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 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ³  and the Pharisees, ⁴  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 20:18

20:18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. ⁵  They will condemn him to death,

Matthew 23:29

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁶  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You ⁷  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves ⁸  of the righteous.

Matthew 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ⁹  the experts in the law ¹⁰  and the elders had gathered.

[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.”

[5:20]  ³ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ⁴ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[20:18]  ⁵ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:29]  ⁸ tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

[23:29]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

[26:57]  ⁹ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ¹⁰ tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.