Matthew 14-15

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 14:1 sn A tetrarch, a ruler with rank and authority lower than a king, ruled only with the approval of the Roman authorities. This was roughly equivalent to being governor of a region. Several times in the NT, Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, is called a king (Matt 14:9, Mark 6:14-29), reflecting popular usage rather than an official title.
2. Matthew 14:3 tc ‡ Most witnesses (א¹ C D L N W Z Γ Δ Θ 0106 ƒ^{1, 13} 33 565 579 1241 1424 M lat) read αὐτόν (auton, “him”) here as a way of clarifying the direct object; various significant witnesses lack the word, however (א* B 700 ff¹ h q al). The original wording most likely lacked it, but it has been included here due to English style. NA²⁸ includes the word in brackets, indicating reservations about its authenticity.
3. Matthew 14:4 tn The imperfect tense verb is here rendered with an iterative force.
4. Matthew 14:4 sn This marriage of Herod to his brother Philip’s wife was a violation of OT law (Lev 18:16; 20:21). In addition, both Herod Antipas and Herodias had each left marriages to enter into this union.
5. Matthew 14:5 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
6. Matthew 14:5 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7. Matthew 14:5 tn Grk “him” (also in the following phrase, Grk “accepted him”); in both cases the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8. Matthew 14:7 tn The Greek text reads here ὁμολογέω (homologeō); though normally translated “acknowledge, confess,” BDAG (708 s.v. 1) lists “assure, promise” for certain contexts such as here.
9. Matthew 14:9 tn Grk “and being grieved, the king commanded.”sn Herod was technically not a king, but this reflects popular usage. See the note on tetrarch in 14:1.
10. Matthew 14:10 tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.
11. Matthew 14:11 tn Grk “And his”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12. Matthew 14:12 tn Grk “his”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
13. Matthew 14:13 sn See the note at Matt 4:21 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
14. Matthew 14:13 tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
15. Matthew 14:13 tn Or “cities.”
16. Matthew 14:15 tn Or “a desert” (meaning a deserted or desolate area with sparse vegetation).
17. Matthew 14:16 tc ‡ The majority of witnesses read ᾿Ιησοῦς (Iēsous, “Jesus”) here, perhaps to clarify the subject. Although only a few Greek mss, along with several versional witnesses (א* D Z^vid 579 1424 e k sy^s,c,p sa bo), lack the name of Jesus, the omission does not seem to be either accidental or malicious and is therefore judged to be most likely the original reading. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult. NA²⁸ has the word in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
18. Matthew 14:16 tn Here the pronoun ὑμεῖς (humeis) is used, making “you” in the translation emphatic.
19. Matthew 14:17 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
20. Matthew 14:19 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
21. Matthew 14:19 tn Grk “And after instructing the crowds to recline for a meal on the grass, after taking the five loaves and the two fish, after looking up to heaven, he gave thanks, and after breaking the loaves he gave them to the disciples.” Although most of the participles are undoubtedly attendant circumstance, there are but two indicative verbs—“he gave thanks” and “he gave.” The structure of the sentence thus seems to focus on these two actions and has been translated accordingly.
22. Matthew 14:19 tn Grk “to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds.”
23. Matthew 14:22 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
24. Matthew 14:24 tn Grk “The boat was already many stades from the land.” A stade (στάδιον, stadion) was a unit of distance about 607 feet (185 meters) long.
25. Matthew 14:25 tn Grk “In the fourth watch of the night,” that is, between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
26. Matthew 14:25 tn Or “on the lake.”
27. Matthew 14:26 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
28. Matthew 14:26 tn Grk “on the sea”; or “on the lake.” The translation “water” has been used here for stylistic reasons (cf. the same phrase in v. 25).
29. Matthew 14:27 tc Most witnesses have ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (ho Iēsous, “Jesus”), while a few lack the words (א* D 073 892 ff¹ sy^c sa bo). Although such additions are often suspect (due to liturgical influences, piety, or for the sake of clarity), in this case it is likely that ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς dropped out accidentally. Apart from a few albeit significant witnesses, as noted above, the rest of the tradition has either ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς αὐτοῖς (ho Iēsous autois) or αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς (autois ho Iēsous). In majuscule letters, with Jesus’ name as a nomen sacrum, this would have been written as autoisois_ or ois_autois. Thus homoioteleuton could explain the reason for the omission of Jesus’ name. (This same phenomenon occurs in P¹³⁷ at Mark 1:17 where the original text no doubt read αὐτοῖς ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς, but this papyrus accidentally omits the nomen sacrum.)
