Matthew 3:16

3:16 After ¹  Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the ²  heavens ³  opened ⁴  and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove ⁵  and coming on him.

Matthew 4:18

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As ⁶  he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ⁷ 

Matthew 4:21

4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ⁸  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁹  he called them.

Matthew 9:9

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. ¹⁰  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

[3:16]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[3:16]  ² tn Grk “behold the heavens.” 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).

[3:16]  ³ tn Or “sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ourano") may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The same word is used in v. 17.

[3:16]  ⁴ tc ‡ αὐτῷ (autw, “to/before him”) is found in the majority of witnesses (א¹ C D^s L W 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat), perhaps added as a point of clarification or emphasis. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:16]  ⁵ sn The phrase like a dove is a descriptive comparison. The Spirit is not a dove, but descended like one in some sort of bodily representation.

[4:18]  ⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:18]  ⁷ tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

[4:21]  ¹¹ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

[4:21]  ¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:9]  ¹⁶ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.