Matthew 4:18

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As ¹  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). ² 

Matthew 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ³  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 12:10

12:10 A ⁴  man was there who had a withered ⁵  hand. And they asked Jesus, ⁶  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ⁷  so that they could accuse him.

Matthew 12:32

12:32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. ⁸  But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, ⁹  either in this age or in the age to come.

Matthew 12:41

12:41 The people ¹⁰  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ¹¹  – and now, ¹²  something greater than Jonah is here!

Matthew 17:5

17:5 While he was still speaking, a ¹³  bright cloud ¹⁴  overshadowed ¹⁵  them, and a voice from the cloud said, ¹⁶  “This is my one dear Son, ¹⁷  in whom I take great delight. Listen to him!” ¹⁸ 

Matthew 18:17

18:17 If ¹⁹  he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. If ²⁰  he refuses to listen to the church, treat him like ²¹  a Gentile ²²  or a tax collector. ²³ 

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 ²⁴  and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 21:2

21:2 telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. ²⁵  Right away you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me.

Matthew 21:31

21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ²⁶  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ²⁷  tax collectors ²⁸  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

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. ²⁹ 

This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? ³⁰ 

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ³¹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ³²  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ³³  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

Matthew 23:25

23:25 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23:27

23:27 “Woe to you, experts in the law ³⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. ³⁶ 

Matthew 26:64

26:64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand ³⁷  of the Power ³⁸  and coming on the clouds of heaven.” ³⁹ 

Matthew 27:54

27:54 Now when the centurion ⁴⁰  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!”

[4:18]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:18]  ² tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

[9:13]  ³ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

[12:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “And behold.” 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).

[12:10]  ⁶ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ⁷ tn Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated. The referent of the pronoun (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁸ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[12:32]  ⁷ tn Grk “it will be forgiven him.”

[12:32]  ⁸ tn Grk “it will not be forgiven him.”

[12:41]  ⁹ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).

[12:41]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ¹¹ tn Grk “behold.”

[17:5]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[17:5]  ¹³ tn Or “surrounded.”

[17:5]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ 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.

[18:17]  ¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ¹⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:17]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “let him be to you as.”

[18:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “a pagan.”

[18:17]  ¹⁷ sn To treat him like a Gentile or a tax collector means not to associate with such a person. See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[19:29]  ¹⁵ 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.

[21:2]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “the village lying before you” (BDAG 530 s.v. κατέναντι 2.b).

[21:31]  ¹⁹ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

[21:31]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[21:31]  ²¹ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

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

[23:13]  ²³ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ²⁴ tn Grk “Woe to you…because you…” The causal particle ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated here for rhetorical effect (and so throughout this chapter).

[23:13]  ²⁵ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[23:25]  ²⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ²⁷ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:27]  ²⁸ sn This was an idiom for hypocrisy – just as the wall was painted on the outside but something different on the inside, so this person was not what he appeared or pretended to be (for discussion of a similar metaphor, see L&N 88.234; BDAG 1010 s.v. τοῖχος). See Deut 28:22; Ezek 13:10-16; Acts 23:3.

[26:64]  ²⁹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1. This is a claim that Jesus shares authority with God in heaven. Those present may have thought they were his judges, but, in fact, the reverse was true.

[26:64]  ³⁰ sn The expression the right hand of the Power is a circumlocution for referring to God. Such indirect references to God were common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

[26:64]  ³¹ sn An allusion to Dan 7:13 (see also Matt 24:30).

[27:54]  ³¹ sn See the note on the word centurion in Matt 8:5.