Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ¹  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 10:28

10:28 Do ²  not be afraid of those who kill the body ³  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁴ 

Matius 16:18

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁵  will not overpower it.

Matius 26:40

26:40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He ⁶  said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour?

[9:5]  ¹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[10:28]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ³ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ⁴ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[16:18]  ⁵ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

[16:18]  sn In the OT, Hades was known as Sheol. It is the place where the unrighteous will reside (Matt 11:23; Luke 16:23; Rev 20:13-14). Some translations render this by its modern equivalent, “hell”; others see it as a reference to the power of death.

[26:40]  ⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.