Matthew 5:16

5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.

Matthew 6:1-2

Pure-hearted Giving

6:1 “Be ¹  careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. ²  Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 6:2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving, ³  do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues ⁴  and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth, ⁵  they have their reward.

Matthew 7:6

7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls before pigs; otherwise they will trample them under their feet and turn around and tear you to pieces. ⁶ 

Matthew 11:10

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

‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ⁷ 

who will prepare your way before you.’ ⁸ 

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ⁹  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ¹⁰  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ¹¹  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

Matthew 27:11

Jesus and Pilate

27:11 Then ¹²  Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor asked him, ¹³  “Are you the king ¹⁴  of the Jews?” Jesus ¹⁵  said, “You say so.” ¹⁶ 

Matthew 27:29

27:29 and after braiding ¹⁷  a crown of thorns, ¹⁸  they put it on his head. They ¹⁹  put a staff ²⁰  in his right hand, and kneeling down before him, they mocked him: ²¹  “Hail, king of the Jews!” ²² 

[6:1]  ¹ tc ‡ Several mss (א L Z Θ Ë¹ 33 892 1241 1424 al) have δέ (de, “but, now”) at the beginning of this verse; the reading without δέ is supported by B D W 0250 ˹³ Ï lat. A decision is difficult, but apparently the conjunction was added by later scribes to indicate a transition in the thought-flow of the Sermon on the Mount. NA²⁷ has δέ in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[6:1]  ² tn Grk “before people in order to be seen by them.”

[6:2]  ¹ tn Grk “give alms,” but this term is not in common use today. The giving of alms was highly regarded in the ancient world (Deut 15:7-11).

[6:2]  ² sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.

[6:2]  ³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[7:6]  ¹ tn Or “otherwise the latter will trample them under their feet and the former will turn around and tear you to pieces.” This verse is sometimes understood as a chiasm of the pattern a-b-b-a, in which the first and last clauses belong together (“dogs…turn around and tear you to pieces”) and the second and third clauses belong together (“pigs…trample them under their feet”).

[11:10]  ¹ tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

[11:10]  ² 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.

[23:13]  ¹ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ² 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]  ³ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[27:11]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[27:11]  ² tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[27:11]  ³ sn “Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate was interested in this charge because of its political implications of sedition against Rome.

[27:11]  ⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[27:11]  ⁵ sn The reply “You say so” is somewhat enigmatic, like Jesus’ earlier reply to the Jewish leadership in 26:64.

[27:29]  ¹ tn Or “weaving.”

[27:29]  ² sn The crown may have been made from palm spines or some other thorny plant common in Israel. In placing the crown of thorns on his head, the soldiers were unwittingly symbolizing God’s curse on humanity (cf. Gen 3:18) being placed on Jesus. Their purpose would have been to mock Jesus’ claim to be a king; the crown of thorns would have represented the “radiant corona” portrayed on the heads of rulers on coins and other artifacts in the 1st century.

[27:29]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁴ tn Or “a reed.” The Greek term can mean either “staff” or “reed.” See BDAG 502 s.v. κάλαμος 2.

[27:29]  ⁵ tn Grk “they mocked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:29]  ⁶ tn Or “Long live the King of the Jews!”