Matius 5:3

5:3 “Blessed ¹  are the poor in spirit, ²  for the kingdom of heaven belongs ³  to them.

Matius 5:10

5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Matius 5:19-20

5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others ⁴  to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law ⁵  and the Pharisees, ⁶  you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matius 6:10

6:10 may your kingdom come, ⁷ 

may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Matius 6:33

6:33 But above all pursue his kingdom ⁸  and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matius 10:7

10:7 As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’

Matius 11:11-12

11:11 “I tell you the truth, ⁹  among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least ¹⁰  in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. 11:12 From ¹¹  the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it. ¹² 

Matius 13:11

13:11 He replied, ¹³  “You have been given ¹⁴  the opportunity to know ¹⁵  the secrets ¹⁶  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not.

Matius 13:24

The Parable of the Weeds

13:24 He presented them with another parable: ¹⁷  “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field.

Matius 13:31

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

13:31 He gave ¹⁸  them another parable: ¹⁹  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ²⁰  that a man took and sowed in his field.

Matius 13:33

The Parable of the Yeast

13:33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with ²¹  three measures ²²  of flour until all the dough had risen.” ²³ 

Matius 13:44-45

Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven

13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.

13:45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls.

Matius 13:47

13:47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was cast into the sea that caught all kinds of fish.

[5:3]  ¹ sn The term Blessed introduces the first of several beatitudes promising blessing to those whom God cares for. They serve as an invitation to come into the grace God offers.

[5:3]  ² sn The poor in spirit is a reference to the “pious poor” for whom God especially cares. See Ps 14:6; 22:24; 25:16; 34:6; 40:17; 69:29.

[5:3]  ³ sn The present tense (belongs) here is significant. Jesus makes the kingdom and its blessings currently available. This phrase is unlike the others in the list with the possessive pronoun being emphasized.

[5:19]  ⁴ tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).

[5:20]  ⁵ tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

[5:20]  ⁶ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[6:10]  ⁷ sn Your kingdom come represents the hope for the full manifestation of God’s promised rule.

[6:33]  ⁸ tc ‡ Most mss (L W Θ 0233 Ë^1,13 33 Ï lat sy mae) read τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ (thn basileian tou qeou kai thn dikaiosunhn aujtou, “the kingdom of God and his righteousness”) here, but the words “of God” are lacking in א B pc sa bo Eus. On the one hand, there is the possibility of accidental omission on the part of these Alexandrian witnesses, but it seems unlikely that the scribe’s eye would skip over both words (especially since τοῦ θεοῦ is bracketed by first declension nouns). Intrinsically, the author generally has a genitive modifier with βασιλεία – especially θεοῦ or οὐρανῶν (ouranwn) – but this argument cuts both ways: Although he might be expected to use such an adjunct here, scribes might also be familiar with his practice and would thus naturally insert it if it were missing in their copy of Matthew. Although a decision is difficult, the omission of τοῦ θεοῦ is considered most likely to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubt as to their authenticity.

[6:33]  sn God’s kingdom is a major theme of Jesus. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong.

[11:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[11:11]  ¹⁰ sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

[11:12]  ¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:12]  ¹² tn Or “the kingdom of heaven is forcibly entered and violent people take hold of it.” For a somewhat different interpretation of this passage, see the note on the phrase “urged to enter in” in Luke 16:16.

[13:11]  ¹³ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ¹⁴ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[13:11]  sn The key term secrets (μυστήριον, musthrion) can mean either (1) a new revelation or (2) a revealing interpretation of existing revelation as in Dan 2:17-23, 27-30. Jesus seems to be explaining how current events develop old promises, since the NT consistently links the events of Jesus’ ministry and message with old promises (Rom 1:1-4; Heb 1:1-2). The traditional translation of this word, “mystery,” is misleading to the modern English reader because it suggests a secret which people have tried to uncover but which they have failed to understand (L&N 28.77).

[13:24]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “put before.”

[13:31]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ²⁰ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[13:33]  ²¹ tn Grk “hid in.”

[13:33]  ²² sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” Three of these was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 pounds (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 lbs (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.

[13:33]  ²³ tn Grk “it was all leavened.”

[13:33]  sn The parable of the yeast and the dough teaches that the kingdom of God will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything. Jesus’ point was not to be deceived by its seemingly small start, the same point made in the parable of the mustard seed, which preceded this one.