Exodus 16:8

16:8 Moses said, “You will know this ¹  when the Lord gives you ²  meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? ³  Your murmurings are not against us, ⁴  but against the Lord.”

Matthew 25:40

25:40 And the king will answer them, ⁵  ‘I tell you the truth, ⁶  just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters ⁷  of mine, you did it for me.’

Matthew 25:45

25:45 Then he will answer them, ⁸  ‘I tell you the truth, ⁹  just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for me.’

John 15:20-21

15:20 Remember what ¹⁰  I told you, ‘A slave ¹¹  is not greater than his master.’ ¹²  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed ¹³  my word, they will obey ¹⁴  yours too. 15:21 But they will do all these things to you on account of ¹⁵  my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. ¹⁶ 

[16:8]  ¹ tn “You will know this” has been added to make the line smooth. Because of the abruptness of the lines in the verse, and the repetition with v. 7, B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 273) thinks that v. 8 is merely a repetition by scribal error – even though the versions render it as the MT has it. But B. Jacob (Exodus, 447) suggests that the contrast with vv. 6 and 7 is important for another reason – there Moses and Aaron speak, and it is smooth and effective, but here only Moses speaks, and it is labored and clumsy. “We should realize that Moses had properly claimed to be no public speaker.”

[16:8]  ² tn Here again is an infinitive construct with the preposition forming a temporal clause.

[16:8]  ³ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers.

[16:8]  ⁴ tn The word order is “not against us [are] your murmurings.”

[25:40]  ⁵ tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:40]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ⁷ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.

[25:45]  ⁸ tn Grk “answer them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[25:45]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[15:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “Remember the word that I said to you.”

[15:20]  ¹¹ tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

[15:20]  ¹² sn A slave is not greater than his master. Jesus now recalled a statement he had made to the disciples before, in John 13:16. As the master has been treated, so will the slaves be treated also. If the world had persecuted Jesus, then it would also persecute the disciples. If the world had kept Jesus’ word, it would likewise keep the word of the disciples. In this statement there is the implication that the disciples would carry on the ministry of Jesus after his departure; they would in their preaching and teaching continue to spread the message which Jesus himself had taught while he was with them. And they would meet with the same response, by and large, that he encountered.

[15:20]  ¹³ tn Or “if they kept.”

[15:20]  ¹⁴ tn Or “they will keep.”

[15:21]  ¹⁵ tn Or “because of.”

[15:21]  ¹⁶ tn Jesus is referring to God as “the one who sent me.”