9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. 1 “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.
9:1 After getting into a boat he crossed to the other side and came to his own town. 2
1 tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.
2 sn His own town refers to Capernaum. It was a town of approximately 1000-1500, though of some significance.
3 tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”
4 tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”