Matthew 10:5

10:5 Jesus sent out these twelve, instructing them as follows: ¹  “Do not go to Gentile regions ²  and do not enter any Samaritan town. ³ 

Mark 10:13-14

Jesus and Little Children

10:13 Now ⁴  people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, ⁵  but the disciples scolded those who brought them. ⁶  10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ⁷ 

Luke 9:49-50

On the Right Side

9:49 John answered, ⁸  “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop ⁹  him because he is not a disciple ¹⁰  along with us.” 9:50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

¹ tn Grk “instructing them, saying.”

² tn Grk “on the road of the Gentiles.” That is, a path that leads to Gentile regions.

³ tn Grk “town [or city] of the Samaritans.”

⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

⁵ tn Grk “so that he would touch them.” Here the touch is connected with (or conveys) a blessing (cf. v. 16; also BDAG 126 s.v. ἅπτω 2.c).

⁶ tc “Those who brought them” (ἐπετιμῶν τοῖς προσφέρουσιν, epetimwn toi" prosferousin) is the reading of most mss (A D W [Θ Ë^1,13] Ï lat sy), but it is probably a motivated reading. Since the subject is not explicit in the earliest and best witnesses as well as several others (א B C L Δ Ψ 579 892 2427), scribes would be prone to add “those who brought them” here to clarify that the children were not the ones being scolded. It could be argued that the masculine pronoun αὐτοῖς (autois, “them”) only rarely was used with the neuter antecedent παιδία (paidia, “children”), and thus the longer reading was not motivated by scribal clarification. However, such rare usage is found in Mark (cf. 5:41; 9:24-26); further, scribes routinely added clarifications when such were not necessary. Thus, both on external and internal grounds, the shorter reading is strongly preferred. Similar motivations are behind the translation here, namely, “those who brought them” has been supplied to ensure that the parents who brought the children are in view, not the children themselves.

⁷ sn The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

⁸ tn Grk “And answering, John said.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “John answered.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tc The translation follows the reading that has Luke’s normal imperfect here (ἐκωλύομεν, ekwluomen; found in Ì^75vid א B L Ξ 579 892 1241). Most mss, however, have an aorist (ἐκωλύσαμεν, ekwlusamen; found in A C D W Θ Ψ Ë^1,13 33 Ï co), which would be translated “we forbade him.” The imperfect enjoys the best external and internal support.

¹⁰ tn Grk “does not follow with us.” BDAG 36 s.v. ἀκολουθέω 2 indicates that the pronoun σοι (soi, “you”) is to be supplied after the verb in this particular instance; the translation in the text best represents this nuance.