Matthew 13:11

13:11 He replied, ¹  “You have been given ²  the opportunity to know ³  the secrets ⁴  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not.

Matthew 13:19

13:19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one ⁵  comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; ⁶  this is the seed sown along the path.

Matthew 15:17

15:17 Don’t you understand that whatever goes into the mouth enters the stomach and then passes out into the sewer? ⁷ 

Matthew 16:11

16:11 How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”

Matthew 24:15

The Abomination of Desolation

24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation ⁸  – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),

Mark 4:34

4:34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.

Mark 7:18

7:18 He said to them, “Are you so foolish? Don’t you understand that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him?

Mark 8:17-18

8:17 When he learned of this, ⁹  Jesus said to them, “Why are you arguing ¹⁰  about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? 8:18 Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? ¹¹  Don’t you remember?

Luke 9:44-45

9:44 “Take these words to heart, ¹²  for the Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ¹³  9:45 But they did not understand this statement; its meaning ¹⁴  had been concealed ¹⁵  from them, so that they could not grasp it. Yet ¹⁶  they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

Acts 8:30-31

8:30 So Philip ran up ¹⁷  to it ¹⁸  and heard the man ¹⁹  reading Isaiah the prophet. He ²⁰  asked him, ²¹  “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 8:31 The man ²²  replied, “How in the world can I, ²³  unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

Acts 8:1

8:1 And Saul agreed completely with killing ²⁴  him.

Saul Begins to Persecute the Church

Now on that day a great ²⁵  persecution began ²⁶  against the church in Jerusalem, ²⁷  and all ²⁸  except the apostles were forced to scatter throughout the regions ²⁹  of Judea and Samaria.

Acts 5:20

5:20 “Go and stand in the temple courts ³⁰  and proclaim ³¹  to the people all the words of this life.”

[13:11]  ¹ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ² tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ³ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[13:19]  ⁵ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[13:19]  ⁶ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[15:17]  ⁷ tn Or “into the latrine.”

[24:15]  ⁸ sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167 b.c., the words of Jesus seem to indicate that Antiochus was not the final fulfillment, but that there was (from Jesus’ perspective) still another fulfillment yet to come. Some argue that this was realized in a.d. 70, while others claim that it refers specifically to Antichrist and will not be fully realized until the period of the great tribulation at the end of the age (cf. Mark 13:14, 19, 24; Rev 3:10).

[8:17]  ⁹ tn Or “becoming aware of it.”

[8:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or “discussing.”

[8:18]  ¹¹ tn Grk “do you not hear?”

[9:44]  ¹² tn Grk “Place these words into your ears,” an idiom. The meaning is either “do not forget these words” (L&N 29.5) or “Listen carefully to these words” (L&N 24.64). See also Exod 17:14. For a variation of this expression, see Luke 8:8.

[9:44]  ¹³ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is considered by some to be used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NRSV, “into human hands”; TEV, “to the power of human beings”). However, because this can be taken as a specific reference to the group responsible for Jesus’ arrest, where it is unlikely women were present (cf. Matt 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53; John 18:2-12), the word “men” has been retained in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” earlier in the verse.

[9:45]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “it”; the referent (the meaning of the statement) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:45]  ¹⁵ sn The passive verb had been concealed probably indicates that some force was preventing them from responding. It is debated whether God or Satan is meant here. By 24:25 it is clear that their lack of response is their own responsibility. The only way to reverse this is to pay careful attention as v. 44a urges.

[9:45]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate that in spite of their lack of understanding, the disciples were afraid to ask about it. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[8:30]  ¹⁷ tn The participle προσδραμών (prosdramwn) is regarded as attendant circumstance.

[8:30]  ¹⁸ tn The words “to it” are not in the Greek text but are implied.

[8:30]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “heard him”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:30]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.

[8:30]  ²¹ tn Grk “he said”; but since what follows is a question, it is better English style to translate the introduction to the question “he asked him.”

[8:31]  ²² tn Grk “He”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:31]  ²³ tn Grk “How am I able, unless…” The translation is based on the force of the conjunction γάρ (gar) in this context. The translation “How in the world can I?” is given in BDAG 189 s.v. γάρ 1.f.

[8:1]  ²⁴ tn The term ἀναίρεσις (anairesi") can refer to murder (BDAG 64 s.v.; 2 Macc 5:13; Josephus, Ant. 5.2.12 [5.165]).

[8:1]  ²⁵ tn Or “severe.”

[8:1]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Now there happened on that day a great persecution.” It is less awkward to say in English “Now on that day a great persecution began.”

[8:1]  ²⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:1]  ²⁸ sn All. Given that the Jerusalem church is still active after this and that the Hellenists are the focus of Acts 6-8, it is possible to argue that only the Hellenistic Christians were forced to scatter.

[8:1]  ²⁹ tn Or “countryside.”

[5:20]  ³⁰ tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

[5:20]  ³¹ tn Or “speak.”