A Great Ommission? - The Short Ending of Hebrew Matthew

One of the more striking differences between the Matthew text that comes to us from the Greek and the Hebrew text of Matthew's gospel preserved in the work of Shem-Tob ben-Isaac ben-Shaprut is saved for the very end.

Christians have called this passage the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). It contains three charges; (1) Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, (2) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (3) teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

In 1988, George Howard published an article on this in Harvard Theological Review (HTR 81:1 (1988) 117-20). The article was titled, "A Note on the Short Ending of Matthew".

Howard credits the work of F.C. Conybeare (1901) for the publication of evidence for a short ending for Matthew "cited" in the writings of Eusebius, and "reflected, though not explicitly cited" by Justin Martyr and Hermas.

In his description of the Matthew text preserved by Shem Tob, Howard states that it "appears to be much older than the fourteenth century" and "further, there is reason to believe that this text of Matthew contains a primitive substratum that was originally composed in Hebrew." He points out though that the text now has been "overlayed with layers of revision...nevertheless, many passages continue to reflect the old substratum."

Howard takes the short ending of Matthew in Shem Tob's gospel to be "one of the most notable, unrevised, and non-corrupted passages".

Short Ending of Matthew According to Shem Tob

(19) Go (20) and teach them to carry out all the things which I have commanded you forever.

There is no trace of the trinitarian baptismal formula in Shem Tob. Whether the Greek or Hebrew more accurately reflects the original ending of Matthew's gospel may still be a matter of debate for many. At any rate, one would do well to focus on the portions of the charge that have been left undone. Those who claim to follow Jesus have made it a mission to baptize countless souls - some at the edge of the sword. To use his words, "For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte and when he becomes a proselyte you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves."

Two verbs are detectable in both the Hebrew and the Greek; Go and teach. Perhaps we would be better off if we took these words to heart. They both require work on our part. Go and make students and teach them to observe what Yeshua taught.