Matius 8:20

8:20 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have dens, and the birds in the sky ¹  have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ² 

Matius 9:6

9:6 But so that you may know ³  that the Son of Man ⁴  has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic ⁵  – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ⁶ 

Matius 11:19

11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, ⁷  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors ⁸  and sinners!’ ⁹  But wisdom is vindicated ¹⁰  by her deeds.” ¹¹ 

[8:20]  ¹ 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).

[8:20]  ² sn Jesus’ reply is simply this: Does the man understand the rejection he will be facing? Jesus has no home in the world (the Son of Man has no place to lay his head).

[9:6]  ³ sn Now Jesus put the two actions together. The walking of the man would be proof (so that you may know) that his sins were forgiven and that God had worked through Jesus (i.e., the Son of Man).

[9:6]  ⁴ sn The term Son of Man, which is a title in Greek, comes from a pictorial description in Dan 7:13 of one “like a son of man” (i.e., a human being). It is Jesus’ favorite way to refer to himself. Jesus did not reveal the background of the term here, which mixes human and divine imagery as the man in Daniel rides a cloud, something only God does. He just used it. It also could be an idiom in Aramaic meaning either “some person” or “me.” So there is a little ambiguity in its use here, since its origin is not clear at this point. However, the action makes it clear that Jesus used it to refer to himself here.

[9:6]  ⁵ sn Jesus did not finish his sentence with words but with action, that is, healing the paralytic with an accompanying pronouncement to him directly.

[9:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “to your house.”

[11:19]  ⁷ tn Grk “Behold a man.”

[11:19]  ⁸ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[11:19]  ⁹ sn Neither were they happy with Jesus (the Son of Man), even though he was the opposite of John and associated freely with people like tax collectors and sinners. Either way, God’s messengers were subject to complaint.

[11:19]  ¹⁰ tn Or “shown to be right.”

[11:19]  ¹¹ tc Most witnesses (B² C D L Θ Ë¹ 33 Ï lat) have “children” (τέκνων, teknwn) here instead of “deeds” (ἔργων, ergwn), but since “children” is the reading of the parallel in Luke 7:35, scribes would be motivated to convert the less colorful “deeds” into more animate offspring of wisdom. Further, ἔργων enjoys support from א B* W (˹³) as well as early versional and patristic support.