Discovery BoxMatthew 9:13-38
Context9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ 1 For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
9:14 Then John’s 2 disciples came to Jesus 3 and asked, “Why do we and the Pharisees 4 fast often, 5 but your disciples don’t fast?” 9:15 Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests 6 cannot mourn while the bridegroom 7 is with them, can they? But the days 8 are coming when the bridegroom will be taken from them, 9 and then they will fast. 9:16 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, because the patch will pull away from the garment and the tear will be worse. 9:17 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; 10 otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins 11 and both are preserved.”
9:18 As he was saying these things, a ruler came, bowed low before him, and said, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live.” 9:19 Jesus and his disciples got up and followed him. 9:20 But 12 a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage 13 for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge 14 of his cloak. 15 9:21 For she kept saying to herself, 16 “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.” 17 9:22 But when Jesus turned and saw her he said, “Have courage, daughter! Your faith has made you well.” 18 And the woman was healed 19 from that hour. 9:23 When Jesus entered the ruler’s house and saw the flute players and the disorderly crowd, 9:24 he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but asleep.” And they began making fun of him. 20 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and gently took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 9:26 And the news of this spread throughout that region. 21
9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, 22 “Have mercy 23 on us, Son of David!” 24 9:28 When 25 he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus 26 said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 9:29 Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 9:30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this.” 9:31 But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that entire region. 27
9:32 As 28 they were going away, 29 a man who could not talk and was demon-possessed was brought to him. 9:33 After the demon was cast out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel!” 9:34 But the Pharisees 30 said, “By the ruler 31 of demons he casts out demons.” 32
9:35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns 33 and villages, teaching in their synagogues, 34 preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. 35 9:36 When 36 he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, 37 like sheep without a shepherd. 9:37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 9:38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest 38 to send out 39 workers into his harvest.”
[9:13] 1 sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).
[9:14] 2 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
[9:14] 3 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[9:14] 4 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[9:14] 5 sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week on Monday and Thursday.
[9:15] 6 tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).
[9:15] 7 sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5; 4 Ezra 2:15, 38).
[9:15] 9 sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff.
[9:17] 10 sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
[9:17] 11 sn The meaning of the saying new wine into new wineskins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.
[9:20] 12 tn Grk “And behold a woman.” 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).
[9:20] 13 sn Suffering from a hemorrhage. The woman was most likely suffering from a vaginal hemorrhage which would make her ritually unclean.
[9:20] 14 sn The edge of his cloak refers to the kraspedon, the blue tassel on the garment that symbolized a Jewish man’s obedience to the law (cf. Num 15:37-41). The woman thus touched the very part of Jesus’ clothing that indicated his ritual purity.
[9:20] 15 tn Grk “garment,” but here ἱμάτιον (Jimation) denotes the outer garment in particular.
[9:21] 16 tn The imperfect verb is here taken iteratively, for the context suggests that the woman was trying to find the courage to touch Jesus’ cloak.
[9:22] 18 tn Or “has delivered you”; Grk “has saved you.” This should not be understood as an expression for full salvation in the immediate context; it refers only to the woman’s healing.
[9:24] 20 tn Grk “They were laughing at him.” The imperfect verb has been taken ingressively.
[9:26] 21 tn For the translation of τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην (thn ghn ekeinhn) as “that region,” see L&N 1.79.
[9:27] 22 tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
[9:27] 23 sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.
[9:27] 24 sn There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).
[9:28] 25 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[9:28] 26 tn Grk “to him, and Jesus.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.
[9:31] 27 tn For the translation of τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην (thn ghn ekeinhn) as “that region,” see L&N 1.79.
[9:32] 28 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[9:32] 29 tn Grk “away, behold, they brought a man to him.” 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).
[9:34] 30 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
[9:34] 32 tc Although codex Cantabrigiensis (D), along with a few other Western versional and patristic witnesses, lacks this verse, virtually all other witnesses have it. The Western text’s reputation for free alterations as well as the heightened climax if v. 33 concludes this pericope explains why these witnesses omitted the verse.
[9:35] 34 sn See the note on synagogues in 4:23.
[9:35] 35 tn Grk “and every [kind of] sickness.” Here “every” was not repeated in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[9:36] 36 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
[9:36] 37 tn Or “because they had been bewildered and helpless.” The translational issue is whether the perfect participles are predicate (as in the text) or are pluperfect periphrastic (the alternate translation). If the latter, the implication would seem to be that the crowds had been in such a state until the Great Shepherd arrived.
[9:38] 38 sn The phrase Lord of the harvest recognizes God’s sovereignty over the harvest process.
