Matthew 19:12

19:12 For there are some eunuchs who were that way from birth,¹ and some who were made eunuchs² by others,³ and some who became eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this should accept it.”

Matthew 16:28

16:28 I tell you the truth,⁴ there are some standing here who will not⁵ experience⁶ death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”⁷

Matthew 19:3

19:3 Then some Pharisees⁸ came to him in order to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful⁹ to divorce a wife for any cause?”¹⁰

Matthew 25:9

25:9 ‘No,’ they replied.¹¹ ‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

Matthew 28:11

The Guards’ Report

28:11 While¹² they were going, some¹³ of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened.

¹tn Grk “from the womb of the mother” (an idiom).

²tn The verb εὐνουχίζω occurs twice in this verse, translated the first time as “made eunuchs” and the second time as “became eunuchs.” The term literally refers to castration. The second occurrence of the word in this verse is most likely figurative, though, referring to those who willingly maintain a life of celibacy for the furtherance of the kingdom (see W. D. Davies and D. C. Allison, Matthew [ICC], 3:23).

³tn Grk “people.”

⁴tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁵tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

⁶tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

⁷sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

⁸tn Grk “And Pharisees.”

sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

⁹tc ‡ Most mss have either ἀνθρώπῳ (anqrwpw, “for a man” [so א² C D W Θ 087 Ë^1,13 33 Ï latt]) or ἀνδρί (andri, “for a husband” [1424^c pc]) before the infinitive ἀπολῦσαι (apolusai, “to divorce”). The latter reading is an assimilation to the parallel in Mark; the former reading may have been motivated by the clarification needed (especially to give the following αὐτοῦ [autou, “his”] an antecedent). But a few significant mss (א* B L Γ 579 [700] 1424* pc) have neither noun. As the harder reading, it seems to best explain the rise of the others. NA²⁷, however, reads ἀνθρώπῳ here.

¹⁰sn The question of the Pharisees was anything but sincere; they were asking it to test him. Jesus was now in the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas (i.e., Judea and beyond the Jordan) and it is likely that the Pharisees were hoping he might answer the question of divorce in a way similar to John the Baptist and so suffer the same fate as John, i.e., death at the hands of Herod (cf. 14:1-12). Jesus answered the question not on the basis of rabbinic custom and the debate over Deut 24:1, but rather from the account of creation and God’s original design.

¹¹tn Grk “The wise answered, saying, ‘No.’”

¹²tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹³tn Grk “behold, some of the guard.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).