Matthew 9:9-13

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. ¹  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him. 9:10 As ²  Jesus ³  was having a meal ⁴  in Matthew’s ⁵  house, many tax collectors ⁶  and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples. 9:11 When the Pharisees ⁷  saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ⁸  9:12 When ⁹  Jesus heard this he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. ¹⁰  9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ¹¹  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 10:3

10:3 Philip and Bartholomew; ¹²  Thomas ¹³  and Matthew the tax collector; ¹⁴  James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ¹⁵ 

[9:9]  ¹ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[9:10]  ² tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:10]  ³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “was reclining at table.”

[9:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “in the house.” The Greek article is used here in a context that implies possession, and the referent of the implied possessive pronoun (Matthew) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ⁶ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[9:11]  ⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[9:11]  ⁸ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.

[9:12]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:12]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus’ point is that he associates with those who are sick because they have the need and will respond to the offer of help. A person who is healthy (or who thinks mistakenly that he is) will not seek treatment.

[9:13]  ¹¹ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

[10:3]  ¹² sn Bartholomew (meaning “son of Tolmai” in Aramaic) could be another name for Nathanael mentioned in John 1:45.

[10:3]  ¹³ sn This is the “doubting Thomas” of John 20:24-29.

[10:3]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[10:3]  ¹⁵ tc Witnesses differ on the identification of the last disciple mentioned in v. 3: He is called Λεββαῖος (Lebbaio", “Lebbaeus”) in D, Judas Zelotes in it, and not present in sy^s. The Byzantine text, along with a few others (C^[*^],2 L W Θ Ë¹ 33 Ï), conflates earlier readings by calling him “Lebbaeus, who was called Thaddaeus,” while codex 13 pc conflate by way of transposition (“Thaddaeus, who was called Lebbaeus”). But excellent witnesses of the earliest texttypes (א B ˹³ 892 pc lat co) call him merely Θαδδαῖος (Qaddaio", “Thaddaeus”), a reading which, because of this support, is most likely correct.