Matius 9:5

9:5 Which is easier, ¹  to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

Matius 12:10

12:10 A ²  man was there who had a withered ³  hand. And they asked Jesus, ⁴  “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” ⁵  so that they could accuse him.

Matius 12:13

12:13 Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out and it was restored, ⁶  as healthy as the other.

[9:5]  ¹ 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.

[12:10]  ² tn Grk “And behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[12:10]  ³ sn Withered means the man’s hand was shrunken and paralyzed.

[12:10]  ⁴ tn Grk “and they asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated. The referent of the pronoun (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:10]  ⁵ sn The background for this is the view that only if life was endangered should one attempt to heal on the Sabbath (see the Mishnah, m. Shabbat 6.3; 12.1; 18.3; 19.2; m. Yoma 8.6).

[12:13]  ⁶ sn The passive was restored points to healing by God. Now the question became: Would God exercise his power through Jesus, if what Jesus was doing were wrong? Note also Jesus’ “labor.” He simply spoke and it was so.