HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 16

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.

CHAPTER 5 (Part 3) — Section 016 [MT 5:25–26]

Practical Covenant Survival: The Road, The Gate, and Breaking the Imperial Hierarchy

#	Shem-Tob Hebrew Text (פרק ט״ז)	Literal Translation
5:25	אָז אָמַר יֵשׁ״וּ לְתַלְמִידָיו רְאֵה שֶׁתְּמַהֵר לְרַצּוֹת שׂוֹנַאֲךָ בְּלֶכְתְּךָ עִמּוֹ בַּדֶּרֶךְ פֶּן יִמְסוֹר אוֹתְךָ לַשּׁוֹפֵט וְזֶה הַשּׁוֹפֵט יִמְסוֹרְךָ לְעֶבֶד לָתֵת אוֹתְךָ לְבֵית הַסּוֹהַר׃	Then Yeshu said to his disciples: See that you hasten to appease your hater while you are walking with him in the way, lest he hand you over to the judge, and this judge hand you over to a servant to put you into the house of the round keep [Beit ha-Sohar].
5:26	בֶּאֱמֶת אֲנִי אוֹמֵר לְךָ לֹא תֵצֵא מִשָּׁם עַד תִּנָּתֵן פְּרוּטָה אַחֲרוֹנָה׃	In truth I say to you: You shall not go out from there until the last perutah is given.

Warning on Decontextualized & Abridged Readings: Section 016 becomes lethal when severed from the Torah. Unfaithful teachers weaponize "appease your adversary" to demand that victims submit to ongoing abuse and predatory systems. In Shem-Tob's Hebrew context, this is not a mandate for victim compliance. It is an urgent defense protocol warning disciples against trusting institutional courts and bailiffs who thrive on unaddressed feuds and extract life down to the final coin.

The Passive Mystery: Breaking the Hierarchical Curse (תִּנָּתֵן vs. תִּתֵּן)

In George Howard's critical apparatus for verse 26, later scribal witnesses (MSS ABDG) changed the verb to the active תִּתֵּן (titten — "until you give"), attempting to align the Hebrew with the Greek text. But the authoritative text preserves the archaic Niphal passive: עַד תִּנָּתֵן פְּרוּטָה אַחֲרוֹנָה (ad tinnaten perutah acharonah — "until the last perutah is given / rendered").

A prisoner trapped inside the subterranean Egyptian dungeon (Beit ha-Sohar) has no money, no title, and no agency. He cannot pay his own fine. His release depends entirely on an outsider walking up to the prison bars to pay the debt. And what coin is accepted? Not the gold of kings, but the פְּרוּטָה (perutah)—the thinnest, crudest copper coin carried only by the impoverished day-laborer and destitute widow.

Breaking the Cycle of Oppression: Those who stood higher than you—the magistrate and the armed officer—used their status to extract, judge, and imprison. If we mirror them, we continue their curse. But when we look upon the imprisoned, the naked, and the hungry (Matthew 25), we break the curse of worldly hierarchy. We do not act like those who towered above us. Instead, we extend the grace of the perutah to those made lower than us, recognizing that we ourselves are only redeemed when the lowliest of the earth extend mercy to our helpless cell.

Practical Instructions for Navigating Hostile Times

1. Settle Concrete Liabilities on the Open Ground: If an adversary has a valid, actionable property or financial grievance against you, do not let pride carry you into an institutional court. Pay the restitution, transfer the disputed garment, and dismantle their legal claim while personal agency remains in your hands.

2. Discern When to Settle vs. When to Conceal: The scripture recognizes that direct confrontation with an entrenched hater is not always possible or safe. Where an adversary is driven by irrational malice, predation, or scorn, do not attempt to appease them. Follow the precedent of the wise: keep silent in an evil time (Amos 5:13), hide from foreseeable danger (Proverbs 22:3), and evacuate the hostile jurisdiction (Matthew 10:23).

3. Break the Cycle of Extractive Hierarchies ("Do Not Be Like Them"): Those sitting above in worldly structures use leverage to extract, condemn, and imprison. The Torah commands: "After the deeds of Egypt... you shall not do" (Leviticus 18:3). When wronged by those above, refuse to pass that cruelty downward. Settle accounts with mercy, and do not use the legal apparatus to crush those weaker than you.

4. The Ministry of the Perutah (Matthew 25): The passive reading tinnaten ("until it is given") reveals that a captive in the dungeon cannot free himself. In difficult times, our calling is to approach the bars of those trapped in distress—the hungry, the stranger, the imprisoned—and provide the redemption of the humble perutah. We overcome the beast of the state by stooping to redeem the captive.

Paleographic & Theological Foundations

• Le-ratsot (לְרַצּוֹת) vs. Western Reconciliation: Rooted in Levitical jurisprudence, this term denotes paying off an actionable debt or averting wrath through restitution, mirroring Jacob sending tribute ahead to meet Esau (Genesis 32:20).
• The Passive Voice (תִּנָּתֵן): Demonstrates complete loss of agency once custody begins. Release is executed not by the prisoner's power, but by an outside redeemer carrying the smallest bronze token of the poor.
• The Rhythm of Chapter 16: Section 016 anchors the Pentateuchal crises of the 16th threshold—the fleshly Egyptian shortcut of Hagar (Gen 16), the manna of the humble (Exod 16), the Kippur appeasement (Lev 16), the collapse of Korah's mutinous canopy (Num 16), and the judges at the Gate (Deut 16).