7:7 “Ask 2 and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door 3 will be opened for you.
10:21 “Brother 4 will hand over brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against 5 parents and have them put to death.
12:22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus 6 healed him so that he could speak and see. 7
1 tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a “tunic” was any more than they would be familiar with a “chiton.” On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.
2 sn The three present imperatives in this verse (Ask…seek…knock) are probably intended to call for a repeated or continual approach before God.
3 tn Grk “it”; the referent (a door) is implied by the context and has been specified in the translation here and in v. 8 for clarity.
3 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
4 tn Or “will rebel against.”
4 tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”
5 tn Grk “And his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
7 tn Grk “garments”; but this refers in context to their outer cloaks. The action is like 2 Kgs 9:13.
8 tn For the translation “rise up in arms” see L&N 55.2.
9 sn See Isa 5:13-14; 13:6-16; Hag 2:6-7; Zech 14:4.
10 tc Most witnesses (C Θ 0102 Ë1,13 Ï) have “and plagues” (καὶ λοιμοί, kai loimoi) between “famines” (λιμοί, limoi) and “earthquakes” (σεισμοί, seismoi), while others have “plagues and famines and earthquakes” (L W 33 pc lat). The similarities between λιμοί and λοιμοί could explain how καὶ λοιμοί might have accidentally dropped out, but since the Lukan parallel has both terms (and W lat have the order λοιμοὶ καὶ λιμοί there too, as they do in Matthew), it seems more likely that scribes added the phrase here. The shorter reading does not enjoy overwhelming support ([א] B D 892 pc, as well as versional witnesses), but it is nevertheless significant; coupled with the internal evidence it should be given preference.