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New Testament Commentary

of the book of Matthew

Introduction

The principles for interpretation of the Gospel according to Matthew.

Matthew was an historian. He passed to us what he saw and heard from personally being with the Lord Jesus and the people of his time. He was faithful in recording what he observed and wrote in the Aramaic language. The Greek language was not used for Matthew.

The Lord Jesus and His disciples used the Aramaic scriptures of what we now call the Old Testament from a translation from Hebrew into Aramaic dating to the time of the Babylonian captivity called The Targum.

Matthew has taken all of his information from the Aramaic scriptures not from the Hebrew. This is the reason why some parts from the Old Testament are not exactly like the Hebrew Bible because Matthew uses the Targum as his source.

The Apostles passed to us their understandings of the Old Testament using their language, Aramaic, not the Greek language.

I respect the information that has come from the west. The West teaches that the whole New Testament was written in the Greek language not in the Aramaic language. The letters of Paul were written in Greek as well as the Gospel of Luke.

The Greek language was not well known in Israel in the first century except by the small educated class.

Matthew was faithful in passing on to us the understanding of the Old Testament from the Aramaic Bible with its interpretation from Hebrew.

The Targum: what it is?

This (Old Testament) Bible was written in Nineveh by order of the King of the Assyrian Empire, Sargon 11 whose son was Sennacherib after he captured the ten and half tribes from Israel. He ordered them not to read or write in Hebrew. The Israelite leaders ask the King to help them to save their scriptures. He asks them to write a copy in his language, Aramaic and this they did up till the time of Jesus. All the people of Israel had to learn the Aramaic Language. Hebrew was spoken at home only mostly in the lives of the educated elite. When they returned to their own land after the captivity all of their records & scriptures were in Aramaic not in Hebrew. This information is not known to many Bible Colleges or Churches in the west.

My understanding of Matthew’s inspirations and revelations.

Matthew quotes 62 or more parts of the Old Testament. These references are taken from the Aramaic not the Hebrew however the meaning is essentially the same.

In what we read today the Holy Spirit’s inspiration was perfect but the translations we have received are imperfect. This is because of the many Bible translations we have which vary slightly and because the many people who translated the word of God come from different cultures and times. They have passed to us the best of their knowledge, but it is not as pure as the one originally received from the mouth of God or received by inspiration from the Holy Spirit nor from the mouth of Jesus.

The original inspiration was perfect, it came from the Holy Spirit. Scribes and scholars then passed this information to others, which we called “revelations” according to our understanding. It is not perfect like the original inspiration BUT the miracle is this: the Holy Spirit puts it perfectly into the mind and heart of the reader at their level of understanding according to their needs.

Another problem we have to contend with is that the biblical Greek language was written from the left to right, whereas the Aramaic language is written from right to the left. This is another reason why the meaning in Greek is clouded.

Yet another problem is that verbs in the Greek language have many meanings, unlike Aramaic.

Example

John 16:7-11 (BBE)

⁷But what I am saying is true: my going is for your good: for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸And he, when he comes, will make the world conscious of sin, and of righteousness, and of being judged: ⁹Of sin, because they have not faith in me; ¹⁰Of righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no more; ¹¹Of being judged, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

(ASV)

⁷Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I go, I will send him unto you. ⁸And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹of sin, because they believe not on me; ¹⁰of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; ¹¹of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.

My explanations.

vs 8 is not clear at all as the meanings has been lost. The Lord Jesus used the verb “reveal” not “convict”. The Holy Spirit is the One who reveals the truth.

vs 8 is: the Holy Spirit is revealing that the Lord Jesus is the Righteous One and because of His righteousness He is going to the Father. We will see the Father and go to be with Him because of the righteousness of Jesus.

Another example

Acts 9:7 (BBE)

⁷And the men who were with him were not able to say anything; hearing the voice, but seeing no one.

Acts 22:9 (BBE)

⁹And those who were with me saw the light, but the voice of him who was talking to me came not to their ears.

Let us see these verses in different translations.

Acts 9:7 (ASV)

⁷And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice, but beholding no man.

Acts 22:9 (ASV)

⁹And they that were with me beheld indeed the light, but they heard not the voice of him that spoke to me.

The meaning of “hearing" in the Greek implies “hearing without understanding" or “hearing a noise but not grasping its message”. From the Greek then the meaning is without contradiction.