11:7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness 4 to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 5
12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick,
until he brings justice to victory.
1 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
2 tn Or “the reed.”
3 tn The verb here has been translated as an iterative imperfect.
4 tn Or “desert.”
5 tn There is a debate as to whether one should read this figuratively (“to see someone who is easily blown over?”) or literally (Grk “to see the wilderness vegetation?… No, to see a prophet”). Either view makes good sense, but the following examples suggest the question should be read literally and understood to point to the fact that a prophet drew them to the desert.