Shem Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew is the oldest extant Hebrew version of the Gospel of Matthew. It was included in the 14th-century work Eben Boḥan (The Touchstone) by the Spanish Jewish Rabbi Shem-Tov ben Isaac ben Shaprut. George Howard has argued that Shem Tov's Matthew comes from a much earlier Hebrew text that was later translated into Greek and other languages. A characteristic feature of this Hebrew gospel is the appearance in 20 places of השם (HaShem, "the Name"), in the abbreviated form ה״, where the Gospel of Matthew has Κύριος ("the Lord").
Origin
Shem-Tob ben Isaac Ibn Shaprut was the author of an anti-Christian religious treatise, The Touchstone, completed in 1380 and revised in 1385 and 1400. Often referred to as "The Logic of Shem Tob", it argues against the belief that Jesus is God. It also argues against attributing the role of Messiah to Jesus.
For this reason Shem Tob's Hebrew Gospel of Matthew, which is included in this work, is considered the oldest surviving text of a New Testament book in Hebrew.
In 1987, George Howard said (pp. vii, 234) that the translation of the Gospel of Matthew in Shem Tob's work long predates the 14th century and may better represent the original text. His view was rejected by W.L. Petersen and Petri Luomanen. A refutation of the theory that Shem Tob's Hebrew version of Matthew represents the original Hebrew source behind the Gospel of Matthew, using Matt. 5:18 as a test case, is presented on Jerusalem Perspective in David Bivin's, "Has a Hebrew Gospel Been Found?".
Revision of the previous hypothesis and evidences of Medieval and Provençal Origins The main points that are the object of controversy are the following:
1. The oldest version of a gospel in Hebrew language. Hebrew Matthew has been preserved in the book XII or XIII (according to the two recensions of the piece of religious controversy “The Touchstone” of Shem Tob Ibn Shaprut of the most significant manuscripts which have lasted to our times. The fact of being part of a controversial book involves some problems about authorship, date of the translation and historical context.
2. Identifying marks of the base text or Vorlage. The introduction of the gospel deals with the hypothesis of George Howard, which attributed the version to the genuine Gospel of the Hebrews mentioned by Papias in the second century AD. In the second edition he maintains the antiquity, simply naming it Hebrew Gospel of Matthew and stating this: “The main thrust of this second edition is to demonstrate that the Hebrew Matthew contained in Shem-Tob’s Even Bohan predates the 14th century. In my judgment, Shem-Tob the polemicist did not prepare this text by translating it from the Latin Vulgate, the Byzantine Greek, or any other known edition of the Gospel of Matthew. He received it from previous generations of Jewish scribes and tradents.”. Howard had drawn attention to the probable presence of a fragment of the Arabic Diatessaron written by Issac Ben Velasco in 10th century while W.L. Petersen notices the presence of possible common readings with a Flemish middle ages diatessaron, something which might reinforce a Medieval origin for Hebrew Matthew.