Matius 5:26

5:26 I tell you the truth, ¹  you will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny! ² 

Matius 5:33

Oaths

5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ³  ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ⁴ 

Matius 5:38

Retaliation

5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ⁵ 

Matius 9:9

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. ⁶  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Matius 10:8

10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, ⁷  cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

Matius 16:26

16:26 For what does it benefit a person ⁸  if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?

Matius 17:24-27

The Temple Tax

17:24 After ⁹  they arrived in Capernaum, ¹⁰  the collectors of the temple tax ¹¹  came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?” 17:25 He said, “Yes.” When Peter came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, ¹²  “What do you think, Simon? From whom do earthly kings collect tolls or taxes – from their sons ¹³  or from foreigners?” 17:26 After he said, “From foreigners,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons ¹⁴  are free. 17:27 But so that we don’t offend them, go to the lake and throw out a hook. Take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth, you will find a four drachma coin. ¹⁵  Take that and give it to them for me and you.”

Matius 18:25-26

18:25 Because ¹⁶  he was not able to repay it, ¹⁷  the lord ordered him to be sold, along with ¹⁸  his wife, children, and whatever he possessed, and repayment to be made. 18:26 Then the slave threw himself to the ground ¹⁹  before him, saying, ²⁰  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you everything.’

Matius 18:28-30

18:28 After ²¹  he went out, that same slave found one of his fellow slaves who owed him one hundred silver coins. ²²  So ²³  he grabbed him by the throat and started to choke him, ²⁴  saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ ²⁵  18:29 Then his fellow slave threw himself down and begged him, ²⁶  ‘Be patient with me, and I will repay you.’ 18:30 But he refused. Instead, he went out and threw him in prison until he repaid the debt.

Matius 18:34

18:34 And in anger his lord turned him over to the prison guards to torture him ²⁷  until he repaid all he owed.

Matius 20:2

20:2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage, ²⁸  he sent them into his vineyard.

Matius 20:4

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

Matius 20:8-12

20:8 When ²⁹  it was evening ³⁰  the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and give the pay ³¹  starting with the last hired until the first.’ 20:9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay. ³²  20:10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 20:11 When ³³  they received it, they began to complain ³⁴  against the landowner, 20:12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’

Matius 20:14

20:14 Take what is yours and go. I ³⁵  want to give to this last man ³⁶  the same as I gave to you.

Matius 21:41

21:41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”

Matius 22:17

22:17 Tell us then, what do you think? Is it right ³⁷  to pay taxes ³⁸  to Caesar ³⁹  or not?”

Matius 22:19

22:19 Show me the coin used for the tax.” So ⁴⁰  they brought him a denarius. ⁴¹ 

Matius 22:21

22:21 They replied, ⁴²  “Caesar’s.” He said to them, ⁴³  “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ⁴⁴ 

Matius 23:23

23:23 “Woe to you, experts in the law ⁴⁵  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth ⁴⁶  of mint, dill, and cumin, ⁴⁷  yet you neglect what is more important in the law – justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You ⁴⁸  should have done these things without neglecting the others.

Matius 26:15

26:15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?” ⁴⁹  So they set out thirty silver coins for him.

Matius 27:9-10

27:9 Then what was spoken by Jeremiah ⁵⁰  the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty silver coins, the price of the one whose price had been set by the people of Israel, ⁵¹  27:10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.” ⁵² 

[5:26]  ¹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[5:26]  ² tn Here the English word “penny” is used as opposed to the parallel in Luke 12:59 where “cent” appears since the Greek word there is different and refers to a different but similar coin.

[5:26]  sn The penny here was a quadrans, a Roman copper coin worth 1/64 of a denarius (L&N 6.78). The parallel passage in Luke 12:59 mentions the lepton, equal to one-half of a quadrans and thus the smallest coin available.

[5:33]  ³ tn Grk “the ancient ones.”

[5:33]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Lev 19:12.

