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THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW | Chapters 1–3

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 THE SEPHARDIC
GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
In consideration of other ancient sources
THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Introduction
The following translation is based on Vat. ebr. 100, an anonymous MS from
the fifteenth century, designated below as V.a It contains all four Gospels
rendered from Catalan into Hebrewb and was likely made under duress by
a Jewish scholar who sabotaged it.c Nonetheless, the text has variants that
cohere with ‘The Gospel According to the Hebrews’ (GH).d Quotes of the
latter are inserted, and alternate readings are used when V appears corrupt.
The sources for these replacements and their abbreviations are listed below:

A Aphrahat
B Basel Nizzahon
C Cinquarbres
D Du Tillet
E Ephrem

G Gaster Hebrew MS 1616 e

H Harley MS 7637
I Ishodad
J Judaikon
K Kelimat HaGoyim
M Münster
N Neofiti 32
O Old Syriac
P Pugio Fidei
R Reuben’s Milchamot Hashem
S Shem Tov
T Tatian’s Diatessaron
V Vat. ebr. 100
Y Yosef HaMekanne

a https://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.ebr.100.
b See H. Hames, “Translated from Catalan,” in: Science and Society in the Crown of Aragon, ed. A.
Alberni and L. Badia et al. (Barcelona, 2012), 285–302.
c See Pinchas E. Lapide, Hebrew in the Church (Grand Rapids, 1984), 48–52.
d E.g. the breaking of the lintel stone as mentioned by Jerome (Comm. Matt. 27.51).
e A Hebrew translation of the Peshitta prepared in 1750 by Ezekiel Rahabi in Cochin, India.
1
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

1
generation I 1
This is the book of the generation of Yeshua the Mashiach,
Yeshua the Mashiach
CGHIMNOR
the son of David, the son of Avraham:
Mashiach V
2
Avraham begat Yitzchak,
Yeshua D S Yitzchak begat Yaakov,
Yaakov begat Yehuda and his brothers.
3
Yehuda begat Peretz and Zerach from Tamar,
Peretz begat Chetzron,
Ram C D H M R S Chetzron begat Ram.
Aram G N O V 4
Ram begat Aminadav,
Aminadav begat Nachshon,
Nachshon begat Salmon.
Rachav and Rut omitted 5
Salmon begat Boaz, Boaz begat Oved, Oved begat Yishai.
6
Yishai begat David, the king of Yisrael.
the king of Yisrael David, the king of Yisrael, begat Shlomo from the wife of Uriyah.
only in V 7
Shlomo begat Rechavam,
Rechavam begat Aviyah,
Aviyah begat Asa.
8
Asa begat Yehoshafat,
Yehoshafat begat Yoram,
Yoram begat Uziyah.
9
Uziyah begat Yotam,
Yotam begat Achaz,
Achaz begat Chizkiyah.
10
Chizkiyah begat Menashe,
Menashe begat Amon,
Amon begat Yoshiyah.
11
Yoshiyah had begotten Yechonyah and his brothers by the time of
the exile of Bavel.
After the exile of Bavel 12
Yechonyah begat Shealtiel,
omitted D S V
Shealtiel begat Zerubavel.
13
Zerubavel begat Avihud,
Avihud begat Elyakim,
Elyakim begat Azor.
14
Azor begat Tzadok,
Tzadok begat Akim,
Akim begat Elihud.

2
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

15
Elihud begat Eleazar,
Eleazar begat Mattan,
Mattan begat Yaakov.
the father of Miryam 16
Yaakov begat Yosef, the father of Miryam,a
– avi miryam S
of whom was born Yeshua, who is called Mashiach.
17
Thus, all the generations from Avraham to David were fourteen, and
from David to the exile of Bavel were fourteen, and from the exile of
Bavel to Yeshua, fourteen.
generation – toledet 18
And the generationb of Yeshua Mashiach was thus: When his mother
CDMNV
Miryam was betrothed to Yosef, before they became one flesh,c she was
found pregnant of Ruach HaKodesh. 19 And Yosef, being a tzadik, was
unwilling to deliver her unto death,d but rather wanted to divorce her
‫ יהוה‬C H M in secret. 20 And while he pondered about this, an angel of Yahweh
Hashem V
Adonai N
appeared to Yosef in a dream and said:
Marya G
“Yosef, son of David, fear not to take Miryam your wife, for
that which is born in here is of Ruach HaKodesh. 21 And she will
bear a son, and you shall call his name Yeshua; for he will savef
transgressions – avonot Yisraelg from their transgressions.”
wilful Torah violations
22
And all this was done to completeh the word of El i spoken by the
prophet: 23 “Behold, a young womanj will conceive and bear a son, and
shall call his name Imanuel.” 24 And when Yosef arose from his dream,
he did as the angel of El had told him, and took his wife, 25 and did not
firstborn know her until she gave birth to her firstborn son, and he called him
BDEMPSTY
Yeshua.

