Matthew 3:14
3:14 But John 1 tried to prevent 2 him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?”
Matthew 11:2
Jesus and John the Baptist
11:2 Now when John 3 heard in prison about the deeds Christ 4 had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: 5
Matthew 14:8
14:8 Instructed by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.”
Matthew 14:12
14:12 Then John’s 6 disciples came and took the body and buried it and went and told Jesus.
Matthew 16:14
16:14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, 7 and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 21:26
21:26 But if we say, ‘From people,’ we fear the crowd, for they all consider John to be a prophet.”
1 tc ‡ The earliest mss (א* B sa) lack the name of John here (“but he tried to prevent him,” instead of “but John tried to prevent him”). It is, however, clearly implied (and is thus supplied in translation). Although the longer reading has excellent support (Ì96 א1 C Ds L W 0233 0250 Ë1,13 33 Ï lat[t] sy mae bo), it looks to be a motivated and predictable reading: Scribes apparently could not resist adding this clarification.
2 tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively.
3 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
4 tc The Western codex D and a few other mss (0233 1424 al) read “Jesus” here instead of “Christ.” This is not likely to be original because it is not found in the earliest and most important mss, nor in the rest of the ms tradition.
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.
5 tc Instead of “by his disciples” (see the tn below for the reading of the Greek), the majority of later mss (C3 L Ë1 Ï lat bo) have “two of his disciples.” The difference in Greek, however, is only two letters: διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ vs. δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ (dia twn maqhtwn autou vs. duo twn maqhtwn autou). Although an accidental alteration could account for either of these readings, it is more likely that δύο is an assimilation to the parallel in Luke 7:18. Further, διά is read by a good number of early and excellent witnesses (א B C* D P W Z Δ Θ 0233 Ë13 33 sa), and thus should be considered original.
tn Grk “sending by his disciples he said to him.” The words “a question” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
6 tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
7 sn The appearance of Elijah would mean that the end time had come. According to 2 Kgs 2:11, Elijah was still alive. In Mal 4:5 it is said that Elijah would be the precursor of Messiah.