Matius 11:11

11:11 “I tell you the truth, ¹  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ²  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is.

Matius 14:2-14

14:2 and he said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead! And because of this, miraculous powers are at work in him.” 14:3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, ³  and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, 14:4 because John had repeatedly told ⁴  him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵  14:5 Although ⁶  Herod ⁷  wanted to kill John, ⁸  he feared the crowd because they accepted John as a prophet. 14:6 But on Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 14:7 so much that he promised with an oath ⁹  to give her whatever she asked. 14:8 Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 14:9 Although it grieved the king, ¹⁰  because of his oath and the dinner guests he commanded it to be given. 14:10 So ¹¹  he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 14:11 His ¹²  head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 14:12 Then John’s ¹³  disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.

The Feeding of the Five Thousand

14:13 Now when Jesus heard this he went away from there privately in a boat to an isolated place. But when the crowd heard about it, ¹⁴  they followed him on foot from the towns. ¹⁵  14:14 As he got out he saw the large crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Matius 16:14

16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, ¹⁶  and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Matius 17:12-13

17:12 And I tell you that Elijah has already come. Yet they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted. In ¹⁷  the same way, the Son of Man will suffer at their hands.” 17:13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

Matius 21:25-27

21:25 Where did John’s baptism come from? From heaven or from people?” ¹⁸  They discussed this among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 21:26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.” 21:27 So ¹⁹  they answered Jesus, ²⁰  “We don’t know.” ²¹  Then he said to them, “Neither will I tell you ²²  by what authority ²³  I am doing these things.

Matius 21:32

21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ²⁴  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ²⁵  and believe him.

[11:11]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ² sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[14:3]  ³ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א² C D L W Z Θ 0106 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat) read αὐτόν (auton, “him”) here as a way of clarifying the direct object; various important witnesses lack the word, however (א* B 700 pc ff¹ h q). The original wording most likely lacked it, but it has been included here due to English style. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.

[14:4]  ⁴ tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.

[14:4]  ⁵ sn This marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.

[14:5]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[14:5]  ⁷ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:5]  ⁸ tn Grk “him” (also in the following phrase, Grk “accepted him”); in both cases the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:7]  ⁹ tn The Greek text reads here ὁμολογέω (Jomologew); though normally translated “acknowledge, confess,” BDAG (708 s.v. 1) lists “assure, promise with an oath” for certain contexts such as here.

[14:9]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “and being grieved, the king commanded.”

[14:9]  sn Herod was technically not a king, but this reflects popular usage. See the note on tetrarch in 14:1.

[14:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[14:11]  ¹² tn Grk “And his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:12]  ¹³ tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”

[14:13]  ¹⁴ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[14:13]  ¹⁵ tn Or “cities.”

[16:14]  ¹⁶ sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.

[17:12]  ¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[21:25]  ¹⁸ tn The plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used here (and in v. 26) in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NAB, NRSV, “of human origin”; TEV, “from human beings”; NLT, “merely human”).

[21:25]  sn The question is whether John’s ministry was of divine or human origin.

[21:27]  ¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “So” to indicate that the clause is a result of the deliberations of the leaders.

[21:27]  ²⁰ tn Grk “answering Jesus, they said.” This construction is somewhat awkward in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[21:27]  ²¹ sn Very few questions could have so completely revealed the wicked intentions of the religious leaders. Jesus’ question revealed the motivation of the religious leaders and exposed them for what they really were – hypocrites. They indicted themselves when they cited only two options and chose neither of them (“We do not know”). The point of Matt 21:23-27 is that no matter what Jesus said in response to their question, they were not going to believe it and would in the end use it against him.

[21:27]  ²² sn Neither will I tell you. Though Jesus gave no answer, the analogy he used to their own question makes his view clear. His authority came from heaven.

[21:27]  ²³ tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ. This is exactly the same phrase as in v. 23.

[21:32]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:32]  ²⁵ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.