Matthew 6:17

6:17 When ¹  you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,

Matthew 17:2

17:2 And he was transfigured before them. ²  His ³  face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Matthew 26:67

26:67 Then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists. And some slapped him,

Matthew 17:6

17:6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. ⁴ 

Matthew 18:10

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

18:10 “See that you do not disdain one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

Matthew 26:39

26:39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed, ⁵  “My Father, if possible, ⁶  let this cup ⁷  pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Matthew 6:16

Proper Fasting

6:16 “When ⁸  you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive ⁹  so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth, ¹⁰  they have their reward.

Matthew 11:10

11:10 This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ¹¹ 

who will prepare your way before you.’ ¹² 

Matthew 16:3

16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ¹³  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ¹⁴  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ¹⁶  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ¹⁷  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

Matthew 28:3

28:3 His ¹⁸  appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

Matthew 4:9

4:9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship ¹⁹  me.”

Matthew 5:39

5:39 But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. ²⁰  But whoever strikes you on the ²¹  right cheek, turn the other to him as well.

Matthew 18:26

18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ²²  before him, saying, ²³  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’

Matthew 18:29

18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ²⁴  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’

Matthew 2:11

2:11 As they came into the house and saw the child with Mary his mother, they bowed down ²⁵  and worshiped him. They opened their treasure boxes and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, ²⁶  and myrrh. ²⁷ 

¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

² sn In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor 5:1-10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw Jesus transfigured, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).

³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

³ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

⁴ tn Grk “ground, praying and saying.” Here the participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

⁵ tn Grk “if it is possible.”

⁶ sn This cup alludes to the wrath of God that Jesus would experience (in the form of suffering and death) for us. See Ps 11:6; 75:8-9; Isa 51:17, 19, 22 for this figure.

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ 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.”

⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁶ tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

⁷ sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

⁷ tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).

⁸ tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”

⁸ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

⁹ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).

¹⁰ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁰ tn Grk “if, falling down, you will worship.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

¹¹ tn The articular πονηρός (ponhro", “the evildoer”) cannot be translated simply as “evil” for then the command would be “do not resist evil.” Every instance of this construction in Matthew is most likely personified, referring either to an evildoer (13:49) or, more often, “the evil one” (as in 5:37; 6:13; 13:19, 38).

¹² tc ‡ Many mss (B D K L Δ Θ Ë¹³ 565 579 700 1424 pm) have σου (sou) here (“your right cheek”), but many others lack the pronoun (א W ˹ 33 892 1241 pm). The pronoun was probably added by way of clarification. NA²⁷ has σου in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

¹² tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.

¹³ tc The majority of mss (א L W 058 0281 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy^p,h co) begin the slave’s plea with “Lord” (κύριε, kurie), though a few important witnesses lack this vocative (B D Θ 700 pc lat sy^s,c Or Chr). Understanding the parable to refer to the Lord, scribes would be naturally prone to add the vocative here, especially as the slave’s plea is a plea for mercy. Thus, the shorter reading is more likely to be authentic.

¹³ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “they fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

¹⁵ sn Frankincense refers to the aromatic resin of certain trees, used as a sweet-smelling incense (L&N 6.212).

¹⁶ sn Myrrh consisted of the aromatic resin of certain shrubs (L&N 6.208). It was used in preparing a corpse for burial.