Matthew 11:18-20

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 11:18 sn Some interpreters have understood neither eating nor drinking as referring to the avoidance of excess. More likely it represents a criticism of John the Baptist being too separatist and ascetic, and so he was accused of not being directed by God, but by a demon.
2. Matthew 11:19 tn Grk “Behold a man.”
3. Matthew 11:19 sn See the note on tax collectors in 5:46.
4. Matthew 11:19 sn Neither were the detractors happy with Jesus (the Son of Man), even though he represented the opposite of John’s asceticism and associated freely with people like tax collectors and sinners in celebratory settings where the banquet imagery suggested the coming kingdom of God. Either way, God’s messengers were subject to complaint.
5. Matthew 11:19 tn Or “shown to be right.”
6. Matthew 11:19 tc Most witnesses (B² C D L N Γ Δ Θ ƒ¹ 33 565 579 700 1424 M lat) have “children” (τέκνων, teknōn) here instead of “deeds” (ἔργων, ergōn), but since “children” is the reading of the parallel in Luke 7:35, scribes would be motivated to convert the less colorful “deeds” into more animate offspring of wisdom. Further, ἔργων enjoys support from א B* W (ƒ¹³) as well as early versional and patristic support.
7. Matthew 11:20 tn The Greek word here is πόλις (polis) which can be translated “city” or “town.” “Cities” was chosen here to emphasize the size of the places mentioned by Jesus in the following verses, since these localities tended to be relatively larger and more important by the standards of the time.