Matthew 1:24-25

1:24 When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord ¹  told him. He took his wife, 1:25 but did not have marital relations ²  with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named ³  Jesus.

Matthew 11:9

11:9 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more ⁴  than a prophet.

Matthew 12:3

12:3 He ⁵  said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry –

Matthew 13:6

13:6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered.

Matthew 13:34

The Purpose of Parables

13:34 Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds; he did not speak to them without a parable.

Matthew 14:31

14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 19:7

19:7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” ⁶ 

Matthew 21:20

21:20 When the disciples saw it they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”

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¹ tn See the note on the word “Lord” in 1:20. Here the translation “the angel of the Lord” is used because the Greek article (ὁ, Jo) which precedes ἄγγελος (angelos) is taken as an anaphoric article (ExSyn 217-19) referring back to the angel mentioned in v. 20.

² tn Or “did not have sexual relations”; Grk “was not knowing her.” The verb “know” (in both Hebrew and Greek) is a frequent biblical euphemism for sexual relations. However, a translation like “did not have sexual relations with her” is too graphic in light of the popularity and wide use of Matthew’s infancy narrative. Thus the somewhat more subdued but still clear “did not have marital relations” was selected.

³ tn Grk “and he called his name Jesus.” The coordinate clause has been translated as a relative clause in English for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn John the Baptist is “more” because he introduces the one (Jesus) who brings the new era. The term is neuter, but may be understood as masculine in this context (BDAG 806 s.v. περισσότερος b).

⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁶ tc ‡ Although the majority of witnesses (B C W 078 087 ˹³ 33 Ï sy^p,h) have αὐτήν (authn, “her”) after the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”), a variant lacks the αὐτήν. This shorter reading may be due to assimilation to the Markan parallel, but since it is attested in early and diverse witnesses (א D L Z Θ Ë¹ 579 700 pc lat) and since the parallel verse (Mark 10:4) already departs at many points, the shorter reading seems more likely to be original. The pronoun has been included in the translation, however, for clarity. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations regarding its authenticity.

sn A quotation from Deut 24:1. The Pharisees were all in agreement that the OT permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce his wife (not vice-versa) and that remarriage was therefore sanctioned. But the two rabbinic schools of Shammai and Hillel differed on the grounds for divorce. Shammai was much stricter than Hillel and permitted divorce only in the case of sexual immorality. Hillel permitted divorce for almost any reason (cf. the Mishnah, m. Gittin 9.10).