Matius 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ¹  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matius 12:28

12:28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God ²  has already overtaken ³  you.

Matius 13:5

13:5 Other ⁴  seeds fell on rocky ground ⁵  where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ⁶ 

Matius 14:30

14:30 But when he saw the strong wind he became afraid. And starting to sink, he cried out, ⁷  “Lord, save me!”

Matius 17:23

17:23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.

Matius 18:20

18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

Matius 21:40

21:40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

Matius 23:19-22

23:19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 23:20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 23:21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 23:22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

Matius 27:15

27:15 During the feast the governor was accustomed to release one prisoner to the crowd, ⁸  whomever they wanted.

Matius 28:17

28:17 When ⁹  they saw him, they worshiped him, ¹⁰  but some doubted. ¹¹ 

[6:33]  ¹ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[6:33]  sn God’s kingdom is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[12:28]  ² sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[12:28]  ³ tn The phrase ἔφθασεν ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (efqasen ef’ Juma") is quite important. Does it mean merely “approach” (which would be reflected in a translation like “has come near to you”) or actually “come upon” (as in the translation given above, “has already overtaken you,” which has the added connotation of suddenness)? Is the arrival of the kingdom merely anticipated or already in process? Two factors favor arrival over anticipation here. First, the prepositional phrase ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς (ef’ Jumas, “upon you”) in the Greek text suggests arrival (Dan 4:24, 28 Theodotion). Second, the following illustration in v. 29 looks at the healing as portraying Satan being overrun. So the presence of God’s authority has arrived. See also L&N 13.123 for the translation of φθάνω (fqanw) as “to happen to already, to come upon, to come upon already.”

[13:5]  ⁴ tn Here and in vv. 7 and 8 δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:5]  ⁵ sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[13:5]  ⁶ tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

[14:30]  ⁷ tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[27:15]  ⁸ sn The custom of Pilate to release one prisoner is unknown outside the gospels in Jewish writings, but it was a Roman custom at the time and thus probably used in Palestine as well (cf. Matt 27:15; John 18:39).

[28:17]  ⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[28:17]  ¹⁰ tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[28:17]  ¹¹ tn The Greek text reads here οἱ δὲ ἐδίστασαν (Joi de edistasan). Some scholars argue that the article is functioning like a personal pronoun, thus “they doubted” (e.g., D. A. Hagner, Matthew [WBC], 2:884). If so, then all the disciples would be in view. The translation of the text takes οἱ as an alternative pronoun which has a partitive notion (i.e., some of the disciples doubted, but not all). The difficulty with the personal pronoun view is that there are no examples of it in Matthew in which the same subject immediately precedes with its own verb (as would be the case in “they worshiped…they doubted”). Such, in fact, would be quite awkward, for the article would be unnecessary since the pronominal referent is already embedded in the verb. The only reason for the article here would be to distinguish the subject in some way; but if the same subject is in view, no distinction is being made.