Matthew 13:53--14:12

Rejection at Nazareth

13:53 Now when ¹  Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there. 13:54 Then ²  he came to his hometown ³  and began to teach the people ⁴  in their synagogue. ⁵  They ⁶  were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? 13:55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? ⁷  And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 13:56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?” ⁸  13:57 And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 13:58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

The Death of John the Baptist

14:1 At that time Herod the tetrarch ⁹  heard reports about Jesus, 14:2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.” 14:3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, ¹⁰  and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 14:4 because John had repeatedly told ¹¹  him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ¹²  14:5 Although ¹³  Herod ¹⁴  wanted to kill John, ¹⁵  he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet. 14:6 But on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 14:7 so much that he promised with an oath ¹⁶  to give her whatever she asked. 14:8 Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 14:9 Although it grieved the king, ¹⁷  because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given. 14:10 So ¹⁸  he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 14:11 His ¹⁹  head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 14:12 Then John’s ²⁰  disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.

[13:53]  ¹ tn Grk “Now it happened that when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[13:54]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[13:54]  ³ sn Jesus’ hometown (where he spent his childhood years) was Nazareth, about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of Capernaum.

[13:54]  ⁴ tn Grk “them”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[13:54]  ⁵ sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23. Jesus undoubtedly took the opportunity on this occasion to speak about his person and mission, and the relation of both to OT fulfillment.

[13:54]  ⁶ tn Grk “synagogue, so that they.” Here ὥστε (Jwste) has not been translated. Instead a new sentence was started in the translation.

[13:55]  ³ sn The reference to Jesus as the carpenter’s son is probably derogatory, indicating that they knew Jesus only as a common laborer like themselves. The reference to his mother…Mary (even though Jesus’ father was probably dead by this point) appears to be somewhat derogatory, for a man was not regarded as his mother’s son in Jewish usage unless an insult was intended (cf. Judg 11:1-2; John 4:41; 8:41; 9:29).

[13:56]  ⁴ tn Grk “Where did he get these things?”

[14:1]  ⁵ sn A tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.

[14:3]  ⁶ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א² C D L W Z Θ 0106 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read αὐτόν (auton, “him”) here as a way of clarifying the direct object; various important witnesses lack the word, however (א* B 700 pc ff¹ h q). The original wording most likely lacked it, but it has been included here due to English style. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[14:4]  ⁷ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[14:4]  ⁸ sn This marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

[14:5]  ⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[14:5]  ⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:5]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “him” (also in the following phrase, Grk “accepted him”); in both cases the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:7]  ⁹ tn The Greek text reads here ὁμολογέω (Jomologew); though normally translated “acknowledge, confess,” BDAG (708 s.v. 1) lists “assure, promise with an oath” for certain contexts such as here.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and being grieved, the king commanded.”

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:11]  ¹² tn Grk “And his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”