Psalms 119:60

119:60 I keep your commands

eagerly and without delay. ¹ 

Proverbs 6:4

6:4 Permit no sleep to your eyes ² 

or slumber to your eyelids.

Proverbs 8:17

8:17 I love ³  those who love me,

and those who seek me find me.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

9:10 Whatever you find to do with your hands, ⁴ 

do it with all your might,

because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ⁵ 

the place where you will eventually go. ⁶ 

Hosea 13:13

13:13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,

but the baby will lack wisdom;

when the time arrives,

he will not come out of the womb!

Matthew 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ⁷  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 11:12

11:12 From ⁸  the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it. ⁹ 

Luke 13:24-28

13:24 “Exert every effort ¹⁰  to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 13:25 Once ¹¹  the head of the house ¹²  gets up ¹³  and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, ¹⁴  let us in!’ ¹⁵  But he will answer you, ¹⁶  ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ ¹⁷  13:26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ¹⁸  13:27 But ¹⁹  he will reply, ²⁰  ‘I don’t know where you come from! ²¹  Go away from me, all you evildoers!’ ²²  13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth ²³  when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, ²⁴  and all the prophets in the kingdom of God ²⁵  but you yourselves thrown out. ²⁶ 

Luke 16:16

16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force ²⁷  until John; ²⁸  since then, ²⁹  the good news of the kingdom of God ³⁰  has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. ³¹ 

¹ tn Heb “I hurry and I do not delay to keep your commands.”

² tn Heb “do not give sleep to your eyes.” The point is to go to the neighbor and seek release from the agreement immediately (cf. NLT “Don’t rest until you do”).

³ sn In contrast to the word for “hate” (שָׂנֵא, shaneh) the verb “love” (אָהֵב, ’ahev) includes within it the idea of choosing spontaneously. So in this line loving and seeking point up the means of finding wisdom.

⁴ tn Heb “Whatever your hand finds to do.”

⁵ tn Heb “Sheol.”

⁶ tn Or “where you are about to go.”

⁷ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Or “the kingdom of heaven is forcibly entered and violent people take hold of it.” For a somewhat different interpretation of this passage, see the note on the phrase “urged to enter in” in Luke 16:16.

¹⁰ tn Or “Make every effort” (L&N 68.74; cf. NIV); “Do your best” (TEV); “Work hard” (NLT); Grk “Struggle.” The idea is to exert one’s maximum effort (cf. BDAG 17 s.v. ἀγωνίζομαι 2.b, “strain every nerve to enter”) because of the supreme importance of attaining entry into the kingdom of God.

¹¹ tn The syntactical relationship between vv. 24-25 is disputed. The question turns on whether v. 25 is connected to v. 24 or not. A lack of a clear connective makes an independent idea more likely. However, one must then determine what the beginning of the sentence connects to. Though it makes for slightly awkward English, the translation has opted to connect it to “he will answer” so that this functions, in effect, as an apodosis. One could end the sentence after “us” and begin a new sentence with “He will answer” to make simpler sentences, although the connection between the two sentences is thereby less clear. The point of the passage, however, is clear. Once the door is shut, because one failed to come in through the narrow way, it is closed permanently. The moral: Do not be too late in deciding to respond.

¹² tn Or “the master of the household.”

¹³ tn Or “rises,” or “stands up.”

¹⁴ tn Or “Sir.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “Open to us.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “and answering, he will say to you.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he will answer you.”

¹⁷ sn For the imagery behind the statement “I do not know where you come from,” see Ps 138:6; Isa 63:16; Jer 1:5; Hos 5:3.

¹⁸ sn This term refers to wide streets, and thus suggests the major streets of a city.

¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

²⁰ tc Most mss (Ì^75* A D L W Θ Ψ 070 Ë^1,13 Ï) have ἐρεῖ λέγω ὑμῖν (erei legw Jumin; “he will say, ‘I say to you’”) here, while some have only ἐρεῖ ὑμῖν (“he will say to you” in א 579 pc lat sa) or simply ἐρεῖ (“he will say” in 1195 pc). The variety of readings seems to have arisen from the somewhat unusual wording of the original, ἐρεῖ λέγων ὑμῖν (erei legwn Jumin; “he will say, saying to you” found in Ì^75c B 892 pc). Given the indicative λέγω, it is difficult to explain how the other readings would have arisen. But if the participle λέγων were original, the other readings can more easily be explained as arising from it. Although the external evidence is significantly stronger in support of the indicative reading, the internal evidence is on the side of the participle.

²¹ sn The issue is not familiarity (with Jesus’ teaching) or even shared activity (eating and drinking with him), but knowing Jesus. Those who do not know him, he will not know where they come from (i.e., will not acknowledge) at the judgment.

²² tn Grk “all you workers of iniquity.” The phrase resembles Ps 6:8.

²³ sn Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a figure for remorse and trauma, which occurs here because of exclusion from God’s promise.

²⁴ tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

²⁵ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

²⁶ tn Or “being thrown out.” The present accusative participle, ἐκβαλλομένους (ekballomenous), related to the object ὑμᾶς (Jumas), seems to suggest that these evildoers will witness their own expulsion from the kingdom.

²⁷ tn There is no verb in the Greek text; one must be supplied. Some translations (NASB, NIV) supply “proclaimed” based on the parallelism with the proclamation of the kingdom. The transitional nature of this verse, however, seems to call for something more like “in effect” (NRSV) or, as used here, “in force.” Further, Greek generally can omit one of two kinds of verbs – either the equative verb or one that is already mentioned in the preceding context (ExSyn 39).

²⁸ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

²⁹ sn Until John; since then. This verse indicates a shift in era, from law to kingdom.

³⁰ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21.

³¹ tn Many translations have “entereth violently into it” (ASV) or “is forcing his way into it” (NASB, NIV). This is not true of everyone. It is better to read the verb here as passive rather than middle, and in a softened sense of “be urged.” See Gen 33:11; Judg 13:15-16; 19:7; 2 Sam 3:25, 27 in the LXX. This fits the context well because it agrees with Jesus’ attempt to persuade his opponents to respond morally. For further discussion and details, see D. L. Bock, Luke (BECNT), 2:1352-53.