¹ tn In the Greek text μηδὲν πλέον (mhden pleon, “no more”) is in an emphatic position.

sn By telling the tax collectors to collect no more than…required John was calling for honesty and integrity in a business that was known for greed and dishonesty.

² tn Or “than you are ordered to.”

³ tn Grk “said,” but since this is a continuation of previous remarks, “added” is used here.

⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁵ sn Jesus argues that he will get no respect in his own hometown. There is a wordplay here on the word acceptable (δεκτός, dektos), which also occurs in v. 19: Jesus has declared the “acceptable” year of the Lord (here translated year of the Lord’s favor), but he is not “accepted” by the people of his own hometown.

⁶ tn The explanatory connective γάρ (gar) is often dropped from translations, but the point of the passage is that one should be self-corrective and be careful who one follows (vv. 41-42), because such choices also reflect what the nature of the tree is and its product.

⁷ tn Grk “rotten.” The word σαπρός, modifying both “fruit” and “tree,” can also mean “diseased” (L&N 65.28).

⁸ tc Most mss, especially later ones (A C D Θ Ψ 33 Ï lat sy sa), lack the adverb πάλιν (palin, “again”) here. Its presence is attested, however, by several good witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א B L W Ξ Ë^1,13 579 892 1241 2542).

⁹ tn Grk “And her.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁰ sn Jesus ordered them to tell no one because he desired that miracles not become the center of his ministry.

¹¹ sn Jesus was stressing that all stand at risk of death, if they do not repent and receive life.

¹² tn Or “you will all likewise perish,” but this could be misunderstood to mean that they would perish by the same means as the Galileans. Jesus’ point is that apart from repentance all will perish.

¹³ sn Jesus’ point repeats v. 3. The circumstances make no difference. All must deal with the reality of what death means.

¹⁴ tn Grk “similarly.”

¹⁵ sn Jesus’ point in calling the man a foreigner is that none of the other nine, who were presumably Israelites, responded with gratitude. Only the “outsiders” were listening and responding.

¹⁶ sn The Sadducees controlled the official political structures of Judaism at this time, being the majority members of the Sanhedrin. They were known as extremely strict on law and order issues (Josephus, J. W. 2.8.2 [2.119], 2.8.14 [2.164-166]; Ant. 13.5.9 [13.171-173], 13.10.6 [13.293-298], 18.1.2 [18.11], 18.1.4 [18.16-17], 20.9.1 [20.199]; Life 2 [10-11]). They also did not believe in resurrection or in angels, an important detail in v. 36. See also Matt 3:7, 16:1-12, 22:23-34; Mark 12:18-27; Acts 4:1, 5:17, 23:6-8.

¹⁷ sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

¹⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous statements in the narrative about Herod’s desire to see Jesus.

¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.