HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 9 (Part 3) — Section 040 [MT 9:18–26]

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
Header	פרק מ׳	Section 40
18	ויהי כדברו אליהם והנה שר אחד קרב וישתחו לו לאמר אדוני בתי כבר עתה מתה בא עתה ושים ידך עליה והחייה׃	And it came to pass as he spoke unto them, and behold, a certain ruler drew near and bowed down to him, saying: "My lord, my daughter is indeed now dead; come now, and place your hand upon her, and cause her to live."
19	ויקם יש״ו וילך הוא ותלמידיו עמו׃	And Yeshu arose and went, he and his disciples with him.
20	והנה אשה זבת דם שתים עשרה שנה בא מאחריו ונגע בציצית בגדו׃	And behold, a woman pouring out blood twelve years, came behind him and touched the tassel of his garment.
21	והיא היתה אומרת בלבה אם אגע בבגדו לבד מיד ארפא׃	And she was saying in her heart: "If I touch his clothing alone, I shall be healed immediately."
22	ויפן פניו ויאמר אליה התחזקי בתי בהשם יתברך כי אמונתך רפאתך. ובשעה ההיא נרפאת׃	And he turned his face and said unto her: "Strengthen yourself, my daughter, in the Name, blessed be He, for your faith has healed you." In that hour she was healed.
23	ויהי בבואו בבית השר וירא אנשים רבים בוכים׃	And it came to pass when he came into the house of the ruler, that he saw many men weeping.
24	ויאמר אליהם צאו כלכם לחוץ ואל תבכו כי הנערה ישנה ולא מתה. ויהי כמלעיגים בעיניהם ואומרים הנה אין אנו רואים שהיא מתה׃	And he said unto them: "Go out, all of you, to the outside, and do not weep, for the maiden is sleeping and not dead." And it was as mocking in their eyes; and they were saying: "Behold, are we not seeing that she is dead?"
25	ובהוציאם לחוץ בא יש״ו אליה ונגע בידה ותקם הנערה׃	And upon their putting them outside, Yeshu came unto her and touched her hand, and the maiden arose.
26	ויצא השמועה הזאת בכל הארץ ההיא׃	And this report went out into all that land.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• Verse 18 — The Truncated Address אדו׳ and the Rejection of Idolatry: The manuscript plate deliberately withholds the full divine title Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) as well as the standard vocative Adoni (אֲדוֹנִי). Instead, it leaves the abbreviated form אדו׳ with a scribal geresh. This precise orthographic limit ensures that Yeshu is addressed purely as an earthly instrument and not deified as the Creator. The apparatus reflects this scribal boundary: manuscript B omits the word entirely, while manuscripts E and F substitute the civil designation שר אלף ("chief of a thousand / ruler"). The ruler approaches a mortal agent for physical touch, contrasting sharply with the woman's unmediated faith.
• Verse 20 — The Masculine Root בָּא ("He Came"), Abrahamic Standing, and the Gospel of Thomas: The raw parchment presents an unmistakable grammatical shift: והנה אשה אחת... בא אחריו. Following the feminine subject (אשה אחת), the verb is written in the third-person masculine singular root: בָּא (ba — "he came"), omitting the feminine ending ה. Later scribes in manuscripts A and D smoothed this reading by altering it to the standard feminine בָּאָה. In standardizing the grammar, they obscured a profound Semitic mystery of covenantal standing. This grammatical transformation directly parallels the principle preserved in the Gospel of Thomas (Saying 114), where Simon Peter demands that Mary leave because "women are not worthy of life," and the reply is given: "Behold, I will draw her so that I might make her male, so that she also might be a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven." Under the created order of the flesh, woman was made in the image of man, and man in the image of God. However, in approaching the covenant, this woman bypassed all human mediation, patriarchal hierarchy, and institutional religion. By recording her action with the masculine singular verb בָּא, the Hebrew text registers her approach not under a secondary, mediated feminine position, but under the direct, unmediated standing of a "son" and covenantal heir—operating with the singular faith of Abraham, which is counted for righteousness before the Creator alone.
• Verses 20–22 — Grasping the ציצית and Deliverance Solely in the Name (בש״ית): The woman reached out not to touch the physical person of Yeshu, but the ציצית (tzitzit / ritual tassel) on the hem of his garment—the physical sign ordained in the Torah representing the commandments and covenant of the Most High. The institutional authorities of the period trusted in human precepts and mortal hierarchy, but this woman bypassed every human office to anchor her hope in the Creator of heaven and earth. Yeshu confirms this unmediated source of healing in verse 22: התחזקי בתי בש״ית שאמונתך רפאך. The acronym בש״ית stands for ba-Shem yitbarakh ("in the Name, blessed be He"). Yeshu redirects all glory away from his mortal person, declaring that her healing was accomplished because her faith was placed directly in the Name of the Father.
• Ritual Professional Mourners vs. True Life (vv. 23–24): In verse 23, Yeshu encounters אנשים רבים בוכים ("many men weeping"). Just as with performative fasting in Section 39, the professional weeping of the crowd is exposed as insincere: the moment Yeshu challenges their assessment, their tears instantly turn to mocking (כמלעיגים בעיניהם). They are put outside because mechanical mourning has no connection to the divine power that restores life.