HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 6 (Part 1) — Section 021 [MT 6:2–4]

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
2	עוד אמר להם יש״ו כאשר תעשו צדקה לא תרצו להעביר כרוז וחצוצרות לפניכם כמו החנפים בלעז אִיפּוֹקְרַאטִיס שעושים צדקתם ברחובות ובשווקים בעד שיראו אותם בני אדם. אמן אני אומר לכם שכבר קבלו שכרם.	Again Yeshu said to them: When you do righteousness, you shall not desire to pass a herald and trumpets before you like the flatterers—in a foreign tongue, ipocratis [actors]—who do their righteousness in the broadways and in the marketplaces for the sake that the sons of man may see them. Amen I say to you, that they have already received their reward.
3	ואתם כאשר תעשה צדקה אל ידע שמאלך מה יעשה ימינך	And you, when you do righteousness, let not your left hand know what your right hand does,
4	להיות מתנך בסתר ואביך הרואה הנסתרות ישלם לך.	so that your giving may be in the hidden place; and your Father who sees the hidden things shall repay to you.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

1. Civic Heraldry vs. Greek Musical Idiom (v. 2)

• Where the Greek text uses the single verb salpisēs ("sound a trumpet"), Shem-Tob's Hebrew preserves a formal civic procession: להעביר כרוז וחצוצרות ("to pass a herald and trumpets").
• The term כרוז (*karoz*) is an imperial loanword denoting an official court or civic herald sent before dignitaries. The חצוצרות were straight metal clarions blown in civic and military processions to gather crowds. This reveals that the text is targeting institutional, staged spectacles designed to command public deference.

2. The Theatrical Mask: "Hypocrites" as Stage Actors (v. 2)

• The scribe retains the explicit boundary marker בלעז ("in a foreign tongue") followed by the transliteration אִיפּוֹקְרַאטִיס (*ipocratis*).
• In classical antiquity, hypokritēs was not a vague theological term for moral failing; it meant specifically a stage actor who performed behind an exaggerated mask. The Hebrew text directly links this foreign institution with the biblical חנפים (*flatterers* / *corrupters*)—individuals who assume an artificial persona on public stages (ברחובות ובשווקים) to extract praise and honor from men.
• Manuscript variants across the apparatus show scribes carefully preserving this loanword: MS A reads איפוקריטאש, MSS BDG read איפוקריטיש, and MSS EF preserve the truncated form איפוקרט.

3. Apparatus Variants: Vain Sight vs. Glory (v. 2)

• While the primary plate reads בעד שיראו אותם בני אדם ("for the sake that sons of man may see them"), witnesses ABCDEFG transmit the reading שיכבדו ("that they may be honored/glorified"). This variant underscores that the performance was staged specifically to capture social elevation and administrative standing.

4. The Severed Ledger: Left Hand vs. Right Hand (v. 3)

• In ancient Semitic practice, legal records, commercial loans, and credit ledgers were recorded with the left hand, while covenantal physical gifts and pledges were executed with the right.
• By commanding אל ידע שמאלך מה יעשה ימינך ("let not your left hand know what your right hand does"), the text demands that righteous deeds be completely decoupled from personal accounting, social credit, or public display.

5. The Hidden Realm (v. 4)

• The authentic work of the covenant operates strictly בסתר ("in the hidden place"). The Father is designated as הרואה הנסתרות ("He who observes hidden things"). True covenantal giving is anti-theatrical: it exists exclusively in the unobserved sphere where no human stage can commodify it.