Matthew 2:4

2:4 After assembling all the chief priests and experts in the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.

Matthew 5:17

Fulfillment of the Law and Prophets

5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them.

Matthew 5:20

5:20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 8:14

Healings at Peter’s House

8:14 Now when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying down, sick with a fever.

Matthew 12:2

12:2 But when the Pharisees saw this they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is against the law to do on the Sabbath.”

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 12:38

The Sign of Jonah

12:38 Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees 10  answered him, 11  “Teacher, we want to see a sign 12  from you.”

Matthew 23:29

23:29 “Woe to you, experts in the law 13  and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You 14  build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves 15  of the righteous.

Matthew 26:57

Condemned by the Sanhedrin

26:57 Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, the high priest, in whose house 16  the experts in the law 17  and the elders had gathered.


tn Or “and scribes of the people.” The traditional rendering of γραμματεύς (grammateu") as “scribe” does not communicate much to the modern English reader, for whom the term might mean “professional copyist,” if it means anything at all. The people referred to here were recognized experts in the law of Moses and in traditional laws and regulations. Thus “expert in the law” comes closer to the meaning for the modern reader.

tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

tn Grk “not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Direct objects (“these things,” “them”) were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but have been supplied here to conform to contemporary English style.

tn Or “that of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

tn Grk “having been thrown down.” The verb βεβλημένην (beblhmenhn) is a perfect passive participle of the verb βάλλω (ballw, “to throw”). This indicates the severity of her sickness.

sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

10 tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.

sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

11 tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.

12 sn What exactly this sign would have been, given what Jesus was already doing, is not clear. But here is where the fence-sitters reside, refusing to commit to him.

13 tn Or “scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.

14 tn Grk “Because you.” Here ὅτι (Joti) has not been translated.

15 tn Or perhaps “the monuments” (see L&N 7.75-76).

16 tn Grk “where.”

17 tn Or “where the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.