Matius 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce fruit ¹  that proves your ²  repentance,

Matius 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ³  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁴ 

Matius 3:13-15

The Baptism of Jesus

3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁵  3:14 But John ⁶  tried to prevent ⁷  him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?” 3:15 So Jesus replied ⁸  to him, “Let it happen now, ⁹  for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John ¹⁰  yielded ¹¹  to him.

Matius 5:13

Salt and Light

5:13 “You are the salt ¹²  of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, ¹³  how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people.

Matius 5:21-22

Anger and Murder

5:21 “You have heard that it was said to an older generation, ¹⁴  ‘Do not murder,’ ¹⁵  and ‘whoever murders will be subjected to judgment.’ 5:22 But I say to you that anyone who is angry with a brother ¹⁶  will be subjected to judgment. And whoever insults ¹⁷  a brother will be brought before ¹⁸  the council, ¹⁹  and whoever says ‘Fool’ ²⁰  will be sent ²¹  to fiery hell. ²² 

Matius 5:43

Love for Enemies

5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor’ ²³  and ‘hate your enemy.’

Matius 7:4

7:4 Or how can you say ²⁴  to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ while there is a beam in your own?

Matius 8:8

8:8 But the centurion replied, ²⁵  “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just say the word and my servant will be healed.

Matius 9:17

9:17 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; ²⁶  otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled out and the skins are destroyed. Instead they put new wine into new wineskins ²⁷  and both are preserved.”

Matius 10:10-11

10:10 no bag ²⁸  for the journey, or an extra tunic, ²⁹  or sandals or staff, ³⁰  for the worker deserves his provisions. 10:11 Whenever ³¹  you enter a town or village, ³²  find out who is worthy there ³³  and stay with them ³⁴  until you leave.

Matius 10:13

10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ³⁵ 

Matius 10:19

10:19 Whenever ³⁶  they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, ³⁷  for what you should say will be given to you at that time. ³⁸ 

Matius 10:37-38

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross ³⁹  and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matius 11:3

11:3 “Are you the one who is to come, ⁴⁰  or should we look for another?”

Matius 11:14

11:14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah, who is to come.

Matius 12:10

12:10 A ⁴¹  man was there who had a withered ⁴²  hand. And they asked Jesus, ⁴³  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ⁴⁴  so that they could accuse him.

Matius 12:12

12:12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

Matius 15:4-5

15:4 For God said, ⁴⁵  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ⁴⁶  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ⁴⁷  15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ⁴⁸ 

Matius 15:7

15:7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said,

Matius 15:26

15:26 “It is not right ⁴⁹  to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs,” ⁵⁰  he said. ⁵¹ 

Matius 16:26

16:26 For what does it benefit a person ⁵²  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Matius 18:21

18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother ⁵³  who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

Matius 18:33

18:33 Should you not have shown mercy to your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?’

Matius 19:16

The Rich Young Man

19:16 Now ⁵⁴  someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?”

Matius 20:4

20:4 He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’

Matius 20:7

20:7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’

Matius 20:15

20:15 Am I not ⁵⁵  permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ⁵⁶ 

Matius 20:26-27

20:26 It must not be this way among you! Instead whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, 20:27 and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave ⁵⁷  –

Matius 21:26

21:26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.”

Matius 22:11-12

22:11 But when the king came in to see the wedding guests, he saw a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But he had nothing to say. ⁵⁸ 

Matius 22:17

22:17 Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right ⁵⁹  to pay taxes ⁶⁰  to Caesar ⁶¹  or not?”

Matius 22:24

22:24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children ⁶²  for his brother.’ ⁶³ 

Matius 23:9

23:9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.

Matius 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁶⁴  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁶⁵  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁶⁶  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁶⁷  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Matius 24:45

The Faithful and Wise Slave

24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, ⁶⁸  whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves ⁶⁹  their food at the proper time?

Matius 25:27

25:27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, ⁷⁰  and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! ⁷¹ 

Matius 26:16

26:16 From that time ⁷²  on, Judas ⁷³  began looking for an opportunity to betray him.

Matius 26:66

26:66 What is your verdict?” ⁷⁴  They ⁷⁵  answered, “He is guilty and deserves ⁷⁶  death.”

[3:8]  ¹ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ² tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[3:11]  ³ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ⁴ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[3:13]  ⁵ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[3:14]  ⁶ tc ‡ The earliest mss (א* B sa) lack the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him,” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus supplied in translation). Although the longer reading has excellent support (Ì⁹⁶ א¹ C D^s L W 0233 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat[t] sy mae bo), it looks to be a motivated and predictable reading: Scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification.

