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Howard asserts that if this Hebrew Matthew JORDAN VALLEY, Israel - The words of the
were a translation of a Greek Christian text, biblical prophet Balaam have been found in-
"we would surely expect to find Adonai [or scribed on several plaster fragments near the
The Lord] in the text, not [a Hebrew] abbre- ancient temple of Deir 'Alla in the Jordan
viation for the ineffable [taboo] divine name Valley.
YHWH." He adds that Shem-Tob must have,
"received his Matthew with the divine name "This momentous discovery," says the biblical
already in the text; he probably preserved it historian, Prof. Ory Mazar, "seems to confirm
rather than run the risk of being guilty [of the existence of the prophet Balaam, an epic
changing the text or] removing it." figure of the Bible and a contemporary of
Moses."
Linguistically, Howard believes that reading
Shem Tob's Matthew is like reading one of the The area in which the ancient fragments were
Dead Sea Scrolls. It belongs to the same time found is known in the Bible as the Valley of
period. He further concludes that the Hebrew Succoth. (Psalms 60:8, 108:89) It is not far
Matthew found in Shem-Tob was most proba- from the Plains of Moab, the site of Balaam's
bly known to Jews and Jewish Christians in encounter with the Israelites. The text frag-
early medieval times but not to non-Jewish ments repeatedly make reference to "Balaam
Christians. son of Beor," who is described as a "divine
seer."
The similarities in the Hebrew and Greek ver-
sions of the Gospel of Matthew would suggest These ancient tablets further reveal a com-
that one must have served as a model for the pletely independent account of the story of the
other. Prophet Balaam. The perspective is not from
the Israelites, but from those they conquered
"The obvious question which arises from this during their conquest of Caanan. According to
study is which came first?" asks Prof. Avidan. scholars, the fragmented tablets date prior to
"We can only speculate as there is no clear the eighth century BC.
proof today," answers the historian.
"From the language and dialect of the tablets,"
"What is known, however, is that both are an- says Prof. Mazar, "we can clearly see that they
cient compositions with the same message," he seem to have been written not by an Israelite
concludes. "And in the Holy Land, with each as was the biblical story of Joshua, but rather
turn of the archaeologist's spade, we are get- by a non-Israelite, probably a Moabite or
ting closer and closer to finding more Midianite."
answers."
"What we have found," says the Jerusalem his-
Words of Biblical Prophet torian, "seems to dramatically confirm the bib-
lical narrative."
Found on Stone Tablets!
The Book of Numbers records the entry of the
3,000 Year-Old Fragments Parallel ancient Israelites into the Land of Canaan after
Biblical Narrative. wandering in the wilderness for 40 years:

"The Israelites set out, and camped in the
Martin L. Oxford plains of Moab across the Jordan from
Review Staff Reporter Jericho." (Num 22:1)

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