HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 8

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CHAPTER 3 (Part 3) — Section 008 [MT 3:13–17]

פרק שמיני

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
13	אז בא יש״ו מהגליל את הירדן להטביל מיוחנן׃	Then came Yeshu from the Galil unto the Yarden to immerse from Yochanan.
14	ויוחנן היה מספק להטבילו ויאמר אני ראוי להטביל מידך ואתה בא אלי׃	And Yochanan was hesitating to immerse him, and he said: "I am worthy to immerse from your hand, and you come unto me?"
15	ויען יש״ו ויאמר לו הנח שכן אנו חייבים להשלים כל צדקה ואז הטבילוהו׃	And Yeshu answered and said to him: "Leave it, for thus we are obligated to complete all righteousness"; and then they immersed him.
16	ומיד שעלה מן המים נפתחו לו השמים וירא רוח אלקים יורדת כיונה ושרתה עליו׃	And immediately when he ascended from the water, the heavens opened unto him, and he saw the breath of Elohim descending like a dove and resting upon him.
17	והנה קול מן השמים אומר זה בני אהובי מאד מאד נאהב וחפצי בו׃	And behold, a voice from the heavens saying: "This is my son, my beloved, very greatly beloved, and my pleasure is in him."

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק שמיני (Eighth Section): Preserves the authentic internal Hebrew division heading designating this narrative as Section 8 of the 116 units [MT 3:13–17].
• Verse 13 (את הירדן & מהגליל):
  • מהגליל: Spelled with Lamed (מהגליל), differing from the earlier defective geographic form ארץ הגלגל.
  • את הירדן: Direct-object preposition את marks the physical destination ("unto the Yarden").
  • להטביל מיוחנן: Native Semitic receipt syntax: "to immerse from Yochanan."
• Verse 14 (מספק & מידך):
  • מספק: Active Rabbinic participle from root ספק (safeq — to waver, be in doubt, hesitate). Yochanan was actively experiencing internal doubt/hesitation.
  • מידך: "from your hand" — concrete kinetic idiom for receiving physical action directly from a person.
• Verse 15 (ואז הטבילוהו — Collective Immersion vs. Later Theological Smoothing):
  • The Plural Verb on the Parchment: The manuscript explicitly reads הטבילוהו (Hif'il 3rd-person common plural verb with 3rd-person singular masculine suffix: hitbiluhu — "they immersed him"). It was emphatically not Yochanan operating in solitary isolation. Under authentic Second Temple Halakhic practice, ritual immersion (tevilah) in living water required witnesses and attendants to ensure unhindered submersion. Yochanan and his accompanying company immersed him together.
  • Copyist Alteration & Theological Censorship: The critical apparatus reveals that the earliest and primary witnesses (Manuscripts A, D, E, F, and G) all firmly preserve the plural reading הטבילוהו. However, this collective immersion directly clashed with later ecclesiastical dogma, which demanded a solitary sacramental rite performed exclusively by John as a singular officiant. Consequently, later copyists of Manuscripts B and C deliberately smoothed and altered the text, forcing it into the singular or appending a harmonizing gloss (הטבילהו יוחנן — "Yochanan immersed him") to align the Hebrew with standard Western theological expectations.
  • חייבים להשלים כל צדקה: Technical Halakhic phrasing: חייבים (bound by legal obligation/duty) to להשלים (bring to full completion, root sh-l-m) all righteousness (צדקה).
• Verses 16–17 (The Presence of Elohim vs. Standard Western Bibles):
  • Elohim on the Parchment: When reading standard English or Greek New Testaments, readers encounter generic translations like "the Spirit of God" followed by an anonymous "voice from heaven." The specific Hebrew title is completely masked. In Shem-Tob’s original Hebrew text, however, the specific title אלקים (Elohim) appears explicitly: רוח אלקים ("the breath of Elohim").
  • The Heavenly Voice: Immediately following the descent of the breath of Elohim, verse 17 declares: והנה קול מן השמים אומר זה בני אהובי... ("And behold, a voice from the heavens saying: This is my son, my beloved..."). In Western translations, this is routinely conflated into a singular, abstract "God" speaking as a biological father. In the original Hebrew manuscript, the speaker is directly framed within the context of אלקים (the heavenly court/divine realm), not the ineffable Name (יהוה). Sonship here is an appointment within the order of Elohim—a status of commission and covenant—preserving the exact distinction obscured by conventional Bible translations.
  • ושרתה עליו: Root שרה (sharah — to dwell, abide, rest upon), the exact kinetic Semitic root applied to the resting of the divine presence (Shekinah).
  • מאד מאד נאהב וחפצי בו: Intensive duplicate מאד מאד modifying the passive participle נאהב ("very greatly beloved"), paired with חפצי בו (root chafetz — delight, pleasure, desire): "and my pleasure is in him."