בעם׃	And Yeshu turned around unto the land of the Galil to teach their assemblies and bringing good tidings to them, an endowment of good, in a foreign tongue Evangelio, from the kingdom of heaven, and healing all sick ones and every affliction among the people.
24	וילך שמועתו בכל ארץ סורִ״יא וישאו אליו כל החולים מכל מיני חלאים משונים אחוזים השדים והנבעתים מרוח רעה והמתרעשים וירפא אותם׃	And his report went throughout all the land of Suri'a, and they bore unto him all the sick ones from all kinds of strange diseases, ones seized of the demons, and the terrified from an evil breath, and the trembling/quaking ones; and he healed them.
25	וילכו אחריו רבות מִקַּפְּ״וֹלִי וְהַגְּ״לִיל מִירוּ״שָׁלֶם ויוּדָּ״א ועבר הירְ״דֵּן׃	And many walked after him from Mikappoli and the Galil, from Yerushalem, and Yudah, and across the Yarden.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק י״ב (Twelfth Section): Preserves the authentic 12th pericope of the 116 units, completing the circuit of Matthew Chapter 4 [MT 4:23–25].
• Verse 23 (קהלותם, זבד טוב, & לעז מַאַוָנְגִּ״יילְיִיו):
  • ויסב: Kinetic root סבב (savav — to turn about, pivot, make a physical circuit).
  • קהלותם: From root קהל (qahal — assembly / gathering). Not an institutional or ecclesiastical corporation, but the natural assemblies of the local population.
  • זבד טוב (The True Living Endowment vs. Institutional Ordinances): The Hebrew original defines the message concretely as זבד טוב (zeved tov — "an endowment / gift of good"). While some traditions and religious groups refer to an initiation as the "Holy Endowment," Yeshu presents this endowment in its pure, uncorrupted reality. It is not delivered through secret chamber ceremonies, physical temple rituals, or proxy ordinances governed by a priestly class. Rather, Yeshu reveals the endowment through a new and living way: walking among the afflicted, healing the sick, restoring life to the laborer, and demonstrating in his own daily walk what the living endowment of the Creator actually looks like in practice.
  • לעז מַאַוָנְגִּ״יילְיִיו: The medieval scribe explicitly flags the Greek/Latin ecclesiastical title as an imported foreign loanword using לעז (la'az — "in a foreign tongue") with full pointing: מַאַוָנְגִּ״יילְיִיו (Evangelio). The authentic Semitic reality is a tangible, living endowment of good, not a dogmatic institutional label.
  • מדוה: Biblical Hebrew מַדְוֶה (madveh — physical illness, plague, affliction; cf. Deuteronomy 7:15).
• Verse 24 (חלאים משונים & Concrete Kinetic Afflictions):
  • וישאו אליו: Root נשא (nasa — to lift, bear burdens, physically carry the afflicted).
  • חלאים משונים: Root שנה (shanah — strange, altered, unnatural maladies).
  • אחוזים השדים: Passive participle of אחז (achaz — gripped, seized, held captive).
  • והנבעתים מרוח רעה: Niphal participle of בעת (ba'at — thrown into sudden panic, overwhelmed by dread from an evil wind/breath; cf. 1 Samuel 16:14).
  • והמתרעשים: Hitpael participle of רעש (ra'ash — to violently quake, shake, convulse). A vivid Semitic physical description for epileptics and severe neurological tremors, describing bodily mechanics rather than an abstract diagnosis.
• Verse 25 (מִירוּ״שָׁלֶם & ויוּדָּ״א — Intentional Singular Earthly Reality, Not a Scribal Error):
  • Not a Mistake or Pen Slip: Modern editors frequently view the spellings מִירוּ״שָׁלֶם (mi-Yerushalem) and ויוּדָּ״א (v'Yudah) as careless scribal omissions of letters. This is an error of modern assumption. The scribe placed deliberate gershayim marks over these words (ירוּ״שלם and יוּדָּ״א), demonstrating calculated intent. The author is deliberately defining the precise earthly jurisdiction of who came out to follow him at that historical moment.
  • Yerushalem (Singular Earthly) vs. Yerushalayim (The Dual): Standard Masoretic and Rabbinic grammar forces the dual ending -ayim (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם), pointing to two Jerusalems: the lower earthly city and the elevated heavenly/celestial city. On this parchment, the writer pointedly uses the singular ירושלם (Yerushalem). The celestial, heavenly Jerusalem had no need to come out and follow him; that realm was already in unbroken alignment, walking in unity with the same Elohim that Yeshu served. It was the physical, singular, earthly dwellers of Yerushalem—those navigating the mundane, broken realities of the land—who needed to step across borders and follow.
  • Yudah (ויוּדָּ״א) vs. Yehudah (יְהוּדָה): Similarly, the text writes ויוּדָּ״א with an Aleph, completely dropping the interior ה (Hey) of the full theophoric tribal name Yehudah. Rather than invoking the formal, theological title of the covenant tribe, the parchment identifies the actual regional, earthly inhabitants of the district of Yudah walking out to the Galilean borderlands.
  • מִקַּפְּ״וֹלִי & ועבר הירדן: Mikappoli preserves the phonetic Semitic rendering of the Decapolis, while 'ever ha-Yarden grounds the movement in physical cross-border movement (root עָבַר, 'avar — to cross over).