1. See endnote 2:39.
2. Judas handed Him over to the Jewish religious order and they sent Him to the Romans for crucifixion – it was the Romans who beat Him up, spit on Him, and crucified Him. Jews and Gentiles are all under the same curse (Romans 3:30).
3. It seems that He is implying that it will be a short trip because, later, He tells them that they should take an extra pair of sandals and a wallet (Luke 22:36).
4. The words ". . . that city" have been replaced with ". . . them" to make the reading flow more naturally.
5. In this verse, the Greek literally says, ". . . in the name of a prophet." But back then, and even today, there is much more in a name. . . .For example, one can "build a name for himself." In fact, people can even ruin a name.
Here is one example: Though Benedict was a popular name, no one uses it any more (a name coming from the famous Benedict Arnold). This is because Benedict had ruined that name. Because of Benedict Arnold and what he had done, this name had stopped being used. (Even anybody who did have that name, they had changed into the name we know today as Bennett.)
Knowing these things, the phrase, ". . . in the name of a prophet" is, therefore, translated as, ". . . according to [one of the definitions of the Greek word for "in"] – the prophets ministry [his ministry being everything he stands for]."
6. Due to Matthew's habit of not putting teaching into the order it was originally in within the chronology of the narrative parts of Jesus’ ministry (see the preface), but had, in some instance, clumped large sections of Jesus’ teachings together without telling the events surrounding them, it has been made permissible to move certain parts of his book so that portions of it – portions that he had not given us the narration it was with – can be placed into the chronological context as it is given by Mark and Luke. (Especially since Luke tells us that he was concerned in giving us an orderly account (Luke 1:1-4).)
That is what has been done here with Matthew 10:16-39. It has been moved from this location and placed where Luke positions it, because in Luke’s account he gives a record of what had happened surrounding this event, which is an identical description to what Matthew 10:16-39 describes. And so Luke’s more accurate – only concerning chronology – placement of this text is used.
In the several places where this has happen, you can usually clearly see that there is nothing that links it to the surrounding text where Matthew has it.
At this point, however, when this particular portion had been extracted, it made Matthew 10:40-42, as it is in this publication, seems out of place. But it is not. It just seems that way because Matthew 10:42 is the last verse of chapter ten. For if you look down to the next verse, you will find Matthew 11:1.
So since 10:42 is linked with 11:1, and nothing in any other gospel links it somewhere else, there is no permission to move it. (It always needs to be remembered that sometime the verse numbers, which were added much later, can obscure the meaning in the text.)
8. The Greek word used here that is translated most of the time as "oil" is actually the word for olive oil. Olive oil was also commonly used as a medicine at that time. They would put olive oil on a wound to soothe it. The same way we use cream today.
We can see this exemplified in the parable of the Good Samaritan, where Jesus describes the Samaritan putting olive oil on the wounds of the man who was robbed (see especially Luke 10:34).
This is also possibly the interpretation of James 5:14.
10. To understand the time-frame from within which John the Baptist ministry falls in reference to Jesus’ ministry, it begins with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus, following which Jesus goes to be tempted in the wilderness 40 days by the adversary.
Then when John sees Jesus again, after the 40 days, while he is standing with two of his disciples, he informs them that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
These two disciples leave John and begin to follow Jesus. Jesus goes to Cana and changes the water to wine, then He goes to Capernaum a few days and then up to Jerusalem to celebrate the first Passover of His ministry.
After the Passover, Jesus travels a little north, still in area of Judea, where His disciples baptize side by side with John the Baptist. When Jesus hears that the Pharisees hear how His disciples are baptizing more people than John, He heads for Galilee and, on the way, meets the woman at the well in Samaria.
While Jesus is spending a couple of days with the Samaritans, He gets the news about John being thrown into prison, and so He leaves that area and travels north to Galilee where He sets up camp in Capernaum.
From this point, Jesus calls the rest of His disciples to follow Him and then teaches the Sermon on the Mount. Just after He gives this "Sermon," the disciples of John are sent to Jesus to ask Him if He is the One they were expecting, or if they should be waiting for and expecting someone else.
Shortly after this, we are then informed that Jesus went to celebrate the second Passover of His ministry, which is now just a little over one year into His ministry.
Returning to Galilee from this second Passover, Jesus family and a number of the people, along with the Scribes and Pharisees, are now under the belief that Jesus is out of His mind. In response, Jesus begins to speak to the people in parables.
After that, Jesus continues with a series of events that eventually lead up to the point where He sends out the Twelve to proclaim the good news throughout the cities of Israel.
And it appears to be at some point around this time that John the Baptist is beheaded. For we are told that Herod had heard about all the works Jesus is doing, and he concludes that it is John the Baptist who has resurrected from the dead, and that is why Jesus is able to do all these signs.
