69:12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;
drunkards mock me in their songs. 1
2:13 After they had gone, an 22 angel of the Lord 23 appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod 24 is going to look for the child to kill him.”
1 tn Heb “the mocking songs of the drinkers of beer.”
2 tn Or “weaving.”
3 sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.
4 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
5 tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.
6 tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.
7 tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”
8 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
9 sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.
10 tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א2 B L W Θ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA27 puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
11 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
12 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
13 tn Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
14 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said.”
15 tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.
16 sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.
17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
18 sn Matthew’s wording suggests that both of the criminals spoke abusively to him. If so, one of them quickly changed his attitude toward Jesus (see Luke 23:40-43).
19 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
20 tc Most
21 sn The Jews most assuredly wanted to put Jesus to death, but they lacked the authority to do so. For this reason they handed him over to Pilate in hopes of securing a death sentence. The Romans kept close control of the death penalty in conquered territories to prevent it from being used to execute Roman sympathizers.
22 tn Grk “behold, an angel.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
23 tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20.
24 sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1. Herod the Great was particularly ruthless regarding the succession to his throne.