The Gospel of Matthew

The Gospel According to Matthew #


Chapter 1 #

11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers in the Babylonian captivity.1


  1. μετοικεσία (գերութիւն): A more literal construal of μετοικεσίας in vv. 11, 12 and 17 would be պանդխտութիւն, yet no manuscript attests this; գերութիւն is consistent with broader biblical usage when referring to the Babylonian captivity (cf. 4 Kings 24:15, Jer 28:4), while պանդխտութիւն only appears alongside գերութիւն where the Greek distinguishes the two (see Ezek 12:11: ἐν μετοικεσίᾳ καὶ ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ - ի պանդխտութիւն եւ ի գերութիւն). ↩︎

16 Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, to whom was betrothed the Virgin Mary,1 of whom was born Jesus, named the Anointed.


  1. to whom was betrothed the Virgin Mary (որում խաւսեցեալ զՄարիամ կոյս): only found in Armenian mss. (unanimous), anticipating v.18. ↩︎

Chapter 2 #

6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah: from you will come1 a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”


  1. will come: all Arm. mss. have ելցէ ինձ (‘will come to me’), reflecting Mic. 5:2 (ἐκ σοῦ μοι ἐξελεύσεται). No Greek equivalent. ↩︎

15 That it might be fulfilled what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: ‘Out of Egypt I will call1 my son.’”


  1. I will call (կոչեցից, fut.): in all Arm. mss.; Greek ἐκάλεσα (aor.; cf. LXX Hos 11:1, μετεκάλεσα); Arm. shifts from past (Hos 11:1 կոչեցի) to future, intepreting prophetically. ↩︎

18 ‘A voice in Rama cried out,1 lamentation and weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping her children, and would not be comforted, because they were not.’


  1. Cried out (գուժեաց): unanimous in Arm.; all Gk. mss. have ἠκούσθη (լսելի եղեւ; cf. Jer. 31:15). ↩︎

Chapter 3 #

Chapter 4 #

25 And great multitudes followed him from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond the Jordan, and he healed them.1


  1. and he healed them (եւ բժշկեաց զնոսա): closes 4:25 in all Arm. mss. (mirroring 4:24); absent in all Greek mss. ↩︎

Chapter 5 #

18 “Amen I say to you, until the heavens and the earth shall pass away, one iota, which is a stroke of a letter,1 shall not pass away from the law and from the prophets2 until everything should come to pass.


  1. all Greek have ἢ μία κεραία (or one stroke of a letter); all Arm. have որ նշանախեց մի է (which is a stroke of a letter). ↩︎

  2. եւ ի մարգարէից (and from the prophets): unanimous in Arm. mss.; absent from all Greek. Must have been in older Greek variants, given the extremely faithful translation. ↩︎

21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘Thou shalt not commit murder, for whoever may commit murder shall be liable to judgment1.’


  1. պարտական լիցի (shall be liable to): used here to construe ἔνοχος ἔσται; subsequent instances use պարտաւոր լիցի. ↩︎

22 “But I say to you, that everyone who is angry at his brother in vain shall be liable to judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Stupid,’ shall be liable to the council; and whoever shall say to his brother,1 ‘Moron,’ shall be liable to the gehenna of fire.


  1. ցեղբայր իւր (to his brother): the second instance in this verse is in all Arm. mss., but absent from all contemporary Greek. ↩︎

27 “You have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery.’

Chapter 6 #

11 “Give us this day our daily1 bread.


  1. հանապազորդ (ἐπιούσιος): The Armenian supports the Greek derivation of ἐπιούσιος from ἔπειμι, i.e., “that which follows on from day to day” (rather than from ἐπί + οὐσία “supersubstantial”). ↩︎

Chapter 7 #