Matthew 2:7

2:7 Then Herod ¹  privately summoned the wise men and determined from them when the star had appeared.

Matthew 14:21

14:21 Not counting women and children, there were about five thousand men who ate.

Matthew 15:9

15:9 and they worship me in vain,

teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” ² 

Matthew 15:38

15:38 Not counting children and women, ³  there were four thousand men who ate. ⁴ 

Matthew 24:40

24:40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁵ 

Matthew 28:4

28:4 The ⁶  guards were shaken and became like dead men because they were so afraid of him.

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¹ sn See the note on King Herod in 2:1.

² sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.

³ tc ‡ Although most witnesses (B C L W ˹³ 33 Ï f sy^s,p,h mae) read “women and children” instead of “children and women,” it is likely that the majority’s reading is a harmonization to Matt 14:21. “Children and women” is found in early and geographically widespread witnesses (e.g., א D [Θ Ë¹] 579 lat sy^c sa bo), and has more compelling internal arguments on its side, suggesting that this is the original reading. NA²⁷, however, agrees with the majority of witnesses.

⁴ tn Grk “And those eating were four thousand men, apart from children and women.”

⁵ sn There is debate among commentators and scholars over the phrase one will be taken and one left about whether one is taken for judgment or for salvation. If the imagery is patterned after the rescue of Noah from the flood, as some suggest, the ones taken are the saved (as Noah was) andthose left behind are judged. The imagery, however, is not directly tied to theidentification of the two groups. Its primary purposein context is topicture the sudden, surprisingseparation of the righteous and the judged (i.e., condemned) at the return of the Son of Man.

⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.