Matthew 12:5

12:5 Or have you not read in the law that the priests in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are not guilty?

Matthew 17:24

The Temple Tax

17:24 After 1  they arrived in Capernaum, 2  the collectors of the temple tax 3  came to Peter and said, “Your teacher pays the double drachma tax, doesn’t he?”

Matthew 27:6

27:6 The 4  chief priests took the silver and said, “It is not lawful to put this into the temple treasury, since it is blood money.”

Matthew 27:40

27:40 and saying, “You who can destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! 5  If you are God’s Son, come down 6  from the cross!”

Matthew 27:51

27:51 Just then 7  the temple curtain 8  was torn in two, from top to bottom. The 9  earth shook and the rocks were split apart.

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

2 map For location see Map1-D2; Map2-C3; Map3-B2.

3 tn Grk “Collectors of the double drachma.” This is a case of metonymy, where the coin formerly used to pay the tax (the double drachma coin, or δίδραχμον [didracmon]) was put for the tax itself (cf. BDAG 241 s.v.). Even though this coin was no longer in circulation in NT times and other coins were used to pay the tax, the name for the coin was still used to refer to the tax itself.

sn The temple tax refers to the half-shekel tax paid annually by male Jews to support the temple (Exod 30:13-16).

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

5 sn There is rich irony in the statements of those who were passing by, “save yourself!” and “come down from the cross!” In summary, they wanted Jesus to come down from the cross and save his physical life, but it was indeed his staying on the cross and giving his physical life that led to the fact that they could experience a resurrection from death to life.

6 tc ‡ Many important witnesses (א* A D pc it sy[s],p) read καί (kai, here with the force of “then”) before κατάβηθι (katabhqi, “come down”). The shorter reading may well be due to homoioarcton, but judging by the diverse external evidence (א2 B L W Θ 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat) it is equally possible that the shorter reading is original (and is so considered for this translation). NA27 puts the καί in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

7 tn Grk “And behold.”

8 tn The referent of this term, καταπέτασμα (katapetasma), is not entirely clear. It could refer to the curtain separating the holy of holies from the holy place (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.5 [5.219]), or it could refer to one at the entrance of the temple court (Josephus, J. W. 5.5.4 [5.212]). Many argue that the inner curtain is meant because another term, κάλυμμα (kalumma), is also used for the outer curtain. Others see a reference to the outer curtain as more likely because of the public nature of this sign. Either way, the symbolism means that access to God has been opened up. It also pictures a judgment that includes the sacrifices.

9 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.