Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ¹ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ²  gone.” ³ 

Matthew 8:12

8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ⁴ 

Matthew 24:51

24:51 and will cut him in two, ⁵  and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25:30

25:30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 22:13

22:13 Then the king said to his attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’

[2:18]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ³ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

[8:12]  ⁴ sn Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a figure for remorse and trauma, which occurs here because of exclusion from God’s promise.

[24:51]  ⁷ tn The verb διχοτομέω (dicotomew) means to cut an object into two parts (L&N 19.19). This is an extremely severe punishment compared to the other two later punishments. To translate it simply as “punish” is too mild. If taken literally this servant is dismembered, although it is possible to view the stated punishment as hyperbole (L&N 38.12).