¹ tn Grk “the book of the genealogy.” The noun bivblo" (biblo"), though it is without the article, is to be translated as definite due to Apollonius’ corollary and the normal use of anarthrous nouns in titles.
²tn Grk “fathered.”
³sn By the wife of Uriah, i.e., Bathsheba (cf. 2 Sam 11:3).
⁴tc The reading “Asaph” is found in the earliest and most widespread witnesses (Ì1^vid Í B C D^luc ˹ ˹³ 700 et pauci), a variant spelling on Asa. Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the evangelist mistook one for the other, since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”).
⁵tc “Amos” is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses. See textual discussion of Asa versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.
⁶sn Before the mention of Jeconiah, several medieval manuscripts add Jehoiakim, in conformity with the genealogy in 1 Chr 3:15-16. But this alters the count of fourteen generations (v. 17). It is evident that the evangelist is selective in his genealogy for a theological purpose.
⁷tn Because of the difference between Greek style, which usually begins a sentence with a conjunction, and English style, which generally does not, the conjunction dev (de) is not translated here.
⁸sn The Greek text and the KJV read Salathiel. Most modern English translations use the OT form of the name (cf. Ezra 3:2).
⁹sn The pronoun whom is feminine gender in the Greek text, referring to Mary. The Sinaitic Syriac manuscript alone alters the text of v. 16 to indicate that Joseph was the natural father of Jesus (“Joseph, to whom was betrothed Mary the virgin, fathered Jesus who is called the Christ”). But this lone versional witness finds no support in the fathers, other versions, or any Greek manuscripts and is therefore to be regarded as spurious.
¹⁰tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
¹¹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
¹²tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BAGD 788 s. v. 1 b).
¹³tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.
¹⁴tn Or “send her away.”
sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower (m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim…)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982] 21).
¹⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁶tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹⁷tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 324-35.
¹⁸tn Grk “you will call his name.”
¹⁹sn The Greek form of the name Ihsous (which was translated into Latin as Jesus) is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves.” It was a fairly common name among Jews in first century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.
²⁰tn Grk “they will call his name.”
²¹sn A quotation from Isa 7:14.
²²tn Grk “is translated.”
²³tn Grk “Emmanuel.” An allusion to Isa 8:8, 10 (LXX).
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn Or “did not have sexual relations”; Grk “was not knowing her.” The verb “know” (in both Hebrew and Greek) is a frequent biblical euphemism for sexual relations. However, a translation like “did not have sexual relations with her” is too graphic in light of the popularity and wide use of Matthew’s infancy narrative. Thus the somewhat more subdued but still clear “did not have marital relations” was selected.
²⁶tn Grk “and he called his name Jesus.” The coordinate clause has been translated as a relative clause in English for stylistic reasons.
¹tn Grk “in the days.”
²sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 BC until he died in 4 BC. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.
³sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (LN 32.40).
⁴tn Or “in its rising,” referring to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ajnatolaiv (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ajnatolhv (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BAGD 62 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ajpoV ajnatolw'n, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical; likew. vs. 9”).
⁵sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
⁶tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
⁷tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
⁸sn A quotation from Mic 5:2.
⁹sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
¹⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn Grk “and behold the star.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹³tn The phrase in its rising most likely refers to the astrological significance of a star in a particular portion of the sky. The term used for the “East” in v. 1 is ajnatolaiv (anatolai, a plural form that is used typically of the rising of the sun), while in vv. 2 and 9 the singular ajnatolhv (anatolh) is used. The singular is typically used of the rising of a star and as such should not normally be translated “in the east” (cf. BAGD 62 s.v. 1: “because of the sg. and the article in contrast to ajpoV ajnatolw'n, vs. 1, [it is] prob. not a geograph. expr. like the latter, but rather astronomical; likew. vs. 9”).
¹⁴tn Grk “they rejoiced with very great joy.”
¹⁵tn Grk “they fell down.” BAGD 659 s.v. pivptw 1.b.a.b. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
¹⁶sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (LN 6.212).
¹⁷sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (LN 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.
¹⁸sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
¹⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁰tn Grk “behold an angel.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²¹tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 324-35.
²²sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Herod the Great was particularly ruthless regarding the succession to his throne.
²³sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
²⁴sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.
²⁵sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Note the fulfillment of the prophecy given by the angel in 2:13.
²⁶tn Or “soldiers.”
²⁷tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.
²⁸sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.
²⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁰sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. When Herod the Great died in 4 BC, his kingdom was divided up among his three sons: Archelaus, who ruled over Judea (where Bethlehem was located, v. 22); Philip, who became tetrarch of Iturea and Trachonitis (cf. Luke 3:1); and Antipas, who became tetrarch of Galilee.
³¹tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 324-35.
³²tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s instructions.
³³sn Archelaus took after his father Herod the Great in terms of cruelty and ruthlessness, so Joseph was afraid to go there. After further direction in a dream, he went instead to Galilee.
³⁴sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.
³⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁶sn Nazareth was a very small village in the region of Galilee (Galilee lay north of Samaria and Judea). The town was located about 15 mi (25 km) west of the southern edge of the Sea of Galilee. According to Luke 1:26, Mary was living in Nazareth when the birth of Jesus was announced to her.
³⁷tn The Greek could be indirect discourse (as in the text), or direct discourse (“he will be called a Nazarene”). Judging by the difficulty of finding Old Testament quotations (as implied in the plural “prophets”) to match the wording here, it appears that the evangelist was using a current expression of scorn that conceptually (but not verbally) found its roots in the Old Testament.
¹tn Grk Or “desert.”
²tn Grk “and saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.
³tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle levgonto" (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated.
⁴tn Or “A voice.”
⁵sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.
⁶tn Grk “Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region of the Jordan were going out to him.”
⁷sn Pharisees were members of one of the most important and influential religious and political parties of Judaism in the time of Jesus. There were more Pharisees than Sadducees (according to Josephus, Antiquities 17.42 there were more than 6,000 Pharisees at about this time). Pharisees differed with Sadducees on certain doctrines and patterns of behavior. The Pharisees were strict and jealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.
⁸sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, Jewish War 2.119, 164-166; Antiquities 13.171-173, 293-298; 18.11, 16-17; 20.199; Life 10-11). See also Matt 16:1-12; 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Luke 20:27-38; Acts 5:17; 23:6-8.
⁹sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.
¹⁰tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”
¹¹sn Laid at the root. That is, placed and aimed, ready to begin cutting.
¹²sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. Some interpreters view the “fire” here as a cleansing or purifying work of the Spirit. However, in light of the reference in the following verse to the chaff being burned, it is more likely John the Baptist’s statement brings together references to Jesus’ first and second coming. The baptism with the Holy Spirit is connected with the blessings of salvation and the first coming, while the fire represents those sent into eternal fire at the second coming because of their rejection of the Son (Matt 13:40-42; 25:41).
¹³sn A winnowing fork was a pitchfork-like tool used to toss threshed grain in the air so that the wind blew away the chaff, leaving the grain to fall to the ground. The note of purging is highlighted by the use of imagery involving sifting though threshed grain for the useful kernels.
¹⁴tn Or “granary,” “barn” (referring to a building used to store a farm’s produce rather than a building to house livestock).
¹⁵sn The image of fire that cannot be extinguished is from the OT: Job 20:26; Isa 34:8-10; 66:24.
¹⁶tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.
¹⁷tc The earliest manuscripts omit the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus added in translation); later scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification.
¹⁸tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.
¹⁹tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.”
²⁰tn Grk “Permit now.”
²¹tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²²tn Or “permitted him.”
²³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁴tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²⁵tn Or “sky.” The Greek word oujranov" (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.
²⁶tc aujtw/' (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses, perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis.
²⁷tc Most manuscripts add the article before Spirit and God; either way, the translation is the same.
²⁸sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.
²⁹tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated here.
³⁰tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle levgousa (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
³¹tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ajgaphtov" (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (LN 58.53; cf. also BAGD 6 s.v. 1).
sn The parallel accounts in Mark 1:11 and Luke 3:22 read “You are” rather than “This is,” portraying the remark as addressed personally to Jesus.
³²tn Grk “in whom.”
³³tn Or “with whom I am well pleased.”
¹tn Or “desert.”
²tn Grk “and having fasting forty days and forty nights, afterward he was hungry.”
³tn Grk “say that these stones should become bread.”
⁴tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ajpokriqeiv" (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.
⁵tn Or “a person.” Greek oJ a[nqrwpo" (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.
⁶tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).
⁷sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.
⁸sn The order of the second and third temptations differs in Luke’s account (4:5-12) from the order given in Matthew.
⁹tn Grk “and he stood him.”
¹⁰sn The highest point of the temple probably refers to the point on the temple’s southeast corner where it looms directly over a cliff some 450 ft (135 m) high. However, some have suggested the reference could be to the temple’s high gate.
¹¹sn A quotation from Ps 91:11-12. This was not so much an incorrect citation as a use in a wrong context (a misapplication of the passage).
¹²sn A quotation from Deut 6:16.
¹³tn Grk “glory.”
¹⁴tn Grk “if, falling down, you will worship.” BAGD 659 s.v. pivptw 1.b.a.b. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
¹⁵sn A quotation from Deut 6:13.
¹⁶tn Grk “and behold, angels.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
¹⁸tn Grk “he.”
¹⁹tn Or “arrested” (see LN 37.12).
²⁰tn Grk “and leaving Nazareth, he came and took up residence in Capernaum.”
²¹tn Or “by the lake.”
sn By the sea refers to the Sea of Galilee.
²²tn The redundant participle levgonto" (legontos) has not been translated here.
²³sn A quotation from Isa9:1.
²⁴tn Grk “and to say.”
²⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁶tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the evangelist, parenthetical in nature.
