Matthew 5:44

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ¹  pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 7:15

A Tree and Its Fruit

7:15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. ² 

Matthew 9:27

Healing the Blind and Mute

9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, ³  “Have mercy ⁴  on us, Son of David!” ⁵ 

Matthew 10:40

Rewards

10:40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. ⁶ 

Matthew 12:28

12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God ⁷  has already overtaken ⁸  you.

Matthew 13:56

13:56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?” ⁹ 

Matthew 15:8

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ¹⁰  is far from me,

Matthew 20:7

20:7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’

Matthew 22:46

22:46 No one ¹¹  was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

Matthew 25:28

25:28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. ¹² 

Matthew 27:4

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!”

Matthew 27:25

27:25 In ¹³  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Matthew 28:14

28:14 If ¹⁴  this matter is heard before the governor, ¹⁵  we will satisfy him ¹⁶  and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁷ 

¹ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

² sn Sheep’s clothing…voracious wolves. Jesus uses a metaphor here to point out that these false prophets appear to be one thing, but in reality they are something quite different and dangerous.

³ tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁴ sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.

⁵ sn There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).

⁴ sn The one who sent me refers to God.

⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

⁶ tn The phrase ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (efqasen ef’ Juma") is quite important. Does it mean merely “approach” (which would be reflected in a translation like “has come near to you”) or actually “come upon” (as in the translation given above, “has already overtaken you,” which has the added connotation of suddenness)? Is the arrival of the kingdom merely anticipated or already in process? Two factors favor arrival over anticipation here. First, the prepositional phrase ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (ef’ Jumas, “upon you”) in the Greek text suggests arrival (Dan 4:24, 28 Theodotion). Second, the following illustration in v. 29 looks at the healing as portraying Satan being overrun. So the presence of God’s authority has arrived. See also L&N 13.123 for the translation of φθάνω (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already.”

⁶ tn Grk “Where did he get these things?”

⁷ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Grk “the ten talents.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

¹² tn Here ἐπί (epi) followed by the genitive = “before,” especially in the language of lawsuits (BDAG 363 s.v. 3).

¹³ tc ‡ αὐτόν (auton, “him”) is found after πείσομεν (peisomen, “we will satisfy”) in the majority of witnesses, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is found in א B Θ 33 pc). Nevertheless, English style requires the pronoun. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and you will not have to be worried” = “we will keep you out of trouble.”