Matthew 11:15

11:15 The one who has ears had better listen! ¹ 

Matthew 13:9

13:9 The one who has ears had better listen!” ² 

Matthew 7:29

7:29 because he taught them like one who had authority, ³  not like their experts in the law. ⁴ 

Matthew 19:22

19:22 But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich. ⁵ 

Matthew 22:12

22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ⁶ 

Matthew 12:10

12:10 A ⁷  man was there who had a withered ⁸  hand. And they asked Jesus, ⁹  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ¹⁰  so that they could accuse him.

Matthew 13:43

13:43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. ¹¹  The one who has ears had better listen! ¹² 

Matthew 8:9

8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹³  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ¹⁴  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ¹⁵  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ¹⁶ 

Matthew 22:24-25

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ¹⁷  for his brother.’ ¹⁸  22:25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother.

[11:15]  ¹ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[13:9]  ² tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[7:29]  ³ sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.

[7:29]  ⁴ tn Or “their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[19:22]  ⁴ tn Grk “he had many possessions.” This term (κτῆμα, kthma) is often used for land as a possession.

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Grk “he was silent.”

[12:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “And behold.” 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).

[12:10]  ⁷ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ⁸ tn Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated. The referent of the pronoun (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁹ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[13:43]  ⁷ sn An allusion to Dan 12:3.

[13:43]  ⁸ tn The translation “had better listen!” captures the force of the third person imperative more effectively than the traditional “let him hear,” which sounds more like a permissive than an imperative to the modern English reader. This was Jesus’ common expression to listen and heed carefully (cf. Matt 11:15, 13:9; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 8:8, 14:35).

[8:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[8:9]  ⁹ sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[8:9]  ¹⁰ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[8:9]  ¹¹ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[22:24]  ⁹ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.