Matthew 1:19

1:19 Because Joseph, her husband to be, ¹  was a righteous man, and because he did not want to disgrace her, he intended to divorce her ²  privately.

Matthew 2:18

2:18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,

weeping and loud wailing, ³ 

Rachel weeping for her children,

and she did not want to be comforted, because they were ⁴  gone.” ⁵ 

Matthew 9:13

9:13 Go and learn what this saying means: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ ⁶  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 12:38

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law ⁷  along with some Pharisees ⁸  answered him, ⁹  “Teacher, we want to see a sign ¹⁰  from you.”

Matthew 15:28

15:28 Then ¹¹  Jesus answered her, “Woman, ¹²  your faith is great! Let what you want be done for you.” And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Matthew 20:14-15

20:14 Take what is yours and go. I ¹³  want to give to this last man ¹⁴  the same as I gave to you. 20:15 Am I not ¹⁵  permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶ 

Matthew 27:17

27:17 So after they had assembled, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Jesus ¹⁷  Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Christ?” ¹⁸ 

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¹ tn Grk “husband.” See following note for discussion.

² tn Or “send her away.”

sn In the Jewish context, “full betrothal was so binding that its breaking required a certificate of divorce, and the death of one party made the other a widow or widower (m. Ketub. 1:2; m. Sota 1:5; m. Git. passim…)” (R. H. Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on his Literary and Theological Art, 21).

³ tc The LXX of Jer 38:15 (31:15 ET) has “lamentation, weeping, and loud wailing”; most later mss (C D L W 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï) have a quotation in Matthew which conforms to that of the LXX (θρῆνος καὶ κλαυθμός καὶ ὀδυρμός; qrhno" kai klauqmo" kai odurmo"). But such assimilations were routine among the scribes; as such, they typically should be discounted because they are both predictable and motivated. The shorter reading, without “lamentation and,” is thus to be preferred, especially since it cannot easily be accounted for unless it is the original wording here. Further, it is found in the better mss along with a good cross-section of other witnesses (א B Z 0250 ˹ pc lat co).

⁴ tn Grk “are”; the Greek text uses a present tense verb.

⁵ sn A quotation from Jer 31:15.

⁶ sn A quotation from Hos 6:6 (see also Matt 12:7).

⁷ tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

⁸ tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

⁹ tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

¹⁰ sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

¹¹ tn Grk “Then answering, Jesus said to her.” This expression has been simplified in the translation.

¹² sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.

¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “this last one,” translated as “this last man” because field laborers in 1st century Palestine were men.

¹⁵ tc ‡ Before οὐκ (ouk, “[am I] not”) a number of significant witnesses read ἤ (h, “or”; e.g., א C W 085 Ë^1,13 33 and most others). Although in later Greek the οι in σοι (oi in soi) – the last word of v. 14 – would have been pronounced like ἤ, since ἤ is lacking in early mss (B D; among later witnesses, note L Z Θ 700) and since mss were probably copied predominantly by sight rather than by sound, even into the later centuries, the omission of ἤ cannot be accounted for as easily. Thus the shorter reading is most likely original. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹⁶ tn Grk “Is your eye evil because I am good?”

¹⁷ tc Again, as in v. 16, the name “Jesus” is supplied before “Barabbas” in Θ Ë¹ 700* pc sy^s Or^mss (Θ 700* lack the article τόν [ton] before Βαραββᾶν [Barabban]). The same argument for accepting the inclusion of “Jesus” as original in the previous verse applies here as well.

¹⁸ 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.