Matius 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ¹  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ²  to those who ask him!

Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ³  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 10:28

10:28 Do ⁴  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁵  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁶ 

Matius 12:34

12:34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.

Matius 12:43

The Return of the Unclean Spirit

12:43 “When ⁷  an unclean spirit ⁸  goes out of a person, ⁹  it passes through waterless places ¹⁰  looking for rest but ¹¹  does not find it.

Matius 15:5

15:5 But you say, ‘If someone tells his father or mother, “Whatever help you would have received from me is given to God,” ¹² 

Matius 20:19

20:19 and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged severely ¹³  and crucified. ¹⁴  Yet ¹⁵  on the third day, he will be raised.”

Matius 25:14

The Parable of the Talents

25:14 “For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves ¹⁶  and entrusted his property to them.

[7:11]  ¹ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  ² sn The provision of the good gifts is probably a reference to the wisdom and guidance supplied in response to repeated requests. The teaching as a whole stresses not that we get everything we want, but that God gives the good that we need.

[9:5]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ⁵ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ⁶ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[12:43]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:43]  ⁸ sn Unclean spirit refers to an evil spirit.

[12:43]  ⁹ tn Grk “man.” This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), referring to both males and females. This same use occurs in v. 45.

[12:43]  ¹⁰ sn The background for the reference to waterless places is not entirely clear, though some Jewish texts suggest spirits must have a place to dwell, but not with water (Luke 8:29-31; Tob 8:3). Some suggest that the image of the desert or deserted cities as the places demons dwell is where this idea started (Isa 13:21; 34:14).

[12:43]  ¹¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:5]  ¹² tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.

[20:19]  ¹³ tn Traditionally, “scourged” (the term means to beat severely with a whip, L&N 19.9). BDAG 620 s.v. μαστιγόω 1.a states, “The ‘verberatio’ is denoted in the passion predictions and explicitly as action by non-Israelites Mt 20:19; Mk 10:34; Lk 18:33”; the verberatio was the beating given to those condemned to death in the Roman judicial system. Here the term μαστιγόω (mastigow) has been translated “flog…severely” to distinguish it from the term φραγελλόω (fragellow) used in Matt 27:26; Mark 15:15.

[20:19]  ¹⁴ sn Crucifixion was the cruelest form of punishment practiced by the Romans. Roman citizens could not normally undergo it. It was reserved for the worst crimes, like treason and evasion of due process in a capital case. The Roman historian Cicero called it “a cruel and disgusting penalty” (Against Verres 2.5.63-66 §§163-70); Josephus (J. W. 7.6.4 [7.203]) called it the worst of deaths.

[20:19]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[25:14]  ¹⁶ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 8:9.