Matthew 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ¹  and the Pharisees, ²  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 8:28

Healing the Gadarene Demoniacs

8:28 When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, ³  two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way.

Matthew 13:32

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ⁴  so that the wild birds ⁵  come and nest in its branches.” ⁶ 

Matthew 18:6

18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, ⁷  it would be better for him to have a huge millstone ⁸  hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. ⁹ 

Matthew 19:14

19:14 But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁰ 

Matthew 20:8

20:8 When ¹¹  it was evening ¹²  the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay ¹³  starting with the last hired until the first.’

Matthew 21:12

Cleansing the Temple

21:12 Then ¹⁴  Jesus entered the temple area ¹⁵  and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, ¹⁶  and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.

Matthew 23:13

23:13 “But woe to you, experts in the law ¹⁷  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! ¹⁸  You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! ¹⁹  For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

Matthew 24:29

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ²⁰  after the suffering ²¹  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ²² 

Matthew 24:31

24:31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven ²³  to the other.

Matthew 26:47

Betrayal and Arrest

26:47 While he was still speaking, Judas, ²⁴  one of the twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people.

[5:20]  ¹ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ² sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[8:28]  ³ tc The textual tradition here is quite complicated. A number of mss (B C [Δ] Θ al sy^s,p,h) read “Gadarenes,” which is the better reading here. Many other mss (א² L W Ë^1,13 Ï [sy^hmg] bo) have “Gergesenes.” Others (892^c latt sy^hmg sa mae) have “Gerasenes,” which is the reading followed in Luke 8:26. The difference between Matthew and Luke may be due to uses of variant regional terms.

[13:32]  ⁵ sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:32]  ⁶ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:32]  ⁷ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[18:6]  ⁷ tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”

[18:6]  ⁸ tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Mark 9:42.

[18:6]  ⁹ tn The term translated “open” here (πελάγει, pelagei) refers to the open sea as opposed to a stretch of water near a coastline (BDAG 794 s.v. πέλαγος). A similar English expression would be “the high seas.”

[19:14]  ⁹ sn The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Children are a picture of those whose simple trust illustrates what faith is all about. The remark illustrates how everyone is important to God, even those whom others regard as insignificant.

[20:8]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:8]  ¹² sn That is, six o’clock in the evening, the hour to pay day laborers. See Lev 19:13b.

[20:8]  ¹³ tc ‡ Most witnesses (including B D W Θ Ë^1,13 33^vid Ï latt sy) have αὐτοῖς (autois, “to them”) after ἀπόδος (apodos, “give the pay”), but this seems to be a motivated reading, clarifying the indirect object. The omission is supported by א C L Z 085 Or. Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes the pronoun on the basis of the greater external attestation.

[21:12]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[21:12]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “the temple.”

[21:12]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “the temple.”

[23:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:13]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “because you are closing the kingdom of heaven before people.”

[24:29]  ¹⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[24:29]  ¹⁸ tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

[24:29]  ¹⁹ sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.

[24:31]  ¹⁹ tn Or “of the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.

[26:47]  ²¹ tn Grk “behold, Judas.” 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).