²⁷tn The Greek term a[nqrwpo" (anqrwpos) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, thus “people.”
sn The kind of fishing envisioned was net- not line-fishing (cf. v. 18; cf. also BAGD 47 s.v. ajmfivblhstron, ajmfibavllw) which involved a circular net that had heavy weights around its perimeter. The occupation of fisherman was labor-intensive. The imagery of using a lure and a line (and waiting for the fish to strike!) is thus foreign to this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Jesus’ point may have been one or more of the following: the strenuousness of evangelism, the work ethic that it required, persistence and dedication to the task (often in spite of minimal results), the infinite value of the new “catch” (viz., people), and perhaps an eschatological theme of snatching people from judgment (cf. Lane, Mark 67). If this last motif is in view, then catching people is the opposite of catching fish: the fish would be caught, killed, cooked, and eaten; people would be caught so as to remove them from eternal destruction and to give them new life.
²⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁹tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ejn tw'/ ploivw/ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.
³⁰tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³²tn Grk “And he.”
³³sn Synagogues were places for Jewish prayer and worship, with recognized leadership (cf. Luke 8:41). Though the origin of the synagogue is not entirely clear, it seems to have arisen in the post-exilic community during the intertestamental period. A town could establish a synagogue if there were at least ten men. In normative Judaism of the NT period, the OT scripture was read and discussed in the synagogue by the men who were present (see the Mishnah, m. Meg. 3-4; m. Ber. 2).
³⁴tn Grk “And they,” “they” is probably an indefinite plural, referring to people in general rather than to the Syrians (cf. v. 25).
³⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated before each of the places in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
sn The Decapolis refers to a league of towns (originally consisting of ten; the Greek name literally means “Ten towns”) whose region (except for Scythopolis) lay across the Jordan River.
³⁶tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²tn Or “up a mountain” (eij" toV o{ro", eis to Joro").
sn The expression up the mountain here may be idiomatic or generic (much like the English “he went to the hospital” (cf. 15:29), or even intentionally reminiscent of Exod 24:12 (LXX), since the genre of the Sermon on the Mount seems to be that of a new Moses giving a new law.
³tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
⁴tn Grk “And opening his mouth he taught them, saying.” The imperfect verb ejdivdasken (edidasken) has been translated ingressively.
⁵sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. AD 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.
⁶tn Grk “Nor do they light.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.
⁷tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory gavr (gar) has not been translated.
⁸tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁹tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”
sn The smallest letter refers to the smallest Hebrew letter (yodh) and the stroke of a letter to a serif (a hook or projection on a Hebrew letter).
¹⁰tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).
¹¹tn Or “that of the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
¹²sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹³tn Grk “to the ancient ones.”
¹⁴sn A quotation from Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17.
¹⁵tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”
¹⁶tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”
¹⁷tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”
¹⁸tn The meaning of the term mwrov" (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term hrwm (m{r#h) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BAGD 531 s.v. mwrov" 3).
¹⁹tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”
²⁰tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire” (a place of punishment for the dead).
²¹tn Grk “Make friends.”
²²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²³sn The penny was a quadrans, a Roman copper coin worth 1/64 of a denarius (LN 6.78).
²⁴sn A quotation from Exod 20:14; Deut 5:17.
²⁵sn The Greek term translated hell here and in the following verse is “Gehenna” (gevenna, geenna) which originally referred to the Valley of Hinnom but in NT times was understood as a place of punishment for the dead.
²⁶sn A quotation from Deut 24:1.
²⁷tn Grk “the ancient ones.”
²⁸sn A quotation from Lev 19:12.
²⁹tn The term ponhrou' (ponhrou) may be understood as specific and personified, referring to the devil, or possibly as a general reference to evil. It is most likely personified, however, since it is articular (tou' ponhrou', tou ponhrou). Cf. also “the evildoer” in v. 39, which is the same construction.
³⁰sn A quotation from Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20.
³¹tn The articular ponhrov" (ponhro", “the evildoer”) cannot be translated simply as “evil” for then the command would be “do not resist evil.” Every instance of this construction in Matthew is most likely personified, referring either to an evildoer (13:49) or, more often, “the evil one” (as in 5:37; 6:13; 13:19, 38).
³²tc Although most manuscripts add sou (sou, “your”), the pronoun was apparently added by way of clarification.
³³tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (citwvn, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a ‘tunic’ was any more than they would be familiar with a ‘chiton.’ On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
³⁴sn If anyone forces you to go one mile. In NT times Roman soldiers had the authority to press civilians into service to carry loads for them.
³⁵tn Grk “do not turn away from.”
³⁶sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
³⁷tn Grk “be sons of your Father in heaven.” Here, however, the focus is not on attaining a relationship (becoming a child of God) but rather on being the kind of person who shares the characteristics of God himself (a frequent meaning of the Semitic idiom “son of”). See LN 58.26.
¹tc Many manuscripts add dev (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse, apparently to indicate a transition in the thought flow of the Sermon of the Mount.
²tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”
³tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).
⁴sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁷sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
⁸sn The term translated room refers to the inner room of a house, normally without any windows opening outside, the most private location possible (BAGD 803 s.v. tamei'on 2).
⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁰tn Grk “So do not.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
¹¹tn The term ponhrou' (ponhrou) may be understood as specific and personified, referring to the devil, or possibly as a general reference to evil. It is most likely personified since it is articular (tou' ponhrou', tou ponhrou). Cf. also “the evildoer” in 5:39, which is the same construction.
¹²tn Here a[nqrwpo" (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense: “people, others.”
¹³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. LN 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ajfanivzousin gaVr taV provswpa aujtw'n ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”
¹⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn Grk “if your eye is not sound” or “if your eye is diseased” (LN 23.149). There may be a slight word play here, as this term (ponhrov", ponhro") can also mean “evil,” so the figure uses a term that points to the real meaning of being careful as to what one pays attention to or looks at.
¹⁸tn Grk “God and mammon.”
sn The term possessions is used to translate mammon, the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19.
¹⁹tn Or “birds of the heaven”; the Greek word oujranov" (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.
sn The idiom birds of the sky refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl.
²⁰tn Grk “of more value.”
²¹tn Or “Can any of you add height to your stature by worry?”
²²tn Traditionally, “lilies.” According to LN 3.32, “Though traditionally krivnon has been regarded as a type of lily, scholars have suggested several other possible types of flowers, including an anemone, a poppy, a gladiolus, and a rather inconspicuous type of daisy.” In view of the uncertainty, the more generic “flowers” has been used in the translation.
²³tn Grk “into the oven.” The expanded translation “into the fire to heat the oven” has been used to avoid misunderstanding; most items put into modern ovens are put there to be baked, not burned.
sn The oven was most likely a rounded clay oven used for baking bread, which was heated by burning wood and dried grass.
²⁴tn Or “unbelievers”; Grk “Gentiles.”
²⁵tc Most later manuscripts (L W Q 0223 ˹ ˹³ Byz) read “the kingdom of God and his righteousness” here, but the words “of God” are omitted in Í B et pauci. Apart from the remote possibility of accidental omission, there is little reason to suspect that these witnesses do not have the original reading.
²⁶tn Grk “Sufficient for the day is its evil.”
¹tn Grk “by [the measure] with which you measure it will be measured to you.”
²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³sn The term translated speck refers to a small piece of wood, chaff, or straw; see LN 3.66.
⁴sn The term translated beam of timber is a reference to a very big piece of wood, the main beam of a building, in contrast to the speck in the other’s eye (LN 7.78).
⁵tn Grk “Or is there.”
⁶tn The participle o[nte" (onte") may be adverbial or adjectival. If adverbial, it has a concessive force: “even though you are evil”; if adjectival, it is a description of all humanity, not a qualification true only of some. Either way, mankind’s sinfulness is seen here.
⁷tn Grk “Therefore in.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
⁸tn Grk “is.”
⁹sn Sheep’s clothing…voracious wolves. Jesus uses a metaphor here to point out that these false prophets appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something quite different and dangerous.
¹⁰tn Grk “They.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general.
¹¹tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
¹²tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”
¹³tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “and great was its fall.”
¹⁵tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase kaiV ejgevneto (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹⁶tn Or “their scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
¹tn Grk “And behold, a leper came.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²tn Grk “a leper approaching, bowed low before him, saying.”
³tn Or “as an indictment against them.” The pronoun aujtoi'" (autoi") may be a dative of disadvantage.
⁴sn A centurion was a non-commissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like the apostle Paul did.
⁵sn While in Matthew’s account the centurion came to him asking for help, Luke’s account (7:1-10) mentions that the centurion sent some Jewish elders as emissaries on his behalf.
⁶tn The Greek term here is pai'" (pais), often used of a slave who was regarded with some degree of affection, possibly a personal servant (Luke 7:7 uses the more common term dou'lo", doulos). See LN 87.77.
⁷tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁸tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ajpokriqeiv" (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
⁹tn Grk “having.”
¹⁰tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo") in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “to recline at table.” Since the context of the kingdom indicates an elaborate, festive meal rather than a routine dinner, the translation “share the banquet” was used here.
sn First century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
¹⁵tc Most manuscripts add “his” after “servant.” It is unlikely that the pronoun was accidentally overlooked by such diverse witnesses as Í B W 0250 0281 Itala Syriac Coptic Irenaeus. More likely is the probability that Western and Byzantine scribes added the word for clarification.
¹⁶tn Grk “was fulfilled, saying.” The participle levgonto" (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.
¹⁷sn A quotation from Isa 53:4.
¹⁸tc Codex B and some Sahidic manuscripts read simply o[clon (oclon, “crowd”); the first hand of Í has o[clou" (oclou", “crowds”); other witnesses read poluVn o[clon (polun oclon, “a large crowd”). The reading of our text is found in Ͳ, C, L, Q, 0233, 33, Byzantine cursives, Itala et alii; it is judged to be superior on both external grounds (geographically widespread, various texttypes) and internal grounds (the possibility of accidental omission of pollouv"/poluvn [pollous/polun] in isolated witnesses).
¹⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “then.”
²⁰tn Or “a scribe.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 7:29.
²¹tn Or “birds of the heaven”; the Greek word oujranov" (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
sn The idiom birds of the sky refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl.
²²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²³tc Most manuscripts add aujtou' (autou, “his”) here, but the earliest witnesses, Í and B (along with 33 and a few others), omit it. The addition is an evidently motivated reading to clarify whose disciples were in view.
²⁴sn Recent research suggests that burial customs in Palestine involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In first century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4).
