Matius 3:6

3:6 and he was baptizing them ¹  in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ²  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 26:28

26:28 for this is my blood, the blood ³  of the covenant, ⁴  that is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Matius 1:21

1:21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him ⁵  Jesus, ⁶  because he will save his people from their sins.”

Matius 27:4

27:4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!”

Matius 12:31

12:31 For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, ⁷  but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Matius 26:45

26:45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Matius 9:2

9:2 Just then ⁸  some people ⁹  brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. ¹⁰  When Jesus saw their ¹¹  faith, he said to the paralytic, “Have courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” ¹² 

Matius 9:10-11

9:10 As ¹³  Jesus ¹⁴  was having a meal ¹⁵  in Matthew’s ¹⁶  house, many tax collectors ¹⁷  and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples. 9:11 When the Pharisees ¹⁸  saw this they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹⁹ 

Matius 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ²⁰  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matius 11:19

11:19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him, ²¹  a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors ²²  and sinners!’ ²³  But wisdom is vindicated ²⁴  by her deeds.” ²⁵ 

Matius 9:6

9:6 But so that you may know ²⁶  that the Son of Man ²⁷  has authority on earth to forgive sins” – then he said to the paralytic ²⁸  – “Stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” ²⁹ 

Matius 18:7

18:7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! It ³⁰  is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come.

Matius 5:30

5:30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell.

Matius 18:9

18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have ³¹  two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. ³² 

Matius 18:15

Restoring Christian Relationships

18:15 “If ³³  your brother ³⁴  sins, ³⁵  go and show him his fault ³⁶  when the two of you are alone. If he listens to you, you have regained your brother.

Matius 18:21

18:21 Then Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother ³⁷  who sins against me? As many as seven times?”

Matius 18:8

18:8 If ³⁸  your hand or your foot causes you to sin, ³⁹  cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have ⁴⁰  two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

Matius 5:29

5:29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away! It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. ⁴¹ 

Matius 18:6

18:6 “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, ⁴²  it would be better for him to have a huge millstone ⁴³  hung around his neck and to be drowned in the open sea. ⁴⁴ 

Matius 3:2

3:2 “Repent, ⁴⁵  for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matius 3:8

3:8 Therefore produce fruit ⁴⁶  that proves your ⁴⁷  repentance,

Matius 23:32

23:32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!

Matius 6:15

6:15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

Matius 24:12

24:12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold.

Matius 23:16

23:16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. ⁴⁸  But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’

Matius 23:18

23:18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. ⁴⁹  But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’

Matius 4:17

4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: ⁵⁰  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Matius 6:12

6:12 and forgive us our debts, as we ourselves ⁵¹  have forgiven our debtors.

Matius 13:41

13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everything that causes sin as well as all lawbreakers. ⁵² 

Matius 23:28

23:28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matius 12:45

12:45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so ⁵³  the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!”

Matius 24:10

24:10 Then many will be led into sin, ⁵⁴  and they will betray one another and hate one another.

Matius 3:11

3:11 “I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am – I am not worthy ⁵⁵  to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ⁵⁶ 

Matius 7:11

7:11 If you then, although you are evil, ⁵⁷  know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts ⁵⁸  to those who ask him!

Matius 11:20

Woes on Unrepentant Cities

11:20 Then Jesus began to criticize openly the cities ⁵⁹  in which he had done many of his miracles, because they did not repent.

Matius 12:39

12:39 But he answered them, ⁶⁰  “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Matius 16:4

16:4 A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then ⁶¹  he left them and went away.

Matius 18:3

18:3 and said, “I tell you the truth, ⁶²  unless you turn around and become like little children, ⁶³  you will never ⁶⁴  enter the kingdom of heaven!

Matius 11:21

11:21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! ⁶⁵  Woe to you, Bethsaida! If ⁶⁶  the miracles ⁶⁷  done in you had been done in Tyre ⁶⁸  and Sidon, ⁶⁹  they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.

Matius 12:41

12:41 The people ⁷⁰  of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them ⁷¹  – and now, ⁷²  something greater than Jonah is here!

[3:6]  ¹ tn Grk “they were being baptized by him.” The passive construction has been rendered as active in the translation for the sake of English style.

[9:5]  ² 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.

[26:28]  ³ tn Grk “for this is my blood of the covenant that is poured out for many.” In order to avoid confusion about which is poured out, the translation supplies “blood” twice so that the following phrase clearly modifies “blood,” not “covenant.”

