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The Hebrew Gospel Debate

The Hebrew Gospel debate is one of the most controversial of our time! Scholars are divided! Some believe that Matthew wrote an early Gospel in a Hebrew dialect that was the fountainhead for later gospels. Others believe this to be fringe scholarship that is untenable. The basis for the debate comes from Papias of Hierapolis in Asia Minor (modern Turkey b. 63 A.D). Blackwell (2010) p 301

Papias (b. 63 A.D.) Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus (logia) in a Hebrew dialect (en Hebraidi dialecto), and everyone translated (hermeneusen) them to the best of their ability.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5]

Those who oppose Papias argue the existence of a Hebrew or Aramaic Matthew is on the "fringes of scholarship today." Perkins (2007) p 197 and that "critical studies" have shown that testmony of Papias "is untenable." Köster (2000) p 207

Critical studies showing Papias is untenable

By the mid 20 C many scholars took the position that the Hebrew Gospel never existed. There were two reasons for this.

If a Hebrew text was not translated into Greek, it did not exist

First, it has been shown that Canonical Gospel of Matthew is not a translation of Matthew's Hebrew Gospel. This makes it untenable that the Hebrew Gospel ever existed, for if it was never translated into Koine Greek, this is proof that it never existed. Walter Bauer (1934) goes on to explain Papias' should be understood as an attempt to defend the canonical Greek Gospel of Matthew from being used improperly, since he considered heretics in Asia Minor were misusing it.

"Hebraidi dialecto" does not mean a "Hebrew dialect" but rather "Koine Greek"

Second Joseph Kurzinger argued that "Hebraidi dialecto" should not be translated as "Hebrew dialect" but rather as "Koine Greek".

He studied the Papias quote: "Matthew collected the oral teachings of Jesus (logia) in a Hebrew dialect (Hebraidi dialecto), and everyone translated (hermeneusen) them to the best of their ability." On the surface it implies that Matthew's Gospel was written in Hebrew. However, upon closer study by Hebraidi dialecto, Papias meant that Matthew wrote in the "Semitic rhetorical style" rather than in the Hebrew language. Therefore if the comment refers to "style" not "language" the gospel could have been written in Greek. Thus Hebraidi dialecto does not mean "a Hebrew dialect" but rather "Koine Greek" proving there never was a Hebrew Gospel.

Outline 2014

I have reviewed ongoing debate and clearly there are some strong opinions. ~~Terms such as Jihad are not helpful.~~

@In ictu oculi: I originally opposed this article but you have won me over.

@Ignocrates: I agree with your comments above. It is important not to provoke a confrontation. Thanks for the heads up that... Koester's 2000 book is the second edition of his original 1982 book, so his scholarly opinions are older than they appear. Futhermore we should not be clinging to these archaic conjectures from 100 years ago. In this article we should focus on the most up to date scholarship.

Stumbling block

During my leave of absence I took the time to review the ongoing debate re the Hebrew gospel hypothesis over the last ten years! Many of the problems arise from combining two distinct issues into one! This has been a key factor in the ongoing edit war.

Proposed Solution

Keep these issues separate.

Issue one - Matthew's Hebrew Gospel

Was Papias correct, when he said that Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus in a Hebrew dialect? Some scholars support Papias and believe Matthew believe composed the Hebrew Gospel while others do not. Straight forward!

Issue two - Was the Gospel of Matthew a Greek translation of Hebrew Gospel

Here there is confusion and the scholarship is all over the place. At Wikipedia tempers have flared and there have been many, many problems.

