Matthew 5:4

5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. ¹ 

Matthew 8:5

Healing the Centurion’s Servant

8:5 When he entered Capernaum, ²  a centurion ³  came to him asking for help: ⁴ 

Matthew 14:36

14:36 They begged him if ⁵  they could only touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Matthew 18:29

18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ⁶  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’

Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ⁷ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ⁸  gone.” ⁹ 

Matthew 8:31

8:31 Then the demons begged him, ¹⁰  “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

Matthew 8:34

8:34 Then ¹¹  the entire town ¹²  came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

Matthew 18:32

18:32 Then his lord called the first slave ¹³  and said to him, ‘Evil slave! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me!

Matthew 26:53

26:53 Or do you think that I cannot call on my Father, and that he would send me more than twelve legions ¹⁴  of angels right now?

[5:4]  ¹ sn The promise they will be comforted is the first of several “reversals” noted in these promises. The beatitudes and the reversals that accompany them serve in the sermon as an invitation to enter into God’s care, because one can know God cares for those who turn to him.

[8:5]  ² sn Capernaum was a town on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, 680 ft (204 m) below sea level. It was a major trade and economic center in the North Galilean region.

[8:5]  ³ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like the apostle Paul did.

[8:5]  ⁴ sn While in Matthew’s account the centurion came to him asking for help, Luke’s account (7:1-10) mentions that the centurion sent some Jewish elders as emissaries on his behalf.

[14:36]  ³ tn Grk “asked that they might touch.”

[18:29]  ⁴ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[2:18]  ⁵ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

[2:18]  ⁶ tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

[2:18]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

[8:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[8:34]  ⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative. 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).

[8:34]  ⁸ tn Or “city.”

[18:32]  ⁸ tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:53]  ⁹ sn A legion was a Roman army unit of about 6,000 soldiers, so twelve legions would be 72,000.