Matius 10:27-33

10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what is whispered in your ear, ¹  proclaim from the housetops. ²  10:28 Do ³  not be afraid of those who kill the body ⁴  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ⁵  10:29 Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? ⁶  Yet not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ⁷  10:30 Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. 10:31 So do not be afraid; ⁸  you are more valuable than many sparrows.

10:32 “Whoever, then, acknowledges ⁹  me before people, I will acknowledge ¹⁰  before my Father in heaven. 10:33 But whoever denies me before people, I will deny him also before my Father in heaven.

[10:27]  ¹ tn Grk “what you hear in the ear,” an idiom.

[10:27]  ² tn The expression “proclaim from the housetops” is an idiom for proclaiming something publicly (L&N 7.51). Roofs of many first century Jewish houses in Judea and Galilee were flat and had access either from outside or from within the house. Something shouted from atop a house would be heard by everyone in the street below.

[10:28]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

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

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

[10:29]  ⁶ sn The penny refers to an assarion, a small Roman copper coin. One of them was worth one-sixteenth of a denarius or less than a half hour’s average wage. Sparrows were the cheapest items sold in the market. God knows about even the most financially insignificant things; see Isa 49:15.

[10:29]  ⁷ tn Or “to the ground without the knowledge and consent of your Father.”

[10:31]  ⁸ sn Do not be afraid. One should respect and show reverence to God, but need not fear his tender care.

[10:32]  ⁹ tn Or “confesses.”

[10:32]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “I will acknowledge him also.”

[10:32]  sn This acknowledgment will take place at the judgment. On Jesus and judgment, see Luke 22:69; Acts 10:42-43; 17:31.