a As per Shem Tov variant in Ms. Opp. Add. 4° 111, Folio 77v. Bodleian Library, Oxford. The
MS contains the genealogy of Miryam and corrects the last set from 13 to 14 generations;
the lineages in Matthew and Luke are thereby reconciled (the latter showing the descent of
Yosef, the husband). Up to the 3rd century, no one viewed the genealogies as conflicting.
b In most MSS, ‘generation’ (γένεσις | génesis) was changed to ‘birth’ (γέννησις | génnēsis)
since génesis also means ‘beginning’ and opposes the Messiah’s pre-existence; cf. Mt 1.1
c ‘Became one flesh’ as per Y.
d ‘Deliver her to death’ is found in D S V. Yosef was afraid of “delivering innocent blood
to the judgment of death.” Gospel of Yaakov 14.1 (c. 130 CE). In 850 CE, Syriac writer Ishodad
commented: “He knew that he would deliver her to death, if he exposed her.” M. Gibson,
The Commentaries of Isho’dad of Merv, 13.
e ‘Born in her’ as per I T.
f ‫( ישוע‬yeshua = salvation); ‫( כי הוא יושיע‬ki hu yoshia = for he will save).
g ‘Yisrael’ as per Y.
h S always has ‘complete’ when a prophecy is exhausted, i.e. when it has been fulfilled twice.
i ‘G-d’ (cf. Gen 17.1; 21.3; Ps 9.1–2; 83.18); rendered adonai in N.
j Isa 7.14 refers to both Yeshaya’s wife and the virgin Miryam; thus almah is to be rendered
‘young woman’ as in Y.
3
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

2
a city C D H M 1
When Yeshua was born in Beit-Lechem, a city of Yehudah,a in the days
omitted in the Gk
of king Hordos, behold kingsb of the east came to Yerushalayim, saying,
2
“Where is the new-born king of the Yehudim? For we have seen his
star in the east and we have come with gifts to bow down before him.”
3
And when king Hordos heard their words, he was troubled and all the
people in Yerushalayim with him. 4 So he gathered all the chief priests
sages – chachamim and the sages of the people, [and asked them where Mashiach was born.
Yehudah C D G H 5
They said, “In Beit-Lechem of Yehudah,c for it is written in the
MNOP
prophet:
Efratah C D H M S 6
‘And you, Beit-Lechem Efratah,
Land of Judah Gk
though you are small among the clans of Yehudah,
out of you will come for me one
who will be ruler in Yisrael.’”d
7
Then Hordos called the kings]e in secret, and asked them in detail about
the time at which the star appeared to them. 8 So he sent them to Beit-
Lechem and said, “Go and ask wisely about the child, and when you
have found it, bring back word to me, for I will go and worship before
him.” 9 And when they heard the words of the king, they went on their
way, and behold, the star which they had seen in the east preceded them
until it stood above the place where the child was. 10 And when they
great joy O V beheld the star they rejoiced with great joy. 11 So they entered the cavef
exceeding great joy Gk
and found the child with Miryam his mother, and bowed down before
him. Then they opened their treasures, and gave him gold, and frankin-
cense, and myrrh. 12 And the angelg warned them not to return to Hor-
kingdom only in V dos; and they departed to their kingdom by another way.

a V has ‘in the land of Yehudah.’

