HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 6 (Part 3) — Section 023 [MT 6:16–18]

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 English Translation
16	עוד אמר להם וכאשר תצומו אל תהיו כחנפים שמראים עצמם עצבים ומשנים פניהם להראות צמותם לבני אדם אמן אני אומר לכם שכבר קבלו שכרם׃	Again he said to them: "And when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites who show themselves sad and alter their faces to show their fast to the sons of man. Truly I say to you that already they have received their reward.
17	ואתם בצומכם רחצו ראשיכם׃	And you, in your fasting, wash your heads,
18	שלא תראו מתענים לבני אדם אלא אביך שהוא בסתר ואביך שהוא בסתר ישלם לך׃	so that you shall not be seen afflicting yourselves to the sons of man, but rather your Father who is in secret; and your Father who is in secret shall repay to you."

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• The Critical Consonantal Shift — Fasting (צום) vs. Biblical Affliction (ענה):
  In verse 16, the text identifies the physical mechanism of dietary abstinence as tzomotam (צמותם, from the root צום). However, when Yeshu directs the true disciple in verse 18, he drops the root for physical fasting entirely and switches to מתענים (mit'annim, from the root ענה). In biblical statutory law (Leviticus 16:29–31; Isaiah 58), authentic fasting is never defined merely as missing meals; it is 'innuy nefesh (the affliction, humbling, and crushing of self-will before the Creator).
• The Deception of the Actors — Staged Grief Insulates Against Affliction:
  The text diagnoses the hypocrites (חנפים) as staging an illusion. They disfigure their countenances and present themselves as 'aṣevim (עצבים, sorrowful/vexed) solely to broadcast their fast to the sons of man. Because their staged performance succeeds in extracting public admiration, their suffering is fully compensated on the spot. They are not afflicted; the human praise they harvest shields their ego from true vulnerability before God. As the text concludes with judicial finality: she-kvar qiblu skharam ("they have already received their reward").
• True Affliction Dwells Only in Concealment (בסתר):
  Authentic spiritual affliction cannot survive an audience. By commanding the disciple to wash the head and conceal the fast, the disciple is stripped of all social utility and human applause. Without spectators to stroke the ego, the soul stands naked and broken in ba-seter (the secret resting place) with the Father alone.
• Apparatus & Textual Variants:
  In verse 18, manuscripts ABDEFG smooth the rough prepositional phrasing of the plate (ela avikh) into ela le-avikh ("except to your Father"), matching the earlier phrase livnei adam ("to the sons of man"). Manuscript F reads the older appositional form hu instead of the relative clause prefix she-hu.

Core Diagnostic: Fasting in Shem-Tob's Hebrew is not physical dietary deprivation; it is internal covenant affliction (mit'annim). The religious actor who fasts publicly never suffers affliction, because the currency of human praise immediately pays him in full. Genuine affliction exists only where there are no eyes to see it except the Father in secret.