Matthew 11:6

11:6 Blessed is anyone ¹  who takes no offense at me.”

Matthew 15:14

15:14 Leave them! They are blind guides. ²  If someone who is blind leads another who is blind, ³  both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 21:44

21:44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ⁴ 

Luke 20:17-18

20:17 But Jesus ⁵  looked straight at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? ⁶  20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, ⁷  and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” ⁸ 

John 6:66

Peter’s Confession

6:66 After this many of his disciples quit following him ⁹  and did not accompany him ¹⁰  any longer.

John 6:1

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

6:1 After this ¹¹  Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). ¹² 

Colossians 1:23

1:23 if indeed you remain in the faith, established and firm, ¹³  without shifting ¹⁴  from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has also been preached in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become its servant.

¹ tn Grk “whoever.”

² tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א¹ C L W Z Θ Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat). The shorter reading is read by א*^,2 B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tufloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuflwn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is original: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁷ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

³ tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”

⁴ tc A few witnesses, especially of the Western text (D 33 it sy^s Or Eus^syr), do not contain 21:44. However, the verse is found in א B C L W Z (Θ) 0102 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy^c,p,h co and should be included as authentic.

⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

⁷ tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.

⁸ tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”

⁹ tn Grk “many of his disciples went back to what lay behind.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “were not walking with him.”

¹¹ tn Again, μετὰ ταῦτα (meta tauta) is a vague temporal reference. How Jesus got from Jerusalem to Galilee is not explained, which has led many scholars (e.g., Bernard, Bultmann, and Schnackenburg) to posit either editorial redaction or some sort of rearrangement or dislocation of material (such as reversing the order of chaps. 5 and 6, for example). Such a rearrangement of the material would give a simple and consistent connection of events, but in the absence of all external evidence it does not seem to be supportable. R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:236) says that such an arrangement is attractive in some ways but not compelling, and that no rearrangement can solve all the geographical and chronological problems in John.

¹² sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. Only John in the New Testament refers to the Sea of Galilee by the name Sea of Tiberias (see also John 21:1), but this is correct local usage. In the mid-20’s Herod completed the building of the town of Tiberias on the southwestern shore of the lake; after this time the name came into use for the lake itself.

¹³ tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”

¹⁴ tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.