Matthew 9:14-16

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Matthew 9:14 sn John refers to John the Baptist.
2. Matthew 9:14 tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3. Matthew 9:14 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
4. Matthew 9:14 sn John’s disciples and the Pharisees followed typical practices with regard to fasting and prayer. Many Jews fasted regularly (Lev 16:29-34; 23:26-32; Num 29:7-11). The zealous fasted twice a week (cf. Luke 18:12) on Monday and Thursday (Didache 8:1).
5. Matthew 9:15 tn Grk “sons of the wedding hall,” an idiom referring to wedding guests, or more specifically friends of the bridegroom present at the wedding celebration (L&N 11.7).
6. Matthew 9:15 sn The expression while the bridegroom is with them is an allusion to messianic times (John 3:29; Isa 54:5-6; 62:4-5).
7. Matthew 9:15 tn Grk “days.”
8. Matthew 9:15 sn The statement the bridegroom will be taken from them is a veiled allusion by Jesus to his death, which he did not make explicit until the incident at Caesarea Philippi in 16:13ff. For Matthew it is unlikely this statement is meant to refer to fasting in the early church following Jesus’ resurrection and exaltation, since Matthew presents the post-resurrection period as a time of Jesus’ presence rather than his absence (18:20; 28:20). Nevertheless, this passage is frequently cited as a justification of the fasting practices of the early church (such a practice may be reflected in Didache 8:1).
9. Matthew 9:16 sn The point of the saying is the incompatibility of the old and the new, with Jesus and his disciples representing what is new. In the context this explains why Jesus and his disciples do not fast like the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist (v. 14).