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 8:31

8:31 Then the demons begged him, ⁴  “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

Matthew 8:34

8:34 Then ⁵  the entire town ⁶  came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Matthew 18:32

18:32 Then his lord called the first slave ⁷  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!

Matthew 26:53

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ⁸  of angels right now?

[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.

[8:31]  ⁴ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:34]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[8:34]  ⁸ tn Or “city.”

[18:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:53]  ¹³ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.