POET OF NAZARETHA REVISED VERSION OF THE GOSPEL OF ST. MATTHEW WITH A RHYTHMICAL TRANSLATION OF THE SAYINGS AND PARABLES OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR, JESUS CHRISTByMetropolitan Fan S. Noli, Ph.D.BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTSCopyright, 1962, by Metropolitan Fan S. NoliLICENSEThe POET OF NAZARETH is hereby approved for the UBe of the Churches and the Sunday Schools under the jurisdiction of the Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America.Metropolitan Fan S. NoliBoston, June 3, 1962Copies of this book, $2.50 each, can be obtained from Metropolitan Fan S. Noli 816 North West 3 Avenue Fort Lauderdale, FloridaAnother book by the same author:BEETHOVEN AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION $2.50I N L O V I N G M E M O R Y O F M Y G R A N D M O T H E R S U M B A N O L I A N D M Y M O T H E RM A R I A N O L IP R E F A C EMillions upon millions of Christians and non- Christians recognize Jesus as a great teacher. Very- few of them know that he is also a great poet. This anomaly can be explained by the fact that the greatness of Jesus as a teacher is brought out by the Four Gospels, the most famous didactic books of all times. On the contrary, the greatness of Jesus as a poet is obscured by the literary form in which the Four Greek Gospels have reached us.In the first place, the original Aramaic poetry of Jesus has been irretrievably lost. It has come down to us only in the form of a literal Greek translation, word for word and in prose. Well, when poetry is translated from one language into another word for word and in prose, it simply ceases to be poetry. It becomes prose, and a very poor prose indeed. That is unfortunately what happened to the poetry of Jesus as we find it in the Four Greek Gospels. In the second place, the rigid tradition of reading our Gospels in word for word translations and in poor prose has been maintained for nineteen centuries down to the present day. No wonder that so very few people think of Jesus as a poet.Yet there is no doubt that Jesus was a poet. Like all the great Rabbis of Israel, Jesus had to formulate his doctrines in a poetic and epigrammatic form for mnemotechnic reasons, that is to say to make them easy for his disciples to memorize. As a matter of fact, almost all the sayings of Jesus, including the Lord’s Prayer, have their poetic andepigrammatic parallels in Rabbinic literature. It is this poetic and epigrammatic form that saved the sayings of Jesus until they were translated into Greek and incorporated in our Four Greek Gospels. Last but not least, the sayings of Jesus, in spite of their Greek prose garb, have all the unmistakable characteristics of Hebrew poetry. Curiously enough, some of them are even rhymed in their Greek translation as they were in their original Aramaic.Now, in order to have a clear idea of Jesus as a poet, his sayings should be translated rhythmically as poetry. That is what I have tried to do in this version, in which about three fourths of St. Matthew’s Gospel have been rendered in blank verse, with a few rhymes here and there. In this respect, this book happens to be the first of its kind ever published in English. St. Matthew’s Gospel was chosen because it contains the most complete collection of the sayings of Jesus.Under the circumstances it is practically impossible to restore the original beauty of the sayings of Jesus. So I am far from thinking that my version of St. Matthew will solve that problem, but I am quite sure that I am on the right track as a pioneer. I hope that somebody else will do a better 30b some day and give us a version worthy of the great poet of Nazareth.F.S.N.Boston, Massachusetts June 3, 1962The Holy Gospel According To S t MatthewCHAPTER I The Genealogy Of Christ From Abraham To David1 This is the genealogical table of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.2 Abraham was the father of Isaac; Isaac was the father of Jacob; Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers; 3 Judah and Tamar were the parents of Per® and Zarah. Perez was the father of Ezron; Ezron was the fathed of Ram; 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab; Amminadab was the father of Nahshon; Nahshon was the father of Salmon; 5 Salmon and Rahab were the parents of Boaz. Boaz and Ruth were the parents of Obed. Obed was the father of Jesse; 6 Jesse was the father of King David.From David To The Babylonian ExileKing David and the widow of Uriah were the parents of Solomon. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam; Rehoboam was the father of Abijah; Abijah was the father of Asa; 8 Asa was the father of Jehosaphat; Jehosaphat was the father of Joram; Joram was the father of Uzziah; 9 Uzziah was the father o f Jotham; Jotham was the fatherof Ahaz; Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah; 10 Heze- kiah was the father of Manasseh; Manasseh vras the father of Amos; Amos was the father of Josiah; 11 Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, born during- the Babylonian exile.From The Babylonian Exile To Christ12 After the Babylonian Exile: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel; Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel; 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud; Abiud was the father of Eliakim; Eliakim was the father of Azor; 14 Azor was the father of Zadock; Zadock was the father of Achim; Achim was the father of Eliud; 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar; Eleazar was the father of Matthan; Matthan was the father of Jacob; 16 Jacob -was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was bom Jesus, who is called Christ.17 So altogether there were fourteen g en erations from Abraham to David; and fourteen generations from David to the Babylonian Exile; and fourteen generations from the Babylonian Exile to Christ.Birth Of Christ18 The birth of Jesus Christ took place in this manner: Mary, his mother, was engaged to Joseph. But before they were married, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit.19 Her husband, Joseph, was a kindly man and did not want to disgrace her. So he decided to break off the engagement privately. 20 While he was con-2“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid;Go ahead, take Mary as your wife,For her Child comes from the Holy Spirit.21 She will bear a Son you will call Jesus:For he’ll save the people from their sins.”22 Thus the prediction of the Lord through the Prophet was fulfilled:23 “Lo, a virgin maid will bear a Son,And his name will be Immanuel.”Which means “God with us.”24 When Joseph awoke from his sleep, he did as the Angel of the Lord had ordered him. He took his wife to his home. 25 But he did not live with her until she had borne her Son, whom he named Jesus.sidering this solution, an Angel of the Lord appearedto him in a dream and said to him:CHAPTER IIThe Wise Men1 Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of King Herod. Thereupon, Wise Men from the East arrived in Jerusalem. 2 They kept asking: “Where is the newly born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East and have come to worship him.”3 King Herod was deeply disturbed by this report. His consternation was shared by all Jerusalem. 4 So he assembled all the Chief Priests and Scribes of the people and asked them where Christ was to be bom.35 They answered him:“He is to be born in Bethlehem Of Judea as the Prophet said:6 ‘You, 0 Bethlehem in Judea’s land.Will be counted as a leading region.For a ruler will arise from you,A great shepherd of my people Israel.’ ”7 Thereupon Herod summoned the Wise Men secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem and said to them:“Go at once and try to find the Child.Bring me word as soon as you have found him. I will also come to worship him.”9 They obeyed the king and proceeded on their journey. Thereupon the star, which they had seen in the East, led them on until they reached the place where the Child lay and stopped over it. 10 When they saw the star, the Wise Men rejoiced exceedingly.11 They went into the house and saw the Child with Mary his Mother. Thereupon they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.12 But they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod. So they went back to their own country by another way.Flight Into Egypt 13 When the Wise Men had departed, suddenly4Next >