Matthew 15:2-9

15:2 “Why do your disciples disobey the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their ¹  hands when they eat.” ²  15:3 He answered them, ³  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4 For God said, ⁴  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ⁵  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁶  15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ⁷  15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ⁸  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition. 15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

15:8 ‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their heart ⁹  is far from me,

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ¹⁰ 

Exodus 18:19-20

18:19 Now listen to me, ¹¹  I will give you advice, and may God be with you: You be a representative for the people to God, ¹²  and you bring ¹³  their disputes ¹⁴  to God; 18:20 warn ¹⁵  them of the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must walk ¹⁶  and the work they must do. ¹⁷ 

Exodus 18:23

18:23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, ¹⁸  then you will be able ¹⁹  to endure, ²⁰  and all these people ²¹  will be able to go ²²  home ²³  satisfied.” ²⁴ 

Deuteronomy 4:5

4:5 Look! I have taught you statutes and ordinances just as the Lord my God told me to do, so that you might carry them out in ²⁵  the land you are about to enter and possess.

Deuteronomy 5:27

5:27 You go near so that you can hear everything the Lord our God is saying and then you can tell us whatever he ²⁶  says to you; then we will pay attention and do it.”

Deuteronomy 17:9-12

17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention ²⁷  to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:2

17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages ²⁸  that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God ²⁹  and breaks his covenant

Deuteronomy 30:12

30:12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

Acts 5:29

5:29 But Peter and the apostles replied, ³⁰  “We must obey ³¹  God rather than people. ³² 

Romans 13:1

Submission to Civil Government

13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment, ³³  and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

[15:2]  ¹ tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autwn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ˹ 579 700 892 1424 pc f g¹); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[15:2]  ² tn Grk “when they eat bread.”

[15:3]  ³ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

[15:4]  ⁴ tc Most mss (א*^,2 C L W 0106 33 Ï) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, Jo gar qeo" eneteilato legwn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א¹ B D Θ 073 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 pc lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).

[15:4]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[15:4]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[15:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

[15:6]  ⁸ tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L W Θ 0106 ˹ Ï) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, h thn mhtera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai thn mhtera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 pc and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ˹³ 33 579 700 892 pc), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and important witnesses (א B D sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of –ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.

[15:8]  ⁹ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[15:9]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

[18:19]  ¹¹ tn Heb “hear my voice.”

[18:19]  ¹² tn The line reads “Be you to the people before God.” He is to be their representative before God. This is introducing the aspect of the work that only Moses could do, what he has been doing. He is to be before God for the people, to pray for them, to appeal on their behalf. Jethro is essentially saying, I understand that you cannot delegate this to anyone else, so continue doing it (U. Cassuto, Exodus, 219-20).

[18:19]  ¹³ tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; following the imperative it will be instruction as well. Since the imperative preceding this had the idea of “continue to be” as you are, this too has that force.

[18:19]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “words”; KJV, ASV “the causes”; NRSV “cases”; NLT “questions.”

[18:20]  ¹⁵ tn The perfect tense with the vav (ו) continues the sequence of instruction for Moses. He alone was to be the mediator, to guide them in the religious and moral instruction.

[18:20]  ¹⁶ tn The verb and its following prepositional phrase form a relative clause, modifying “the way.” The imperfect tense should be given the nuance of obligatory imperfect – it is the way they must walk.

[18:20]  ¹⁷ tn This last part is parallel to the preceding: “work” is also a direct object of the verb “make known,” and the relative clause that qualifies it also uses an obligatory imperfect.

[18:23]  ¹⁸ tn The form is a Piel perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it carries the same nuance as the preceding imperfect in the conditional clause.

[18:23]  ¹⁹ tn The perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive now appears in the apodosis of the conditional sentence – “if you do this…then you will be able.”

[18:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “to stand.” B. Jacob (Exodus, 501) suggests that there might be a humorous side to this: “you could even do this standing up.”

[18:23]  ²¹ tn Literally “this people.”

[18:23]  ²² tn The verb is the simple imperfect, “will go,” but given the sense of the passage a potential nuance seems in order.

[18:23]  ²³ tn Heb “his place.”

[18:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in peace.”

[4:5]  ²⁵ tn Heb “in the midst of” (so ASV).

[5:27]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the Lord our God.” See note on “He” in 5:3.

[17:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “who acts presumptuously not to listen” (cf. NASB).

[17:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “gates.”

[17:2]  ²⁹ tn Heb “does the evil in the eyes of the Lord your God.”

[5:29]  ³⁰ tn Grk “apostles answered and said.”

[5:29]  ³¹ sn Obey. See 4:19. This response has Jewish roots (Dan 3:16-18; 2 Macc 7:2; Josephus, Ant. 17.6.3 [17.159].

[5:29]  ³² tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[13:1]  ³³ tn Grk “by God.”