Matthew 18:8

18:8 If ¹  your hand or your foot causes you to sin, ²  cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have ³  two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

Matthew 4:18

The Call of the Disciples

4:18 As ⁴  he was walking by the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). ⁵ 

Matthew 4:21

4:21 Going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in a boat ⁶  with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. Then ⁷  he called them.

Matthew 6:24

6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate ⁸  the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise ⁹  the other. You cannot serve God and money. ¹⁰ 

Matthew 8:28

Healing the Gadarene Demoniacs

8:28 When he came to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, ¹¹  two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were extremely violent, so that no one was able to pass by that way.

Matthew 18:9

18:9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than to have ¹²  two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell. ¹³ 

Matthew 20:21

20:21 He said to her, “What do you want?” She replied, ¹⁴  “Permit ¹⁵  these two sons of mine to sit, one at your ¹⁶  right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Matthew 21:31

21:31 Which of the two did his father’s will?” They said, “The first.” ¹⁷  Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹⁸  tax collectors ¹⁹  and prostitutes will go ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

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

² sn In Greek there is a wordplay that is difficult to reproduce in English here. The verb translated “causes…to sin” (σκανδαλίζω, skandalizw) comes from the same root as the word translated “stumbling blocks” (σκάνδαλον, skandalon) in the previous verse.

³ tn Grk “than having.”

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

⁵ tn The two phrases in this verse placed in parentheses are explanatory comments by the author, parenthetical in nature.

⁶ tn Or “their boat.” The phrase ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ (en tw ploiw) can either refer to a generic boat, some boat (as it seems to do here); or it can refer to “their” boat, implying possession. Mark assumes a certain preunderstanding on the part of his readers about the first four disciples and hence the translation “their boat” is justified (cf. also v. 20 in which the “hired men” indicates that Zebedee’s family owned the boats), while Matthew does not.

⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁸ sn The contrast between hate and love here is rhetorical. The point is that one will choose the favorite if a choice has to be made.

⁹ tn Or “and treat [the other] with contempt.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “God and mammon.”

sn The term money is used to translate mammon, the Aramaic term for wealth or possessions. The point is not that money is inherently evil, but that it is often misused so that it is a means of evil; see 1 Tim 6:6-10, 17-19. God must be first, not money or possessions.

¹¹ tc The textual tradition here is quite complicated. A number of mss (B C [Δ] Θ al sy^s,p,h) read “Gadarenes,” which is the better reading here. Many other mss (א² L W Ë^1,13 Ï [sy^hmg] bo) have “Gergesenes.” Others (892^c latt sy^hmg sa mae) have “Gerasenes,” which is the reading followed in Luke 8:26. The difference between Matthew and Luke may be due to uses of variant regional terms.

sn The region of the Gadarenes would be in Gentile territory on the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee across from Galilee. Luke 8:26 and Mark 5:1 record this miracle as occurring “in the region of the Gerasenes.” “Irrespective of how one settles this issue, for the [second and] Third Evangelist the chief concern is that Jesus has crossed over into Gentile territory, ‘opposite Galilee’” (J. B. Green, Luke [NICNT], 337). The region of Gadara extended to the Sea of Galilee and included the town of Sennabris on the southern shore – the town that the herdsmen most likely entered after the drowning of the pigs.

¹² tn Grk “than having.”

¹³ tn Grk “the Gehenna of fire.”

sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

¹⁴ tn Grk “said to him.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “Say that.”

¹⁶ tc A majority of witnesses read σου (sou, “your”) here, perhaps for clarification. At the same time, it is possible that the pronoun dropped out through haplography or was excised because of perceived redundancy (there are two other such pronouns in the verse) by א B. Either way, the translation adds it due to the requirements of English style. NA²⁷ includes σου here.

¹⁷ tc Verses 29-31 involve a rather complex and difficult textual problem. The variants cluster into three different groups: (1) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. The second son is called the one who does his father’s will. This reading is found in the Western mss (D it). But the reading is so hard as to be nearly impossible. One can only suspect some tampering with the text, extreme carelessness on the part of the scribe, or possibly a recognition of the importance of not shaming one’s parent in public. (Any of these reasons is not improbable with this texttype, and with codex D in particular.) The other two major variants are more difficult to assess. Essentially, the responses make sense (the son who does his father’s will is the one who changes his mind after saying “no”): (2) The first son says “no” and later has a change of heart, and the second son says “yes” but does not go. But here, the first son is called the one who does his father’s will (unlike the Western reading). This is the reading found in (א) C L W (Z) 0102 0281 ˹ 33 Ï and several versional witnesses. (3) The first son says “yes” but does not go, and the second son says “no” but later has a change of heart. This is the reading found in B Θ Ë¹³ 700 and several versional witnesses. Both of these latter two readings make good sense and have significantly better textual support than the first reading. The real question, then, is this: Is the first son or the second the obedient one? If one were to argue simply from the parabolic logic, the second son would be seen as the obedient one (hence, the third reading). The first son would represent the Pharisees (or Jews) who claim to obey God, but do not (cf. Matt 23:3). This accords well with the parable of the prodigal son (in which the oldest son represents the unbelieving Jews). Further, the chronological sequence of the second son being obedient fits well with the real scene: Gentiles and tax collectors and prostitutes were not, collectively, God’s chosen people, but they did repent and come to God, while the Jewish leaders claimed to be obedient to God but did nothing. At the same time, the external evidence is weaker for this reading (though stronger than the first reading), not as widespread, and certainly suspect because of how neatly it fits. One suspects scribal manipulation at this point. Thus the second reading looks to be superior to the other two on both external and transcriptional grounds. But what about intrinsic evidence? One can surmise that Jesus didn’t always give predictable responses. In this instance, he may well have painted a picture in which the Pharisees saw themselves as the first son, only to stun them with his application (v. 32).

¹⁸ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

¹⁹ sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.