Matthew 5:38

Retaliation

5:38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ¹ 

Matthew 11:2

Jesus and John the Baptist

11:2 Now when John ²  heard in prison about the deeds Christ ³  had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: ⁴ 

Matthew 17:6

17:6 When the disciples heard this, they were overwhelmed with fear and threw themselves down with their faces to the ground. ⁵ 

Matthew 21:45

21:45 When ⁶  the chief priests and the Pharisees ⁷  heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.

Matthew 28:14

28:14 If ⁸  this matter is heard before the governor, ⁹  we will satisfy him ¹⁰  and keep you out of trouble.” ¹¹ 

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¹ sn A quotation from Exod 21:24; Lev 24:20.

² sn John refers to John the Baptist.

³ 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.

⁴ tc Instead of “by his disciples” (see the tn below for the reading of the Greek), the majority of later mss (C³ L ˹ 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 ˹³ 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.

⁵ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁷ sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

⁹ tn Here ἐπί (epi) followed by the genitive = “before,” especially in the language of lawsuits (BDAG 363 s.v. 3).

¹⁰ tc ‡ αὐτόν (auton, “him”) is found after πείσομεν (peisomen, “we will satisfy”) in the majority of witnesses, though it seems to be motivated by a need for clarification and cannot therefore easily explain the rise of the shorter reading (which is found in א B Θ 33 pc). Nevertheless, English style requires the pronoun. NA²⁷ includes the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

¹¹ tn Grk “and you will not have to be worried” = “we will keep you out of trouble.”