HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 22

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 6 (Part 2) — Section 022 [MT 6:5–15]

#	Shem-Tob Hebrew Text	Literal Translation
5	בעת ההיא אמר יש״ו לתלמידיו בשעה שתתפללו אל תרימו קול ואל תהיו כחנפים העצבים האוהבים להתפלל בבתי כנסיות ובמקצוע חצרות ומתפללים בגבוהות שישמעו וישבחו בני אדם. אמן אני אומר לכם שכבר קבלו שכרם.	At that time, Yeshu said to his disciples: In the hour that you pray, you shall not lift up a voice, and you shall not be like the sad hypocrites who love to pray in the houses of assemblies and at the corner of courtyards, and pray on high places so that the sons of Adam might hear and praise. Amen I say to you that they have already received their reward.
6	ואתה בהתפללך בא למשכבך וסגור דלתיך בעדך והתפלל לאביך בסתר ואביך הרואה בסתר ישלם לך.	And you, in your praying, enter into your resting place and shut your doors about you, and pray to your Father in secret, and your Father who sees in secret shall repay you.
7	ואתם כאשר תתפללו אל תרבו דברים כמו שהמינים חושבים שברוב דברים ישמעום.	And you, when you pray, you shall not multiply words like the heretics (minim) who reckon that in a multitude of words they will be heard.
8	ואתם אל תראו שאביכם שבשמים יודע דבריכם קודם שתשאלו ממנו?	And you, do you not see that your Father who is in the heavens knows your matters before you ask from Him?
9	וכן תתפללו אבינו יתקדש שמך	And thus you shall pray: Our Father, sanctified be Your name,
10	ויתברך מלכותך רצונך יהיה עשוי בשמים ובארץ.	and blessed be Your kingdom; Your desire shall be performed in heaven and on earth.
11	ותתן לחמנו תמידית.	And give our bread continually (temidit).
12	ומחול לנו חטאתינו כאשר אנחנו מוחלים לחוטאים לנו	And forgive us our sins, just as we forgive those sinning against us,
13	ואל תביאנו לידי נסיון ושמרינו מכל רע אמן.	and do not bring us into the hand of testing, and preserve us from all evil. Amen.
14	אם תמחול לבני אדם עונותיהם ימחול אביכם שבשמים עונותיכם.	If you forgive the sons of Adam their iniquities, your Father who is in the heavens shall forgive your iniquities.
15	ואם לא תמחלו להם לא ימחול לכם עונותיכם.	And if you do not forgive them, He shall not forgive you your iniquities.

Paleographic & Consonantal Analysis

1. Progressive Revelation of the Elevated Dais (Verse 5): In the past, the Greek text served an essential need-to-know role by warning against outward public show on open street corners. That was sufficient for that season. For our time, the Hebrew text uncovers what happens when deception advances: the performers have moved from the streets into the sacred courtyards (חֲצֵרוֹת) and have mounted elevated daises (וּמִתְפַּלְלִים בַּגְּבוֹהוֹת). While institutional translators on the payroll often feel constrained by standard peer review to harmonize this back into the familiar Greek wording, the Hebrew reveals that these actors have elevated themselves above the assembly. In the Torah, going up by steps before the holy place was forbidden (Exodus 20:26); here, they take the high places to extract praise from men, accompanied by loud vocal projection (אַל תָּרִימוּ קוֹל) in direct violation of the quiet Servant posture (Isaiah 42:2).
2. The Humble Bedchamber vs. The Public Platform (Verse 6): Where earlier translations gave us the familiar "closet," the Hebrew parchment specifies בָּא לְמִשְׁכָּבְךָ ("enter into your resting place / bedchamber"). This matches the ancient prophetic discipline seen in 2 Kings 4:33, where Elisha shut the door to pray in secret. To avoid the corruption of elevated public platforms, the seeker must descend into the lowest, most unseen domestic space.
3. Internal Sectarian Formulas (Verse 7): While earlier readers were guided to avoid the vain repetitions of foreign heathens, the Hebrew text unmasks an internal challenge: כְּמוֹ שֶׁהַמִּינִים חוֹשְׁבִים ("as the heretics/sectarians reckon"). The warning confronts the multiplication of words and technical theological verbiage within religious factions, echoing Ecclesiastes 5:2 that our words before God must be few.
4. The Preserved Royal Blessing (Verse 10): The Hebrew text retains וְיִתְבָּרַךְ מַלְכוּתָךְ ("and blessed be Your kingdom"), an authentic Semitic covenant cadence echoing King David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:11, restoring a phrase omitted in Greek recensions.
5. Continual Temple Sustenance (Verse 11): The phrase לַחְמֵנוּ תְּמִידִית (laḥmenu temidit) goes beyond a daily meal, connecting the prayer to the sanctuary Showbread (Exodus 25:30) and the continual offering (Numbers 28:6), seeking perpetual covenant sustenance from heaven.
6. Preservation from Judicial Testing (Verse 13): The Hebrew idiom וְאַל תְּבִיאֵנוּ לִידֵי נִסָּיוֹן ("do not bring us into the hand of testing") addresses being placed into the legal custody of adversarial trials, appealing to the Father for preservation in times of severe siftings.