Matthew 3:3

3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ¹ 

“The voice ²  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ³  his paths straight.’” ⁴ 

Matthew 11:10

11:10 This is the one about whom it is written:

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ⁵ 

who will prepare your way before you.’ ⁶ 

Matthew 13:19

13:19 When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one ⁷  comes and snatches what was sown in his heart; ⁸  this is the seed sown along the path.

Matthew 13:22-23

13:22 The ⁹  seed sown among thorns is the person who hears the word, but worldly cares and the seductiveness of wealth ¹⁰  choke the word, ¹¹  so it produces nothing. 13:23 But as for the seed sown on good soil, this is the person who hears the word and understands. He bears fruit, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.” ¹² 

Matthew 13:55

13:55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? ¹³  And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

Matthew 14:2

14:2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Matthew 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ¹⁴  bright cloud ¹⁵  overshadowed ¹⁶  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ¹⁷  “This is my one dear Son, ¹⁸  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ¹⁹ 

Matthew 21:38

21:38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’

Matthew 21:42

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ²⁰ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ²¹ 

Matthew 27:54

27:54 Now when the centurion ²²  and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place, they were extremely terrified and said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!”

[3:3]  ¹ tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:3]  ² tn Or “A voice.”

[3:3]  ³ sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[3:3]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[11:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

[11:10]  ⁶ sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

[13:19]  ⁹ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Mark 4:15 has “Satan,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[13:19]  ¹⁰ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[13:22]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the deceitfulness of riches.” Cf. BDAG 99 s.v. ἀπάτη 1, “the seduction which comes from wealth.”

[13:22]  ¹⁵ sn That is, their concern for spiritual things is crowded out by material things.

[13:23]  ¹⁷ tn The Greek is difficult to translate because it switches from a generic “he” to three people within this generic class (thus, something like: “Who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one instance a hundred times, in another, sixty times, in another, thirty times”).

[13:55]  ²¹ sn The reference to Jesus as the carpenter’s son is probably derogatory, indicating that they knew Jesus only as a common laborer like themselves. The reference to his mother…Mary (even though Jesus’ father was probably dead by this point) appears to be somewhat derogatory, for a man was not regarded as his mother’s son in Jewish usage unless an insult was intended (cf. Judg 11:1-2; John 4:41; 8:41; 9:29).

[17:5]  ²⁵ tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ²⁶ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ²⁸ tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.

[17:5]  ²⁹ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[17:5]  ³⁰ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.

[21:42]  ²⁹ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

[21:42]  ³⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22-23.

[27:54]  ³³ sn See the note on the word centurion in Matt 8:5.