Matthew 5:46

5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Even the tax collectors 1  do the same, don’t they?

Matthew 9:10

9:10 As 2  Jesus 3  was having a meal 4  in Matthew’s 5  house, many tax collectors 6  and sinners came and ate with Jesus and his disciples.

1 sn The tax collectors would bid to collect taxes for the Roman government and then add a surcharge, which they kept. Since tax collectors worked for Rome, they were viewed as traitors to their own people and were not well liked.

2 tn Grk “And it happened that while.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

3 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

4 tn Grk “was reclining at table.”

sn As Jesus was having a meal. 1st century middle eastern meals were not eaten while sitting at a table, but while reclining on one’s side on the floor with the head closest to the low table and the feet farthest away.

5 tn Grk “in the house.” The Greek article is used here in a context that implies possession, and the referent of the implied possessive pronoun (Matthew) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

6 sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.