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UPDV Updated Bible Version

Matthew Chapter 9 — The Sea Crossings, Jairus, and Nazareth

Overview

UPDV chapter 9 restores the great Markan sea-crossing sequence to its original order: the stilling of the storm (9:1-6), the Gadarene demoniac (9:7-16), the return crossing with Jairus' daughter and the hemorrhaging woman (9:17-26), and the Nazareth rejection (9:28-32). This material comes from Mark 4:35-6:6a via canonical Matthew 8:23-34, 9:18-26, and 13:54-58. The compiler of canonical Matthew broke this continuous Markan sequence apart, distributing it across his sermon-then-healing architecture (chapters 5-9) and his parables discourse (chapter 13). The UPDV reassembles it.

This chapter is almost entirely Markan material, making the source analysis straightforward. The key methodological question is how the UPDV handles the compiler's most aggressive abbreviations — cases where the compiler didn't just condense Mark's text but substantially rewrote it.

Stilling the Storm (9:1-6)

"Now it came to pass on one of those days, that he gave commandment to depart to the other side." The storm episode comes from Mark 4:35-41 via canonical Matt 8:23-27. The compiler's abbreviation is used — his version is shorter than Mark's, omitting details like the "other boats" (Mark 4:36) and Mark's vivid "sleeping on the cushion in the stern" (Mark 4:38). The characteristic Matthean phrase "O you of little faith" (ὀλιγόπιστοι, oligopistoi) replaces Mark's harsher "Have you still no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Following the additions-versus-abbreviations principle, this is condensation of traditional material — the compiler shortened and softened but did not add new content — so the UPDV retains his text.

The Gadarene Demoniac (9:7-16)

The Gadarene exorcism is the most substantially rewritten pericope in the compiler's Gospel. Mark 5:1-20 is one of the longest, most vivid narratives in Mark — the demoniac among the tombs who breaks chains, the dialogue with the unclean spirit, the name "Legion," the swine stampede, the restored man sitting clothed and in his right mind. The compiler at canonical Matt 8:28-34 reduced this 20-verse narrative to 7 verses, changing one demoniac to two, dropping the entire Legion dialogue, and eliminating the aftermath. This goes well beyond abbreviation — it is a near-complete editorial rewrite.

The UPDV treats this as a case where the compiler's version amounts to a destruction of the original pericope rather than a transmission of it. Unlike the storm (where the compiler condensed Mark while preserving the narrative structure), here the compiler rewrote so aggressively that little of Mark's account survives — the dialogue, the characterization, the dramatic arc are all gone. The UPDV abandons the Matthean redaction and patches the narrative directly from the underlying Markan source text: single demoniac, Legion dialogue ("What is your name?" / "My name is Legion, for we are many"), and the core swine sequence. The compiler's doubling of the demoniac — a technique he repeats with the blind men at canonical Matt 20:30 — was likely motivated by the Torah's requirement of two witnesses for valid testimony (Deut 19:15), a legal concern alien to Mark's dramatic narrative. The reader should understand that UPDV 9:7-16 is essentially Mark's text, not the compiler's, in one of the few cases where the two-level rule forces a complete Markan substitution.

Jairus' Daughter and the Hemorrhaging Woman (9:17-26)

The intercalated miracle — the hemorrhaging woman's healing nested inside the Jairus narrative — comes from Mark 5:21-43 via canonical Matt 9:18-26. This is one of the earliest examples of Mark's "sandwich" technique, where one story is interrupted by another, and both are enhanced by the interruption: the woman's twelve years of illness mirrors the girl's twelve years of life, and the faith demonstrated by the woman provides the model for the faith Jesus demands of Jairus.

The UPDV text says the ruler's daughter is "at the point of death" (9:18), following Mark's ἐσχάτως ἔχει (eschatōs echei, "at the last extremity") rather than the compiler's more dramatic ἄρτι ἐτελεύτησεν (arti eteleutēsen, "has just died") at canonical Matt 9:18. This is not a case like the storm, where the compiler's vocabulary change ("O you of little faith") leaves the narrative structure intact. The compiler's change here structurally collapses the inherited Markan framework. Mark's intercalated sandwich depends on the girl being dying, not dead — the dramatic tension of the hemorrhaging woman's interruption exists precisely because every moment of delay brings the girl closer to death. If the girl is already dead when Jairus arrives, the delay has no narrative consequence and the intercalation loses its dramatic function. The compiler's change is not a vocabulary substitution but a structural alteration that breaks the inherited narrative logic. The UPDV reverts to Mark's staging, where the death is reported only after the delay.

The hemorrhaging woman's healing follows the compiler's text — "If I do but touch his garment, I will be made whole" — which abbreviates Mark's account (removing the detail about her spending all her money on physicians) but preserves the essential narrative.

Transition (9:27)

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed from there." This is the compiler's editorial discourse-conclusion formula (canonical Matt 13:53), one of five such markers in the Gospel (7:28, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1). Strictly speaking, this formula is editorial and should be removed by the UPDV's methodology. Its retention here is a pragmatic concession — without some transitional notice, the narrative jumps from the parabolic discourse directly into the Nazareth rejection with no connective tissue. This is a minor inconsistency, and a future revision might replace it with a simple non-editorial bridge or remove it entirely.

Nazareth Rejection (9:28-32)

"And coming into his own country he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, From where has this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?" The Nazareth rejection comes from Mark 6:1-6a via canonical Matt 13:54-58. Davies and Allison note this episode has three independent witnesses — Mark, a pre-Lukan tradition (Luke 4:16-30), and echoes in John — making it among the most firmly attested events in the Gospel tradition.

The UPDV uses the compiler's text, including "the carpenter's son" (Matt 13:55) where Mark has "the carpenter" (Mark 6:3). This is a small but theologically significant change — the compiler avoided calling Jesus himself a carpenter, preferring to identify him through his father. Following the abbreviation principle, this is a rendering choice within a preserved pericope, not an editorial addition.

The proverb "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house" (9:31) is traditional — it appears in all the Synoptics and in the Gospel of Thomas (31), confirming its deep roots in the Jesus tradition.

What the UPDV Removes from This Section

  • Matt 9:27-31 (two blind men): M material with no synoptic parallel. Davies and Allison note it closely resembles the Bartimaeus story (Mark 10:46-52 / Matt 20:29-34) — "a Matthean doublet." Dropped.
  • Matt 9:32-34 (dumb demoniac): M material, possibly a doublet of Matt 12:22-24. Dropped.
  • Matt 8:17 (Isaiah 53:4 formula quotation): Already noted in chapter 4's removals; applies to the healing context the compiler created around the storm pericope.

References

  • Davies, W. D. and Dale C. Allison Jr. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel according to Saint Matthew. 3 vols. International Critical Commentary. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988–1997.