30. Matthew 14:27 tn Grk “he said to them, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant and has not been translated.
31. Matthew 14:28 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
32. Matthew 14:28 tn Grk “answering him, Peter said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokritheis) is redundant and has not been translated.
33. Matthew 14:30 tn Grk “he cried out, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is redundant and has not been translated.
34. Matthew 14:34 sn Gennesaret was a fertile plain south of Capernaum (see also Mark 6:53). The Sea of Galilee was also sometimes known as the Sea of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1).
35. Matthew 14:35 tn Grk “men”; the word here (ἀνήρ, anēr) usually indicates males or husbands, but occasionally is used in a generic sense of people in general, as here (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. 1.a, 2).
36. Matthew 14:36 tn Grk “asked that they might touch.”
37. Matthew 15:1 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
38. Matthew 15:1 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.
39. Matthew 15:1 tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) has been translated as a finite verb so that its telic (i.e., final or conclusive) force can be more easily detected: The Pharisees and legal experts came to Jesus in order to speak with him.
40. Matthew 15:2 tc ‡ Although most witnesses read the genitive plural pronoun αὐτῶν (autōn, “their”), it may have been motivated by clarification (as it is in the translation above). Several other authorities do not have the pronoun, however (א B Δ 073 ƒ¹ 579 700 892 1424 f g¹); the lack of an unintentional oversight as the reason for omission strengthens their combined testimony in this shorter reading. NA²⁸ has the pronoun in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
41. Matthew 15:2 tn Grk “when they eat bread.”
42. Matthew 15:3 tn Grk “But answering, he said to them.”
43. Matthew 15:4 tc Most mss (א*^,2b C L N W Γ Δ 0106 33 565 1241 1424 M) have an expanded introduction here; instead of “For God said,” they read “For God commanded, saying” (ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο λέγων, ho gar theos eneteilato legōn). But such expansions are generally motivated readings; in this case, most likely it was due to the wording of the previous verse (“the commandment of God”) that caused early scribes to add to the text. Although it is possible that other witnesses reduced the text to the simple εἶπεν (eipen, “[God] said”) because of perceived redundancy with the statement in v. 3, such is unlikely in light of the great variety and age of these authorities (א^2a B D Θ 073 ƒ^{1, 13} 579 700 892 lat co, as well as other versions and fathers).
44. Matthew 15:4 sn A quotation from Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16.
45. Matthew 15:4 sn A quotation from Exod 21:17; Lev 20:9.
46. Matthew 15:5 tn Grk “is a gift,” that is, something dedicated to God.
47. Matthew 15:6 tc The logic of v. 5 would seem to demand that both father and mother are in view in v. 6. Indeed, the majority of mss (C L N W Γ Δ Θ 0106 ƒ¹ 1424 M) have “or his mother” (ἢ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ, ē tēn mētera autou) after “honor his father” here. However, there are significant witnesses that have variations on this theme (καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ [kai tēn mētera autou, “and his mother”] in Φ 565 1241 bo and ἢ τὴν μητέρα [“or mother”] in 073 ƒ¹³ 33 579 700 892), which is usually an indication of a predictable addition to the text rather than an authentic reading. Further, the shorter reading (without any mention of “mother”) is found in early and significant witnesses (א B D a e sy^c sa). Although it is possible that the shorter reading came about accidentally (due to the repetition of—ερα αὐτοῦ), the evidence more strongly suggests that the longer readings were intentional scribal alterations.tn Grk “he will never honor his father.” Here Jesus is quoting the Pharisees, whose intent is to release the person who is giving his possessions to God from the family obligation of caring for his parents. The verb in this phrase is future tense, and it is negated with οὐ μή (ou mē), the strongest negation possible in Greek. A literal translation of the phrase does not capture the intended sense of the statement; it would actually make the Pharisees sound as if they agreed with Jesus. Instead, a more interpretive translation has been used to focus upon the release from family obligations that the Pharisees allowed in these circumstances.sn Here Jesus refers to something that has been set aside as a gift to be given to God at some later date, but which is still in the possession of the owner. According to contemporary Jewish tradition, the person who made this claim was absolved from responsibility to support or assist his parents, a clear violation of the Mosaic law to honor one’s parents (v. 4).
48. Matthew 15:8 tn The term “heart” is a collective singular in the Greek text.
49. Matthew 15:9 sn A quotation from Isa 29:13.
50. Matthew 15:10 tn Grk “And calling the crowd, he said to them.” The participle προσκαλεσάμενος (proskalesamenos) has been translated as attendant circumstance. The emphasis here is upon Jesus’ speaking to the crowd.
