Isaiah 57:15-16

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ¹  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ² 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ³ 

57:16 For I will not be hostile ⁴  forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, ⁵ 

the life-giving breath I created.

Isaiah 66:2

66:2 My hand made them; ⁶ 

that is how they came to be,” ⁷  says the Lord.

I show special favor ⁸  to the humble and contrite,

who respect what I have to say. ⁹ 

Matthew 5:3

5:3 “Blessed ¹⁰  are the poor in spirit, ¹¹  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ¹²  to them.

Matthew 8:9-13

8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹³  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ¹⁴  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ¹⁵  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ¹⁶  8:10 When ¹⁷  Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁸  I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet ¹⁹  with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ²⁰  in the kingdom of heaven, 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ²¹  8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant ²²  was healed at that hour.

Matthew 8:1

Cleansing a Leper

8:1 After he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.

Matthew 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce fruit ²³  that proves your ²⁴  repentance,

¹ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

² tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

³ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

⁴ tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

⁵ tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”

⁶ tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.

⁷ tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”

⁸ tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).

⁹ tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”

¹⁰ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

¹¹ sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

¹² sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.

¹³ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

¹⁴ sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

¹⁵ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG 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” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

¹⁶ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st 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. The word “banquet” has been supplied to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery. The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of being among the people of God at the end.

²⁰ tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

²¹ sn Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a figure for remorse and trauma, which occurs here because of exclusion from God’s promise.

²² tc ‡ Most mss read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after “servant.” It is unlikely that the pronoun was accidentally overlooked by such diverse witnesses as א B 0250 0281 ˹ 33 latt. More likely is the probability that Western, Byzantine, and some other scribes added the word for clarification (so C L W Θ 0233 ˹³ Ï sy sa). NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

²³ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

²⁴ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”