Directly after this, we are then told how Jesus’ disciples returned from their circuit ministry, telling Him about all the miracles they were able to perform. It is at this point that we are told how Jesus hears about John the Baptist being beheaded by Herod, which Jesus responds to by trying to get away from the crowds to rest for awhile.
As Jesus tried to find a secluded place, He is unable to avoid the crowds and this leads into Him feeding the five thousands, which is just prior to the third Passover of His ministry—now two years into it.
Therefore, it appears that John was beheaded a little over one year before Jesus’ crucifixion.
11. Matthew 14:3 and Mark 6:17 specifically say that she was still (present tense) Philip’s wife, even though she might had thought she was divorced. Also see endnote 3:2.
12. The Greek here literally reads, "He was a righteous and holy man." But the word "holy" is translated into its fuller meaning of "morally set-apart;" or "moral" and "set-apart."
13. This phrase needed to be added to make it a complete thought, and it is something implied in the text given Mark 6:19.
14. The Sea of Galilee (Galilee meaning "ring" or "circle," which became a way to signify a, "district" or "region") was also named "the Sea of Tiberias" by Herod Antipas, the governor of that region, in honor of Tiberias Caesar.
15. "Bethsaida" means "house of fish."
16. The Greek used here is a borrowed Hebrew idiom that literally reads, "He lifted up His eyes." A phrase that is replaced with the English idiom equivalent of, "He looked up."
17. The Greek word used here is the word denarii, which was equivalent to about one full day’s worth of wages. To give a clearer understanding of how much money Philip was talking about, it is translated into its literal interpretation of ". . . two hundred days worth of wages . . . ," instead of ". . . two hundred denarii.
18. They had just said ". . . two hundred day’s worth of wages." The sad part is, they were wondering what they had to do, rather than seeking what God would do.
19. Notice the difference: When God does it, they could relax (as we see with the text telling us that the people were reclining) and were satisfied.
How much of a picture is this of salvation? For when we receive the bread of life, we no longer need to go on striving for the perfection that is required for self-salvation, and which is something impossible to do anyway. We can now rest in the finished work of Jesus (Hebrew 4:3).
20. Originally, I was going to describe the whole long dilemma I went through to understand this event. However, in retrospect, I am now able to give you a more pointed explanation of the resolution, rather than go into all the gritty details.
Basically it is this: All four gospels record this event, and each gospel, aside from Luke’s, informs us that Jesus and His disciples were in the area of Capernaum, which is on the northwest side of the lake; then they sailed to the east side of the lake, to a desolate area belonging to Bethsaida (the place where He fed the five thousand); after that they returned to Capernaum, landing at the dock of Gennesaret, and probably walked over to Capernaum (see map). (Luke leaves us with Jesus feeding the five thousand and never describes specifically where they went after that.)
The problem was in Mark verse 6:45, when he says (as the New King James Bible puts it) that they sailed "to the other side to Bethsaida." This was very confusing because if they were already at Bethsaida, how could they then sail to Bethsaida?
Seeing this, I went through a lot of painful mental struggles until, finally, I came to the conclusion that what Mark said could not be what it sounds like the translations have said he said. I figured he had to have meant that he sailed to the area opposite to Bethsaida, which would be Capernaum. This, however, was still a little unnerving to me because I do not want to make scripture fit into what I believe, but I want scripture, rather, to dictate what I believe.
Then, finally, with a V8-slap, I noticed the other verse in Mark that says how, after leaving the place where He had fed the five thousand, they landed at Gennesaret, a sister port of Capernaum (verse 53).
So either Mark is totally confused and blatantly contradicts himself – practically in the same sentence – or he means that they sailed to the side that is opposite to Bethsaida. Therefore, it is worded it here, in this book, as, "back to the side opposite to Bethsaida."
21. It simply says "they" in the Greek.
22. The night was split up into four watches of three hours each. They were, it seems from Mark 12:35, called, the evening watch (which would be from six PM to nine PM), the midnight watch (which would be from nine PM to twelve midnight), the "cock-crowing watch (which would be from twelve midnight to three AM)," and the morning watch (which would be from three AM to six AM) (Mark 13:35).
There is also the passage in Luke 12:38 where Jesus talks about the master who comes at an hour of which the servants were unaware, saying, "Whether he comes in the second watch [which would be the time people have settled for the night (between nine PM to twelve midnight) and were unlikely to expect the master to return] or even in the third watch (twelve midnight to three AM), [the time when nobody would expect him to come]. . . ."
23. There are a couple of reasons I can think of as to why they would have docked at this port and then walked to Capernaum (which is where the text immediately says they were). It is either because Jesus was trying to enter Capernaum inconspicuously (thus says the text ". . . where they were headed."), or because the port at Capernaum was busy. Or it is could be that this is where they were headed after the wind had blown them off course.
