Matthew 2:12

2:12 After being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, ¹  they went back by another route to their own country.

Matthew 12:25

12:25 Now when Jesus ²  realized what they were thinking, he said to them, ³  “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed, ⁴  and no town or house divided against itself will stand.

Matthew 13:2

13:2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat to sit while ⁵  the whole crowd stood on the shore.

Matthew 19:8

19:8 Jesus ⁶  said to them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts, ⁷  but from the beginning it was not this way.

Matthew 24:24

24:24 For false messiahs ⁸  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

² tc The majority of mss read ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), which clarifies who is the subject of the sentence. Although the shorter text is attested in far fewer witnesses (̲¹ א B D 892* sy^s,c sa bo), both the pedigree of the mss and the strong internal evidence (viz., scribes were not prone to intentionally delete the name of Jesus) argue for the omission of Jesus’ name. The name has been included in the translation, however, for clarity.

³ sn Jesus here demonstrated the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. He first teaches (vv. 25-28) that if he casts out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. He then teaches (v. 29) about tying up the strong man to prove that he does not need to align himself with the devil because he is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (4:1-11) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 12:31-32).

⁴ tn Or “is left in ruins.”

³ tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.

⁴ tc A few important mss (א Φ pc) have the name “Jesus” here, but it is probably not original. Nevertheless, this translation routinely specifies the referents of pronouns to improve clarity, so that has been done here.

⁵ tn Grk “heart” (a collective singular).

⁵ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”