Matius 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ¹  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matius 12:7

12:7 If ²  you had known what this means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice,’ ³  you would not have condemned the innocent.

Matius 22:37-40

22:37 Jesus ⁴  said to him, “‘Love ⁵  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ⁶  22:38 This is the first and greatest ⁷  commandment. 22:39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁸  22:40 All the law and the prophets depend ⁹  on these two commandments.”

Matius 22:1

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

22:1 Jesus spoke ¹⁰  to them again in parables, saying:

1 Samuel 15:22

15:22 Then Samuel said,

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as he does in obedience? ¹¹ 

Certainly, ¹²  obedience ¹³  is better than sacrifice;

paying attention is better than ¹⁴  the fat of rams.

Amsal 21:3

21:3 To do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable ¹⁵  to the Lord than sacrifice. ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 22:15-16

22:15 Does it make you any more of a king

that you outstrip everyone else in ¹⁷  building with cedar?

Just think about your father.

He was content that he had food and drink. ¹⁸ 

He did what was just and right. ¹⁹ 

So things went well with him.

22:16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.

So things went well for Judah.’ ²⁰ 

The Lord says,

‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.’ ²¹ 

Hosea 6:6

6:6 For I delight in faithfulness, not simply in sacrifice;

I delight ²²  in acknowledging God, not simply in whole burnt offerings. ²³ 

Mikha 6:8

6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good,

and what the Lord really wants from you: ²⁴ 

He wants you to ²⁵  promote ²⁶  justice, to be faithful, ²⁷ 

and to live obediently before ²⁸  your God.

Galatia 5:22-23

5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit ²⁹  is love, ³⁰  joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ³¹  5:23 gentleness, and ³²  self-control. Against such things there is no law.

[9:13]  ¹ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

[12:7]  ² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:7]  ³ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 9:13).

[22:37]  ⁴ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[22:37]  ⁵ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

[22:37]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

[22:38]  ⁷ tn Grk “the great and first.”

[22:39]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Lev 19:18.

[22:40]  ⁹ tn Grk “hang.” The verb κρεμάννυμι (kremannumi) is used here with a figurative meaning (cf. BDAG 566 s.v. 2.b).

[22:1]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “And answering again, Jesus spoke.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[15:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “as [in] listening to the voice of the Lord.”

[15:22]  ¹² tn Heb “look.”

[15:22]  ¹³ tn Heb “listening.”

[15:22]  ¹⁴ tn The expression “is better” is understood here by ellipsis (see the immediately preceding statement).

[21:3]  ¹⁵ tn The Niphal participle בָּחַר (bakhar, “to choose”) means “choice to the Lord” or “chosen of the Lord,” meaning “acceptable to the Lord”; cf. TEV “pleases the Lord more.”

[21:3]  ¹⁶ sn The Lord prefers righteousness above religious service (e.g., Prov 15:8; 21:29; 1 Sam 15:22; Ps 40:6-8; Isa 1:11-17). This is not a rejection of ritual worship; rather, religious acts are without value apart from righteous living.

[22:15]  ¹⁷ tn For the use of this verb see Jer 12:5 where it is used of Jeremiah “competing” with horses. The form is a rare Tiphel (see GKC 153 §55.h).

[22:15]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Your father, did he not eat and drink and do justice and right.” The copulative vav in front of the verbs here (all Hebrew perfects) shows that these actions are all coordinate not sequential. The contrast drawn here between the actions of Jehoiakim and Josiah show that the phrase eating and drinking should be read in the light of the same contrasts in Eccl 2 which ends with the note of contentment in Eccl 2:24 (see also Eccl 3:13; 5:18 [5:17 HT]; 8:15). The question is, of course, rhetorical setting forth the positive role model against which Jehoiakim’s actions are to be condemned. The key terms here are “then things went well with him” which is repeated in the next verse after the reiteration of Josiah’s practice of justice.

[22:15]  ¹⁹ sn The father referred to here is the godly king Josiah. He followed the requirements for kings set forth in 22:3 in contrast to his son who did not (22:13).

[22:16]  ²⁰ tn The words “for Judah” are not in the text, but the absence of the preposition plus object as in the preceding verse suggests that this is a more general statement, i.e., “things went well for everyone.”

[22:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “Is that not what it means to know me.” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer. It is translated in the light of the context.

[22:16]  sn Comparison of the usage of the words “know me” in their context in Jer 2:8; 9:3, 6, 24 and here will show that more than mere intellectual knowledge is involved. It involves also personal commitment to God and obedience to the demands of the agreements with him. The word “know” is used in ancient Near Eastern treaty contexts of submission to the will of the overlord. See further the notes on 9:3.

[6:6]  ²² tn The phrase “I delight” does not appear in the Hebrew text a second time in this verse, but is implied from the parallelism in the preceding line.

[6:6]  ²³ sn Contrary to popular misunderstanding, Hosea does not reject animal sacrifice nor cultic ritual, and advocate instead obedience only. Rather, God does not delight in ritual sacrifice without the accompanying prerequisite moral obedience (1 Sam 15:22; Pss 40:6-8; 51:16-17; Prov 21:3; Isa 1:11-17; Jer 7:21-23; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8). However, if prerequisite moral obedience is present, he delights in sacrificial worship as an outward expression (Ps 51:19). Presented by a repentant obedient worshiper, whole burnt offerings were “an aroma pleasing” to the Lord (Lev 1:9, 13).

[6:8]  ²⁴ sn What the Lord really wants from you. Now the prophet switches roles and answers the hypothetical worshiper’s question. He makes it clear that the Lord desires proper attitudes more than ritual and sacrifice.

[6:8]  ²⁵ tn Heb “except.” This statement is actually linked with what precedes, “What does he want from you except….”

[6:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “to do,” in the sense of “promote.”

[6:8]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to love faithfulness.”

[6:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “to walk humbly [or perhaps, “carefully”] with.”

[5:22]  ²⁹ tn That is, the fruit the Spirit produces.

[5:22]  ³⁰ sn Another way to punctuate this is “love” followed by a colon (love: joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). It is thus possible to read the eight characteristics following “love” as defining love.

[5:22]  ³¹ tn Or “reliability”; see BDAG 818 s.v. πίστις 1.a.

[5:23]  ³² tn “And” is supplied here as a matter of English style, which normally inserts “and” between the last two elements of a list or series.