²⁵tn It is difficult to know whether a[nqrwpoi (anqrwpoi) should be translated as “men” or “people” (in a generic sense) here. At issue is whether (1) only the Twelve were with Jesus in the boat, as opposed to other disciples (cf. v. 23), and (2) whether any of those other disciples would have been women. The issue is complicated further by the parallel in Mark (4:35-41), where we are told (4:36) that other boats accompanied them on this journey.
²⁶tn Grk “the men were amazed, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
²⁷tc The textual tradition here is quite complicated. A number of manuscripts (B C [D] Q 1010 al syr^{s p h}) read “Gadarenes,” which is the better reading here. Many later manuscripts (Ͳ L W ˹ ˹³ Byz [syr^{h mg}] bo) have “Gergesenes.” A few others (892^c latt syr^{h mg} sa mae) have “Gerasenes,” which is the reading followed in Luke 8:26. The difference between Matthew and Luke may well have to do with uses of variant regional terms.
sn The region of the Gadarenes would be in Gentile territory on the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee across from Galilee. Luke 8:26 and Mark 5:1 record this miracle as occurring “in the region of the Gerasenes.” “Irrespective of how one settles this issue, for the [second and] Third Evangelist the chief concern is that Jesus has crossed over into Gentile territory, ‘opposite Galilee’” (J. B. Green, The Gospel of Luke in NICNT [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997] 337). The region of Gadara extended to the Sea of Galilee and included the town of Sennabris on the southern shore—the town that the herdsmen most likely entered after the drowning of the pigs.
²⁸tn Grk “And behold, they cried out, saying.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d). The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.
²⁹tn Grk “what to us and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase tiv hJmi'n kaiV soiv (ti Jhmin kai soi) is Semitic in origin, though it made its way into colloquial Greek (BAGD 217 s.v. ejgwv). The equivalent Hebrew expression in the OT had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his own, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). These nuances were apparently expanded in Greek, but the basic notions of defensive hostility (option 1) and indifference or disengagement (option 2) are still present. BAGD suggests the following as glosses for this expression: What have I to do with you? What have we in common? Never mind! Leave me alone! Hostility between Jesus and the demons is certainly to be understood in this context, hence the translation: “Leave me alone….”
³⁰sn There was an appointed time in which demons would face their judgment, and they seem to have viewed Jesus’ arrival on the scene as an illegitimate change in God’s plan regarding the time when their sentence would be executed.
³¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³²tn Grk “asked him, saying.” Here the participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³³tn Grk “And he said to them.”
³⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁵tn Or “city.” But see sn on 8:28.
³⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
³⁷tn Or “city.”
¹sn Capernaum was a town of approximately 1000-1500, though of some significance.
²tn Grk “And behold, they were bringing.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is translated “all of a sudden,” though it has no exact English equivalent.
³tn Traditionally, “on a bed,” but this could be confusing to the modern reader who might envision a large piece of furniture. In various contexts, klivnh (klinh) may be translated “bed, couch, cot, stretcher, or bier” (in the case of a corpse). See LN 6.106.
⁴tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁵tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d). Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events in the narrative.
⁶tn Or “some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 7:29.
⁷sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.
⁸tn Grk “to your house.”
⁹tn Grk “to his house.”
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Grk “people.” The plural of a[nqrwpo" (anqrwpo") usually indicates people in general, but the singular is used in the expression “Son of Man.” There is thus an ironic allusion to Jesus’ statement in v. 6: his self-designation as “Son of Man” is meant to be unique, but the crowd regards it simply as meaning “human, person.”
¹²tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for telwvnion (telwnion, so LN 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.
sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade, that is, duty or customs taxes on produce and goods going in and out of the city gates.
¹³tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase kaiV ejgevneto (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁵tn Grk “was reclining at table.”
sn First century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
¹⁶sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).
¹⁹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²⁰tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (LN 11.7).
²¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²³sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
²⁴sn The skins will be destroyed. The image makes the point that an attempt to combine the old and the new will destroy and waste both, for as the wine ferments it will destroy the old wineskins which have already been stretched.
²⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the ruler’s request.
²⁶tn Grk “And behold a woman.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²⁷sn Suffering with a hemorrhage. The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage which would make her ritually unclean.
²⁸sn The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassle on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37-41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity.
²⁹tn The imperfect verb is here taken iteratively, for the context suggests that the woman was trying to muster up the courage to touch Jesus’ cloak.
³⁰tn Grk “saved.”
sn In this pericope the evangelist uses a term for being healed (Grk “saved”) that would have spiritual significance to his readers. It may be a double entendre (cf. parallel in Mark 5:28 which uses the same term), since elsewhere he uses verbs that simply mean “heal”: if only the reader would “touch” Jesus, he too would be “saved.”
³¹tn Grk “saved.”
³²tn Grk “saved.”
³³tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ announcement that the girl was only sleeping.
³⁴tn The imperfect verb has been taken ingressively.
³⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁶tn For the translation of thVn gh'n ejkeivnhn (thn ghn ekeinhn) as “that region,” see LN 1.79.
³⁷tn Grk “shouting out, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁹tn Grk “to him, and Jesus.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.
⁴⁰tn For the translation of thVn gh'n ejkeivnhn (thn ghn ekeinhn) as “that region,” see LN 1.79.
⁴¹tn Grk “As.” The genitive absolute construction with the participle ejxercomevnwn (exercomenwn) has been taken temporally. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴²tn Grk “away, behold, they brought a man to him.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁴³sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁴⁴sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
⁴⁵tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
⁴⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁷tn Or “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The translational issue is whether the perfect participles are predicate (as in the text) or are pluperfect periphrastic (the alternate translation). If the latter, the implication would seem to be that the crowds had been in such a state until the Great Shepherd arrived.
¹tn Grk “And he.”
²tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to reflect the somewhat parenthetical nature of the list of names.
⁴tn Grk “the Cananean,” but according to both BAGD 402 s.v. Kananai'o" and LN 11.88, this term has no relation at all to the geographical terms for Cana or Canaan, but is derived from the Aramaic term for “enthusiast, zealot” (see Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), probably because of an earlier affiliation with the party of the Zealots.
⁵tn Grk “who even betrayed him.”
⁶tn Grk “instructing them, saying.”
⁷tn Grk “on the road of the Gentiles.” That is, a path that leads to Gentile regions.
⁸tn Grk “town [or city] of the Samaritans.”
⁹tn Grk “But go.” The Greek ma'llon (mallon, “rather, instead”) conveys the adversative nuance here so that dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tc The Byzantine text, along with a few other witnesses, omits nekrouV" ejgeivrete (nekrou" egeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ete in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). Although some Byzantine text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). All such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).
¹²tn See the note on the word “tunic” in Matt 5:40.
¹³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).
¹⁵tn Grk “there.” This was translated as “with them” to avoid redundancy in English and to clarify where the disciples were to stay.
¹⁶tn “As.” Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn This is a metonymy; the “house” is put for those who live in it.
¹⁸tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹⁹tn Grk “Behold I.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²¹tn Grk “to councils,” but this refers to a council acting with a judiciary function and so has been translated “courts.”
²²tn BAGD 495 s.v. mastigovw 1 states, “lit., of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; cf. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of the pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
²³sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁶tn Or “will rebel against.”
²⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁸tn The Greek word here is povli" (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”
²⁹tn Grk “For truly (ajmhvn, amhn) I say to you.” Here gavr (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
³⁰tn The Greek word here is povli" (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”
³¹tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
³²tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in the previous verse.
³³tn Grk “Therefore do not.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
³⁴tn Grk “For there.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
³⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁶tn Grk “Gehenna” (a place of punishment for the dead).
³⁷sn The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest thing sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.
³⁸tn Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”
³⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁰tn Grk “I will acknowledge him also.”
⁴¹tn For bavllw (ballw) in the sense of causing a state or condition, see LN 13.14.
⁴²tn Matt 10:35-36 are an allusion to Mic 7:6.
⁴³tn Grk “for my sake.”
⁴⁴tn Grk “And whoever.” Here kaiv (kai, omitted in codex D and a few other manuscripts) is not translated.
⁴⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase kaiV ejgevneto (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
³sn John refers to John the Baptist.
⁴tc The Western codex D and a few other manuscripts (0233 1424 al) read “Jesus” here instead of “Christ.” This is not likely to be original because it is not found in the earliest and most important manuscripts.
tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
⁵tn Grk “sending by his disciples he said to him.” The words “a question” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
⁶tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁹tn Or “into the desert.”
¹⁰tn Grk “But what.” Here ajllav (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated.
¹¹tn Grk “Behold those.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹²sn A quotation from Mal 3:1; see also Exod 23:20.
¹³tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁵tn Or “the kingdom of heaven is forcibly entered and violent people take hold of it.” For a somewhat different interpretation of this passage, see the note on the phrase “urged to enter in” in Luke 16:16.
¹⁶tn The word “appeared” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸tn Grk “who call out to one another, saying.” The participle levgousin (legousin) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Grk “Behold a man.”
²⁰tn The Greek word here is povli" (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.”
sn Chorazin (mentioned in v. 21) was a town, as was Capernaum (v. 23), while Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after AD 30.
²¹sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Luke 10:15; 16:23; Rev 20:13-14).
²²tn Grk “At that time, answering, Jesus said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
²³sn This verse is noted for its similarity to statements made by Jesus in John’s Gospel (10:14-15; 17:25).
²⁴sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.
¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated
³sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁴tn Grk “doing what is not lawful.”
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated
⁶tc The Greek term e[fagen (efagen, “he ate”) is found in a majority of witnesses in place of e[fagon (efagon, “they ate”). This is most likely motivated by the parallels in Mark and Luke (both of which have the singular).
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁹sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).
¹⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
¹¹tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹²sn Their synagogue. See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
¹³tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹⁴tn Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.
¹⁵tn Or “is it permissible.”
¹⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ instructions.
¹⁸sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁹tn Grk “destroy.”
²⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²¹tc Í B lat et pauci read only polloiv (polloi, “many”) here; the first hand of N reads o[cloi (ocloi, “crowds”); virtually all the rest of the witnesses have o[cloi polloiv (ocloi polloi, “great crowds”). In spite of the good quality of both Í and B (especially in combination), the longer reading is most likely correct; the reading of Í and B was probably due to homoioteleuton.
