Matthew 19:30

19:30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Matthew 20:16

20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”

Matthew 22:38

22:38 This is the first and greatest ¹  commandment.

Matthew 20:27

20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave ²  –

Matthew 21:36

21:36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way.

Matthew 20:10

20:10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage.

Matthew 21:28

The Parable of the Two Sons

21:28 “What ³  do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’

Matthew 26:17

The Passover

26:17 Now on the first day of the feast of ⁴  Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and said, ⁵  “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ⁶ 

Matthew 10:2

10:2 Now these are the names of the twelve apostles: ⁷  first, Simon ⁸  (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother;

Matthew 20:8

20:8 When ⁹  it was evening ¹⁰  the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay ¹¹  starting with the last hired until the first.’

Matthew 22:25

22:25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother.

Matthew 27:64

27:64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body ¹²  and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

Matthew 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ¹³  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

[22:38]  ¹ tn Grk “the great and first.”

[20:27]  ¹ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[21:28]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:17]  ¹ tn The words “the feast of” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied for clarity.

[26:17]  ² tn Grk “the disciples came to Jesus, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[26:17]  ³ sn This required getting a suitable lamb and finding lodging in Jerusalem where the meal could be eaten. The population of the city swelled during the feast, so lodging could be difficult to find. The Passover was celebrated each year in commemoration of the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt; thus it was a feast celebrating redemption (see Exod 12). The Passover lamb was roasted and eaten after sunset in a family group of at least ten people (m. Pesahim 7.13). People ate the meal while reclining (see the note on table in 26:20). It included, besides the lamb, unleavened bread and bitter herbs as a reminder of Israel’s bitter affliction at the hands of the Egyptians. Four cups of wine mixed with water were also used for the meal. For a further description of the meal and the significance of the wine cups, see E. Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 523-24.

[10:2]  ¹ sn The term apostles is rare in the gospels, found only here, Mark 3:14, and six more times in Luke (6:13; 9:10; 11:49; 17:5; 22:14; 24:10).

[10:2]  ² sn In the various lists of the twelve, Simon (that is, Peter) is always mentioned first (see also Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13) and the first four are always the same, though not in the same order after Peter.

[20:8]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:8]  ² sn That is, six o’clock in the evening, the hour to pay day laborers. See Lev 19:13b.

[20:8]  ³ tc ‡ Most witnesses (including B D W Θ Ë^1,13 33^vid Ï latt sy) have αὐτοῖς (autois, “to them”) after ἀπόδος (apodos, “give the pay”), but this seems to be a motivated reading, clarifying the indirect object. The omission is supported by א C L Z 085 Or. Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes the pronoun on the basis of the greater external attestation.

[27:64]  ¹ tn Grk “him.”

[12:45]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.