Matthew 8:9-13

8:9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. ¹  I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, ²  and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ³  ‘Do this’ and he does it.” ⁴  8:10 When ⁵  Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, ⁶  I have not found such faith in anyone in Israel! 8:11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet ⁷  with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ⁸  in the kingdom of heaven, 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ⁹  8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant ¹⁰  was healed at that hour.

[8:9]  ¹ tn Grk “having soldiers under me.”

[8:9]  ² sn I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes. The illustrations highlight the view of authority the soldier sees in the word of one who has authority. Since the centurion was a commander of a hundred soldiers, he understood what it was both to command others and to be obeyed.

[8:9]  ³ tn Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times… in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v. 1). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος) in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[8:9]  ⁴ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[8:10]  ⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:10]  ⁶ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[8:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “and recline at table,” as 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away. The word “banquet” has been supplied to clarify for the modern reader the festive nature of the imagery. The banquet imagery is a way to describe the fellowship and celebration of being among the people of God at the end.

[8:11]  ⁸ tn Grk “and Isaac and Jacob,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[8:12]  ⁹ sn Weeping and gnashing of teeth is a figure for remorse and trauma, which occurs here because of exclusion from God’s promise.

[8:13]  ¹⁰ tc ‡ Most mss read αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after “servant.” It is unlikely that the pronoun was accidentally overlooked by such diverse witnesses as א B 0250 0281 ˹ 33 latt. More likely is the probability that Western, Byzantine, and some other scribes added the word for clarification (so C L W Θ 0233 ˹³ Ï sy sa). NA²⁷ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.