²²tn Grk “so that what was said by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying.” This final clause, however, is part of one sentence in Greek (vv. 15b-17) and is thus not related only to v. 16. The participle levgonto" (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.
²³tn Grk “with whom my soul.”
²⁴tn Or “the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
²⁵sn Verses 18-21 are a quotation from Isa 42:1-4.
²⁶tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁷tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”
²⁸sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²⁹tc The majority of manuscripts add oJ *Ihsou" (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”) here, to clarify who is the subject of the sentence. Although the shorter text is minimally attested (Í B et pauci), both the pedigree of the manuscripts and the strong internal evidence (viz., scribes were not prone to intentionally delete the name of Jesus) argues for the omission of Jesus’ name.
³⁰tn For the translation of fqavnw (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already” see LN 13.123.
³¹tn Grk “Or how can.”
³²tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”
³³tn Grk “it will not be forgiven him.”
³⁴tn The Greek text reads here a[nqrwpo" (anqrwpos). The term is generic referring to any person. Because of the proverbial nature of the saying, it was translated here as “man.”
³⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁶tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
³⁷tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been added for clarification.
³⁸tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.
³⁹tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
⁴⁰tn Grk “large sea creature.”
⁴¹sn An allusion to Jonah 1:17.
⁴²tn Grk “men”; the word here (ajnhvr, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here.
⁴³tn Grk “and behold.”
⁴⁴tn Grk “and behold.”
⁴⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁶tn Grk “comes.”
⁴⁷tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.
⁴⁸tn Grk “crowds, behold, his mother.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁴⁹tn “His mother and brothers came and” is a translation of “behold, his mother and brothers came.”
⁵⁰tn Grk “seeking.”
⁵¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵²tn Grk “seeking.”
⁵³tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁵⁴tn Grk “And answering, he said to the one who had said this.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) at the beginning of the clause has not been translated.
⁵⁵tn Grk “extending his hand.”
⁵⁶tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.
²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³tn Or “Listen!” Grk “Behold.”
⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
⁸tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁹tn Or “the mysteries.”
¹⁰tn Grk “with hearing,” a cognate dative that intensifies the action of the main verb “you will listen” (Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 168-69).
¹¹tn Grk “look by looking.” The participle is redundant, functioning to intensify the force of the main verb.
¹²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹³sn A quotation from Isa 6:9-10.
¹⁴tn Grk “For truly (ajmhvn, amhn) I say to you.” Here gavr (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
¹⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁶tn Grk “is temporary.”
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn The Greek is difficult to translate because it switches from a generic “he” to three people within this generic class (thus, something like: “Who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one instance a hundredfold, in another, sixtyfold, in another, thirtyfold”).
²⁰tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
²¹tn Grk “sowed darnel.” The Greek term zizavnion (zizanion) refers to an especially undesirable weed that looks like wheat but has poisonous seeds (LN 3.30).
²²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²³tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the owner’s statement.
²⁶tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slave” in the previous verse.
²⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁸tn Grk “but.”
²⁹tn Grk “burned, but gather.”
³⁰tn Grk “put before.”
³¹tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
³²sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.
³³sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.
³⁴tn Or “birds of the heaven”; the Greek word oujranov" (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
sn The idiom birds of the sky refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl.
³⁵tn Grk “Took and hid.”
³⁶sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” This was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 pounds (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 pounds (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.
³⁷tn Grk “ it was all leavened.”
sn Until all the dough had risen. The imagery suggests that the kingdom will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything, like the yeast permeates the dough. Jesus’ point was not to be deceived by small beginnings.
³⁸tn Grk “was spoken by the prophet, saying.” The participle levgonto" (legontos) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³⁹sn A quotation from Ps 78:2.
⁴⁰tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴²tn Grk “the sons of the kingdom.” This idiom refers to people who should properly be, or were traditionally regarded as, a part of God’s kingdom. LN 11.13 translates the phrase: “people of God’s kingdom, God’s people.”
⁴³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁴tn Grk “the sons of the evil one.” See the preceding note on the phrase “people of the kingdom” earlier in this verse, which is the opposite of this phrase. See also LN 9.4; 11.13; 11.14.
⁴⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁶tn Grk “Therefore as.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
⁴⁷tn Grk “the ones who practice lawlessness.”
⁴⁸sn An allusion to Dan 3:6.
⁴⁹sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.
⁵⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵¹sn An allusion to Dan 3:6.
⁵²tn Or “every scribe.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader. It is possible that the term translated “expert in the law” (traditionally, “scribe”) here is a self-description used by the evangelist Matthew to represent his role in conveying the traditions about Jesus to his intended audience. See David E. Orton, The Understanding Scribe: Matthew and the Apocalyptic Ideal (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1989).
⁵³tn Grk “Now it happened that when.” The introductory phrase kaiV ejgevneto (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁵⁴tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
⁵⁵sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23. Jesus undoubtedly took the opportunity on this occasion to speak about his person and mission, and its relationship to Old Testament fulfillment.
⁵⁶tn Grk “synagogue, so that they.” Here w{ste (wste) has not been translated. Instead a new sentence was started in the translation.
¹sn A tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, is called a king (Mark 6:14, 22; Matt 14:9), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.
²tc Most witnesses add “him” here, as a way of clarifying the direct object. The original wording most likely omitted it.
³tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.
⁴sn Verses 3-4 are a parenthetical explanation by the evangelist.
⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶tn The Greek text reads here oJmologevw (Jomologew); though normally translated “acknowledge, confess,” BAGD (568 s.v. 1) lists “assure, promise with an oath” for certain contexts such as here.
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸sn Herod was technically not a king, but this reflects popular usage. See the note on tetrarch in 14:1.
⁹tn Grk “And his”; The referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁰tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
¹¹tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
¹²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹³tc The majority of witnesses add jIhsou'" (Ihsous) here, clarifying the subject. Although only a few witnesses omit the name of Jesus, it does not seem to be either accidental or malicious and is therefore judged to be the original reading.
¹⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
¹⁶tn Grk “And after instructing the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass, after taking the five loaves and the two fish, after looking up to heaven, he gave thanks, and after breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples.” Although most of the participles are undoubtedly attendant circumstance, there are but two indicative verbs—“he gave thanks” and “he gave.” The structure of the sentence thus seems to focus on these two actions and has been translated accordingly.
¹⁷tn Grk “to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.”
¹⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁰tn Grk “The boat was already many stades from the land.” A stade (stavdion, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (187 meters) long.
²¹tn Grk “In the fourth watch of the night,” that is, between 3 AM and 6 AM.
²²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²³tc Most witnesses add oJ jIhsou'" (Jo Ihsous) before aujtoi'" (autois), for the sake of clarity.
²⁴tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
²⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁶tn Grk “answering him, Peter said.” The participle ajpokriqeiv" (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
²⁷tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
²⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁹sn Gennesaret was a fertile plain south of Capernaum (see also Mark 6:53). This name was also sometimes used for the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1).
³⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”.
³¹tn Grk “asked that they might touch.”
¹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²tn Or “and the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
³tn The participle levgonte" (legontes) is translated as a finite verb so that its telic force can be more easily detected: the Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus in order to speak with him.
⁴tc Although most witnesses add the genitive plural pronoun aujtw'n (autwn), it is evidently motivated by clarification (as it was in our translation). Í B and several other authorities omit the pronoun; the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading.
⁵tn Grk “when they eat bread.”
⁶tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”
⁷sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
⁸sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.
⁹tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.
¹⁰tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.
¹¹sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.
¹²tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹³tn Grk “And calling the crowd, he said to them.” The participle proskalesavmeno" (proskalesamenos) is translated as attendant circumstance. The emphasis here is upon Jesus’ speaking to the crowd.
¹⁴tn Grk “but what.”
¹⁵sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁶tn Grk “And answering, he said.”
¹⁷tn Grk “And answering, Peter said to him.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
¹⁸tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
²⁰tn Grk “And behold a Canaanite.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²¹tn Grk The participle ejxelqou'sa (exelqousa) is here translated as a finite verb. The emphasis is upon her crying out to Jesus.
²²tn Grk “cried out, saying.” The participle levgousa (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²³tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
²⁴tn Grk “And coming, his disciples begged him.” The participle proselqovnte" (proselqontes) is translated as a finite verb to make its antecedent time clear in English.
²⁵tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²⁶tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The construction in Greek is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.
²⁷tn Grk “But coming, she bowed before him.” The participle ejlqou'sa (elqousa) is translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
²⁸tn In this context the verb proskunevw (proskunew), which often describes worship, probably means simply bowing down to the ground in an act of reverence or supplication (see LN 17.21).
²⁹tn Grk “she bowed down to him, saying.” The participle levgousa (legousa) is translated as a finite verb to make its antecedent time clear in English.
³⁰tn Grk “And answering, he said, ‘It is not right.’” The introductory phrase “answering, he said” has been simplified and placed at the end of the English sentence for stylistic reasons. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³¹tn Or “lap-dogs, house-dogs,” as opposed to dogs on the street. The diminutive form originally referred to puppies or little dogs, then to house pets. In some Hellenistic uses kunavrion (kunarion) simply means “dog.” But here the context obviously suggests a less harsh idea. For further discussion, see note at Mark 7:27.
³²tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The participle ajpokriqeiv" (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.
³³tn Grk “Then answering, Jesus said to her.” This expression has been simplified in the translation.
³⁴tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
³⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁶tn Although the external evidence is not great (Í W Q 700 et pauci), the internal evidence for the omission of aujtou' (autou, “his”) after “disciples” is fairly strong. The pronoun was most likely added by way of clarification.
³⁷tn For the translation “faint from exhaustion” see LN 23.79.
³⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴¹tn Grk “was giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd.”
⁴²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴³tc Although most witnesses read “women and children” instead of “children and women,” it is likely that the majority’s reading is a harmonization to Matt 14:21. “Children and women” is found in early and geographically widespread witnesses (e.g., Í D lat Syriac Curetonian Sahidic Boharic et alii), suggesting that this is the original reading.
⁴⁴tn Grk “And those eating were four thousand men, apart from children and women.”
⁴⁵sn Magadan was a place along the Sea of Galilee, the exact location of which is uncertain.