[26:28]  ⁴ tc Although most witnesses read καινῆς (kainhs, “new”) here, this is evidently motivated by the parallel in Luke 22:20. Apart from the possibility of homoioteleuton, there is no good reason for the shorter reading to have arisen later on. But since it is found in such good and diverse witnesses (e.g., Ì^37,45vid א B L Z Θ 0298^vid 33 pc mae), the likelihood of homoioteleuton becomes rather remote.

[26:28]  sn Jesus’ death established the forgiveness promised in the new covenant of Jer 31:31. Jesus is reinterpreting the symbolism of the Passover meal, indicating the presence of a new era.

[1:21]  ⁵ tn Grk “you will call his name.”

[1:21]  ⁶ sn The Greek form of the name Ihsous, which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves” (Yahweh is typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). It was a fairly common name among Jews in 1st century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.

[12:31]  ⁷ tn Grk “every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men.”

[9:2]  ⁸ tn Grk “And behold, they were bringing.” Here καὶ ἰδού (kai idou) has been translated as “just then” to indicate the somewhat sudden appearance of the people carrying the paralytic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1), especially in conjunction with the suddenness of the stretcher bearers’ appearance.

[9:2]  ⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (some unnamed people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:2]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “on a bed,” but this could be confusing to the modern reader who might envision a large piece of furniture. In various contexts, κλίνη (klinh) may be translated “bed, couch, cot, stretcher, or bier” (in the case of a corpse). See L&N 6.106.

[9:2]  ¹¹ sn The plural pronoun their makes it clear that Jesus was responding to the faith of the entire group, not just the paralyzed man.

[9:2]  ¹² sn The passive voice here is a divine passive (ExSyn 437). It is clear that God does the forgiving.

[9:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:10]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “was reclining at table.”

[9:10]  sn As Jesus was having a meal. 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

[9:10]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “in the house.” The Greek article is used here in a context that implies possession, and the referent of the implied possessive pronoun (Matthew) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:10]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[9:11]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

[9:11]  ¹⁹ sn The issue here is inappropriate associations. Jews were very careful about personal associations and contact as a matter of ritual cleanliness. Their question borders on an accusation that Jesus is ritually unclean.

[9:13]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

[11:19]  ²¹ tn Grk “Behold a man.”

[11:19]  ²² sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.

[11:19]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Or “shown to be right.”

[11:19]  ²⁵ 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.

[9:6]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to your house.”

[18:7]  ³⁰ tn Grk “For it.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[18:9]  ³¹ tn Grk “than having.”

[18:9]  ³² tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

[18:9]  sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[18:15]  ³³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated. All the “if” clauses in this paragraph are third class conditions in Greek.

[18:15]  ³⁴ tn The Greek term “brother” can mean “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a) whether male or female. It can also refer to siblings, though here it is used in a broader sense to connote familial relationships within the family of God. Therefore, because of the familial connotations, “brother” has been retained in the translation here in preference to the more generic “fellow believer” (“fellow Christian” would be anachronistic in this context).

[18:15]  ³⁵ tc ‡ The earliest and best witnesses lack “against you” after “if your brother sins.” It is quite possible that the shorter reading in these witnesses (א B, as well as 0281 ˹ 579 pc sa) occurred when scribes either intentionally changed the text (to make it more universal in application) or unintentionally changed the text (owing to the similar sound of the end of the verb ἁμαρτήσῃ [Jamarthsh] and the prepositional phrase εἰς σέ [eis se]). However, if the mss were normally copied by sight rather than by sound, especially in the early centuries of Christianity, such an unintentional change is not as likely for these mss. And since scribes normally added material rather than deleted it for intentional changes, on balance, the shorter reading appears to be original. NA²⁷ includes the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[18:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “go reprove him.”

[18:21]  ³⁷ tn Here the term “brother” means “fellow believer” or “fellow Christian” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 2.a), whether male or female. Concerning the familial connotations, see also the note on the first occurrence of this term in v. 15.

[18:8]  ³⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[18:8]  ³⁹ sn In Greek there is a wordplay that is difficult to reproduce in English here. The verb translated “causes…to sin” (σκανδαλίζω, skandalizw) comes from the same root as the word translated “stumbling blocks” (σκάνδαλον, skandalon) in the previous verse.

