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Title: Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut

Biography And Work

Shem Tov ben-Isaac ben Shaprut, or more commonly known as Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut, was a Spanish-Orthodox Jew who lived during the Inquisition. Ibn Shaprut was also a physician and religious leader within the Orthodox Jewish community. He is recognized for his work Even Bochan which is translated as Test Stone or Surestone or Touch Stone. Even Bochan was a treaty written and published in manuscript form in 1380 as a piece to intellectually combat Catholic dogma while defending Judaism.

Debates Against The Catholic Church

During the Inquisition, Jews sometimes took part in “Disputatio”, or “Disputations”. These disputations were religious debates between Catholics and Jews. Preceding the debate, Catholics would raid Jewish synagogues and forcibly lead the head teacher out to the town square. The Jewish teacher would then be forced to make a public and impromptu defense for his faith.

As treacherous as these Disputations were, some Jews did in fact win. One such example is that of Nachmonides, a Jewish religious teacher in Gerona and Barcelona. Nachmonides won a debate but was subsequently forced to flee from Spain after his victory. If Jews lost a Disputation, they and those in their community could be forced to convert to Catholicism. However, if Jews won, they would have been forced to leave the country.

One of the more notable defenders of Judaism against the Catholic Church was Shem Tov Ibn Shaprut. Ibn Shaprut felt it was his personal responsibility to equip his Jewish brethren with the knowledge to refute Catholicism. In order to do this, Ibn Shaprut wrote a treatise titled Even Bochan, or Test Stone or Sure Stone or Touchstone. In his treatise, Ibn Shaprut “included a Hebrew version of the book of Matthew as a sort of appendix”. He would read the New Testament and note the places in Scripture where Catholics disobeyed the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus). This tactic proved useful as Catholics who claimed to follow Yeshua would not deny something that He said. Ibn Shaprut's most useful tactic was to prove the inconsistencies of Catholicism with the teachings of Yeshua.

In more modern times, especially within the circles of academia, Ibn Shaprut’s work has received greater recognition largely in part to his work in his translation of the Gospel of Matthew.

The Hebrew Text Of The Gospel Of Matthew

Ibn Shaprut is one of a very select group of people who are known to have written the Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew. One of Ibn Shaprut’s more recognized works is found in his translation of the twenty-third chapter. In the second and third verses of every Greek manuscript of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells His disciples to observe whatsoever “they” (the Pharisees) tell them to do. However, in the Hebrew version of Matthew that Ibn Shaprut wrote, Yeshua tells His disciples to diligently do all the “he” (Moses) says to do.

This difference between the Greek text that the Catholics followed versus the original Hebrew that the Jews read is one such example of Ibn Shaprut using the New Testament to refute Catholicism. Catholics could not help but relent as they would not deny the words of Yeshua who they claimed to follow, but did not actually follow. However, the victories of people like Nachmanides and Ibn Shaprut did not deter Catholics from continuing to forcibly make conversos or “New Christians”. Nor did the victories of Jews in Disputations lead to Catholics relenting from murdering more Jews.