Matthew 2:1

The Visit of the Wise Men

2:1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem ¹  in Judea, in the time ²  of King Herod, ³  wise men ⁴  from the East came to Jerusalem ⁵ 

Matthew 4:16

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ⁶ 

Matthew 6:4

6:4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you. ⁷ 

Matthew 7:3

7:3 Why ⁸  do you see the speck ⁹  in your brother’s eye, but fail to see ¹⁰  the beam of wood ¹¹  in your own?

Matthew 10:27

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, ¹²  proclaim from the housetops. ¹³ 

Matthew 11:8

11:8 What ¹⁴  did you go out to see? A man dressed in fancy clothes? ¹⁵  Look, those who wear fancy clothes are in the homes of kings! ¹⁶ 

Matthew 12:5

12:5 Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?

Matthew 12:27

12:27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons ¹⁷  cast them ¹⁸  out? For this reason they will be your judges.

Matthew 18:1

Questions About the Greatest

18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Matthew 21:8

21:8 A ¹⁹  very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

Matthew 23:18

23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ²⁰  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’

Matthew 23:30

23:30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, ²¹  we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

Matthew 24:26

24:26 So then, if someone ²²  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ²³  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him.

Matthew 24:50

24:50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee,

Matthew 27:60

27:60 and placed it ²⁴  in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock. ²⁵  Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance ²⁶  of the tomb and went away.

¹ map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.

² tn Grk “in the days.”

³ sn King Herod was Herod the Great, who ruled Palestine from 37 b.c. until he died in 4 b.c. He was known for his extensive building projects (including the temple in Jerusalem) and for his cruelty.

⁴ sn The Greek term magi here describes a class of wise men and priests who were astrologers (L&N 32.40).

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

¹¹ tc L W Θ 0250 Ï it read ἐν τῷ φανερῷ (en tw fanerw, “openly”) at the end of this verse, giving a counterweight to what is done in secret. But this reading is suspect because of the obvious literary balance, because of detouring the point of the passage (the focus of vv. 1-4 is not on two kinds of public rewards but on human vs. divine approbation), and because of superior external testimony that lacks this reading (א B D Z Ë^1,13 33 al).

¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁷ sn The term translated speck refers to a small piece of wood, chaff, or straw; see L&N 3.66.

¹⁸ tn Or “do not notice.”

¹⁹ sn The term beam of wood refers to a very big piece of wood, the main beam of a building, in contrast to the speck in the other’s eye (L&N 7.78).

²¹ tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom.

²² tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

²⁶ tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 9.

²⁷ sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.

²⁸ tn Or “palaces.”

³¹ sn Most read your sons as a reference to Jewish exorcists (cf. “your followers,” L&N 9.4), but more likely this is a reference to the disciples of Jesus themselves, who are also Jewish and have been healing as well (R. J. Shirock, “Whose Exorcists are they? The Referents of οἱ υἱοὶ ὑμῶν at Matthew 12:27/Luke 11:19,” JSNT 46 [1992]: 41-51). If this is a reference to the disciples, then Jesus’ point is that it is not only him, but those associated with him whose power the hearers must assess. The following reference to judging also favors this reading.

³² tn The pronoun “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

³⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴¹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

⁴⁶ tn Grk “fathers” (so also in v. 32).

⁵¹ tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

⁵² tn Or “in the desert.”

⁵⁶ tc ‡ αὐτό (auto, “it”) is found after ἔθηκεν (eqhken, “placed”) in the majority of witnesses, including many important ones, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is read by א L Θ Ë¹³ 33 892 pc). Regardless of which reading is original (though with a slight preference for the shorter reading), English style requires the pronoun. NA²⁷ includes αὐτό here, no doubt due to the overwhelming external attestation.

⁵⁷ tn That is, cut or carved into an outcropping of natural rock, resulting in a cave-like structure (see L&N 19.25).

⁵⁸ tn Or “to the door,” “against the door.”