HEBREW GOSPEL OF MATTHEW - CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 2 — Section 003 [MT 2:1–12]

פרק שלישי

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 2:1–12]) 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	ויהי כאשר נולד יש״ו בבית לחם יהודה בימי הורודוס המלך והנה חוזים בכוכבים באים ממזרח לירושלם׃	And it came to pass when Yeshu was born in Beit Lechem of Yehudah in the days of Hordos the king, behold, gazers in the stars coming from the sunrise to Yerushalayim,
2	לאמר איה מלך היהודים הנולד׃ ראינו סבבו במזרח ובמתנות חשובות באו להשתחוות לו׃	saying: "Where is the king of the Yehudim that is born? We saw his circuit in the sunrise, and with weighty offerings we have come to bow down to him."
3	וישמע הורודוס המלך ויבהל וכל יושבי ירושלם עמו׃	And Hordos the king heard and was dismayed, and all the sitters of Yerushalayim with him.
4	ויקבוץ כל גדוליו ויבקש מהם אם היו יודעים באיזה מקום נולד המשיח׃	And he gathered all his great men, and sought of them whether they were knowing in which place the Anointed was born.
5	ויענו אליו בבית לחם יהודה ככתיב על פי הנביא	And they answered to him: "In Beit Lechem of Yehudah, as written by the mouth of the prophet:
6	ואתה בית לחם יהודה אפרתה ארץ יהודה הן אתה צעיר באלפי יהודה ממך לי יצא להיות מושל בישראל׃	'And you, Beit Lechem Yehudah Ephratah, land of Yehudah, behold you are small among the thousands of Yehudah; from you unto me shall go out to be a ruler in Yisra'el.'"
7	אז קרא המלך הורודוס לקוסמים בסתר וישאל מהם היטב זמן ראית הכוכב להם׃	Then the king Hordos called to the diviners in secret, and inquired of them thoroughly the time of the star’s appearance to them.
8	וישלחם לבית לחם ויאמר אליהם לכו ושאלו היטב בעד הילד ובמוצאכם אותו הגידו לי וגם אני אבא אליו להשתחוות׃	And he sent them to Beit Lechem and said to them: "Go and inquire thoroughly on behalf of the child, and upon your finding him declare to me, and I also will come to him to bow down."
9	וישמעו אל המלך וילכו והנה הכוכב אשר ראו במזרח הולך לפניהם עד בואם אל המקום׃ וכאשר באו בית לחם עמד נגד המקום אשר שם הילד׃	And they listened unto the king and went; and behold, the star which they saw in the sunrise was walking before them until their coming unto the place; and when they came to Beit Lechem, it stood opposite the place where the child was there.
10	ויהי כאשר ראו את הכוכב שמחו שמחה גדולה עד מאד׃	And it came to pass when they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11	ויביאו אל הבית וימצאהו ואת מר״ים אמו ויכרעו לפניו וישתחוו לו ויפתחו את אמתחותיהם ויביאו אליו מנחת זהב ולבונה ומור בלעז מי״רא׃	And they brought [themselves] unto the house and found him and Miryam his mother, and they kneeled before him and bowed down to him; and they opened their sacks and brought unto him an offering of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, in a foreign tongue myrrha.
12	ויוצוו בחלום לבלתי שוב אל הורודוס מהמלאך אמר להם ויפנו דרך ארצם בדרך אחרת׃	And they were commanded in a dream not to return unto Hordos from the messenger speaking to them; and they turned the way of their land by another way.

Consonantal & Paleographic Notes

• פרק שלישי (Third Section): Preserves the authentic internal Hebrew division heading designating this pericope as Section 3 of 116. While Western Latin/Greek tradition begins "Chapter 2" here, the Hebrew manuscript treats the birth account (MT 1:18–25) as Section 2 and this visit as Section 3.
• Hebrew Identification of the Visitors (Verses 1 & 7):
  • In verse 1, the text describes them as חוזים בכוכבים (chozim bakokhavim)—literally "seers / gazers in the stars" (the classical biblical Semitic term for astrologers/astronomers, as in Isaiah 47:13).
  • In verse 7, the narrative refers to them as לקוסמים (la-qosemim), from the physical kinetic root קסם (qasam — divining, reading lots/omens). The text relies purely on native Tanakh vocabulary rather than Hellenistic terminology.
• Verse 2 (סבבו במזרח & במתנות חשובות):
  • The Hebrew records ראינו סבבו במזרח. The noun derives from the kinetic root סבב (savav — to turn around, circle, orbit). Rather than an abstract "we saw his star," the Semitic text literally reads: "we saw his circuit / turning / revolution in the sunrise [east]."
  • במתנות חשובות: Rendered literally as "with weighty / reckoned offerings," from the root חשב (chashav — to calculate, reckon, hold valuable).
• Consonantal Form יש״ו (Verse 1): The name continues to be recorded strictly as יש״ו (Y-Sh-W) with three consonants and scribal double primes.
• Verses 3 & 9 (יושבי & לפניהם):
  • יושבי ירושלם: Literally "the sitters / dwellers of Yerushalayim" (root ישב, sitting/settling).
  • הולך לפניהם: The motion of the star is expressed through the concrete physical verb: "walking before their faces."
• Verse 11 (Physical Gifts & Linguistic Boundary בלעז מי״רא):
  • אמתחותיהם: The rare, archaic biblical word for traveling sacks/pouches (used extensively in the Joseph narrative in Genesis 42–44).
  • בלעז מי״רא: Following the presentation of מור (mor — myrrh), the text places the linguistic boundary marker בלעז (b'la'az — "in an outside/foreign tongue") to transcribe the Romance/Latin name מי״רא (myrrha), demarcating Semitic vocabulary from external vernacular glosses.
• Verse 12 (מהמלאך אמר להם): The construction preserves authentic Semitic syntactic compression: "from the messenger [who] spoke to them," directing their departure along an alternative route.