A Newly Published Study on Matthew 23 and the Pharisees

[ngordon4]

A Newly Published Study on Matthew 23 and the Pharisees

In my first book “The Hebrew Yeshua vs. the Greek Jesus” I explored
the apparent contradiction between Matthew 15 and 23 in the Greek
version of the Gospel of Matthew. In the former passage, Jesus/ Yeshua
warned the Jews of his day against the Pharisees who were “teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men”. In the latter passage, he
seems to be teaching his disciples to obey everything that the
Pharisees command, even when the Pharisees themselves do not practice
what they preach. All Greek manuscripts record the same wording in
Matthew 23, which has left most New Testament scholars unable to
reconcile this contradiction. On the other hand, assuming the word
“Pharisee” to simply mean “hypocrite”, most Christian believers are
altogether oblivious to the contradiction. As I explain in my book,
the Pharisees were, in fact, an ancient movement in Judaism which
still exists to this day in the form of Orthodox Judaism.
Understanding what Pharisee Judaism is/was all about sheds light on
Yeshua’s teachings regarding that ancient Jewish movement. One
resource I used in my book was the Hebrew version of the Gospel of
Matthew preserved in Spain by a Jewish rabbi named Shem Tov Ibn
Shaprut. Hebrew Matthew was discovered by Professor George Howard and
published in 1987. During my research on this topic I came across an
online study by Ross Nichols who was one of Professor Howard’s
disciples. Nichols had tackled the problem of Matthew 23 years
earlier, coming to similar conclusions to my own, and I accordingly
referenced his study in my book on page 53 footnote 63. When Keith
Johnson and I spoke in Charlotte, North Carolina last year on our book
“A Prayer to Our Father” I was honored that Nichols introduced us to
the audience, sharing some of his interactions with Professor Howard
on Hebrew Matthew. Recently a revised version of Nichols’ study was
published as a journal article at:

http://www.bibleinterp.com/opeds/nichols357923.shtml

This article is well worth a read as are Nichols’ weekly bible lessons
broadcast from the historic Jewish synagogue in St. Francisville,
Louisiana:

http://rootsoffaith.org/

Nichols is also the host of the “Synagogue Without Walls” at:

http://www.rootsoffaith.net/

Nehemia Gordon
Jerusalem, Israel