The Catholic Church and many conservative scholars still maintain that the Gospel of Matthew is a translation of the Hebrew Gospel.
Scholars from St. Jerome to Casey reject the above "translation position". They argue that "the discrepancies" make this unlikely. They support a Composite Scholarship that was in vogue during the Second Temple Period of which Matthew's Hebrew Gospel was the fountainhead. This is what Papias meant! It is genuinely true that the apostle Matthew 'compiled the sayings/oracles in a Hebrew language, but each (person) translated/ interpreted them as he was able.' Moreover, the Greek word logia, which has been translated 'sayings/oracles', has a somewhat broader range of meaning than this, and could well be used of collections which consisted mostly, but not entirely, of sayings. It would not however have been a sensible word to use of the whole Gospel of Matthew. It was later Church Fathers who confused Matthew's collections of sayings of Jesus with our Greek Gospel of Matthew. (from Casey p 87) . . . It is important to note that these sources are NOT saying that "Matthew's collection sayings in a Hebrew dialect" and the Gospel of Matthew are the same work. Indeed there is clear evidence that "Matthew's Hebrew Gospel" was NOT translated into what we call the Gospel of Matthew. Casey after studying composite authorship in the Second Temple period comes to his scholarly conclusion. The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous and is the product of composite authorship of which Matthew's Hebrew Gospel was the fountainhead. Hence the name Gospel of Matthew as Matthew was probably a major source. (See Fountainhead)
Then there are those like Parker and Edwards who believe the Hebrew Gospel was the basis for the Gospel of Luke.
Still others believe it formed the basis of the Gospel of Thomas. Some fringe scholarship have gone so far as to link it to gospel of the Ebionites etc.

Solution

Restrict the scope of the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis to the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis. Scholars cannot even say for certain if the Hebrew Gospel even existed! To go beyond beyond Issue 1 into Issue 2 will lead us into turmoil.

My proposal is to have the first part of the article explain what the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis consists of and why some scholars support it. In the second part of the article we present the scholarship that raises concerns about the hypothesis and why some feel it is untenable.

We must focus on reliable sources and make sure the scholarship is presented from a NPOV - Ret.Prof (talk) 14:15, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

We have already been round this many times. The "Authentic Matthew" content you have repeatedly returned to again and again over the last 4 years is WP:FRINGE. Please do not add it again, here or in other articles. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:04, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Ret.Prof, I'm concerned that you frame issue #1 as "Was Papias correct, when he said that Matthew wrote down the sayings of Jesus in a Hebrew dialect?" when it's not clear that that's what he said. Going by (the present form of) the article, that might mean "the Hebrew style"). St Anselm (talk) 02:35, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Please don't bring up my little tiff with In ictu oculi as though it just happened. That was over 6 months ago and a dead issue. (I struck my comment as a courtesy.) It's way past time to move on. Ignocrates (talk) 06:22, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

You all have valid points, however, right now I am trying to get away from Authentic Matthew and focus on the Oral Gospel tradition. - Ret.Prof (talk) 19:01, 31 December 2013 (UTC) PS I struck out the offending comment above. Happy New Year

Mediation notice

A request for Formal Mediation will be filed today. Please see the talk page of User:PiCo Cheers - Ret.Prof (talk) 15:25, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

This article should reference the existence of the Shem Tob (medieval) manuscript of Matthew in Hebrew

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shem_Tob%27s_Hebrew_Gospel_of_Matthew#:~:text=Shem%20Tob's%20Hebrew%20Gospel%20of%20Matthew%20is%20the%20oldest%20extant,Tov%20ben%20Isaac%20ben%20Shaprut. 73.70.104.11 (talk) 19:37, 26 March 2024 (UTC)

[1]
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 3.39.16 - 17
[2]
Editorial board, The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation. Catholic University Press, 1969. Vol. 1, p 379
[3]
James R. Edwards, The Hebrew Gospel and the development of the Synoptic Tradition, Eerdmans Publishing, 2009. p 264 & 273
[4]
See also Didymus the Blind Comm. Eccl. 4.223.6-13 where he quotes from the Hebrew Gospel.
[5]
Bernhard Pick, Paralipomena: remains of gospels and sayings of Christ, Open court publishing company, 1908. p 13