Matthew 1:22

1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled:

Matthew 2:15

2:15 He stayed there until Herod ¹  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ² 

Matthew 2:23

2:23 He came to a town called Nazareth ³  and lived there. Then what had been spoken by the prophets was fulfilled, that Jesus ⁴  would be called a Nazarene. ⁵ 

Matthew 8:17

8:17 In this way what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled: ⁶ 

“He took our weaknesses and carried our diseases.” ⁷ 

Matthew 12:17-21

12:17 This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: ⁸ 

12:18 “Here is ⁹  my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I take great delight. ¹⁰ 

I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

12:19 He will not quarrel or cry out,

nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

12:20 He will not break a bruised reed or extinguish a smoldering wick,

until he brings justice to victory.

12:21 And in his name the Gentiles ¹¹  will hope.” ¹² 

Matthew 26:54

26:54 How then would the scriptures that say it must happen this way be fulfilled?”

Matthew 26:56

26:56 But this has happened so that ¹³  the scriptures of the prophets would be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Luke 22:37

22:37 For I tell you that this scripture must be ¹⁴  fulfilled in me, ‘And he was counted with the transgressors.’ ¹⁵  For what is written about me is being fulfilled.” ¹⁶ 

Luke 24:44

Jesus’ Final Commission

24:44 Then ¹⁷  he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me ¹⁸  in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms ¹⁹  must be fulfilled.”

John 15:25

15:25 Now this happened ²⁰  to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’ ²¹ 

John 19:28

Jesus’ Death

19:28 After this Jesus, realizing that by this time ²²  everything was completed, ²³  said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ²⁴  “I am thirsty!” ²⁵ 

John 19:36-37

19:36 For these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, “Not a bone of his will be broken.” ²⁶  19:37 And again another scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.” ²⁷ 

[2:15]  ¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ² sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[2:23]  ³ sn Nazareth was a very small village in the region of Galilee (Galilee lay north of Samaria and Judea). The town was located about 15 mi (25 km) west of the southern edge of the Sea of Galilee. According to Luke 1:26, Mary was living in Nazareth when the birth of Jesus was announced to her.

[2:23]  ⁴ tn There is no expressed subject of the third person singular verb here; the pronoun “he” is implied. Instead of this pronoun the referent “Jesus” has been supplied in the text to clarify to whom this statement refers.

[2:23]  ⁵ tn The Greek could be indirect discourse (as in the text), or direct discourse (“he will be called a Nazarene”). Judging by the difficulty of finding OT quotations (as implied in the plural “prophets”) to match the wording here, it appears that the author was using a current expression of scorn that conceptually (but not verbally) found its roots in the OT.

[8:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “was fulfilled, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.

[8:17]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Isa 53:4.

[12:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “so that what was said by Isaiah the prophet would be fulfilled, saying.” This final clause, however, is part of one sentence in Greek (vv. 15b-17) and is thus not related only to v. 16. The participle λέγοντος (legontos) is redundant and has not been translated.

[12:18]  ⁹ tn Grk “Behold my servant.”

[12:18]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “in whom my soul is well pleased.”

[12:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:21]  ¹² sn Verses 18-21 are a quotation from Isa 42:1-4.

[26:56]  ¹³ tn Grk “But so that”; the verb “has happened” is implied.

[22:37]  ¹⁴ sn This scripture must be fulfilled in me. The statement again reflects the divine necessity of God’s plan. See 4:43-44.

[22:37]  ¹⁵ tn Or “with the lawless.”

[22:37]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “is having its fulfillment.”

[24:44]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[24:44]  ¹⁸ sn Everything written about me. The divine plan, events, and scripture itself are seen here as being one.

[24:44]  ¹⁹ sn For a similar threefold division of the OT scriptures, see the prologue to Sirach, lines 8-10, and from Qumran, the epilogue to 4QMMT, line 10.

[15:25]  ²⁰ tn The words “this happened” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to complete an ellipsis.

[15:25]  ²¹ sn A quotation from Ps 35:19 and Ps 69:4. As a technical term law (νόμος, nomos) is usually restricted to the Pentateuch (the first five books of the OT), but here it must have a broader reference, since the quotation is from Ps 35:19 or Ps 69:4. The latter is the more likely source for the quoted words, since it is cited elsewhere in John’s Gospel (2:17 and 19:29, in both instances in contexts associated with Jesus’ suffering and death).

[19:28]  ²² tn Or “that already.”

[19:28]  ²³ tn Or “finished,” “accomplished”; Grk “fulfilled.”

[19:28]  ²⁴ sn A reference to Ps 69:21 or Ps 22:15.

[19:28]  ²⁵ sn In order to fulfill (τελειωθῇ [teleiwqh], a wordplay on the previous statement that everything was completed [τετέλεσται, tetelestai]) the scripture, he said, “I am thirsty.” The scripture referred to is probably Ps 69:21, “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Also suggested, however, is Ps 22:15, “My tongue cleaves to the roof of my mouth, and you [God] lay me in the dust of death.” Ps 22:1 reads “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?,” a statement Jesus makes from the cross in both Matt 27:46 and Mark 15:34. In light of the connection in the Fourth Gospel between thirst and the living water which Jesus offers, it is highly ironic that here Jesus himself, the source of that living water, expresses his thirst. And since 7:39 associates the living water with the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ statement here in 19:28 amounts to an admission that at this point he has been forsaken by God (cf. Ps 22:1, Matt 27:46, and Mark 15:34).

[19:36]  ²⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, and Ps 34:20. A number of different OT passages lie behind this quotation: Exod 12:10 LXX, Exod 12:46, Num 9:12, or Ps 34:20. Of these, the first is the closest in form to the quotation here. The first three are all more likely candidates than the last, since the first three all deal with descriptions of the Passover lamb.

[19:37]  ²⁷ sn A quotation from Zech 12:10. Here a single phrase is quoted from Zech 12, but the entire context is associated with the events surrounding the crucifixion. The “Spirit of grace and of supplication” is poured out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the first part of v. 10. A few verses later in 13:1 Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) says “In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” The blood which flowed from Jesus’ pierced side may well be what the author saw as the connection here, since as the shedding of the blood of the sacrificial victim it represents cleansing from sin. Although the Jewish authorities and Roman soldiers certainly “looked on the one whom they have pierced” as he hung on the cross, the author may also have in mind the parousia (second coming) here. The context in Zech 12-14 is certainly the second coming, so that these who crucified Jesus will look upon him in another sense when he returns in judgment.