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.
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 tn Grk “And behold, they were bringing.” Here καὶ ἰδού (kai idou) has been translated as “just then” to indicate the somewhat sudden appearance of the people carrying the paralytic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1), especially in conjunction with the suddenness of the stretcher bearers’ appearance.
3 tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Traditionally, “on a bed,” but this could be confusing to the modern reader who might envision a large piece of furniture. In various contexts, κλίνη (klinh) may be translated “bed, couch, cot, stretcher, or bier” (in the case of a corpse). See L&N 6.106.
5 sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.
6 sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.
3 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
4 sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.
5 sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.
4 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
5 tn Grk “crying out in the temple [courts] and saying.” The participle λέγοντας (legontas) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.