¹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
³tn The object of the participle peiravzonte" (peirazontes) is not given in the Greek text but has been added here for clarity.
⁴tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵tn Or “red and gloomy” (LN 14.56).
⁶tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”
⁷sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁸sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
⁹tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ saying about the Pharisees and Sadducees.
¹⁰tn Or “becoming aware of it.”
¹¹tn Or “discussing.”
¹²sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹³sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
¹⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁵sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
¹⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn Grk “he asked his disciples, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has been left untranslated.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Grk “And answering, Simon Peter said.” The construction has been simplified in the translation and dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁰tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²¹tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ajpokriqeiv" (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of this phrase has been modified for clarity.
²²tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).
sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside ( Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14). Some translations render this by its modern equivalent, “hell”; others see it as a reference to the power of death.
²³tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²⁴tn Grk “From then.”
²⁵tn Or “and scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
²⁶tn Grk “Merciful to you.” A highly elliptical expression: “May God be merciful to you in sparing you from having to undergo [some experience]” (LN 88.78). A contemporary English equivalent is “God forbid!”
²⁷tn Grk “people.”
²⁸tn This Greek word (yuchv, yuch) is translated “life” in the previous verse.
²⁹sn An allusion to Pss 28:4; 62:12; cf. Prov 24:12.
³⁰tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
³¹tn The Greek negative here (ouj mhv, ou mh) is the strongest possible.
¹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²tn Grk “And behold, Moses.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that the appearance of Moses and Elijah prompted Peter’s comment.
⁴tn Grk “Peter answering said.” This construction is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
⁵tn Or “booths,” “dwellings” (referring to the temporary booths constructed in the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles).
sn Peter apparently wanted to celebrate the feast of Tabernacles or Booths that looked forward to the end and wanted to treat Moses, Elijah, and Jesus as equals by making three shelters (one for each). It was actually a way of expressing honor to Jesus, but the remark at the end of the verse makes it clear that it was not enough honor!
⁶tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁷tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle levgousa (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
⁸tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ajgaphtov" (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (LN 58.53; cf. also BAGD 6 s.v. 1).
⁹tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BAGD 659 s.v. pivptw 1.b.a.b. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Grk “Jesus commanded them, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.
¹²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹³tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹⁴tn Or “do the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 16:21.
¹⁵tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This has been simplified in the translation.
¹⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁸tn Grk “he is moonstruck,” possibly meaning “lunatic,” although generally regarded as referring to an epileptic (LN 23.169).
¹⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁰tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²¹tn Grk “How long will I be with you?”
²²tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “Then.”
²³tn Grk “coming, the disciples said.” The participle proselqovnte" (proselqontes) is translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn Grk “For truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
²⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁷tc Many important manuscripts (Í* B Q 33 892* et pauci) do not include 17:21 “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” The verse is included in Ͳ C D L W ˹ ˹³ Byz, but is almost certainly not original.
²⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁰tn Grk “Collectors of the double drachma.” This is a case of metonymy, where the coin used to pay the tax (the double drachma coin, or divdracmon [didracmon]) was put for the tax itself (cf. BAGD 192 s.v. divdracmon).
sn The temple tax refers to the tax paid annually by male Jews to support the temple (Exod 30:13-16).
³¹tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
³²sn The phrase their sons may mean “their citizens,” but the term “sons” has been retained here in order to preserve the implicit comparison between the Father and his Son, Jesus.
³³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁴sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.
³⁵sn The four drachma coin was a stater (stathvr, stathr), a silver coin worth four drachmae. The drachma was equivalent to the denarius, the standard pay for a day’s labor (LN 6.80).
¹tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²tn Grk “Therefore whoever.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
³tn The Greek term skandalivzw (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”
⁴tn Grk “to have the millstone of a donkey,” i.e., a large grinding stone needing a donkey to turn it.
⁵tn Grk “For it.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷sn In Greek there is a word play that is difficult to reproduce in English here. The verb translated “causes…to sin” (skandalivzw, skandalizw) comes from the same root as the word translated “stumbling blocks” (skavndalon, skandalon) in the previous verse.
⁸tn Grk “than having.”
⁹tn Grk “than having.”
¹⁰tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire” (a place of punishment for the dead).
¹¹tc The most important manuscripts (Í B L* Q* ˹ ˹³ 33 892* et pauci) do not include 18:11 “For the Son of Man came to seek the lost.” The verse is included in D L^c W Q^c 078^vid Byz, but is almost certainly not original.
¹²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁴tc The earliest and best witnesses omit “against you” after “if your brother sins.” It is quite possible that these witnesses (Í B 0281 ˹ Sahidic et alii) either intentionally changed the text (to make it more universal in application) or unintentionally changed the text (owing to the similar sound of the end of the verb aJmarthvsh/ [Jamarthsh] and the prepositional phrase eij" se [eis se]). However, since the manuscripts were normally copied by sight rather than by sound, especially in the early centuries of Christianity, such an unintentional change is not as likely for these manuscripts. And since scribes normally added material rather than deleted it for intentional changes, on balance, the shorter reading appears to be original.
¹⁵tn Grk “go reprove him.”
¹⁶sn A quotation from Deut 19:15.
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Grk “let him be to you as.”
²⁰sn To treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector means not to associate with such a person.
²¹tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²³tn Grk “it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one.
²⁴tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BAGD 16 s.v. ajdelfov" 2), whether male or female.
²⁵tn Or “seventy times seven,” i.e., an unlimited number of times. See LN 60.74 and 60.77 for the two possible translations of the phrase.
²⁶tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
²⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁸sn A talent was a huge sum of money, equal to 6,000 denarii. One denarius was the usual day’s wage for a worker. LN 6.82 states, “a Greek monetary unit (also a unit of weight) with a value which fluctuated, depending upon the particular monetary system which prevailed at a particular period of time (a silver talent was worth approximately six thousand denarii with gold talents worth at least thirty times that much).”
²⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁰tn Grk “and his wife.”
³¹tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 23.
³²tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.
³³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁴tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 23.
³⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁶tn Traditionally “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 23.
³⁷tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.
³⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) is translated as “then.”
³⁹tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”
⁴⁰tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁴¹tn Grk “Therefore when.” Here ou\n (oun) has not been translated.
⁴²tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴³tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 23.
⁴⁴tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to LN 37.126 it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matt about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.
⁴⁵tn Grk “his.” The pronoun has been translated to follow English idiom (the last pronoun of the verse [“from your heart”] is second person plural in the original).
⁴⁶tn Grk “brother.” Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BAGD 16 s.v. ajdelfov" 2).
¹tn Grk “it happened when.” The introductory phrase ejgevneto (egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).
³tn Grk “And Pharisees.”
⁴tn Most manuscripts have either ajnqrwvpw/ (anqrwpw, “for a man”) or ajndriv (andri, “for a husband”) before the infinitive ajpolu'sai (apolusai, “to divorce”). The latter reading is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the former reading is motivated apparently by the clarification needed (especially to give the following aujtou' [autou] an antecedent). But a few significant manuscripts have neither noun (viz., Í * B L G 579 et pauci). As the harder reading, it best explains the rise of the others.
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶sn An allusion to Gen 1:27.
⁷sn A quotation from Gen 2:24.
⁸tc The reading adopted above omits the aujthvn (authn, “her”) after the infinitive ajpolu'sai (apolusai, “to divorce”). This shorter reading may be due to assimilation to the Markan parallel, but since it is attested in early and diverse witnesses (e.g., Í D L Q lat) and since the parallel verse (Mark 10:4) already departs at many points, the shorter reading seems more likely to be original.
sn A quotation from Deut 24:1.
⁹tc A few important manuscripts (Í F 33^vid et pauci) supply the name “Jesus” here, but it is probably not original. Nevertheless, this translation routinely specifies the referents of pronouns to improve clarity, so that has been done here.
tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁰tc A number of significant witnesses add aujtou' (autou, “his”) after maqhtaiv (maqhtai, e.g., Ì25 C D L W 33 lat et plu), but this looks to be a clarifying reading. Other early and important witnesses lack the pronoun (Ì71^vid Í B Q et pauci).
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn Grk “from the womb of the mother” (an idiom).
¹³tn Grk “people.”
¹⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁵tn Grk “from there.”
¹⁶tn Grk “And behold one came.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁰sn A quotation from Exod 20:12-16; Deut 5:16-20.
²¹sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
²²tn The words “the proceeds” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
²³tn B C D G et pauci read oujranoi'" (ouranois) here, perhaps because of homoioteleuton to ptwcoi'" (ptwcoi").
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn This term (kth'ma, kthma) is often used for land as a possession. For the translation “many possessions” see LN 57.15.
²⁶tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²⁷tn Grk “I say to you.”
²⁸tc A few late witnesses read kavmilon (kamilon, “rope”) for kavmhlon (kamhlon, “camel”), either through accidental reading of the text or intentionally so as to soften Jesus’ words.
²⁹sn The eye of a needle refers to a sewing needle. (The gate in Jerusalem known as “The Needle’s Eye” was built during the middle ages and was not in existence in Jesus’ day.) Jesus was saying rhetorically that it is impossible for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom, unless God (v. 26) intervenes.
³⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³²tn Grk “Then answering, Peter said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
³³tn Grk “Behold we.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
³⁴tn Grk “Now Jesus.” Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
³⁶sn The Greek term translated the age when all things are renewed (paliggenesiva, palingenesia) is understood as a reference to the Messianic age, the time when all things are renewed and restored (cf. Rev 21:5).
³⁷tc A majority of manuscripts have tou' ojnovmatov" mou (tou onomato" mou, “my name”), but the text reading enjoys the support of Í B Q et pauci. Further, the text reading is harder, not fitting Matthew’s characteristic style (all but one instance of ejmou' [emou] in Matthew is the object of a preposition). It best explains the rise of the other reading.
¹sn The term landowner here refers to the owner and manager of a household.
²tn Grk “agreeing with the workers for a denarius a day.”
sn The standard wage was a denarius a day. The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer in Palestine in the first century.
³tn Grk “about the third hour.”
⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵tn Grk “he went out again about the sixth and ninth hour.”
⁶tn Grk “about the eleventh hour.”
