But, on the other hand, “till he send forth judgment unto victory,” is taken from neither the original Hebrew nor from the LXX., and is probably derived from a Targum.
Thus in this passage we have apparently a combination [pg 168] of two somewhat similar accounts—the one in Greek, the other in Aramaic.
Matt. xiii. 35. This also is a compound text. The first half is from the LXX., but the second member is from a Hebrew Targum.
Matt. xxvii. 3. In the Hebrew, the field is not a “potter's,” nor is it in the LXX., who use χωνευτήριον “the smelting-furnace.” The word in the Hebrew signifies “treasury.” The composer of the Gospel, therefore must have quoted from a Targum, and been ignorant both of the genuine Hebrew Scriptures and of the Greek translation of the Seventy.
These instances are enough to show that the material used for the compilation of the first Canonical Gospel was very various; that the author had at his disposal matter in both Aramaic and Greek.
We shall find, on looking further, that he inserted two narratives of the same event in his Gospel in different places, if they differed slightly from one another, when coming to him from different sources.
The following are parallel passages:
| iv. 23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. | ix. 35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. |
| v. 29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. | xviii. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. |
| 30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. | 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. |
| 32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. | xix. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. |
| vi. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: | xviii. 35 So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. |
| 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. | |
| vii. 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? | xii. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. |
| 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. | |
| 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. | |
| ix. 13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. | what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice. |
| ix. 34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. | xii. 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. |
| x. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. | xi. 24. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. |
| 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; | xxiv. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. |
| 22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. | |
| xii. 39 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it; but the sign of the prophet Jonas. | xvi. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. |
| xiii.12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. | xxv. 29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. |
| xiv. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. | xxi. 26 But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. |
| xvi. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. | xviii. 18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. |
| xvii. 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. | xxi. 21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. |
| xxiv. 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. | xxiv. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders: insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect. |
| xxiv. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. | xxiv. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chamber; believe it not. |
The existence in the first Canonical Gospel of these duplicate passages proves that the editor of it in its present form made use of materials from different sources, which he worked together into a complete whole. And these duplicate passages are the more remarkable, because, where his memory does not fail him, he takes pains to avoid repetition.
It would seem therefore plain that the compiler of St. Matthew's Gospel made use of, first, a Collection of the Sayings of the Lord, of undoubted genuineness, drawn up by St. Matthew; second, of two or more Collections of the Sayings and Doings of the Lord, also, no doubt, genuine, but not necessarily by St. Matthew.