Matius 4:16

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ¹ 

Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ²  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 12:40

12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ³  for three days and three nights, ⁴  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Matius 12:44

12:44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ ⁵  When it returns, ⁶  it finds the house ⁷  empty, swept clean, and put in order. ⁸ 

Matius 13:13

13:13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand.

Matius 13:32

13:32 It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest garden plant and becomes a tree, ⁹  so that the wild birds ¹⁰  come and nest in its branches.” ¹¹ 

Matius 13:48

13:48 When it was full, they pulled it ashore, sat down, and put the good fish into containers and threw the bad away.

Matius 16:3

16:3 and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, because the sky is red and darkening.’ ¹²  You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, ¹³  but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times.

Matius 20:12

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 24:38

24:38 For in those days before the flood, people ¹⁴  were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.

Matius 27:42

27:42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself! He is the king of Israel! If he comes down ¹⁵  now from the cross, we will believe in him!

[4:16]  ¹ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[9:5]  ² 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.

[12:40]  ³ tn Grk “large sea creature.”

[12:40]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.

[12:44]  ⁵ tn Grk “I will return to my house from which I came.”

[12:44]  ⁶ tn Grk “comes.”

[12:44]  ⁷ tn The words “the house” are not in Greek but are implied.

[12:44]  ⁸ sn The image of the house empty, swept clean, and put in order refers to the life of the person from whom the demon departed. The key to the example appears to be that no one else has been invited in to dwell. If an exorcism occurs and there is no response to God, then the way is free for the demon to return. Some see the reference to exorcism as more symbolic; thus the story’s only point is about responding to Jesus. This is possible and certainly is an application of the passage.

[13:32]  ⁹ sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.

[13:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[13:32]  ¹¹ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.

[16:3]  ¹² tn Or “red and gloomy” (L&N 14.56).

[16:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “The face of the sky you know how to discern.”

[24:38]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “they,” but in an indefinite sense, “people.”

[27:42]  ¹⁵ tn Here the aorist imperative καταβάτω (katabatw) has been translated as a conditional imperative. This fits the pattern of other conditional imperatives (imperative + καί + future indicative) outlined by ExSyn 489.