Matius 13:5

13:5 Other ¹  seeds fell on rocky ground ²  where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep. ³ 

Matius 19:3

19:3 Then some Pharisees ⁴  came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful ⁵  to divorce a wife for any cause?” ⁶ 

Matius 25:36

25:36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

[13:5]  ¹ tn Here and in vv. 7 and 8 δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:5]  ² sn The rocky ground in Palestine would be a limestone base lying right under the soil.

[13:5]  ³ tn Grk “it did not have enough depth of earth.”

[19:3]  ⁴ tn Grk “And Pharisees.”

[19:3]  sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[19:3]  ⁵ tc ‡ Most mss have either ἀνθρώπῳ (anqrwpw, “for a man” [so א² C D W Θ 087 Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt]) or ἀνδρί (andri, “for a husband” [1424^c pc]) before the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”). The latter reading is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the former reading may have been motivated by the clarification needed (especially to give the following αὐτοῦ [autou, “his”] an antecedent). But a few significant mss (א* B L Γ 579 [700] 1424* pc) have neither noun. As the harder reading, it seems to best explain the rise of the others. NA²⁷, however, reads ἀνθρώπῳ here.

[19:3]  ⁶ sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1-12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.