Matthew 12:9-21

12:9 Then ¹  Jesus ²  left that place and entered their synagogue. ³  12:10 A ⁴  man was there who had a withered ⁵  hand. And they asked Jesus, ⁶  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ⁷  so that they could accuse him. 12:11 He said to them, “Would not any one of you, if he had one sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, take hold of it and lift it out? 12:12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 12:13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored, ⁸  as healthy as the other. 12:14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted against him, as to how they could assassinate ⁹  him.

God’s Special Servant

12:15 Now when Jesus learned of this, he went away from there. Great ¹⁰  crowds ¹¹  followed him, and he healed them all. 12:16 But he sternly warned them not to make him known. 12:17 This fulfilled what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet: ¹² 

12:18 “Here is ¹³  my servant whom I have chosen,

the one I love, in whom I take great delight. ¹⁴ 

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 ¹⁵  will hope.” ¹⁶ 

[12:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[12:9]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ³ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[12:10]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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).

[12:13]  ⁷ sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.

[12:14]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “destroy.”

[12:15]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[12:15]  ¹⁴ tc א B pc lat read only πολλοί (polloi, “many”) here, the first hand of N reads ὄχλοι (ocloi, “crowds”), while virtually all the rest of the witnesses have ὄχλοι πολλοί (ocloi polloi, “great crowds”). In spite of the good quality of both א and B (especially in combination), and the testimony of the Latin witnesses, the longer reading is most likely correct; the shorter readings were probably due to homoioteleuton.

[12:17]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “Behold my servant.”

[12:18]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in whom my soul is well pleased.”

[12:21]  ²² tn Or “the nations” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[12:21]  ²³ sn Verses 18-21 are a quotation from Isa 42:1-4.