12:22 Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute. Jesus 5 healed him so that he could speak and see. 6
12:38 Then some of the experts in the law 7 along with some Pharisees 8 answered him, 9 “Teacher, we want to see a sign 10 from you.”
24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation 16 – spoken about by Daniel the prophet – standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
1 tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.
2 tn Grk “But what.” Here ἀλλά (alla, a strong contrastive in Greek) produces a somewhat awkward sense in English, and has not been translated. The same situation occurs at the beginning of v. 9.
3 sn The reference to fancy clothes makes the point that John was not rich or powerful, in that he did not come from the wealthy classes.
4 tn Or “palaces.”
5 tn Grk “And he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Grk “demoniac, and he healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw.”
7 tn Or “Then some of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
8 tn Grk “and Pharisees.” The word “some” before “Pharisees” has been supplied for clarification.
sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
9 tn Grk “answered him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant, but the syntax of the sentence was changed to conform to English style.
10 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.
11 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
12 tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.
13 tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).
14 sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the Son of Man coming in his kingdom: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Christ’s role in the Church; (5) the destruction of Jerusalem; (6) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to six days later in 17:1 seems to indicate that Matthew had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration would be a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (in vv. 21-23), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.
15 sn A quotation from Ps 118:26.
16 sn The reference to the abomination of desolation is an allusion to Dan 9:27. Though some have seen the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy in the actions of Antiochus IV (or a representative of his) in 167
17 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
18 tn Grk Or “Lord; or “Master” (and so throughout this paragraph).
19 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
20 tn Grk “answer him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
21 tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.
22 tc Expansions on the text, especially when the Lord is the subject, are a common scribal activity. In this instance, since the subject is embedded in the verb, three major variants have emerged to make the subject explicit: ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”; A C D L W 0148 Ë1,13 Ï lat), τὸ σῶμα τοῦ κυρίου (to swma tou kuriou, “the body of the Lord”; 1424 pc), and ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (Jo Ihsou", “Jesus”; Φ). The reading with no explicit subject, however, is superior on both internal and external grounds, being supported by א B Θ 33 892* pc co.