10:16 “I 2 am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves, 3 so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
6:16 “When 4 you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive 5 so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, 6 they have their reward.
1 sn Jesus made clear that his coming could not be timed, and suggested it would take some time – so long, in fact, that some will not be looking for him any longer (at an hour when you do not expect him).
2 tn Grk “Behold I.” 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).
3 sn This imagery of wolves is found in intertestamental Judaism; see Pss. Sol. 8:23, 30.
3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
4 tn Here the term “disfigure” used in a number of translations was not used because it could convey to the modern reader the notion of mutilation. L&N 79.17 states, “‘to make unsightly, to disfigure, to make ugly.’ ἀφανίζουσιν γὰρ τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ‘for they make their faces unsightly’ Mt 6:16.”
5 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”