Matthew 12:29

12:29 How ¹  else can someone enter a strong man’s ²  house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house. ³ 

Matthew 18:12

18:12 What do you think? If someone ⁴  owns a hundred ⁵  sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? ⁶ 

Matthew 24:26

24:26 So then, if someone ⁷  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ⁸  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him.

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¹ tn Grk “Or how can.”

² sn The strong man here pictures Satan.

³ sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

⁴ tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

⁵ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

⁶ sn Look for the one that went astray. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

⁷ tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

⁸ tn Or “in the desert.”