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32. That I am the Elohim of Awraham, the Elohim of Yitzchak, and the Elohim of Yaakov?204
And He is not the Elohim of the dead, rather of the living. 33. And when the crowds heard this,
they were amazed by his teaching. 34. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the
Sadducees, they assembled together. 35. Then one of them who knew Torah asked testing him.
36. Teacher, which Commandment in Torah is the greatest? 37. And Yshua said to him, that
You should love Master YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul and with
all your might and with all your mind. 38. This is the first and the greatest Commandment.
39. And the second is like it. That You should love your neighbor as yourself. 40. On these two
commandments hang205 Torah and the prophets. 41. Now while the Pharisees were assembled,
Yshua asked them, 42. And said, What do you say about the Mashiyach? Who is he the son
of? They were saying to him, The son of Dawid. 43. He said to them, How then did Dawid
in the spirit call him Master YHWH? For he said, 44. That Master YHWH said to my master,
You sit at my right hand until I place your enemies under your feet. 45. Therefore, if Dawid
calls him Master YHWH,206 how is he his son? 46. And no man was able to give him an answer.
And no man dared to question him again from that time on.

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Chapter 23
1. Yshua then spoke with the crowds and with his disciples. 2. And he said to them, The scribes
and the Pharisees sit on the seat of Moshe. 3. Therefore everything that they207 say to you that you
should keep and do. But not according to their deeds, for they talk, but do not. 4. And they bind
heavy burdens and place them upon the shoulders of the sons of men, but they do not desire to
touch them with their fingers. 5. And they do all their deeds that they might be seen by the sons of
men. For they widen their Tefillin208 and lengthen the Tekhelet209 of their robes. 6. And they love
the chief places at festivals and the chief seats at the assembly. 7. And a greeting in the streets,
and to be called Rabbi by men. 8. But you should not be called My Great One210 for there is only
one Who is Great and you are all brothers. 9. And do not call yourself Father211 for your Father is
one who is in heaven. 10. And you should not be called leaders, because one is your leader, the
Mashiyach. 11. But he who is greatest among you, let him be a servant212 to you. 12. For whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13. Woe to you
scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! For you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven before the sons of
men. For you are not entering yourselves, and those who would enter you do not allow to enter.

204 Ex 3:6; Deut 6:5, Matt 22:37; Lev 19:18, Matt 22:39; Psalm 110:1, Matt 22:44
205 Torah and Prophets hang or hold on by these two great Commandments of Love. Those who do the Commandments,
are they who love YHWH (Matt 19:17; 1 John 5:2 and 3). Without love, observance of Torah is vanity, and without Torah
ones love is vanity.
206 See Davids Master in Appendix.
207 A very late and unattested reading in Shem Tob Matthew states: everything he (Moshe) tells you to do, do it. This
rendering is nonsense; Yshua would not mention Moshe when the Pharisees are they who sit in Moshes seat. Peshitta
and Greek texts agree that since the Pharisees sit in Moshes seat they should teach Moshe but, instead, they elevate their oral
traditions above Torah. The fact of the matter is, if they would actually study Torah, they would know Yshua is Mashiyach.
Yshua returns to this point in John 5:46-47.
208 Leather box/straps containing Bible verses that traditional observant Jews bind on their arms and foreheads during daily
prayer, except on Shabbat (Deut. 6:8-PY).
209 The ribbon of blue of the tzitzit (fringes), as commanded in Num. 15:38. Tekhelet can also refer to tzitzit, or even
the whole prayer shawl/talit. (PY)
210 Aramaic here does not mean Rabbi as in teacher per se, as in Matthew 28 Yshua commands his disciples to teach
the world. Instead, Yshua is addressing the more literal meaning of rab which is great as shown in Genesis 6:5, the
wickedness of man was great on the earth. The previous eight verses teach against elitist behavior, so do not be called My
Great One, for you have One that is Great, YHWH. This is directed to the Rabbis (leaders) themselves, not to the followers.
Certainly this does not win popularity among the Rabbis. See Rabbinical Authority and Torah in Appendix.

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211 The prohibition against calling leaders father is to avoid giving status (fear of man) which is due unto YHWH (see
Job 32:21-22). Isaiah 56:10-12 exposes leaders who never have enough and who keep their followers in spiritual and
financial poverty while seeking personal gain. See 1 Timothy 4:3 and Religious Leaders and Unity versus Hierarchy.
212 Khabouris omits a servant but this reading is confirmed in all other manuscripts and is in 1905.

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