Matthew 11:2-6

Jesus and John the Baptist

11:2 Now when John ¹  heard in prison about the deeds Christ ²  had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: ³  11:3 “Are you the one who is to come, ⁴  or should we look for another?” 11:4 Jesus answered them, ⁵  “Go tell John what you hear and see: ⁶  11:5 The blind see, the ⁷  lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them. 11:6 Blessed is anyone ⁸  who takes no offense at me.”

[11:2]  ¹ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[11:2]  ² tc The Western codex D and a few other mss (0233 1424 al) read “Jesus” here instead of “Christ.” This is not likely to be original because it is not found in the earliest and most important mss, nor in the rest of the ms tradition.

[11:2]  ³ tc Instead of “by his disciples” (see the tn below for the reading of the Greek), the majority of later mss (C³ L ˹ Ï lat bo) have “two of his disciples.” The difference in Greek, however, is only two letters: διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ vs. δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ (dia twn maqhtwn autou vs. duo twn maqhtwn autou). Although an accidental alteration could account for either of these readings, it is more likely that δύο is an assimilation to the parallel in Luke 7:18. Further, διά is read by a good number of early and excellent witnesses (א B C* D P W Z Δ Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 sa), and thus should be considered original.

[11:3]  ⁴ sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Matt 3:1-12.

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[11:4]  ⁶ sn What you hear and see. The following activities all paraphrase various OT descriptions of the time of promised salvation: Isa 35:5-6; 26:19; 29:18-19; 61:1. Jesus is answering not by acknowledging a title, but by pointing to the nature of his works, thus indicating the nature of the time.

[11:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “and the,” 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. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.

[11:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “whoever.”