[3:14]  ⁷ tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.

[3:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “but Jesus, answering, said.” This construction with passive participle and finite verb is pleonastic (redundant) and has been simplified in the translation to “replied to him.”

[3:15]  ⁹ tn Grk “Permit now.”

[3:15]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:15]  ¹¹ tn Or “permitted him.”

[5:13]  ¹² sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him.

[5:13]  ¹³ sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. a.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle.

[5:21]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “to the ancient ones.”

[5:21]  ¹⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 20:13; Deut 5:17.

[5:22]  ¹⁶ tc The majority of mss read the word εἰκῇ (eikh, “without cause”) here after “brother.” This insertion has support from א² D L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy co Ir^lat Or^mss Cyp Cyr. Thus the Western, Caesarean, and Byzantine texttypes all include the word, while the best Alexandrian and some other witnesses (Ì⁶⁴ א* B 1424^mg pc aur vg Or Hier^mss) lack it. The ms evidence favors its exclusion, though there is a remote possibility that εἰκῇ could have been accidentally omitted from these witnesses by way of homoioarcton (the next word, ἔνοχος [enocos, “guilty”], begins with the same letter). An intentional change would likely arise from the desire to qualify “angry,” especially in light of the absolute tone of Jesus’ words. While “without cause” makes good practical sense in this context, and must surely be a true interpretation of Jesus’ meaning (cf. Mark 3:5), it does not commend itself as original.

[5:22]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “whoever says to his brother ‘Raca,’” an Aramaic word of contempt or abuse meaning “fool” or “empty head.”

[5:22]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the Sanhedrin.”

[5:22]  ²⁰ tn The meaning of the term μωρός (mwros) is somewhat disputed. Most take it to mean, following the Syriac versions, “you fool,” although some have argued that it represents a transliteration into Greek of the Hebrew term מוֹרֵה (moreh) “rebel” (Deut 21:18, 20; cf. BDAG 663 s.v. μωρός c).

[5:22]  ²¹ tn Grk “subjected,” “guilty,” “liable.”

[5:22]  ²² tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

[5:22]  sn The word translated hell is “Gehenna” (γέεννα, geenna), a Greek transliteration of the Hebrew words ge hinnom (“Valley of Hinnom”). This was the valley along the south side of Jerusalem. In OT times it was used for human sacrifices to the pagan god Molech (cf. Jer 7:31; 19:5-6; 32:35), and it came to be used as a place where human excrement and rubbish were disposed of and burned. In the intertestamental period, it came to be used symbolically as the place of divine punishment (cf. 1 En. 27:2, 90:26; 4 Ezra 7:36).

[5:43]  ²³ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[7:4]  ²⁴ tn Grk “how will you say?”

[8:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “But answering, the centurion replied.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[9:17]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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.

[10:10]  ²⁸ tn Or “no traveler’s bag”; or possibly “no beggar’s bag” (L&N 6.145; BDAG 811 s.v. πήρα).

[10:10]  ²⁹ tn Grk “two tunics.” See the note on the word “tunic” in Matt 5:40.

[10:10]  ³⁰ sn Mark 6:8 allows one staff. It might be that Matthew’s summary (cf. Luke 9:3) means not taking an extra staff or that the expression is merely rhetorical for “traveling light” which has been rendered in two slightly different ways.

[10:11]  ³¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:11]  ³² 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]  ³³ tn Grk “in it” (referring to the city or village).

[10:11]  ³⁴ 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.

[10:13]  ³⁵ sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[10:19]  ³⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:19]  ³⁷ tn Grk “how or what you might speak.”

[10:19]  ³⁸ tn Grk “in that hour.”

[10:38]  ³⁹ sn It was customary practice in a Roman crucifixion for the prisoner to be made to carry his own cross. Jesus is speaking figuratively here in the context of rejection. If the priority is not one’s allegiance to Jesus, then one will not follow him in the face of possible rejection.

[11:3]  ⁴⁰ sn Aspects of Jesus’ ministry may have led John to question whether Jesus was the promised stronger and greater one who is to come that he had preached about in Matt 3:1-12.

[12:10]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “And behold.” 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).

