¹ tc Most mss ([D] L [W] Θ Ë¹³ 33 Ï lat) read “bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you,” before “those who persecute you.” But this is surely a motivated reading, importing the longer form of this aphorism from Luke 6:27-28. The shorter text is found in א B ˹ pc sa, as well as several fathers and versional witnesses.

² sn John the Baptist was too separatist and ascetic for some, and so he was accused of not being directed by God, but by a demon.

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

⁴ sn This remark is best regarded as a parenthetical note by the author.

⁵ tn Grk “and asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

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

⁷ tn The participle λυπούμενοι (lupoumenoi) has been translated as a finite verb to make the sequence of events clear in English.