Matthew 3:9

3:9 and don’t think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones!

Matthew 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ¹  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ²  to those who ask him!

Matthew 9:2

9:2 Just then ³  some people ⁴  brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. ⁵  When Jesus saw their ⁶  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ⁷ 

Matthew 19:29

19:29 And whoever has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much ⁸  and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 22:24

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ⁹  for his brother.’ ¹⁰ 

Matthew 23:37

Judgment on Israel

23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, ¹¹  you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! ¹²  How often I have longed ¹³  to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but ¹⁴  you would have none of it! ¹⁵ 

[7:11]  ¹ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  ² sn The provision of the good gifts is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. The teaching as a whole stresses not that we get everything we want, but that God gives the good that we need.

[9:2]  ¹ tn Grk “And behold, they were bringing.” Here καὶ ἰδού (kai idou) has been translated as “just then” to indicate the somewhat sudden appearance of the people carrying the paralytic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1), especially in conjunction with the suddenness of the stretcher bearers’ appearance.

[9:2]  ² tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:2]  ³ tn Traditionally, “on a bed,” but this could be confusing to the modern reader who might envision a large piece of furniture. In various contexts, κλίνη (klinh) may be translated “bed, couch, cot, stretcher, or bier” (in the case of a corpse). See L&N 6.106.

[9:2]  ⁴ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[9:2]  ⁵ sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[19:29]  ¹ sn Jesus reassures his disciples with a promise that (1) much benefit in this life (a hundred times as much) and (2) eternal life will be given.

[22:24]  ¹ tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ² sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[23:37]  ¹ sn The double use of the city’s name betrays intense emotion.

[23:37]  ² tn Although the opening address (“Jerusalem, Jerusalem”) is direct (second person), the remainder of this sentence in the Greek text is third person (“who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her”). The following sentences then revert to second person (“your… you”), so to keep all this consistent in English, the third person pronouns in the present verse were translated as second person (“you who kill… sent to you”).

[23:37]  ³ sn How often I have longed to gather your children. Jesus, like a lamenting prophet, speaks for God here, who longed to care tenderly for Israel and protect her.

[23:37]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[23:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “you were not willing.”