[5:38]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20.

[9:9]  ⁶ 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.

[9:9]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Matthew (also named Levi [see Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[10:8]  ⁷ tc The majority of Byzantine minuscules, along with a few other witnesses (C³ K L Γ Θ 700* al), lack νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε (nekrou" ejgeirete, “raise the dead”), most likely because of oversight due to a string of similar endings (-ετε in the second person imperatives, occurring five times in v. 8). The longer version of this verse is found in several diverse and ancient witnesses such as א B C* (D) N 0281^vid Ë^1,13 33 565 al lat; P W Δ 348 have a word-order variation, but nevertheless include νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε. Although some Byzantine-text proponents charge the Alexandrian witnesses with theologically-motivated alterations toward heterodoxy, it is interesting to find a variant such as this in which the charge could be reversed (do the Byzantine scribes have something against the miracle of resurrection?). In reality, such charges of wholesale theologically-motivated changes toward heterodoxy are immediately suspect due to lack of evidence of intentional changes (here the change is evidently due to accidental omission).

[16:26]  ⁸ tn Grk “a man,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense here to refer to both men and women.

[17:24]  ⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[17:24]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map1 D2; Map2 C3; Map3 B2.

[17:24]  ¹¹ tn Grk “Collectors of the double drachma.” This is a case of metonymy, where the coin formerly used to pay the tax (the double drachma coin, or δίδραχμον [didracmon]) was put for the tax itself (cf. BDAG 241 s.v.). Even though this coin was no longer in circulation in NT times and other coins were used to pay the tax, the name for the coin was still used to refer to the tax itself.

[17:24]  sn The temple tax refers to the half-shekel tax paid annually by male Jews to support the temple (Exod 30:13-16).

[17:25]  ¹² tn Grk “spoke first to him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[17:25]  ¹³ sn The phrase their sons may mean “their citizens,” but the term “sons” has been retained here in order to preserve the implicit comparison between the Father and his Son, Jesus.

[17:26]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase their sons in the previous verse.

[17:27]  ¹⁵ sn The four drachma coin was a stater (στατήρ, stathr), a silver coin worth four drachmas. One drachma was equivalent to one denarius, the standard pay for a day’s labor (L&N 6.80).

[18:25]  ¹⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:25]  ¹⁷ 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.

[18:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “and his wife.”

[18:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “falling therefore the slave bowed down to the ground.” The redundancy of this expression signals the desperation of the slave in begging for mercy.

[18:26]  ²⁰ tc The majority of mss (א L W 058 0281 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy^p,h co) begin the slave’s plea with “Lord” (κύριε, kurie), though a few important witnesses lack this vocative (B D Θ 700 pc lat sy^s,c Or Chr). Understanding the parable to refer to the Lord, scribes would be naturally prone to add the vocative here, especially as the slave’s plea is a plea for mercy. Thus, the shorter reading is more likely to be authentic.

[18:28]  ²¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:28]  ²² tn Grk “one hundred denarii.” The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer; this would be about three month’s pay.

[18:28]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so.” A new sentence was started at this point in the translation in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[18:28]  ²⁴ tn Grk “and he grabbed him and started choking him.”

[18:28]  ²⁵ tn The word “me” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[18:29]  ²⁶ tn Grk “begged him, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[18:34]  ²⁷ tn Grk “handed him over to the torturers,” referring specifically to guards whose job was to torture prisoners who were being questioned. According to L&N 37.126, it is difficult to know for certain in this instance whether the term actually envisions torture as a part of the punishment or is simply a hyperbole. However, in light of the following verse and Jesus’ other warning statements in Matthew about “fiery hell,” “the outer darkness,” etc., it is best not to dismiss this as mere imagery.

[20:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “agreeing with the workers for a denarius a day.”

[20:2]  sn The standard wage was a denarius a day. The denarius was a silver coin worth about a day’s wage for a laborer in Palestine in the 1st century.

