9:14 When they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and experts in the law 11 arguing with them.
11:27 They came again to Jerusalem. 12 While Jesus 13 was walking in the temple courts, 14 the chief priests, the experts in the law, 15 and the elders came up to him
12:35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he said, “How is it that the experts in the law 16 say that the Christ 17 is David’s son? 18
12:38 In his teaching Jesus 19 also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law. 20 They like walking 21 around in long robes and elaborate greetings 22 in the marketplaces,
14:53 Then 23 they led Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests and elders and experts in the law 24 came together.
1 tn Grk “They.”
2 sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.
3 tn Or “the scribes.” 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.
4 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
5 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Or “The scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
7 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
8 tn Grk “He has Beelzebul.”
sn Beelzebul is another name for Satan. So some people recognized Jesus’ work as supernatural, but called it diabolical.
9 tn Or “prince.”
10 tn Grk “eat bread.”
11 tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
12 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
13 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
14 tn Grk “the temple.”
15 tn Or “the chief priests, the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
16 tn Or “that the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
17 tn Or “the Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 8:29.
18 sn It was a common belief in Judaism that Messiah would be David’s son in that he would come from the lineage of David. On this point the Pharisees agreed and were correct. But their understanding was nonetheless incomplete, for Messiah is also David’s Lord. With this statement Jesus was affirming that, as the Messiah, he is both God and man.
19 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Or “for the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
21 tn In Greek this is the only infinitive in vv. 38-39. It would be awkward in English to join an infinitive to the following noun clauses, so this has been translated as a gerund.
22 sn There is later Jewish material in the Talmud that spells out such greetings in detail. See H. Windisch, TDNT 1:498.
23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
24 tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
25 tn Or “with the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22. Only “chief priests” is in the nominative case; this sentence structure attempts to capture this emphasis.
26 tn Grk “Mocking him, the chief priests…said among themselves.”