The Question of the Rich Young Man in a Jewish-Christian Gospel

Abstract

It is in the Latin translation of Origen's commentary on the of Matthew that a passage--dealing with the question of the rich young man (cf. Matth. xix I6-30, Mark x 17-31, Luke xviii I8-30)-is quoted from the Gospel according to the Hebrews. This quotation is not available in the original Greek text 1) of this commentary and it is accepted that it has been added by the unknown Latin translator of this work 2). The quotation is introduced by the words: Scriptum est in evangelio quodam, quod dicitur secundum Hebraeos..., but investigations by Schmidtke resulted in the supposition that the passage goes back to the of the Nazoraeans, a Jewish-Christian gospel based upon the gospel of Matthew and written for the Aramaic or Syriac speaking Christians in the environment of Beroea in the middle of the second century 3). This supposition has not been generally accepted; for instance, in a recent study by Jeremias, he, on the contrary, believes the quotation to have been taken from the of the Hebrews and to reflect independent gospel tradition 4).