51. Matthew 15:11 tn Grk “but what.”
52. Matthew 15:12 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
53. Matthew 15:13 tn Grk “And answering, he said.”
54. Matthew 15:14 tc ‡ Most mss, some of which are significant, read “They are blind guides of the blind” (א^2a C L N W Z Γ Δ Θ ƒ^{1, 13} 33 579 700 1241 1424 M lat; SBL). The omission of “of the blind” is read by א*^,2b B D 0237 Epiph. There is a distinct possibility of omission due to homoioarcton in א*; this manuscript has a word order variation which puts the word τυφλοί (tuphloi, “blind”) right before the word τυφλῶν (tuphlōn, “of the blind”). This does not explain the shorter reading, however, in the other witnesses, of which B and D are quite weighty. Internal considerations suggest that the shorter reading is autographic: “of the blind” was likely added by scribes to balance this phrase with Jesus’ following statement about the blind leading the blind, which clearly has two groups in view. A decision is difficult, but internal considerations here along with the strength of the witnesses argue that the shorter reading is more likely original. NA²⁸ places τυφλῶν in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.
55. Matthew 15:14 tn Grk “If blind leads blind.”
56. Matthew 15:15 tn Grk “And answering, Peter said to him.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
57. Matthew 15:16 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
58. Matthew 15:17 tn Or “into the latrine.”
59. Matthew 15:20 tn Grk “but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a person.”
60. Matthew 15:22 tn Grk “And behold a Canaanite.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
61. Matthew 15:22 tn Grk The participle ἐξελθοῦσα (exelthousa) is here translated as a finite verb. The emphasis is upon her crying out to Jesus.
62. Matthew 15:22 tn Grk “cried out, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
63. Matthew 15:23 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
64. Matthew 15:23 tn Grk “asked him, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
65. Matthew 15:24 tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The construction in Greek is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the disciples’ request.
66. Matthew 15:25 tn In this context the verb προσκυνέω (proskuneō), which often describes worship, probably means simply bowing down to the ground in an act of reverence or supplication (see L&N 17.21).
67. Matthew 15:25 tn Grk “she bowed down to him, saying.”
68. Matthew 15:26 tn Grk “And answering, he said, ‘It is not right.’” The introductory phrase “answering, he said” has been simplified and placed at the end of the English sentence for stylistic reasons. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
69. Matthew 15:26 tn Or “lap dogs, house dogs,” as opposed to dogs on the street. The diminutive form originally referred to puppies or little dogs, then to house pets. In some Hellenistic uses κυνάριον (kunarion) simply means “dog.”sn The term dogs does not refer to wild dogs (scavenging animals roaming around the countryside) in this context, but to small dogs taken in as house pets. It is thus not a derogatory term per se, but is instead intended by Jesus to indicate the privileged position of the Jews (especially his disciples) as the initial recipients of Jesus’ ministry. The woman’s response of faith and her willingness to accept whatever Jesus would offer pleased him to such an extent that he granted her request.
70. Matthew 15:26 tn Grk “And answering, he said.” The participle ἀποκριθείς (apokritheis) is redundant and has not been translated.
71. Matthew 15:27 tn Grk “she said.”
72. Matthew 15:28 tn Grk “Then answering, Jesus said to her.” This expression has been simplified in the translation.
73. Matthew 15:28 sn Woman was a polite form of address (see BDAG 208-9 s.v. γυνή 1), similar to “Madam” or “Ma’am” used in English in different regions.
74. Matthew 15:30 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Then.”
75. Matthew 15:30 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
76. Matthew 15:36 tn Grk “was giving them to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd.”
77. Matthew 15:37 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
78. Matthew 15:38 tc ‡ Although most witnesses (B C L N W Γ Δ ƒ¹³ 33 1424 M f sy^s,p,h mae) read “women and children” instead of “children and women,” this is likely a harmonization to Matt 14:21. A decision is difficult here, but since “children and women” is found in early and geographically widespread witnesses (e.g., א D [Θ ƒ¹] 579 lat sy^c sa bo), and has more compelling internal arguments on its side, it is likely the reading of the initial text. NA²⁸, however, agrees with the majority of witnesses.
79. Matthew 15:38 tn Grk “And those eating were 4,000 men, apart from children and women.”
80. Matthew 15:39 sn See the note at Matt 4:21 for a description of the first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 near Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
81. Matthew 15:39 sn Magadan was a place along the Sea of Galilee, the exact location of which is uncertain.