¹ tn Or “pleased with him and amazed.” The expanded translation brings out both Jesus’ sense of wonder at the deep insight of the soldier and the pleasure he had that he could present the man as an example of faith.

² sn There are two elements to the faith that Jesus commended: The man’s humility and his sense of Jesus’ authority which recognized that only Jesus’ word, not his physical presence, were required.

³ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁴ sn “Where is your faith?” The call is to trust God and realize that those who exercise faith can trust in his care.

⁵ sn The combination of fear and respect (afraid and amazed) shows that the disciples are becoming impressed with the great power at work in Jesus, a realization that fuels their question. For a similar reaction, see Luke 5:9.

⁶ sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about who he was exactly (“Who then is this?”). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

⁷ tn This is a first class condition in the Greek text.

⁸ tn Grk “grass in the field.”

⁹ tn Grk “which is in the field today.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “into the oven.” The expanded translation “into the fire to heat the oven” has been used to avoid misunderstanding; most items put into modern ovens are put there to be baked, not burned.

sn The oven was most likely a rounded clay oven used for baking bread, which was heated by burning wood and dried grass.

¹¹ sn The phrase how much more is a typical form of rabbinic argumentation, from the lesser to the greater. If God cares for the little things, surely he will care for the more important things.

¹² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

¹³ tn Grk “said.”

¹⁴ tn This is a mixed condition, with ἄν (an) in the apodosis.

¹⁵ tn Grk “faith as,” “faith like.”

¹⁶ sn A black mulberry tree is a deciduous fruit tree that grows about 20 ft (6 m) tall and has black juicy berries. This tree has an extensive root system, so to pull it up would be a major operation.

¹⁷ tn The passives here (ἐκριζώθητι and φυτεύθητι, ekrizwqhti and futeuqhti) are probably a circumlocution for God performing the action (the so-called divine passive, see ExSyn 437-38). The issue is not the amount of faith (which in the example is only very tiny), but its presence, which can accomplish impossible things. To cause a tree to be uprooted and planted in the sea is impossible. The expression is a rhetorical idiom. It is like saying a camel can go through the eye of a needle (Luke 18:25).

¹⁸ tn The verb is aorist, though it looks at a future event, another rhetorical touch to communicate certainty of the effect of faith.