b V has only ‘kings’ while P adds ‘wise in the stars;’ S reads ‘stargazers.’
c “This is an error of the copyists; for we think the first edition of the evangelist read, as the
Hebrew itself reads, ‘Judah,’ not ‘Judea.’” Jerome, Comm. on Matthew 2.5. S has ‫‘( יודא‬Juda’).
d As per Mic 5.2. Referencing GH, Jerome states: “Wherever the evangelist cites testimonies
from the Old Testament, he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septua-
gint, but rather the Hebrew.” Vir. ill. 3.
e Taken from G since V lacks verses 4a-7b.
f ‘Cave’ according to the Gospel of Yaakov 21.3. “But when the child was born in Beit-Lechem,
since Yosef could not find a lodging in that village, he took up his quarters in a certain cave
near the village.” J. Martyr, Dial. 78 (c. 150 CE). The Messiah’s birth in a cave is also con-
firmed by Origen, Cels. 1.51 (248 CE), and Jerome, Letter 108.10 (404 CE).
g The angel is mentioned in D S V and in the Gospel of Yaakov but not in the canonical Greek.
4
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

13
And it came to pass, after the kings had left Yeshua,a behold an angel
of Yahweh appeared to Yosef in a dream, and said to him, “Arise and
take the boy and his mother and flee to Mitzrayim, and stay there until
destroy I O I tell you, ‘Arise!’,b for Hordos will want to destroy the child.” 14 So he
afflict V
slay B
arose and took the child and his mother by night and went to Mitzrayim
15
and stayed there until Hordos’ death, to complete the word of El
spoken by the prophet: “Out of Mitzrayim I have called Him, my Son.”
three kings only in V 16
And it came to pass, when Hordos saw that the three kings had mocked
him, he was very angry.⌐And being vexed at heart, he commanded that
word be sent to all his ministersc to kill all boys of Beit-Lechem and all
the time the child was born its surroundings, from the time the child was born according as he had
SV
two years old and under
inquired from the kings. 17 And thus was completed what was said by
Gk the prophet Yirmeyah:
“A voice in Ramah was heard,
18

lamentation and bitter weeping,

Rachel bewailing her sons,
refusing to be comforted for her children,
for they are no more.”
king G O S 19
And when king Hordos had died, an angel of Yahweh appeared in a
omitted in the Gk
dream to Yosef in Mitzrayim, 20 saying, “Arise and take the boy and his
he is dead V mother and go to the land of Yisrael, for he is dead who wanted to kill
they are dead Gk the child.” 21 And he arose and took the boy and his mother and re-
turned to the land of Yisrael. 22 And it came to pass, when he heard that
Archelos was king in the land of Yehudah in place of his father Hordos,
by the angel only in S he was afraid to go there and was prompted by the angel in a dream to
go the land of Galil. 23 And he dwelt in a town known as Netzeret, to
fulfill the prophecy which said he would be called a Notzri.

3
[It came to pass in the days of Hordos <Antipas>, king of Yehuda, in
the high priesthood of Caiaphas, that a certain man named Yochanan,
son of Zekharyah and Elisheva, from the lineage of Aharon the priest,
came immersing with the mikvah of repentance in the river Yarden.]d

a Likely a misreading of ‘when the angels returned to look for Yeshua’ in Y. V has ‘and after
their return’ which must mean departure since the Magi would have traveled for months.
b As per Y.
c As per S.
d The 30-year gap between Mt 2.23 and Mt 3.1 is bridged by GH, the beginning of which I
have inserted here. Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.6
5
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