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸sn That is, six o’clock in the evening, the hour to pay day laborers. See Lev 19:13b.
⁹tc Most witnesses (including the significant B D W Q latt) add aujtoi'" (autois, “to them”) after ajpovdo" (apodos, “give the pay”), but this is a motivated reading, clarifying the indirect object.
¹⁰tn Grk “each received a denarius.” See the note on the phrase “standard wage” in v. 2.
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn The imperfect verb ejgovgguzon (egonguzon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
¹³tn Grk “he”; the referent (the landowner) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁴tn Grk “And answering, he said to one of them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified in the translation.
¹⁵tn Grk “for a denarius a day.”
¹⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn Grk “this last one,” translated as “this last man” because field laborers in first-century Palestine were men.
¹⁸tc Before oujk (ouk, “[am I] not”) a number of significant witnesses add h[ (h, “or”; e.g., Í C W ˹ ˹³ 33). Although in later Greek the oi in soi (oi in soi) would have been pronounced like h, since h is lacking in early manuscripts (B D) and since manuscripts were copied predominantly by sight rather than by sound, even into the later centuries, the shorter reading is most likely original.
¹⁹tn Grk “Is your eye evil because I am good?”
²⁰tc A number of significant witnesses add maqhtav" (maqhtas, “disciples”) after dwvdeka (dwdeka, “twelve”; including B C W 33 lat) by way of clarification.
²¹tn Grk “Behold we.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
²²tn Or “and the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
²³tn Traditionally, “scourged” (the term means to beat severely with a whip, LN 19.9). BAGD 495 s.v. mastigovw 1. states, “Of the beating (Lat. verberatio) given those condemned to death…J 19:1; cf. Mt 20:19; Mk 10:34; Lk 18:33.” Here the term has been translated “flog…severely” to distinguish it from the term fragellovw (fragellow) used in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15.
²⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁵tn Grk “Say that.”
²⁶tc A majority of witnesses add sou (sou) here, perhaps for clarification. At the same time, it is possible that the pronoun dropped out through haplography or was excised because of perceived redundancy (there are two other such pronouns in the verse) by Í B. Either way, the translation adds it due to the requirements of English style.
²⁷tn Grk “answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁸tn Grk “the ten.”
²⁹tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
³⁰tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
³¹tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
³²tn Grk “shouted out, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁴tc The majority of manuscripts have kuvrie (kurie, “Lord”) after ejlevhson hJma'" (elehson Jhma", “Have mercy on us”). But since this is the order of words in v. 30, and since the shorter reading enjoys widespread and early support (Í B D L Z Q 085 lat bo et alii), it was considered original.
³⁵tn Grk “And Jesus stood and called them and said, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’”
³⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
²sn Bethphage. The exact location of this village is not known. Most put it on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives and northwest of Bethany, about 1.5 miles (3 km) east of Jerusalem.
³sn “Mountain” in English generally denotes a higher elevation than it often does in reference to places in Palestine. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.
⁴tn Grk “the village lying before you” (BAGD 421 s.v. katevnanti 2.a).
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Grk “what was spoken by the prophet, saying.” The present participle levgonto" (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.
⁷tn Grk “the foal of an animal under the yoke,” i.e., a hard-working animal. This is a quotation from Zech 9:9.
⁸tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ instructions in vv. 2-3.
⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn Grk “were shouting, saying.” The participle levgonta" (legontas) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹³sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.
¹⁴tn Grk “was shaken.” The translation “thrown into an uproar” is given by LN 25.233.
¹⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
¹⁶sn A quotation from Isa 56:7.
¹⁷tn Or “a hideout” (see LN 1.57).
¹⁸sn An allusion to Jer 7:11.
¹⁹tn Or “and the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
²⁰tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle levgonta" (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²²sn A quotation from Ps 8:2.
²³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
²⁴tn Grk “one fig tree.”
²⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁶tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
²⁷tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²⁸tn Grk “believing”; the participle here is conditional.
²⁹tn Grk “he.”
³⁰tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³¹tn Grk “people.” That is, the question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.
³²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “So” to indicate that the clause is a result of the deliberations of the leaders.
³⁴tn Grk “answering Jesus, they said.” This construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been simplified in the translation.
³⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁷tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here the referent (“the boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
³⁸tn The Greek text reads here metamevlomai (metamelomai): “to change one’s mind about something, with the probable implication of regret” (LN 31.59); cf. also BAGD 511 s.v. The idea in this context involves more than just a change of mind, for the son regrets his initial response. The same verb is used in v. 32.
³⁹tn “And he”; here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁰tn Grk “And answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated. Here the referent (“this boy”) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴¹tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will! This reading is found in the Western manuscripts. But the reading is so hard as to be next to impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text (e.g., that the Pharisees would indeed give lip-service to obedience and would betray themselves in their very response) or extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe. (Either option, of course, is not improbable with this particular texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses are sensical (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in Í C* L W D Ï many itala and Syriac witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Q f¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If we were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, we would tend to see the second son as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This comports well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes are not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they do repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. (One might even conjecture that the Western reading originated from some attempt to smooth things out, but the scribe got confused along the way and created a worse blunder, just as several Georgian witnesses seemed to do.) Thus, the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).
⁴²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁴³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁴sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.
⁴⁵tn The term here refers to the owner and manager of a household.
⁴⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
⁴⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁸tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
⁴⁹tn Traditionally, “his servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in the previous verse.
⁵⁰tn Grk “Again.”
⁵¹tn Traditionally, “slaves”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 34.
⁵²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵³tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the tenants’ decision to kill the son in v. 38.
⁵⁴tn Grk “seizing him.” The participle labovnte" (labontes) is translated as attendant circumstance.
⁵⁵tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term kefalhV gwniva" (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.
⁵⁶sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.
⁵⁷tn Or “to a nation.”
⁵⁸tc A few important manuscripts (D 33 it) do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in Í B C W Q 0102 ˹ ˹³ Byz and should be included as original.
⁵⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶⁰sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹tn Grk “And answering again, Jesus spoke.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
²tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
³tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in the previous verse.
⁴tn Grk “Behold, I have prepared my dinner.” In some contexts, however, to translate a[riston (ariston) as “dinner” somewhat misses the point (LN 23.22 here suggests, “See now, the feast I have prepared (for you is ready).”)
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 3.
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸tn Grk “he sent his soldiers, destroyed those murderers.” The verb ajpwvlesen (apwlesen) is causative, indicating that the king was the one behind the execution of the murderers. In English the causative idea is not expressed naturally here; either a purpose clause (“he sent his soldiers to put those murderers to death”) or a relative clause (“he sent his soldier who put those murderers to death”) is preferred.
⁹tn The Greek text reads here povli" (polis), which could be translated “town” or “city.” The prophetic reference is to the city of Jerusalem.
¹⁰tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 3.
¹¹tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 3.
¹²tn Grk “he was silent.”
¹³sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁴tn Grk “trap him in word.”
¹⁵tn Grk “And it is not a concern to you about anyone because you do not see the face of men.”
¹⁶tn Or “lawful.”
¹⁷tn According to LN 57.180 the term kh'nso" (khnso") was borrowed from Latin and referred to a poll tax, a tax paid by each adult male to the Roman government.
¹⁸tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).
¹⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.
²⁰tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places dhnavrion (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.
sn A denarius was a silver coin worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. The fact that they had such a coin showed that they already operated in the economic world of Rome. The denarius would have had a picture of Tiberius Caesar stamped on it.
²¹tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²²tn Or “whose image.”
²³tn Grk “then he said to them.” This clause has been placed at the end of the verse for stylistic reasons, and tovte (tote) has not been translated to avoid redundancy.
²⁴tn Grk “they were amazed; they marveled.”
²⁵sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
²⁶sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the evangelist.
²⁷tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (LN 23.59).
²⁸sn An allusion to Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yebamoth; Josephus, Antiquities 4.254-6 [8.23]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: it provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.
²⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁰tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
³¹tn Grk “spoken to you by God, saying.” The participle levgonto" (legontos) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³²sn A quotation from Exod 3:6.
³³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
³⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
³⁵sn See the note on Sadducees in 3:7.
³⁶tn Grk “for the same.” That is, for the same purpose that the Sadducees had of testing Jesus.
³⁷tn Traditionally, “a lawyer.” This was an expert in the interpretation of the Mosaic law.
³⁸tn Grk “testing.” The participle, however, is telic in force.
³⁹tn Or possibly “What sort of commandment in the law is great?”
⁴⁰tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴¹sn A quotation from Deut 6:5.
⁴²tn Grk “the great and first.”
⁴³sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.
⁴⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁵sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁴⁶tn Grk “asked them a question, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁴⁷tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
⁴⁸sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
⁴⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹tn Grk “saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²tn Or “The scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
³sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁴tn Grk “for they say and do not do.”
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷sn Phylacteries were small leather cases containing OT scripture verses, worn on the arm and forehead by Jews, especially when praying. The custom was derived from such OT passages as Exod 13:9; 16; Deut 6:8; 11:18.
⁸tn The term kravspedon (kraspedon) in some contexts could refer to the outer fringe of the garment (possibly in Mark 6:56). This edge could have been plain or decorated. LN 6.180 states, “In Mt 23:5 kravspedon denotes the tassels worn at the four corners of the outer garment (see 6.194).”
sn Tassels refer to the tassels that a male Israelite was obligated to wear on the four corners of his outer garment according to the Mosaic law (Num 15:38; Deut 22:12).
⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁰sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
¹¹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
¹²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹³tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
¹⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁵tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”
¹⁶tc The most important manuscripts (Í B D L Q ˹ 33 892* it^pt) do not have 23:14 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and for show you pray long prayers! Therefore you will receive the greater condemnation.” Part or all of the verse is contained (in varying arrangements) in W D 0102 Byz, but it is almost certainly not original.
¹⁷tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
¹⁸sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
¹⁹tn Or “one proselyte.”
²⁰tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”
²¹tn Grk “a son of Gehenna” (“Gehenna” was understood to be a place of punishment for the dead). Expressions constructed with uiJov" (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (LN 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell” (Gehenna).
²²tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
²³sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²⁴sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.
²⁵tc Many witnesses add dev (de) after tau'ta (tauta). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction appears to be an intentional alteration.
