Matthew 5:40

5:40 And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic,¹ give him your coat also.

Matthew 12:47

12:47 ² Someone³ told him, “Look, your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting⁴ to speak to you.”

Matthew 19:16

The Rich Young Man

19:16 Now⁵ someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?”

¹tn Or “shirt” (a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin). The name for this garment (χιτών, citwn) presents some difficulty in translation. Most modern readers would not understand what a “tunic” was any more than they would be familiar with a “chiton.” On the other hand, attempts to find a modern equivalent are also a problem: “Shirt” conveys the idea of a much shorter garment that covers only the upper body, and “undergarment” (given the styles of modern underwear) is more misleading still. “Tunic” was therefore employed, but with a note to explain its nature.

²tc A few ancient mss and versions lack this verse (א* B L Γ pc ff¹ k sy^s,c sa). The witness of א and B is especially strong, but internal considerations override this external evidence. Both v. 46 and 47 end with the word λαλῆσαι (“to speak”), so early scribes probably omitted the verse through homoioteleuton. The following verses make little sense without v. 47; its omission is too hard a reading. Thus v. 47 was most likely part of the original text.

³tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

⁴tn Grk “seeking.”

⁵tn Grk “And behold one came.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.