Matthew 2:4

2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ¹  he asked them where the Christ ²  was to be born.

Matthew 15:8

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

but their heart ³  is far from me,

Matthew 27:25

27:25 In ⁴  reply all the people said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

[2:4]  ¹ tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[2:4]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[15:8]  ³ tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.

[27:25]  ⁵ tn Grk “answering, all the people said.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.