Matthew 1:18

The Birth of Jesus Christ

1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ happened this way. While his mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together, ¹  she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:7

3:7 But when he saw many Pharisees ²  and Sadducees ³  coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Matthew 5:25

5:25 Reach agreement ⁴  quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, ⁵  or he ⁶  may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.

Matthew 5:29

5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. ⁷ 

Matthew 6:18

6:18 so that it will not be obvious to others when you are fasting, but only to your Father who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 9:15

9:15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests ⁸  cannot mourn while the bridegroom ⁹  is with them, can they? But the days ¹⁰  are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, ¹¹  and then they will fast.

Matthew 10:42

10:42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, ¹²  he will never lose his reward.”

Matthew 13:21

13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ¹³  when ¹⁴  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Matthew 19:17

19:17 He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”

Matthew 20:22

20:22 Jesus ¹⁵  answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! ¹⁶  Are you able to drink the cup I am about to drink?” ¹⁷  They said to him, “We are able.” ¹⁸ 

Matthew 21:9

21:9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those following kept shouting, ¹⁹  “Hosanna ²⁰  to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! ²¹  Hosanna in the highest!”

Matthew 23:15

23:15 “Woe to you, experts in the law ²²  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, ²³  and when you get one, ²⁴  you make him twice as much a child of hell ²⁵  as yourselves!

Matthew 26:45

26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

¹ tn The connotation of the Greek is “before they came together in marital and domestic union” (so BDAG 970 s.v. συνέρχομαι 3).

² sn 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, Ant. 17.2.4 [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 zealous adherents to the laws of the OT and to numerous additional traditions such as angels and bodily resurrection.

³ sn 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, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [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.

³ tn Grk “Make friends.”

⁴ tn The words “to court” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

⁵ tn Grk “the accuser.”

⁴ sn On this word here and in the following verse, see the note on the word hell in 5:22.

⁵ tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).

⁶ sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).

⁷ tn Grk “days.”

⁸ sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff.

⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁷ tn Grk “is temporary.”

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁸ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tn The verbs in Greek are plural here, indicating that Jesus is not answering the mother but has turned his attention directly to the two disciples.

¹⁰ tc Most mss (C W 33 Ï, as well as some versional and patristic authorities) in addition have “or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” But this is surely due to a recollection of the fuller version of this dominical saying found in Mark 10:38. The same mss also have the Lord’s response, “and you will be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized” in v. 23, again due to the parallel in Mark 10:39. The shorter reading, in both v. 22 and v. 23, is to be preferred both because it better explains the rise of the other reading and is found in superior witnesses (א B D L Z Θ 085 Ë^1,13 pc lat, as well as other versional and patristic authorities).

¹¹ sn No more naïve words have ever been spoken as those found here coming from James and John, “We are able.” They said it with such confidence and ease, yet they had little clue as to what they were affirming. In the next sentence Jesus confirms that they will indeed suffer for his name.

⁹ tn Grk “were shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn The expression ῾Ωσαννά (Jwsanna, literally in Hebrew, “O Lord, save”) in the quotation from Ps 118:25-26 was probably by this time a familiar liturgical expression of praise, on the order of “Hail to the king,” although both the underlying Aramaic and Hebrew expressions meant “O Lord, save us.” In words familiar to every Jew, the author is indicating that at this point every messianic expectation is now at the point of realization. It is clear from the words of the psalm shouted by the crowd that Jesus is being proclaimed as messianic king. See E. Lohse, TDNT 9:682-84.

¹¹ sn A quotation from Ps 118:25-26.

¹⁰ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

¹¹ tn Or “one proselyte.”

¹² tn Grk “when he becomes [one].”

¹³ tn Grk “a son of Gehenna.” Expressions constructed with υἱός (Juios) followed by a genitive of class or kind denote a person belonging to the class or kind specified by the following genitive (L&N 9.4). Thus the phrase here means “a person who belongs to hell.”