Matthew 14:27

14:27 But immediately Jesus ¹  spoke to them: ²  “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Matthew 13:20-21

13:20 The ³  seed sown on rocky ground ⁴  is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. 13:21 But he has no root in himself and does not endure; ⁵  when ⁶  trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Matthew 21:3

21:3 If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ ⁷  and he will send them at once.”

Matthew 3:3

3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ⁸ 

“The voice ⁹  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ¹⁰  his paths straight.’” ¹¹ 

Matthew 3:16

3:16 After ¹²  Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the ¹³  heavens ¹⁴  opened ¹⁵  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove ¹⁶  and coming on him.

¹ tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 pc ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit important witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (Jo Ihsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois Jo Ihsous). In uncial letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name.

² tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ tn Grk “The one sown on rocky ground, this is the one.” The next two statements like this one have this same syntactical structure.

⁵ tn Grk “is temporary.”

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁷ sn The custom called angaria allowed the impressment of animals for service to a significant figure.

⁹ tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

¹⁰ tn Or “A voice.”

¹¹ sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

¹² sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹² tn Grk “behold the heavens.” 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).

¹³ tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.

¹⁴ tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א¹ C D^s L W 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁵ sn 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.