Matthew 16:17

16:17 And Jesus answered him, ¹  “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood ²  did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

Matthew 18:3-4

18:3 and said, “I tell you the truth, ³  unless you turn around and become like little children, ⁴  you will never ⁵  enter the kingdom of heaven! 18:4 Whoever then humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 21:16

21:16 and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouths of children and nursing infants you have prepared praise for yourself’?” ⁶ 

Matthew 21:1

The Triumphal Entry

21:1 Now ⁷  when they approached Jerusalem ⁸  and came to Bethphage, ⁹  at the Mount of Olives, ¹⁰  Jesus sent two disciples,

Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ¹¹ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ¹²  gone.” ¹³ 

Matthew 3:4

3:4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 8:2

8:2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies

you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries, ¹⁵ 

so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy. ¹⁶ 

Jeremiah 1:5-8

1:5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb ¹⁷  I chose you. ¹⁸ 

Before you were born I set you apart.

I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”

1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God, ¹⁹  I really ²⁰  do not know how to speak well enough for that, ²¹  for I am too young.” ²²  1:7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go ²³  to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ²⁴  for I will be with you to protect ²⁵  you,” says the Lord.

Mark 10:14-16

10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ²⁶  10:15 I tell you the truth, ²⁷  whoever does not receive ²⁸  the kingdom of God like a child ²⁹  will never ³⁰  enter it.” 10:16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:1

Divorce

10:1 Then ³¹  Jesus ³²  left that place and went to the region of Judea and ³³  beyond the Jordan River. ³⁴  Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

Colossians 1:27

1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ³⁵  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[16:17]  ¹ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of this phrase has been modified for clarity.

[16:17]  ² tn The expression “flesh and blood” could refer to “any human being” (so TEV, NLT; cf. NIV “man”), but it could also refer to Peter himself (i.e., his own intuition; cf. CEV “You didn’t discover this on your own”). Because of the ambiguity of the referent, the phrase “flesh and blood” has been retained in the translation.

[18:3]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:3]  ⁴ sn The point of the comparison become like little children has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit, as well as willingness to be dependent and receive from others, than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[18:3]  ⁵ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[21:16]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 8:2.

[21:1]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[21:1]  ⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[21:1]  ⁹ sn The exact location of the village of Bethphage is not known. Most put it on the southeast side of the Mount of Olives and northwest of Bethany, about 1.5 miles (3 km) east of Jerusalem.

[21:1]  ¹⁰ sn “Mountain” in English generally denotes a higher elevation than it often does in reference to places in Palestine. The Mount of Olives is really a ridge running north to south about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) long, east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. Its central elevation is about 30 meters (100 ft) higher than Jerusalem. It was named for the large number of olive trees which grew on it.

[2:18]  ¹¹ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

[2:18]  ¹² tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ¹³ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

[3:4]  ¹⁴ sn John’s lifestyle was in stark contrast to many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem who lived in relative ease and luxury. While his clothing and diet were indicative of someone who lived in the desert, they also depicted him in his role as God’s prophet (cf. Zech 13:4); his appearance is similar to the Prophet Elijah (2 Kgs 1:8). Locusts and wild honey were a common diet in desert regions, and locusts (dried insects) are listed in Lev 11:22 among the “clean” foods.

[8:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you establish strength because of your foes.” The meaning of the statement is unclear. The present translation follows the reading of the LXX which has “praise” (αἶνος, ainos) in place of “strength” (עֹז, ’oz); cf. NIV, NCV, NLT.

[8:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to cause to cease an enemy and an avenger.” The singular forms are collective. The Hitpael participle of נָקַם (naqam) also occurs in Ps 44:16.

[1:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[1:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.

[1:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).

[1:6]  ²¹ tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.

[1:6]  ²² tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.

[1:7]  ²³ tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”

[1:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “rescue.”

[10:14]  ²⁶ sn The kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

[10:15]  ²⁷ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[10:15]  ²⁸ sn On receive see John 1:12.

[10:15]  ²⁹ sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[10:15]  ³⁰ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[10:1]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:1]  ³² tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ³³ tc Alexandrian and other witnesses (א B C* L Ψ 0274 892 2427 pc co) read καὶ πέραν (kai peran, “and beyond”), while Western and Caesarean witnesses (C² D W Δ Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 579 1241 al) read πέραν (simply “beyond”). It is difficult to decide between the Alexandrian and Western readings here, but since the parallel in Matt 19:1 omits καί the weight is slightly in favor of including it here; scribes may have omitted the word here to harmonize this passage to the Matthean passage. Because of the perceived geographical difficulties found in the earlier readings (omission of the word “and” would make it seem as though Judea is beyond the Jordan), the majority of the witnesses (A Ï) read διὰ τοῦ πέραν (dia tou peran, “through the other side”), perhaps trying to indicate the direction of Jesus’ travel.

[10:1]  ³⁴ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).

[1:27]  ³⁵ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”