The Hebrew version of Matthew
The place to start is with Matthew 1.1
אלה תולדות Mt 1.1
אלה was split into nine different words by those who added modern vowels (~600 AD). You can see them easily here: When you recognize תולדות as the same word translated 'generations' in Genesis, then you know the same translation error is happening here. See P.J. Wiseman It should be 'record'.
תולדות toledoth
Lets use subroots:
- תו (to)- mark, writing
- לד (led)- child
- ות (oth)- The preceding meaning distinguished as the particular object of the word. It refers to THE WRITING about the child.
- 'God's writing about the child Jeshua.'
This is my first encounter with double geresh's and so I am reluctant to make much out of them, other than they obfuscate the word somewhat. They can represent an abbreviation, as well as other things.
The name 'Yeshua' means 'God's salvation' NOT God with us. If we read his name literally it does not fulfill prophecy.
Matthew is attempting to teach us how to read childish riddle. There are two riddles in his name.
- 1. Ya shuach, a pun, means 'God humbled'. This speaks of incarnation and 'God with us'.
- 2. Yahweh with a 'sh' in the middle is a phonetic pun as well, just in case we miss the first one. The shin has the metaphoric meaning of God's word not returning void. It includes the meaning of the word coming to earth and returning with a bride. This riddle says that God has a marriage on his heart. This is also 'God with us'.
We have jumped the gun a bit, but in this first verse we now have 'God's record (of the child) 'God incarnate' with a marriage on his heart.
יש''ו Yesu
Above, I have used the Hebrew form of his name 'Yeshua'. This text uses a transliterated version of his name in Greek; 'Yesu' (ihsou). This means that the Greek name was in use and known to the author and it suggestive that his Greek name is the one that most of the readers of the text would be familiar with. There would have been no reason to transliterate if his name was well known in Hebrew.
בן ben
There are two words for 'son': בן ben, and בר bar. The ב bet represents the revelation which came into man personally. 'Ben' is the Son of man who died and is translated 'son'. Bar is the Son or God who came into man as the 'revelation in person' represented by the resh ר, or as the Word made flesh.
