Matthew 15:23

15:23 But he did not answer her a word. Then ¹  his disciples came and begged him, ²  “Send her away, because she keeps on crying out after us.”

Matthew 20:31

20:31 The ³  crowd scolded ⁴  them to get them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, “Lord, have mercy on us, ⁵  Son of David!”

Mark 10:13

Jesus and Little Children

10:13 Now ⁶  people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, ⁷  but the disciples scolded those who brought them. ⁸ 

John 4:27

The Disciples Return

4:27 Now at that very moment his disciples came back. ⁹  They were shocked ¹⁰  because he was speaking ¹¹  with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?” ¹²  or “Why are you speaking with her?”

John 12:4-6

12:4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) ¹³  said, 12:5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for three hundred silver coins ¹⁴  and the money ¹⁵  given to the poor?” 12:6 (Now Judas ¹⁶  said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box, ¹⁷  he used to steal what was put into it.) ¹⁸ 

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

² tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴ tn Or “rebuked.” The crowd’s view was that surely Jesus would not be bothered with someone as unimportant as a blind beggar.

⁵ tc ‡ The majority of mss (C W ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses) read κύριε (kurie, “Lord”) after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς (elehson Jhma", “have mercy on us”). But since this is the order of words in v. 30 (though that wording is also disputed), and since the κύριε-first reading enjoys widespread and early support (א B D L Z Θ 085 0281 ˹³ 892 pc lat), the latter was considered original. However, the decision was by no means easy. NA²⁷ has κύριε after ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς here; a majority of that committee felt that since the placement of κύριε in last place was the nonliturgical order it “would have been likely to be altered in transcription to the more familiar sequence” (TCGNT 44).

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

⁷ 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).

⁸ 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.

⁹ tn Or “his disciples returned”; Grk “came” (“back” is supplied in keeping with English usage). Because of the length of the Greek sentence it is better to divide here and begin a new English sentence, leaving the καί (kai) before ἐθαύμαζον (eqaumazon) untranslated.

¹⁰ tn BDAG 444 s.v. θαυμάζω 1.a.γ has “be surprised that” followed by indirect discourse. The context calls for a slightly stronger wording.

¹¹ tn The ὅτι (Joti) could also be translated as declarative (“that he had been speaking with a woman”) but since this would probably require translating the imperfect verb as a past perfect (which is normal after a declarative ὅτι), it is preferable to take this ὅτι as causal.

¹² tn Grk “seek.” See John 4:23.

¹³ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁴ tn Grk “three hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth a standard day’s wage, so the value exceeded what a laborer could earn in a year (taking into account Sabbaths and feast days when no work was done).

¹⁵ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied (as the proceeds from the sale of the perfumed oil).

¹⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Grk “a thief, and having the money box.” Dividing the single Greek sentence improves the English style.

¹⁸ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. This is one of the indications in the gospels that Judas was of bad character before the betrayal of Jesus. John states that he was a thief and had responsibility for the finances of the group. More than being simply a derogatory note about Judas’ character, the inclusion of the note at this particular point in the narrative may be intended to link the frustrated greed of Judas here with his subsequent decision to betray Jesus for money. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Mark seem to indicate that after this incident Judas went away immediately and made his deal with the Jewish authorities to deliver up Jesus. Losing out on one source of sordid gain, he immediately went out and set up another.