5:11 “Blessed are you when people 1 insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely 2 on account of me.
1 tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.
2 tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sys Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.
3 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
4 tn Grk “the sons of the kingdom.” This idiom refers to people who should properly be, or were traditionally regarded as, a part of God’s kingdom. L&N 11.13 translates the phrase: “people of God’s kingdom, God’s people.”
5 tn Grk “the sons of the evil one.” See the preceding note on the phrase “people of the kingdom” earlier in this verse, which is the opposite of this phrase. See also L&N 9.4; 11.13; 11.14.
6 tn Grk “him”; the referent (the first slave mentioned in v. 24) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7 tn Grk “But answering, his master said to him.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.