4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach this message: 1 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6:14 “For if you forgive others 3 their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
13:16 “But your eyes are blessed 4 because they see, and your ears because they hear.
15:9 and they worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” 5
1 tn Grk “and to say.”
2 sn This remark echoes the more common OT statements like Lev 19:2 or Deut 18:13: “you must be holy as I am holy.”
3 tn Here ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used in a generic sense: “people, others.”
4 sn This beatitude highlights the great honor bestowed on the disciples to share in this salvation.
5 sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.
6 tn Grk “for this is my blood of the covenant that is poured out for many.” In order to avoid confusion about which is poured out, the translation supplies “blood” twice so that the following phrase clearly modifies “blood,” not “covenant.”
7 tc Although most witnesses read καινῆς (kainhs, “new”) here, this is evidently motivated by the parallel in Luke 22:20. Apart from the possibility of homoioteleuton, there is no good reason for the shorter reading to have arisen later on. But since it is found in such good and diverse witnesses (e.g., Ì37,45vid א B L Z Θ 0298vid 33 pc mae), the likelihood of homoioteleuton becomes rather remote.
sn Jesus’ death established the forgiveness promised in the new covenant of Jer 31:31. Jesus is reinterpreting the symbolism of the Passover meal, indicating the presence of a new era.