Matthew 5:34

5:34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all – not by heaven, because it is the throne of God,

Matthew 5:44

5:44 But I say to you, love your enemy and ¹  pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 12:28

12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God ²  has already overtaken ³  you.

Matthew 14:27

14:27 But immediately Jesus ⁴  spoke to them: ⁵  “Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Matthew 24:5

24:5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ ⁶  and they will mislead many.

Matthew 26:22

26:22 They ⁷  became greatly distressed ⁸  and each one began to say to him, “Surely not I, Lord?”

Matthew 26:33

26:33 Peter ⁹  said to him, “If they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away!”

[5:44]  ¹ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

[12:28]  ¹ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[12:28]  ² tn The phrase ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (efqasen ef’ Juma") is quite important. Does it mean merely “approach” (which would be reflected in a translation like “has come near to you”) or actually “come upon” (as in the translation given above, “has already overtaken you,” which has the added connotation of suddenness)? Is the arrival of the kingdom merely anticipated or already in process? Two factors favor arrival over anticipation here. First, the prepositional phrase ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (ef’ Jumas, “upon you”) in the Greek text suggests arrival (Dan 4:24, 28 Theodotion). Second, the following illustration in v. 29 looks at the healing as portraying Satan being overrun. So the presence of God’s authority has arrived. See also L&N 13.123 for the translation of φθάνω (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already.”

[14:27]  ¹ tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 pc ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit important witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (Jo Ihsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois Jo Ihsous). In uncial letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name.

[14:27]  ² tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[24:5]  ¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[26:22]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:22]  ² tn The participle λυπούμενοι (lupoumenoi) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.

[26:33]  ¹ tn Grk “answering, Peter said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.