teshuva – repentance
black + forest only in S
10
tunics – ketonot S
Behold S O
only C D H M
both omitted in the Gk
will heal you only in V
1
And he was preaching in the wilderness of Yehuda, 2 saying, “Perform
teshuva, for the kingdom of heaven is here.”a 3 This is what Yeshayah
prophesied, saying, “A voice cries in the desert: ‘Return to the way of
Yahweh, make a righteous highway in the barren land for our G-d.”
4
[And Yochanan had a garment of camel’s hair, and a girdle of black
skin around his loins. And his meat was honey of the forest,b whose
taste was that of manna, as challah in oil].c 5 And there went out to him
Prushim and all Yerushalayim and all the kingdom around the Yarden,
6
and they were immersed by him while confessing their transgressions.
<vv. 7–9 omitted>d
And Yochanan said, “The axe is placed at the root of the tree, and every
tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and burned.” [And
the crowds asked him, “What shall we do then?” And he replied, “He
that has two tunics, let him give one to him that has none.” And the
Prushim came to be immersed and said, “Rabbi, what shall we do?”
And Yochanan said to them, “Desire evil for no one; do no harm to
anyone, and be faithful in all your ways.” And all the people thought
that Yochanan was the Mashiach, so he replied,]e 11 “Behold, I am only
immersing you in water for repentance, but he who is coming after me
is mightier than I, and I am not worthy to take off his shoe. And he will
immerse you with Ruach HaKodesh and will heal you with fire. 12 His fan
is in his hand, and behold, he will cleanse the floor and gather his wheat
into his barn, but the hay he will burn with eternal fire.”
[And it came to pass that Yeshua’s mother and his brothers said to him,
“Yochanan is immersing for the remission of sins; let us also go and be
immersed by him.” But he said to them, “Wherein have I sinned, that I
should go and be immersed by him, unless peradventure this very thing
that I have said is a sin of ignorance?”]f

a The verb karav, the equivalent of the Greek engiken, means that the kingdom of heaven had
arrived. D. Bivin, Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus (Shippensburg, PA, 2001), 62–65.
b Honey-water derived from the gum or sap of trees. J. Kelhoffer, “John the Baptist’s ‘Wild
Honey’ and ‘Honey’ in Antiquity,” GRBS 45 (2005): 72.
c While GH omits ‘locusts,’ Yochanan’s Aharonic descent tallies with a diet of matzah in oil
(see Lev 8.26). Epiphanius, Panarion 30.13.4.
d In GH, Prushim repented and were immersed; this contradicts the wholesale condem-
nation in the Greek. Moreover, in the canonical Gk the publicans are admonished not to
abuse their power while in O they are called ‘brood of vipers’ (together with the Prushim).
e S contains Lk 3.10–11, 14–15 yet without mentioning publicans nor soldiers. V, however,
reads ‘Prushim’ instead of ‘soldiers.’
f Cited from GH by Jerome, Against the Pelagians 3.2.
6
 THE SEPHARDIC GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

[And after the people had been immersed, Yeshua came from the Galil
purified G to the river Yarden to be purified by Yochanan. And behold, when he
ascended from the water, the heavens opened and he saw the entire
fountain of G-d’s Spirit descending like a dove and entering into him.a
And there came a voice from heaven, saying, “You are my Son; in all
the prophets I was expecting you, that you might come and I may rest
in you. Indeed, you are my rest; you are my firstborn Son who will reign
forever.” And again, “You are my Son, this day have I begotten you.”b
And immediately a brilliant light shone round about the place.c Seeing
this, Yochanan said to him, “Who are you?” And again, there came a
voice from heaven, saying, “This is my Son, my beloved; he is loved
righteous before me R very, very much and is righteous before me.”d And Yochanan fell down
before him and said, “I pray you, Rabbi, immerse me.” But he forbade
truth R him, saying, “Let it go; for thus it is meet to fulfill all truth.”]e

[TBC]

a GH confirms that Mk 1.10 originally read ‘the Spirit like a dove descending into (εἰς) him.’
See B. Ehrmann, The Orthodox Corruption of Scripture (New York, 1993), 141.
b The words of Ps 2.7 at Yeshua’s immersion, ‘You are my son, today I have begotten you’
are attested by GH, Codex Bezae, the Old Latin, and the Didascalia 93. They are also quoted
by Justin (Dial. 88), Clement (Paed. 1.6), Origen (Hom. Ezek. 6.3), and Paul (Heb 1.5). While
signifying a re-enactment of the Messiah’s birth of water and spirit on day one (Gen 1.3),
the text was removed to prevent the adoptionistic view that he only became G-d’s Son on
that day. See also Ehrman, ib. 62–67.
c “And straightway, as the Diatessaron testifies, a great light shone.” Gibson, op. cit. 27.
d The heavenly voice as recorded in S.
e Verses 13–17 have been replaced by this conflation of GH cited by Epiphanius (Panarion
30.13.7) and Jerome (Comm. Isa. 11.12). Yeshua’s refusal to immerse Yochanan tallies with
the truth the latter had proclaimed: the Messiah would immerse with fire, not with water.
7

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