Matius 10:11

10:11 Whenever ¹  you enter a town or village, ²  find out who is worthy there ³  and stay with them ⁴  until you leave.

Matius 12:44

12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁵  When it returns, ⁶  it finds the house ⁷  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ⁸ 

Matius 20:1

Workers in the Vineyard

20:1 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner ⁹  who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

Matius 20:17-18

Third Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

20:17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, ¹⁰  he took the twelve ¹¹  aside privately and said to them on the way, 20:18 “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law. ¹²  They will condemn him to death,

[10:11]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:11]  ² tn Grk “Into whatever town or village you enter.” This acts as a distributive, meaning every town or village they enter; this is expressed more naturally in English as “whenever you enter a town or village.”

[10:11]  ³ tn Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).

[10:11]  ⁴ tn Grk “there.” This was translated as “with them” to avoid redundancy in English and to clarify where the disciples were to stay.

[10:11]  sn Jesus telling his disciples to stay with them in one house contrasts with the practice of religious philosophers in the ancient world who went from house to house begging.

[12:44]  ⁵ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ⁶ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ⁷ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ⁸ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[20:1]  ⁹ sn The term landowner here refers to the owner and manager of a household.

[20:17]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:17]  ¹¹ tc ‡ A number of significant witnesses (e.g., B C W 085 33 lat) have μαθητάς (maqhtas, “disciples”) after δώδεκα (dwdeka, “twelve”), perhaps by way of clarification, while other important witnesses lack the word (e.g., א D L Θ Ë^1,13). The longer reading looks to be a scribal clarification, and hence is considered to be secondary. NA²⁷ puts the word in brackets to show doubts about its authenticity.

[20:18]  ¹² tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.