HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 9

CHAPTER 4 — Section 009 [MT 4:1–11]

פרק תשיעי

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
1	אז לוקח יש״ו ברוח הקדוש למדבר להתנסות מהשטן׃	Then was Yeshu taken by the holy breath unto the wilderness to be tested by the Satan.
2	ויצום מ״ יום וארבעים לילה ואח״כ נרעב׃	And he fasted 40 days and forty nights, and afterwards he hungered.
3	מקרב המנסה ואמר לו אם בן אלקים אתה אמור שהאבנים האלה ישובו לחם׃	The tester drew near and said to him: "If you are a son of Elohim, say that these stones shall return [become] bread."
4	ויען יש״ו ויאמר לו כתוב כי לא על הלחם לבדו וגו׳׃	And Yeshu answered and said to him: "It is written that not upon the bread alone, etc."
5	אז לקח אותו השטן בעיר הקדוש ויעמידהו על מקום היותר גבוה שבכל המקדש	Then the Satan took him into the holy city and stood him upon the highest place that is in all the sanctuary,
6	ואמר אליו אם אלקים אתה דלג למטה וכ׳ כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמרך בכל דרכיך וגו׃	and said unto him: "If you are Elohim, leap downward, etc., for 'His messengers He shall command for you to guard you in all your ways, etc.'"
7	ויען אליו יש״ו שנית לא תנסה את ה״ אלקיך׃	And Yeshu answered unto him a second time: "You shall not test the Name your Elohim."
8	וישא אותו השטן בהר גבוה מאד ויראהו כל ממלכות הארץ וכבודם	And the Satan lifted him upon a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and their glory,
9	ויאמר לו כל אלה אתן לך אם תפרע אלי׃	and said to him: "All these I will give to you if you uncover/fall down unto me."
10	אז ענה לו יש״ו לך השטן בלעז שָׂאטָאנָאשׂ שכן כתיב את ה״ אתפלל ואותו לבדו תעבוד׃	Then answered him Yeshu: "Go, the Satan, in a foreign tongue Satanas, for thus it is written: 'Unto the Name I will pray, and Him alone shall you serve.'"
11	אז עזב אותו השטן והנה מלאכים קרבו אליו וישרפוהו׃	Then the Satan left him, and behold, messengers drew near unto him and healed him.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק תשיעי (Ninth Section): Preserves the authentic internal Hebrew division heading designating this narrative as Section 9 of the 116 units [MT 4:1–11].
• Verse 1 (לוקח & ברוח הקדוש):
  • לוקח: Passive participle ("was taken / led").
  • ברוח הקדוש: Concretely rendered "by the holy breath," exhibiting masculine adjectival agreement with ruach directly on the plate.
  • להתנסות מהשטן: Hitpa'el reflexive/passive form: "to be tested / put to the trial by the Satan."
• Verse 2 (מ״ יום):
  • The scribe records the number 40 using the letter מ״ with gershayim for the days, followed by the fully written word וארבעים for the nights.
  • ואח״כ: Abbreviation for ve-achar kakh ("and after so / afterwards").
• Verse 3 (בן אלקים & ישובו):
  • בן אלקים: "son of Elohim" — strictly preserving the title Elohim without generic alteration.
  • ישובו לחם: Kinetic verb root שוב (shuv — to return / turn back / become).
• Verses 4 & 6 (The Scribal "Etc." — A Deliberate Marker, Not Scribal Laziness):
  • Scribal Truncations (וגו׳ / וכ׳): Modern readers often assume abbreviations like וגו׳ (ve-gumla / "and the rest / etc.") or וכ׳ (ve-khulei) are merely the shortcuts of a lazy or rushed scribe. In ancient Semitic transmission, the exact opposite is true.
  • Signaling the Faithful vs. Rebuking the Hollow: The scribe deliberately leaves the well-known words uncompleted because to the casual reader, the skeptic, and the religious hypocrite, repetitive recitation has become hollow, rote, and brought to naught. The scribe refuses to cast sacred words before those who treat them as empty noise.
  • A Mutual Code of Recognition: By stopping at the threshold with "etc.", the text signals the faithful believer. The scribe lets the reader know: "I know what is written here, and anyone who actually treasures and guards this text also knows." It demands active inward remembrance rather than passive outward repetition.
• Verse 5 (המקום היותר גבוה שבכל המקדש):
  • Idiomatic Hebrew superlative: "the place that is highest that is in all the sanctuary."
• Verse 6 (אם אלקים אתה — Manuscript Reading):
  • The plate reads אם אלקים אתה ("If you are Elohim"), omitting the construct ben found in verse 3.
  • דלג: Kinetic Semitic command from root דלג (daleg — leap / spring downward).
• Verse 7 (את ה״ אלקיך):
  • Strictly rendered as "the Name your Elohim" (preserving ה״).
• Verse 9 (תפרע אלי):
  • Root פרע (para' — to uncover, strip, cast oneself down in submission).
• Verse 10 (את ה״ אתפלל ואותו לבדו תעבוד — The Prayer That Satan Must Serve God):
  • בלעז שָׂאטָאנָאשׂ: Explicit scribal gloss noting the foreign vocalization: "in a foreign tongue, Satanas."
  • A Direct Mandate, Not an Abstract Axiom: Standard Western translations render this as a generic command to the believer ("Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve"). In Shem-Tob's Hebrew, however, the grammar pivots with an explicit first-person verb followed by a direct second-person imperative: את ה״ אתפלל ואותו לבדו תעבוד — "Unto the Name I will pray, and Him alone shall you serve".
  • The Theological Reality & Ancient Parallels: Yeshu is not reciting a detached rule; he is praying directly to the Name that the adversary himself will serve and submit to the Almighty alone, establishing that the Sovereign Creator cannot be mocked. This exact ancient concept—where a prophet appeals to God concerning an adversary so that the adversary is forcefully brought to acknowledge, submit, and serve the true God—is preserved in ancient Semitic-patterned literature, such as the account of Jacob and Sherem in the Book of Mormon (Jacob 7). There, the prophet’s prayer over an antagonistic adversary results in the adversary being humbled, kept alive/nourished, and ultimately constrained to confess the power and reality of the One True God before expiring. In Shem-Tob, Satan is likewise reminded that he is entirely subject to the sovereign decree of the Name: "Him alone shall you serve."
• Verse 11 (וישרפוהו):
  • וישרפוהו: Preserving the rare Semitic reading denoting healing, restoring, or tending, distinct from the Greek "ministered."