Leviticus 21:1-2

Rules for the Priests

21:1 The Lord said to Moses: “Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron – say to them, ‘For a dead person ¹  no priest ²  is to defile himself among his people, ³  21:2 except for his close relative who is near to him: ⁴  his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother,

Numbers 6:7

6:7 He must not defile himself even ⁵  for his father or his mother or his brother or his sister if they die, ⁶  because the separation ⁷  for ⁸  his God is on his head.

Numbers 19:14

19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies ⁹  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days.

Deuteronomy 33:9

33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” ¹⁰ 

and he did not acknowledge his own brothers

or know his own children,

for they kept your word,

and guarded your covenant.

Matthew 8:21-22

8:21 Another ¹¹  of the ¹²  disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ¹³ 

Matthew 12:46-50

Jesus’ True Family

12:46 While Jesus ¹⁴  was still speaking to the crowds, ¹⁵  his mother and brothers ¹⁶  came and ¹⁷  stood outside, asking ¹⁸  to speak to him. 12:47 ¹⁹  Someone ²⁰  told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting ²¹  to speak to you.” 12:48 To the one who had said this, Jesus ²²  replied, ²³  “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 12:49 And pointing ²⁴  toward his disciples he said, “Here ²⁵  are my mother and my brothers! 12:50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is ²⁶  my brother and sister and mother.”

Luke 9:59-60

9:59 Jesus ²⁷  said to another, “Follow me.” But he replied, ²⁸  “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 9:60 But Jesus ²⁹  said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, ³⁰  but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” ³¹ 

Luke 14:26

14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate ³²  his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, ³³  he cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:2

14:2 There ³⁴  right ³⁵  in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. ³⁶ 

Colossians 1:16

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ³⁷  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

[21:1]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, person, life”) can sometimes refer to a “dead person” (cf. Lev 19:28 above and the literature cited there).

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “no one,” but “priest” has been used in the translation to clarify that these restrictions are limited to the priests, not to the Israelites in general (note the introductory formula, “say to the priests, the sons of Aaron”).

[21:1]  ³ tc The MT has “in his peoples,” but Smr, LXX, Syriac, Targum, and Tg. Ps.-J. have “in his people,” referring to the Israelites as a whole.

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “except for his flesh, the one near to him.”

[6:7]  ⁵ tn The vav (ו) conjunction at the beginning of the clause specifies the cases of corpses that are to be avoided, no matter how painful it might be.

[6:7]  ⁶ tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive – “in the dying of them” – to form the adverbial clause of time.

[6:7]  ⁷ tn The word “separation” here is metonymy of adjunct – what is on his head is long hair that goes with the vow.

[6:7]  ⁸ tn The genitive could perhaps be interpreted as possession, i.e., “the vow of his God,” but it seems more likely that an objective genitive would be more to the point.

[19:14]  ⁹ tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”

[33:9]  ¹⁰ sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

[8:21]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:21]  ¹² tc ‡ Most mss (C L W Θ 0250 Ë^1,13 Ï lat sy mae bo) read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) here, but the earliest witnesses, א and B (along with 33 and a few others), lack it. The addition may have been a motivated reading to clarify whose disciples were in view. NA²⁷ includes the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:22]  ¹³ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

[12:46]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:46]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “crowds, behold, his mother.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:46]  ¹⁶ sn The issue of whether Jesus had brothers (siblings) has had a long history in the church. Epiphanius, in the 4th century, argued that Mary was a perpetual virgin and had no offspring other than Jesus. Others argued that these brothers were really cousins. Nothing in the text suggests any of this. See also John 7:3.

[12:46]  ¹⁷ tn “His mother and brothers came and” is a translation of “behold, his mother and brothers came.”

[12:46]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:47]  ¹⁹ tc A few ancient mss and versions lack this verse (א* B L Γ pc ff¹ k sy^s,c sa). The witness of א and B is especially strong, but internal considerations override this external evidence. Both v. 46 and 47 end with the word λαλῆσαι (“to speak”), so early scribes probably omitted the verse through homoioteleuton. The following verses make little sense without v. 47; its omission is too hard a reading. Thus v. 47 was most likely part of the original text.

[12:47]  ²⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ²¹ tn Grk “seeking.”

[12:48]  ²² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:48]  ²³ tn Grk “And answering, he said to the one who had said this.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) at the beginning of the clause has not been translated.

[12:49]  ²⁴ tn Grk “extending his hand.”

[12:49]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Behold my mother and my brothers.”

[12:50]  ²⁶ tn The pleonastic pronoun αὐτός (autos, “he”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

[9:59]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:59]  ²⁸ tn Grk “said.”

[9:60]  ²⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:60]  ³⁰ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to preach the gospel (proclaim the kingdom of God).

[9:60]  ³¹ 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.

[14:26]  ³² tn This figurative use operates on a relative scale. God is to be loved more than family or self.

[14:26]  ³³ tn Grk “his own soul,” but ψυχή (yuch) is frequently used of one’s physical life. It clearly has that meaning in this context.

[14:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And there.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:2]  ³⁵ tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here it has been translated as “right” in the phrase “right in front of him,” giving a similar effect of vividness in the translation.

[14:2]  ³⁶ sn The condition called dropsy involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs.

[1:16]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.