²⁶tn Grk “Blind guides who strain out a gnat yet who swallow a camel!”
²⁷tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
²⁸sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
²⁹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
³⁰tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
³¹sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
³²sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy—just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (LN 88.234; see also BAGD 821 s.v. toi'co"). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:27). See also Deut 28:22.
³³tn Grk “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
³⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
³⁵tn Grk “Because you.” Here o{ti (oti) has not been translated.
³⁶tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see LN 7.75-76).
³⁷tn Or “ancestors.”
³⁸tn Or “ancestors.”
³⁹tn Grk “the judgment of Gehenna” (a place of punishment for the dead).
⁴⁰tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁴¹tn Grk “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 23:2.
⁴²tn BAGD 495 s.v. mastigovw 1 states, “lit., of flogging as a punishment decreed by the synagogue (Dt 25:2f; cf. the Mishna Tractate Sanhedrin-Makkoth, edited w. notes by SKrauss ’33) w. acc. of the pers. Mt 10:17; 23:34.”
⁴³sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
⁴⁴sn Spelling of this name (Baracivou, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).
⁴⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁴⁶tn Grk “all these things will come on this generation.”
⁴⁷sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.
¹tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
²tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been simplified in the translation. The kaiv (kai) has not been translated.
³tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁴tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
⁷tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
⁸tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see LN 55.2.
⁹tn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
¹²tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.
¹³tn Or “and lead many astray.”
¹⁴tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”).
¹⁵sn A quotation from Dan 9:27.
¹⁶sn On the roof. Most of the roofs in the NT were flat roofs made of pounded dirt, sometimes mixed with lime or stones, supported by heavy wooden beams. They generally had an easy means of access, either a sturdy wooden ladder or stone stairway, sometimes on the outside of the house.
¹⁷sn The swiftness and devastation of the judgment will require a swift escape. There will be no time to go down from the roof and pick up anything from inside one’s home.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁰tn Or “great suffering”; traditionally, “great tribulation.”
²¹tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²²tn Or “Messiahs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²³tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”
²⁴tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 402).
²⁵tn Or “in the desert.”
²⁶sn This term can refer to “eagles” (LN 4.42) but in this context it must mean vultures, because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed (Rev 4:7; 8:13; 12:14). See also Luke 17:37.
²⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁸tn Or “suffering”; traditionally, “tribulation.”
²⁹sn A quotation from Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10.
³⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³¹tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word oujranov" (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
³²tn Here tovte (tote, “then”) is not translated to avoid redundancy in English.
³³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁴sn An allusion to Dan 7:13.
³⁵tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word oujranov" (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
³⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁷tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
³⁸tc Early Alexandrian and Western witnesses add oujdeV oJ uiJov" (oude Jo Juios, “nor the son”) here. Although the shorter reading is suspect in that it seems to soften the prophetic ignorance of Jesus, the final phrase (“except the Father alone”) already implies this. Further, the parallel in Mark 13:32 has oujdeV oJ uiJov", with almost no witnesses omitting the expression. Hence, it is doubtful that the omission of “neither the Son” is due to the scribes. In keeping with Matthew’s general softening of Mark’s harsh statements throughout his gospel, it is more likely that the omission of “neither the Son” is part of the original text of Matthew, being an intentional change on the part of the evangelist. Further, this shorter reading is supported by the first corrector of Í as well as the following: E F G H K L M N S U V W G D P ˹ 33 Byz Vulgate Syriac Coptic, along with several manuscripts with which Jerome was acquainted. Admittedly, the external evidence is not as impressive for the shorter reading, but it best explains the rise of the other reading (in particular, how does one account for virtually no manuscripts excising oujdeV oJ uiJov" at Mark 13:32 if such an omission here is due to scribal alteration? Although scribes were hardly consistent, for such a theologically significant issue we would expect at least some consistency on the part of a few scribes).
³⁹tn Grk “they,” but in an indefinite sense, “people.”
⁴⁰tn Grk “So also will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
⁴¹tn According to LN 46.16, this refers to a hand mill normally operated by two women.
⁴²tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
⁴³tn Grk “give them.”
⁴⁴tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in the previous verse.
⁴⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
⁴⁶tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 45.
⁴⁷tn Grk “says in his heart.”
⁴⁸tn Traditionally, “servant’s”; see the note on the word “slave” in v. 45.
⁴⁹tn Grk “he”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²tn Grk “Five of them.”
³tn Grk “For when.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
⁴tn On the use of olive oil in lamps, see LN 6.202.
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tc Most witnesses add aujtou' (autou) after ajpavnthsin (apanthsin), making explicit what is already implied in the Greek text (as found in Í B 700). The translation likewise adds “him” for clarity’s sake.
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁹tn The words “the door” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 10.
¹⁰tn Grk “But answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
¹¹tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹²tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
¹³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁴sn A talent was equal to 6000 denarii. See the note on this term in 18:24.
¹⁵tn Grk “traded with them.”
¹⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁷tn Traditionally, “servants”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 14.
¹⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁹tn Grk “His master said to him.”
²⁰tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 14.
²¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²²tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 14.
²³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁴tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
²⁵tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 14.
²⁶tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see LN 57.216.
²⁷tn Traditionally, “servant”; see the note on the word “slaves” in v. 14.
²⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³¹tn Grk “answer him, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁴tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
³⁵tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
³⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁷tc A number of important witnesses add oiJ (Joi) before kathramevnoi (kathramenoi), but the shorter reading is both harder (the articular nominative for vocative is generally used in addressing an inferior) and is found in the better manuscripts (Í B L 0128 0281 33 et pauci).
³⁸tn Grk “Then they will answer, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³⁹tn Grk “answer them, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁴⁰tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase kaiV ejgevneto (kai egeneto, “and it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²tn Or “will be delivered up.”
³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴sn A flask or jar made of alabaster stone was normally used for very precious substances like perfumes. It normally had a long neck which was sealed and had to be broken off so the contents could be used.
⁵tn Muvron (muron) was usually made of myrrh (from which the English word is derived) but here it is used in the sense of ointment or perfumed oil (LN 6.205).
sn This perfumed oil, if made of something like nard, would have been extremely expensive, costing up to a year’s pay for an average laborer.
⁶tn Grk “as he was reclining at table.”
sn First century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁹tn Grk “For she.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
¹⁰tn Grk “For when.” Here gavr (gar) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
¹²tn Grk “What will you give to me, and I will betray him to you?”
¹³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁶tn The words “the feast of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.
¹⁷tn Grk “the disciples came to Jesus, saying.” The participle levgonte" (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
¹⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁹tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
²⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²¹tn Grk “he was reclining at table,” as first century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.
²²tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
²³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²⁴tn The participle lupouvmenoi (lupoumenoi) is translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.
²⁵tn Grk “answering, he said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁶tn Grk “answering, Judas.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has been translated as “then” to reflect the sequence of events in the narrative.
²⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁸tc Although most witnesses add kainh'" (kainhs, “new”) here, this is evidently motivated by the parallel in Mark. Apart from the possibility of homoioteleuton, there is no good reason for the shorter reading. But since it is found in such good and diverse witnesses (e.g., Ì37 Ì45^vid Í B L Z Q 33 mae et pauci), the likelihood of homoioteleuton becomes rather remote.
²⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³¹sn A quotation from Zech 13:7.
³²tn Grk “answering, Peter said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³³tn Grk “Truly (ajmhvn, amhn), I say to you.”
³⁴tn Grk “my soul is deeply sorrowful” (an idiom for speaking about oneself, meaning “I am deeply sorrowful”).
³⁵tn Or “and stay awake.”
³⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁷tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
³⁸tn Grk “if it is possible.”
³⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴⁰tn Or “not keep watch.”
⁴¹tn Traditionally, “come into temptation.”
⁴²tn Grk “saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁴³tn Grk “because their eyes were weighed down,” an idiom for becoming extremely or excessively sleepy (LN 23.69).
⁴⁴tn Grk “the one who betrays me.”
⁴⁵tn Grk “behold, Judas.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁴⁶tn Grk “the one who betrays.”
⁴⁷tn Grk “The one I kiss is he.”
⁴⁸sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.
⁴⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁵⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵¹tn Grk “and put their hands on Jesus.”
⁵²tn Grk “And behold one.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁵³tn Grk “extending his hand, drew out his sword, and struck.” Because rapid motion is implied in the circumstances, the translation “grabbed” was used.
⁵⁴tn Though dou'lo" (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free man serving another. BAGD notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BAGD 205 s.v. dou'lo"). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for dou'lo"), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.
⁵⁵tn The translation “put your sword back in its place” for this phrase is given in LN 85.52.
⁵⁶sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.
⁵⁷tn Grk “and” (kaiv, kai), a conjunction that is elastic enough to be used to indicate a contrast, as here.
⁵⁸tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic (i.e., Jesus’ trial).
⁵⁹tn Or “where the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
⁶⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶¹sn The officers would have been the officers of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.
⁶²tn Grk “Now the.” Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶⁴tn Grk “This one.”
⁶⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the false testimony.
⁶⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶⁷tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
⁶⁸sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
⁶⁹sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).
⁷⁰tn Grk “Behold now.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁷¹tn Grk “What do you think?”
⁷²tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷³tn Grk “he is guilty of death.” LN 88.313 states, “pertaining to being guilty and thus deserving some particular penalty—‘guilty and deserving, guilty and punishable by.’ oiJ deV ajpokriqevnte" ei\pan, *Enoco" qanavtou ejstivn ‘they answered, He is guilty and deserves death’ Mt 26:66.”
⁷⁴tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn The term cristov" (cristos) was originally an adjective (“anointed”), developing in LXX into a substantive (“an anointed one”), then developing still further into a technical generic term (“the anointed one”). In the intertestamental period it developed further into a technical term referring to the hoped-for anointed one, that is, a specific individual. In the NT the development starts there (technical-specific), is so used in the gospels, and then develops in Paul to mean virtually Jesus’ last name.
⁷⁵tn Grk “Who is the one who hit you?”
⁷⁶tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁷⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷⁸tn The words “slave girl” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the feminine singular form a[llh (allh).
⁷⁹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁸⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁸¹tn Grk “your speech.”
¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³tn Grk “Then when.” Here tovte (tote) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical interlude in the sequence of events.
⁴tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the leaders’ response to Judas.
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷tn The problematic citing of Jeremiah for a text which looks to come from Zechariah has prompted certain scribes to alter it. Codex 22 has Zacarivou (Zacariou) while F 33 et pauci omit the prophet’s name altogether. See D. A. Carson, “Matthew” (EBC), 562-63, for a discussion of the textual and especially hermeneutical problem.
⁸tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” an idiom referring to the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (LN 11.58).
⁹sn A quotation from Zech 11:12-13; Jer 32:6-9(?).
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
¹¹tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
¹²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹³tn Although the external evidence for the inclusion of “Jesus” before “Barabbas” (in vv. 16 and 17) is rather skimpy, being shut up virtually to the Caesarean text (Q ˹ 700* et pauci), the omission of the Lord’s name in apposition to “Barabbas” is such a strongly motivated reading that it can hardly be original. There is no good explanation for a scribe unintentionally adding jIhsou'n (Ihsous) before Barabba'n (Barabban), especially since Barabbas is mentioned first in each verse (thus, dittography is ruled out). Further, the addition of toVn legovmenon Cristovn (ton legomenon Criston) to *Ihsou'n (Ihsoun) in v. 17 makes better sense if Barabbas is also called “Jesus” (otherwise, a mere “Jesus” would have been a sufficient appellation to distinguish the two).
¹⁴tn Again, as in v. 16, the name “Jesus” is supplied before “Barabbas” in Q ˹ 700* et pauci; Q 700* lack the article tovn (ton) before Barabba'n (Barabban). The same argument for accepting the inclusion of “Jesus” as original applies here as well.
¹⁵tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
¹⁶sn This remark is parenthetical in nature and has thus been placed in parentheses in the translation.
¹⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹⁸tn Or “the judge’s seat.”
sn The judgment seat (bh'ma, bhma) was a raised platform mounted by steps and usually furnished with a seat. It was used by officials in addressing an assembly or making official pronouncements, often of a judicial nature.
¹⁹tn The word “message” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
²⁰tn Grk “saying.” The participle levgousa (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
²¹tn Or “suffered greatly in a dream.” See the discussion on the construction kat* o[nar (kat’ onar) in BAGD 569 s.v. o[nar.
²²tn Grk “answering, the governor said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²³tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
²⁴tn Grk “Him—be crucified!” The third person imperative is difficult to translate because English has no corresponding third person form for the imperative. The traditional translation “Let him be crucified” sounds as if the crowd is giving consent or permission. “He must be crucified” is closer, but it is more natural in English to convert the passive to active and simply say “Crucify him.”
²⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
²⁶sn You take care of it yourselves! Compare the response of the chief priests and elders to Judas in 27:4. The expression is identical except that in 27:4 it is singular and here it is plural.
²⁷tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
²⁸tn The Greek term fragellovw (fragellow) refers to flogging. BAGD 865 s.v. states, “flog, scourge, a punishment inflicted on slaves and provincials after a sentence of death had been pronounced on them. So in the case of Jesus before the crucifixion…Mt 27:26; Mk 15:15.”
sn A Roman flogging (traditionally, “scourging”) was an excruciating punishment. The victim was stripped of his clothes and bound to a post with his hands fastened above him (or sometimes he was thrown to the ground). Guards standing on either side of the victim would incessantly beat him with a whip (flagellum) made out of leather with pieces of lead and bone inserted into its ends. While the Jews only allowed 39 lashes, the Romans had no such limit; many people who received such a beating died as a result. See C. Schneider, TDNT, 515-19.
²⁹tn Or “into their headquarters”; Grk “into the praetorium.”
sn The governor’s residence (Grk “praetorium”) was the Roman governor’s official residence. The one in Jerusalem may have been Herod’s palace in the western part of the city, or the fortress Antonia northwest of the temple area.
³⁰sn A Roman cohort was a tenth of a legion, about 500-600 soldiers.
³¹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³²tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³³tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BAGD 398 s.v. kavlamo" 2.
³⁴tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁵tn Or “the reed.”
³⁶tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.
³⁷tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
³⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
³⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴⁰tn This is an Aramaic name; see John 19:17.
⁴¹sn A place called Golgotha (which means ‘Place of the Skull’). This location is north and just outside of Jerusalem. The hill on which it is located protruded much like a skull, giving the place its name. The Latin word for the Greek term kranivon (kranion) is calvaria, from which the English word “Calvary” is derived (cf. Luke 23:33 in the KJV).
⁴²tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
⁴³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁴tn Grk “by throwing the lot” (probably by using marked pebbles or broken pieces of pottery). A modern equivalent, “throwing dice,” was chosen here because of its association with gambling. According to LN 6.219 a term for “dice” is particularly appropriate.
⁴⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁴⁶tn Grk “was written.”
⁴⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁴⁸tc Many important witnesses read kaiv (kai) before katavbhqi (katabhqi). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (B L W Q 0250 ˹ ˹³ 33 Byz lat et alii) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original.
⁴⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁵⁰tn Or “with the scribes.” The traditional rendering of grammateuv" (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.
⁵¹tn Here the aorist imperative katabavtw (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern imperative + kaiv + future indicative outlined by Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 489.
⁵²tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵³tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate a somewhat parenthetical comment about the darkness.
⁵⁴tn Grk “from the sixth hour to the ninth hour.”
⁵⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵⁶tn Grk “with a loud voice, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
⁵⁷sn A quotation from Ps 22:1.
⁵⁸tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶⁰sn Sour wine refers to cheap wine that was called in Latin posca, a cheap vinegar wine diluted heavily with water. It was the drink of slaves and soldiers, and was probably there for the soldiers who had performed the crucifixion.
⁶¹tn Grk “a reed.”
⁶²tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁶³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶⁴tn Grk “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep” (“fall asleep” is a common NT idiom for death).
⁶⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
⁶⁶sn See the note on the word centurion in Matt 8:5.
⁶⁷tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶⁸tn Grk “and ministered to him.”
⁶⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
⁷⁰tn Here kaiv (kai) has not been translated.
⁷¹tc aujtov (auto, “it”) is found after e[qhken (eqhken) in the majority of witnesses, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is read by Í L Q et plu). Regardless of which reading is original, English style requires the pronoun.
⁷²tn Or “to the door,” “against the door.”
⁷³tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁷⁴sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
⁷⁵tn Grk “him.”
⁷⁶tn Grk “You have a guard.”
⁷⁷tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Pilate’s order.
⁷⁸tn Grk “with the guard.” The words “soldiers of the” have been supplied in the translation to prevent “guard” from being misunderstood as a single individual.
¹tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
²tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
³tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” Linguistically, “angel of the Lord” is the same in both testaments (and thus, he is either “an angel of the Lord” or “the angel of the Lord” in both testaments). For arguments and implications, see Wallace, Exegetical Syntax, 252; M. J. Davidson, “Angels,” Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 9; W. G. MacDonald argues for “an angel” in both testaments: “Christology and ‘The Angel of the Lord’,” Current Issues in Biblical and Patristic Studies (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975) 324-35.
⁴tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁵tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
⁶tn Grk “But answering, the angel said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
⁷tn Grk “And behold he.” The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
⁸tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s instructions to tell the disciples.
⁹tn Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate that the return of the women from the tomb was interrupted by this appearance of Jesus. The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹⁰tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹¹tn Here dev (de) has not been translated.
¹²tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is not translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.b.d).
¹³tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁴tn Grk “him.”
¹⁵tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
¹⁶tn Here ejpiv (epi) followed by the genitive = “before,” especially in the language of lawsuits (BAGD 286 s.v. ejpiv I.1.a.d).
¹⁷tc aujtovn (auton, “him”) is found after peivsomen (peisomen) in the majority of witnesses, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is found in Í B Q 33 et pauci). Nevertheless, English style requires the pronoun.
¹⁸tn Grk “and you will not have to be worried” = “we will keep you out of trouble.”
¹⁹tc The word hJmevra" (Jhmeras) is found after shvmeron (shmeron) in some early and important witnesses (chiefly B D L Q lat), but looks to be a clarifying (or perhaps redundant) note. The shorter reading is thus preferred.
²⁰tn Here dev (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of Jesus’ instructions in v. 10.
²¹tn Here kaiv (kai) is not translated.
²²tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
²³tn The Greek text reads here oiJ deV ejdivstasan (Joi de edistasan). Some scholars argue that the article is functioning like a personal pronoun, thus “they doubted” (e.g., Hagner, Matthew 2.884). If so, then all the disciples would be in view. The translation of the text takes oiJ as an alternative pronoun which has a partitive notion (i.e., some of the disciples doubted, but not all). The difficulty with the personal pronoun view is that there are no examples of it in Matthew in which the same subject immediately precedes with its own verb (as would be the case in “they worshiped…they doubted”). Such, in fact, would be quite awkward, for the article would be unnecessary since the pronominal referent is already embedded in the verb. The only reason for the article here would be to distinguish the subject in some way; but if the same subject is in view, no distinction is being made.
²⁴tn Grk “coming, Jesus spoke to them, saying.” The participle levgwn (legwn, “saying”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here kaiv (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
²⁵tn “Go…baptize…teach” are participles modifying the imperative verb “make disciples.” According to Wallace (Exegetical Syntax, 645) the first participle (poreuqevnte", poreuqentes, “Go”) fits the typical structural pattern for the attendant circumstance participle (aorist participle preceding aorist main verb, with the mood of the main verb usually imperative or indicative) and thus picks up the mood (imperative in this case) from the main verb (maqhteuvsate, maqhteusate, “make disciples”). This means that semantically the action of “going” is commanded, just as “making disciples” is. As for the two participles that follow the main verb (baptivzonte", baptizontes, “baptizing”; and didavskonte", didaskontes, “teaching”), according to Wallace these do not fit the normal pattern for attendant circumstance participles, since they are present participles and follow the aorist main verb. However, some interpreters do see them as carrying additional imperative force in context. Others regard them as means, manner, or even result.
²⁶tn The Greek word ijdouv (idou) is translated remember here (BAGD 371 s.v. 1.c).
²⁷sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the evangelist has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.