Matius 4:20

4:20 They ¹  left their nets immediately and followed him. ² 

Matius 4:22

4:22 They ³  immediately left the boat and their father and followed him.

Matius 8:22

8:22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” ⁴ 

Markus 10:21

10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money ⁵  to the poor, and you will have treasure ⁶  in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Markus 10:28

10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, ⁷  we have left everything to follow you!” ⁸ 

Markus 10:52

10:52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.” Immediately he regained ⁹  his sight and followed him on the road.

Lukas 5:28

5:28 And he got up and followed him, leaving everything ¹⁰  behind. ¹¹ 

Yohanes 1:43

The Calling of More Disciples

1:43 On the next day Jesus ¹²  wanted to set out for Galilee. ¹³  He ¹⁴  found Philip and said ¹⁵  to him, “Follow me.”

[4:20]  ¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[4:20]  ² sn The expression followed him pictures discipleship, which means that to learn from Jesus is to follow him as the guiding priority of one’s life.

[4:22]  ³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[8:22]  ⁴ sn There are several options for the meaning of Jesus’ reply Leave the dead to bury their own dead: (1) Recent research suggests that burial customs in the vicinity of Jerusalem from about 20 b.c. to a.d. 70 involved a reinterment of the bones a year after the initial burial, once the flesh had rotted away. At that point the son would have placed his father’s bones in a special box known as an ossuary to be set into the wall of the tomb. Thus Jesus could well be rebuking the man for wanting to wait around for as much as a year before making a commitment to follow him. In 1st century Jewish culture, to have followed Jesus rather than burying one’s father would have seriously dishonored one’s father (cf. Tobit 4:3-4). (2) The remark is an idiom (possibly a proverbial saying) that means, “The matter in question is not the real issue,” in which case Jesus was making a wordplay on the wording of the man’s (literal) request (see L&N 33.137). (3) This remark could be a figurative reference to various kinds of people, meaning, “Let the spiritually dead bury the dead.” (4) It could also be literal and designed to shock the hearer by the surprise of the contrast. Whichever option is preferred, it is clear that the most important priority is to follow Jesus.

[10:21]  ⁵ 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.

[10:21]  ⁶ 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.

[10:28]  ⁷ sn Peter wants reassurance that the disciples’ response and sacrifice has been noticed.

[10:28]  ⁸ tn Grk “We have left everything and followed you.” Koine Greek often used paratactic structure when hypotactic was implied.

[10:52]  ⁹ tn Or “received” (see the note on the phrase “let me see again” in v. 51).

[5:28]  ¹⁰ sn On the phrase leaving everything see Luke 5:10-11; 14:33.

[5:28]  ¹¹ tn The participial phrase “leaving everything behind” occurs at the beginning of the sentence, but has been transposed to the end in the translation for logical reasons, since it serves to summarize Levi’s actions.

[1:43]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Jesus is best taken as the subject of εὑρίσκει (Jeuriskei), since Peter would scarcely have wanted to go to Galilee.

[1:43]  ¹³ sn No explanation is given for why Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee, but probably he wanted to go to the wedding at Cana (about a two day trip).

[1:43]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[1:43]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and Jesus said.”