[18:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “than having.”

[5:29]  ⁴¹ sn On this word here and in the following verse, see the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[18:6]  ⁴² tn The Greek term σκανδαλίζω (skandalizw), translated here “causes to sin” can also be translated “offends” or “causes to stumble.”

[18:6]  ⁴³ tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Mark 9:42.

[18:6]  sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.

[18:6]  ⁴⁴ tn The term translated “open” here (πελάγει, pelagei) refers to the open sea as opposed to a stretch of water near a coastline (BDAG 794 s.v. πέλαγος). A similar English expression would be “the high seas.”

[3:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and saying, ‘Repent.’” The participle λέγων (legwn) at the beginning of v. 2 is redundant in English and has not been translated.

[3:8]  ⁴⁶ sn Fruit worthy of repentance refers to the deeds that indicate a change of attitude (heart) on the part of John’s hearers.

[3:8]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “fruit worthy of.”

[23:16]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing.”

[23:18]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing.”

[4:17]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “and to say.”

[6:12]  ⁵¹ tn Or “as even we.” The phrase ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς (Jw" kai Jhmei") makes ἡμεῖς emphatic. The translation above adds an appropriate emphasis to the passage.

[13:41]  ⁵² tn Grk “the ones who practice lawlessness.”

[12:45]  ⁵³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the concluding point of the story.

[24:10]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “many will fall away.” This could also refer to apostasy.

[3:11]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “of whom I am not worthy.”

[3:11]  sn The humility of John is evident in the statement I am not worthy. This was considered one of the least worthy tasks of a slave, and John did not consider himself worthy to do even that for the one to come, despite the fact he himself was a prophet.

[3:11]  ⁵⁶ sn With the Holy Spirit and fire. There are differing interpretations for this phrase regarding the number of baptisms and their nature. (1) Some see one baptism here, and this can be divided further into two options. (a) The baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire could refer to the cleansing, purifying work of the Spirit in the individual believer through salvation and sanctification, or (b) it could refer to two different results of Christ’s ministry: Some accept Christ and are baptized with the Holy Spirit, but some reject him and receive judgment. (2) Other interpreters see two baptisms here: The baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the salvation Jesus brings at his first advent, in which believers receive the Holy Spirit, and the baptism of fire refers to the judgment Jesus will bring upon the world at his second coming. One must take into account both the image of fire and whether individual or corporate baptism is in view. A decision is not easy on either issue. The image of fire is used to refer to both eternal judgment (e.g., Matt 25:41) and the power of the Lord’s presence to purge and cleanse his people (e.g., Isa 4:4-5). The pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost, a fulfillment of this prophecy no matter which interpretation is taken, had both individual and corporate dimensions. It is possible that since Holy Spirit and fire are governed by a single preposition in Greek, the one-baptism view may be more likely, but this is not certain. Simply put, there is no consensus view in scholarship at this time on the best interpretation of this passage.

[7:11]  ⁵⁷ tn The participle ὄντες (ontes) has been translated concessively.

[7:11]  ⁵⁸ 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.

[11:20]  ⁵⁹ tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.” “Cities” was chosen here to emphasize the size of the places Jesus’ mentions in the following verses.

[12:39]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[16:4]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[18:3]  ⁶² tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:3]  ⁶³ sn The point of the comparison become like little children has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit, as well as willingness to be dependent and receive from others, than any inherent humility the child might possess.

[18:3]  ⁶⁴ tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.

[11:21]  ⁶⁵ sn Chorazin was a town of Galilee that was probably fairly small in contrast to Bethsaida and is otherwise unattested. Bethsaida was declared a polis by the tetrarch Herod Philip, sometime after a.d. 30.

[11:21]  ⁶⁶ tn This introduces a second class (contrary to fact) condition in the Greek text.

[11:21]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “powerful deeds.”

[11:21]  ⁶⁸ map For location see Map1 A2; Map2 G2; Map4 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[11:21]  ⁶⁹ sn Tyre and Sidon are two other notorious OT cities (Isa 23; Jer 25:22; 47:4). The remark is a severe rebuke, in effect: “Even the sinners of the old era would have responded to the proclamation of the kingdom, unlike you!”

[11:21]  map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[12:41]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anhr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).

[12:41]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “at the preaching of Jonah.”

[12:41]  ⁷² tn Grk “behold.”