Matthew 1:23

1:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him ¹  Emmanuel,” ²  which means ³  “God with us.” ⁴ 

Matthew 4:4

4:4 But he answered, ⁵  “It is written, ‘Man ⁶  does not live ⁷  by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ⁸ 

Matthew 4:10

4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, ⁹  Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” ¹⁰ 

Matthew 9:8

9:8 When ¹¹  the crowd saw this, they were afraid ¹²  and honored God who had given such authority to men. ¹³ 

Matthew 15:3-4

15:3 He answered them, ¹⁴  “And why do you disobey the commandment of God because of your tradition? 15:4 For God said, ¹⁵  ‘Honor your father and mother’ ¹⁶  and ‘Whoever insults his father or mother must be put to death.’ ¹⁷ 

Matthew 15:6

15:6 he does not need to honor his father.’ ¹⁸  You have nullified the word of God on account of your tradition.

Matthew 19:6

19:6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Matthew 19:26

19:26 Jesus ¹⁹  looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, ²⁰  but for God all things are possible.”

Matthew 22:29

22:29 Jesus ²¹  answered them, “You are deceived, ²²  because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God.

Matthew 22:37

22:37 Jesus ²³  said to him, “‘Love ²⁴  the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ²⁵ 

Matthew 26:61

26:61 and declared, “This man ²⁶  said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

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¹ tn Grk “they will call his name.”

² sn A quotation from Isa 7:14.

³ tn Grk “is translated.”

⁴ sn An allusion to Isa 8:8, 10 (LXX).

⁵ tn Grk “answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokriqeis) is redundant, but the syntax of the phrase has been changed for clarity.

⁶ tn Or “a person.” Greek ὁ ἄνθρωπος (Jo anqrwpo") is used generically for humanity. The translation “man” is used because the emphasis in Jesus’ response seems to be on his dependence on God as a man.

⁷ tn Grk “will not live.” The verb in Greek is a future tense, but it is unclear whether it is meant to be taken as a command (also known as an imperatival future) or as a statement of reality (predictive future).

⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 8:3.

⁹ tc The majority of later witnesses (C² D L Z 33 Ï) have “behind me” (ὀπίσω μου; opisw mou) after “Go away.” But since this is the wording in Matt 16:23, where the text is certain, scribes most likely added the words here to conform to the later passage. Further, the shorter reading has superior support (א B C*^vid K P W Δ 0233 Ë^1,13 565 579* 700 al). Thus, both externally and internally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.

¹⁰ sn A quotation from Deut 6:13. The word “only” is an interpretive expansion not found in either the Hebrew or Greek (LXX) text of the OT.

¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹² tc Most witnesses (C L Θ 0233 ˹³ Ï) have ἐθαύμασαν (eqaumasan; “marveled, were amazed”) instead of ἐφοβήθησαν (efobhqhsan) here, effectively turning the fearful reaction into one of veneration. But the harder reading is well supported by א B D W 0281 ˹ 33 892 1424 al lat co and thus is surely authentic.

¹³ tn Grk “people.” The plural of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") usually indicates people in general, but the singular is used in the expression “Son of Man.” There is thus an ironic allusion to Jesus’ statement in v. 6: His self-designation as “Son of Man” is meant to be unique, but the crowd regards it simply as meaning “human, person.” To maintain this connection for the English reader the plural ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated here as “men” rather than as the more generic “people.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”

¹⁵ tc Most mss (א*^,2 C L W 0106 33 Ï) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, Jo gar qeo" eneteilato legwn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א¹ B D Θ 073 Ë^1,13 579 700 892 pc lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).

¹⁶ sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.

¹⁷ sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.

¹⁸ tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L W Θ 0106 ˹ Ï) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, h thn mhtera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai thn mhtera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 pc and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ˹³ 33 579 700 892 pc), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and important witnesses (א B D sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of –ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.

tn Grk “he will never honor his father.” Here Jesus is quoting the Pharisees, whose intent is to release the person who is giving his possessions to God from the family obligation of caring for his parents. The verb in this phrase is future tense, and it is negated with οὐ μή (ou mh), the strongest negation possible in Greek. A literal translation of the phrase does not capture the intended sense of the statement; it would actually make the Pharisees sound as if they agreed with Jesus. Instead, a more interpretive translation has been used to focus upon the release from family obligations that the Pharisees allowed in these circumstances.

sn Here Jesus refers to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner. According to contemporary Jewish tradition, the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 4).

¹⁹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²⁰ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποις (anqrwpois) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women (cf. NASB 1995 update, “people”). Because of the contrast here between mere mortals and God (“impossible for men, but for God all things are possible”) the phrase “mere humans” has been used in the translation. There may also be a slight wordplay with “the Son of Man” in v. 28.

²¹ tn Grk “And answering, Jesus said to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

²² tn Or “mistaken” (cf. BDAG 822 s.v. πλανάω 2.c.γ).

²³ tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

²⁴ tn Grk “You will love.” The future indicative is used here with imperatival force (see ExSyn 452 and 569).

²⁵ sn A quotation from Deut 6:5. The threefold reference to different parts of the person says, in effect, that one should love God with all one’s being.

²⁶ tn Grk “This one.”