HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - Chapter 35

CHAPTER 8 (Part 5) — Section 035 [MT 8:23–27]

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
8:23	ויהי כאשר באו יש״ו באניה ויבואו תלמידיו אחריו׃	And it came to pass when they entered—Yeshu into the boat—that his disciples came after him.
8:24	ויהי סער גדול בים והגלים הולכים מאד והאניה חשבה להשבר׃	And behold, a great tempest arose in the sea, and the waves were surging exceedingly, and the boat was reckoning to be broken.
8:25	ויקרבו אליו תלמידיו ויבקשו ממנו לאמר אדונינו הושיענו פן נאבד׃	And his disciples drew near unto him and sought of him, saying: "Our Lord, save us, lest we perish!"
8:26	ויאמר אליהם למה תתראו מקטני אמנה. ויקם ויצו לים ולרוחות שינוחו ומיד נחו׃	And he said unto them: "Why do you look upon one another, O little ones of covenant faith?" And he arose and commanded unto the sea and unto the winds that they should rest, and immediately they rested.
8:27	והאנשים אשר שם שראו תמהו ויאמרו מי הוא זה שהרוחות והים עושה רצונו׃	And the men who were there who saw it were astonished, saying: "Who is this, that the winds and the sea do his pleasure?"

Harmonic Witness Across the "35" Discourses

When the records of prophetic antiquity are viewed side by side, a unified revelation emerges concerning the helplessness of mortal systems, the vanity of human pride, and the absolute power of the divine decree over chaotic nature:

Theme	Shem-Tob Section 035	Psalm 35	Gospel of Barnabas 35	Surah 35 (Fatir)
Brotherhood vs. Tyranny	Enters the vessel together with them (ba'u Yeshu) as an equal companion, refusing isolation on an exalted dais.	Walked in humble fellowship as with a brother and friend (k'rea k'aḥ li, v. 14), refusing carnal supremacy.	Exposes Lucifer's pride in scorning humble clay to demand supreme status; warns against self-exaltation.	Declares all mankind utterly destitute and equal before the Creator (antum al-fuqara', v. 15).
The Crisis of the Deep	The vessel is battered by surging waves and reckons to break (ḥish'vah l'hishaver); human skill fails.	The righteous cries out to be delivered from destruction and from being swallowed whole by deep waters (vv. 17, 25).	Warns that mortal flesh is merely borrowed earth, incapable of saving itself when judgment falls.	Man’s complete dependency is laid bare before the boundless forces of the natural cosmos.
The Cry of the Helpless	Disciples draw near seeking deliverance: "Our Lord, save us, lest we perish!" (v. 25).	The prayer of the afflicted: "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation... Rescue my soul!" (vv. 3, 17).	Admonishes man to fear Him who holds sovereignty over life and soul, rather than earthly perils.	No earthly partner or intermediary can lift man's affliction when the Originator withholds His hand (v. 2).
Sovereign Command	Winds and sea act as a single obedient servant, immediately executing his pleasure ('oseh r'tzono, v. 27).	The angel of the Name scatters the adversaries like chaff before the unhindered wind (v. 5).	Divine sovereignty subdues all creation, and earthly pride is brought down to judgment.	The Originator commands the winds to give life and harnesses the sea to bear ships by His decree (vv. 9, 12).

Consonantal, Paleographic & Prophetic Notes

• The Companion in the Vessel vs. Clerical Elevation (8:23):
  The base parchment preserves the plural verb ba'u (בָּאוּ) immediately joined to the singular subject: ba'u Yeshu ba-oniyyah ("they entered—Yeshu into the boat"). Later scribes (MSS A–G) smoothed this grammatical friction into the singular ba ("Yeshu entered"), seeking to isolate the Master onto a solitary pedestal. The authentic reading records a shared entrance: he embarks not as an aloof monarch separated from his subjects, but walking directly into the storm alongside his companions. This embodies the testimony of David in the Psalms: "I walked as though he had been my companion, my brother" (Psalm 35:14).
• The Reckoning of the Fragile Vessel (8:24):
  The scribe captures the fury of the squall with an exact prophetic idiom from Jonah 1:4: v'ha-oniyyah ḥish'vah l'hishaver (וְהָאֳנִיָּה חָשְׁבָה לְהִשָּׁבֵר—"and the boat was reckoning to be broken"). While later copies flattened this into a descriptive phrase about waves entering the boat, personifying the ship emphasizes the complete collapse of human defenses. When the deep arises in its fury, all man-made architecture, vessels, and institutions are brought to the brink of ruin. As the Psalmist cries when the waters swell: "Rescue my soul from their destructions... let them not say, We have swallowed him up" (Psalm 35:17, 25).
• The Real Cry vs. Ritualistic Awakening (8:25):
  Standard Greek and harmonized Hebrew manuscripts (ABDEFG) insert the theatrical detail va-yeqitzuhu ("and they awakened him"), harmonizing the scene with the liturgical cry of Psalm 35:23 ("Awake [haqitzah] to my judgment, my God!"). The authentic plate of Shem-Tob records the naked historical reality: va-yivqashu mimenu (וַיְבַקְשׁוּ מִמֶּנּוּ)—"and they sought of him." They were not performing a liturgical awakening; their human terror simply erupted because they saw only the towering waves and forgot the presence of the Word dwelling right beside them.
• Paralysis of Mutual Fear vs. Covenant Trust (8:26):
  Yeshu rebukes them with the rare Hitpa'el verb: lamah titra'u mi-q'tanei amanah (לָמָּה תִתְרָאוּ מִקְטַנֵּי אֲמָנָה). This echoes the rebuke of the patriarch Jacob to his sons during the famine: "Why do ye look one upon another?" (Genesis 42:1). It describes men frozen in panic, desperately staring into each other's eyes because their confidence is anchored in the arm of flesh. The noun amanah is the technical biblical term for an established covenant pact (Nehemiah 10:1). Their panic exposed that while they held titles and followed the vessel, their covenant faith was still small, looking to mortal companions rather than the sovereign Word that commanded the journey.
• The Singular Obedience of Creation (8:27):
  The onlookers marvel: "Who is this, that the winds and the sea do his pleasure?" The plate writes the verb as a singular active participle: 'oseh r'tzono (עוֹשֶׂה רְצוֹנוֹ), which scribes mechanically corrected to the plural 'osim. In prophetic Hebrew, the disparate roaring elements of nature act as a single, unified host fulfilling the divine will: "Bless ye the Name, all ye His hosts; ye ministers of His, that do His pleasure [osei r'tzono]" (Psalm 103:21). Unlike divided human councils and religious factions that resist the truth, the roaring deep and raging winds instantly yield as one servant to the proceeding decree of the Father.