[20:8]  ²⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:8]  ³⁰ sn That is, six o’clock in the evening, the hour to pay day laborers. See Lev 19:13b.

[20:8]  ³¹ tc ‡ Most witnesses (including B D W Θ Ë^1,13 33^vid Ï latt sy) have αὐτοῖς (autois, “to them”) after ἀπόδος (apodos, “give the pay”), but this seems to be a motivated reading, clarifying the indirect object. The omission is supported by א C L Z 085 Or. Nevertheless, NA²⁷ includes the pronoun on the basis of the greater external attestation.

[20:9]  ³² tn Grk “each received a denarius.” See the note on the phrase “standard wage” in v. 2.

[20:11]  ³³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:11]  ³⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐγόγγυζον (egonguzon) has been translated ingressively.

[20:14]  ³⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[20:14]  ³⁶ tn Grk “this last one,” translated as “this last man” because field laborers in 1st century Palestine were men.

[22:17]  ³⁷ 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]  ³⁸ 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]  ³⁹ tn Or “to the emperor” (“Caesar” is a title for the Roman emperor).

[22:19]  ⁴⁰ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate their response to Jesus’ request for a coin.

[22:19]  ⁴¹ tn Here the specific name of the coin was retained in the translation, because not all coins in circulation in Palestine at the time carried the image of Caesar. In other places δηνάριον (dhnarion) has been translated simply as “silver coin” with an explanatory note.

[22:19]  sn A denarius was a silver coin worth approximately one day’s wage for a laborer. The fact that they had such a coin showed that they already operated in the economic world of Rome. The denarius would have had a picture of Tiberius Caesar stamped on it.

[22:21]  ⁴² tn Grk “they said to him.”

[22:21]  ⁴³ tn Grk “then he said to them.” τότε (tote) has not been translated to avoid redundancy.

[22:21]  ⁴⁴ sn Jesus’ answer to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s was a both/and, not the questioners’ either/or. So he slipped out of their trap.

[23:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[23:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “you tithe mint.”

[23:23]  ⁴⁷ sn Cumin (alternately spelled cummin) was an aromatic herb native to the Mediterranean region. Its seeds were used for seasoning.

[23:23]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[26:15]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “What will you give to me, and I will betray him to you?”

[27:9]  ⁵⁰ tc The problematic citing of Jeremiah for a text which appears to come from Zechariah has prompted certain scribes to alter it. Codex 22 has Ζαχαρίου (Zacariou, “Zechariah”) while Φ 33 omit the prophet’s name altogether. And codex 21 and the Latin ms l change the prophet’s name to “Isaiah,” in accordance with natural scribal proclivities to alter the text toward the most prominent OT prophet. But unquestionably the name Jeremiah is the wording of the original here, because it is supported by virtually all witnesses and because it is the harder reading. See D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” EBC 8:562-63, for a discussion of the textual and especially hermeneutical problem.

[27:9]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” an idiom referring to the people of Israel as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58).

[27:10]  ⁵² sn The source of this citation is debated (see the tc note on Jeremiah in v. 9 above for a related discussion). The quotation is most closely related to Zech 11:12-13, but the reference to Jeremiah in v. 9 as the source leads one to look there as well. There is no exact match for this text in Jeremiah, but there are some conceptual parallels: In Jer 18:2-6 the prophet visits a potter, and in Jer 32:6-15 he buys a field. D. A. Carson argues that Jer 19:1-13 is the source of the quotation augmented with various phrases drawn from Zech 11:12-13 (“Matthew,” EBC 8:563). W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison argue that the reference to Jeremiah is not meant to refer to one specific text from that prophet, but instead to signal that his writings as a whole are a source from which the quotation is drawn (Matthew [ICC], 3:568-69). Although the exact source of the citation is uncertain, it is reasonable to see texts from the books of Jeremiah and Zechariah both coming into play here.