1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, 1 fourteen generations.
13:33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with 14 three measures 15 of flour until all the dough had risen.” 16
13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field, that a person found and hid. Then because of joy he went and sold all that he had and bought that field.
21:12 Then 18 Jesus entered the temple area 19 and drove out all those who were selling and buying in the temple courts, 20 and turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves.
26:31 Then Jesus said to them, “This night you will all fall away because of me, for it is written:
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 27
1 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
2 tn Grk “And they”; “they” is probably an indefinite plural, referring to people in general rather than to the Syrians (cf. v. 25).
3 tn Grk “those who were moonstruck,” possibly meaning “lunatic” (so NAB), although now the term is generally regarded as referring to some sort of seizure disorder such as epilepsy (L&N 23.169; BDAG 919 s.v. σεληνιάζομαι).
4 tn The translation has adopted a different phrase order here than that in the Greek text. The Greek text reads, “People brought to him all who suffered with various illnesses and afflictions, those possessed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics.” Even though it is obvious that four separate groups of people are in view here, following the Greek word order could lead to the misconception that certain people were possessed by epileptics and paralytics. The word order adopted in the translation avoids this problem.
5 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
6 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.”
7 tn Grk “For truly (ἀμήν, amhn) I say to you.” Here γάρ (gar, “for”) has not been translated.
8 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis), which can mean either “town” or “city.” “Town” was chosen here to emphasize the extensive nature of the disciples’ ministry. The same word is translated earlier in the verse as “place.”
9 sn This verse has been noted for its conceptual similarity to teaching in John’s Gospel (10:15; 17:2). The authority of the Son and the Father are totally intertwined.
10 tn Or “wishes”; or “intends”; or “plans” (cf. BDAG 182 s.v. βούλομαι 2.b). Here it is the Son who has sovereignty.
11 sn This is rhetorical hyperbole, since technically a mustard plant is not a tree. This could refer to one of two types of mustard plant popular in Palestine and would be either ten or twenty-five ft (3 or 7.5 m) tall.
12 tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).
13 sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.
14 tn Grk “hid in.”
15 sn This measure was a saton, the Greek name for the Hebrew term “seah.” Three of these was a very large quantity of flour, since a saton is a little over 16 pounds (7 kg) of dry measure (or 13.13 liters). So this was over 47 lbs (21 kg) of flour total, enough to feed over a hundred people.
16 tn Grk “it was all leavened.”
sn The parable of the yeast and the dough teaches that the kingdom of God will start small but eventually grow to permeate everything. Jesus’ point was not to be deceived by its seemingly small start, the same point made in the parable of the mustard seed, which preceded this one.
17 tn Grk “about the eleventh hour.”
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
19 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn The merchants (those who were selling) would have been located in the Court of the Gentiles.
20 tn Grk “the temple.”
sn Matthew (here, 21:12-27), Mark (11:15-19) and Luke (19:45-46) record this incident of the temple cleansing at the end of Jesus’ ministry. John (2:13-16) records a cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. See the note on the word temple courts in John 2:14 for a discussion of the relationship of these accounts to one another.
21 sn Spelling of this name (Βαραχίου, Baraciou) varies among the English versions: “Barachiah” (RSV, NRSV); “Berechiah” (NASB); “Berachiah” (NIV).
22 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
23 tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
24 tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.
25 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
26 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.
27 sn A quotation from Zech 13:7.
28 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
29 sn The guards would have been the guards of the chief priests who had accompanied Judas to arrest Jesus.