Matius 2:4

2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, ¹  he asked them where the Christ ²  was to be born.

Matius 2:15

2:15 He stayed there until Herod ³  died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt.” ⁴ 

Matius 3:3

3:3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: ⁵ 

“The voice ⁶  of one shouting in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make ⁷  his paths straight.’” ⁸ 

Matius 6:28

6:28 Why do you worry about clothing? Think about how the flowers ⁹  of the field grow; they do not work ¹⁰  or spin.

Matius 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ¹¹  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ¹²  to those who ask him!

Matius 7:21

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ¹³  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

Matius 9:9

The Call of Matthew; Eating with Sinners

9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. ¹⁴  “Follow me,” he said to him. And he got up and followed him.

Matius 11:16

11:16 “To ¹⁵  what should I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, ¹⁶ 

Matius 13:8

13:8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.

Matius 13:31

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

13:31 He gave ¹⁷  them another parable: ¹⁸  “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed ¹⁹  that a man took and sowed in his field.

Matius 14:23

14:23 And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.

Matius 16:17

16:17 And Jesus answered him, ²⁰  “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood ²¹  did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven!

Matius 17:2

17:2 And he was transfigured before them. ²²  His ²³  face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

Matius 19:21

19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money ²⁴  to the poor, and you will have treasure ²⁵  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Matius 20:6

20:6 And about five o’clock that afternoon ²⁶  he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’

Matius 24:2

24:2 And he said to them, ²⁷  “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, ²⁸  not one stone will be left on another. ²⁹  All will be torn down!” ³⁰ 

Matius 26:38

26:38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.”

Matius 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house ³¹  the experts in the law ³²  and the elders had gathered.

[2:4]  ¹ tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

[2:4]  ² tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:4]  sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

[2:15]  ³ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

[2:15]  ⁴ sn A quotation from Hos 11:1.

[3:3]  ⁵ tn Grk “was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying.” The participle λέγοντος (legonto") is redundant and has not been translated. The passive construction has also been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[3:3]  ⁶ tn Or “A voice.”

[3:3]  ⁷ sn This call to “make paths straight” in this context is probably an allusion to preparation through repentance.

[3:3]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 40:3.

[6:28]  ⁹ tn Traditionally, “lilies.” According to L&N 3.32, “Though traditionally κρίνον has been regarded as a type of lily, scholars have suggested several other possible types of flowers, including an anemone, a poppy, a gladiolus, and a rather inconspicuous type of daisy.” In view of the uncertainty, the more generic “flowers” has been used in the translation.

[6:28]  ¹⁰ tn Or, traditionally, “toil.” Although it might be argued that “work hard” would be a more precise translation of κοπιάω (kopiaw) here, the line in English reads better in terms of cadence with a single syllable.

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

[7:11]  ¹² 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.

[7:21]  ¹³ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[9:9]  ¹⁴ tn While “tax office” is sometimes given as a translation for τελώνιον (telwnion, so L&N 57.183), this could give the modern reader a false impression of an indoor office with all its associated furnishings.

[9:9]  sn The tax booth was a booth located on the edge of a city or town to collect taxes for trade. There was a tax booth in Capernaum, which was on the trade route from Damascus to Galilee and the Mediterranean. The “taxes” were collected on produce and goods brought into the area for sale, and were a sort of “sales tax” paid by the seller but obviously passed on to the purchaser in the form of increased prices (L&N 57.183). It was here that Jesus met Matthew (also named Levi [see Mark 2:14, Luke 5:27]) who was ultimately employed by the Romans, though perhaps more directly responsible to Herod Antipas. It was his job to collect taxes for Rome and he was thus despised by Jews who undoubtedly regarded him as a traitor.

[11:16]  ¹⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[11:16]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “who call out to one another, saying.” The participle λέγουσιν (legousin) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “put before.”

[13:31]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “He set before them another parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

[13:31]  ¹⁹ sn The mustard seed was noted for its tiny size.

[16:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “answering, Jesus said to him.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of this phrase has been modified for clarity.

[16:17]  ²¹ tn The expression “flesh and blood” could refer to “any human being” (so TEV, NLT; cf. NIV “man”), but it could also refer to Peter himself (i.e., his own intuition; cf. CEV “You didn’t discover this on your own”). Because of the ambiguity of the referent, the phrase “flesh and blood” has been retained in the translation.

[17:2]  ²² sn In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor 5:1-10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw Jesus transfigured, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).

[17:2]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[19:21]  ²⁴ tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[19:21]  ²⁵ sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.

[20:6]  ²⁶ tn Grk “about the eleventh hour.”

[24:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “answering, he said to them.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (ajpokriqei") is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[24:2]  ²⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[24:2]  ²⁹ sn With the statement not one stone will be left on another Jesus predicted the total destruction of the temple, something that did occur in a.d. 70.

[24:2]  ³⁰ tn Grk “not one stone will be left here on another which will not be thrown down.”

[26:57]  ³¹ tn Grk “where.”

[26:57]  ³² tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.