[12:10]  ⁴² sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ⁴³ tn Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated. The referent of the pronoun (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁴⁴ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[15:4]  ⁴⁵ tc Most mss (א*^,2 C L W 0106 33 Ï) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, Jo gar qeo" eneteilato legwn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א¹ B D Θ 073 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 pc lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).

[15:4]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

[15:4]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

[15:5]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

[15:26]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “And answering, he said, ‘It is not right.’” The introductory phrase “answering, he said” has been simplified and placed at the end of the English sentence for stylistic reasons. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[15:26]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “lap dogs, house dogs,” as opposed to dogs on the street. The diminutive form originally referred to puppies or little dogs, then to house pets. In some Hellenistic uses κυνάριον (kunarion) simply means “dog.”

[15:26]  sn The term dogs does not refer to wild dogs (scavenging animals roaming around the countryside) in this context, but to small dogs taken in as house pets. It is thus not a derogatory term per se, but is instead intended by Jesus to indicate the privileged position of the Jews (especially his disciples) as the initial recipients of Jesus’ ministry. The woman’s response of faith and her willingness to accept whatever Jesus would offer pleased him to such an extent that he granted her request.

[15:26]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant and has not been translated.

[16:26]  ⁵² tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[18:21]  ⁵³ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.

[19:16]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “And behold one came.” 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). Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[20:15]  ⁵⁵ tc ‡ Before οὐκ (ouk, “[am I] not”) a number of significant witnesses read ἤ (h, “or”; e.g., א C W 085 Ë^1,13 33 and most others). Although in later Greek the οι in σοι (oi in soi) – the last word of v. 14 – would have been pronounced like ἤ, since ἤ is lacking in early mss (B D; among later witnesses, note L Z Θ 700) and since mss were probably copied predominantly by sight rather than by sound, even into the later centuries, the omission of ἤ cannot be accounted for as easily. Thus the shorter reading is most likely original. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[20:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Grk “Is your eye evil because I am good?”

[20:27]  ⁵⁷ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[22:12]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “he was silent.”

[22:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Or “lawful,” that is, in accordance with God’s divine law. On the syntax of ἔξεστιν (exestin) with an infinitive and accusative, see BDF §409.3.

[22:17]  ⁶⁰ tn According to L&N 57.180 the term κῆνσος (khnso") was borrowed from Latin and referred to a poll tax, a tax paid by each adult male to the Roman government.

[22:17]  sn This question concerning taxes was specifically designed to trap Jesus. If he answered yes, then his opponents could publicly discredit him as a sympathizer with Rome. If he answered no, then they could go to the Roman governor and accuse Jesus of rebellion.

[22:17]  ⁶¹ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[22:24]  ⁶² tn Grk “and raise up seed,” an idiom for fathering children (L&N 23.59).

[22:24]  ⁶³ sn A quotation from Deut 25:5. This practice is called levirate marriage (see also Ruth 4:1-12; Mishnah, m. Yevamot; Josephus, Ant. 4.8.23 [4.254-256]). The levirate law is described in Deut 25:5-10. The brother of a man who died without a son had an obligation to marry his brother’s widow. This served several purposes: It provided for the widow in a society where a widow with no children to care for her would be reduced to begging, and it preserved the name of the deceased, who would be regarded as the legal father of the first son produced from that marriage.

[23:23]  ⁶⁴ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ⁶⁵ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁶⁶ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁶⁷ tc ‡ Many witnesses (B C K L W Δ 0102 33 565 892 pm) have δέ (de, “but”) after ταῦτα (tauta, “these things”), while many others lack it (א D Γ Θ Ë^1,13 579 700 1241 1424 pm). Since asyndeton was relatively rare in Koine Greek, the conjunction may be an intentional alteration, and is thus omitted from the present translation. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[24:45]  ⁶⁸ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.

[24:45]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “give them.”

[25:27]  ⁷⁰ tn For the translation “deposited my money with the bankers,” see L&N 57.216.

[25:27]  ⁷¹ sn That is, “If you really feared me you should have done a minimum to get what I asked for.”

[26:16]  ⁷² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[26:16]  ⁷³ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Judas) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:66]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “What do you think?”

[26:66]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “answering, they said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:66]  ⁷⁶ tn Grk “he is guilty of death.” L&N 88.313 states, “pertaining to being guilty and thus deserving some particular penalty – ‘guilty and deserving, guilty and punishable by.’ οἱ δὲ ἀποκριθέντες εἶπαν, ᾿Ενοχος θανάτου ἐστίν ‘they answered, He is guilty and deserves death’ Mt 26:66.”