In any case, the context is clear that they had docked at Gennesaret and were shortly after that in Capernaum, where Jesus taught in their synagogue.
25. The Greek word used here is the word sozo. It means "to save." But it can also be translated as "delivered" or "rescued."
26. In the Hebrew, double negatives and things like that are a common part of the language. The double negatives and double positives, or even sometimes triple positives, like "Holy, Holy, Holy (Isaiah 6:3) are used to give emphasis, or to make things superlative.
Here, true to the Hebrew background of the Jewish culture (of which Jesus was a part), the Greek uses the word "Amen, amen" (A Hebrew word transliterated into Greek, meaning "so be it," and it is also sometimes translated into English as "truly, truly. . . .")
This publication, however, uses the colloquial equivalents, such as, "this is for sure . . ." or "this is certain . . . ," and phrases like that.
27. The Greek literally says, "Amen, amen, I say to you," which translated literally into "so be it, so be it, I say to you," and it is usually translated as "truly, truly, I say to you." And it is translated throughout this publication as "I will tell you something that is for sure" as well as other slightly different variations.
28. The old man must die (Romans 8:13).
29. In this publication, the words, "The Holy One. The One set-apart" is an amplified translation of the word "holy." This is done because it is actually what the Greek and Hebrew words for "holy" mean.
In our modern vocabulary, the word "holy" means someone who is very morally upright; therefore, part of it is translated simply by using our word "holy." But, originally, the Greek and Hebrew words also have the meaning of being "set apart." And that is why these words are also used.
30. "Devil" is a Greek word that means false accuser. It comes from a Greek word that literally means, "through throwing." (See endnote 4:22).
31. There are mainly two possible meanings of the word "Iscariot." One explanation is that it comes from the name Issachar (with the feminine Hebrew ending "ot,"), identifying Judas as a descendant from the tribe of Issachar. This would be similar to saying someone was a Benjamite because he was from the tribe of Benjamin. Another explanation is that it is a compound word coming from the two Hebrew words, Ish, meaning "man," and Kerioth (a town just outside of ancient Jerusalem)." These two words being put together to say "a man of . . ." or "a man from Kerioth." When these two words are put together, it would read, Ish Kerioth (the "h" in Kerioth being silent).
If it were the first, however, his name would more likely be "Issacharite," rather than Iscariot, similar to how someone from the tribe of Benjamin is a Benjamite and not a Benjamiot.
32. The Greek word used here is paradidonai. For an explanation of this word, see endnote 3:42.
33. The Greek literally reads, ". . . the fist wash their hands . . . ," which is translated here into ". . . meticulously wash their hands. . . ." The Greek word for "the fist (pugme)" seems to be a colloquialism in that day for the word "meticulous" or something of that order.
In this passage of Mark 7:1-4, there is a combination of the use of the words "washing," and "baptizing." The word "washing" is used for both the washing of hands as well as the dishware, and so is the word "baptize."
34. This italicized phrase is one that actually comes a little latter, in Mark 7:3, but it is also placed here to make the English read better. (See also endnote 2:54).
35. This tradition of washing the hands was not part of the Levitical law God gave to Moses. It was a tradition originating and coming down through the interpretation and rule of the elders and religious leaders. Refer to endnote number 2:40.
36. See endnote directly above, as well as 2:54.
Also, in the Textus Receptus Greek text (the Greek text from which the King James and the New King James versions come from) in Mark 7:8 the phrase, ". . . the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do" is included. It is, however, missing from the Nestle Aland Greek text, the Greek text the New International and the New American Standard versions use.
37. The following two verses are in a couple of places of which the word corban comes from: "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, "When any man of you brings an offering [corban] to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock (Leviticus 1:2).’" (By the way, this sacrifice was not prescribed as something to be given for a specific sin; it was a general sacrifice more along the line of being a gift offering.), and ". . . and his offering [corban] was one silver . . . (Numbers 7:13). (Also see 1 Timothy 5:8.)
38. In Mark 7:19, some translations read, ". . . In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean (NIV)." This phrase, however, is not found in any of the Greek manuscripts before the 13th century AD. It was something that was added later.
The most likely reason a person would add this phrase after the Bible was written is because they misunderstood this passage and thought they were making the point – though inaccurately – clearer. In essence, inaccurately expounding on the text.
The fact that it was not in the earliest manuscripts can also be seen in that the context is not talking about weather pigs, for instance, are clean or unclean. Jesus was only addressing the issue that a person does not become spiritual unclean because he fails to wash his hands.
Concurrently, this phrase is not in the King James Version of the Bible.
Something to keep in mind when reading Scripture with regards to the Law is that it was never intended for the purpose of someone achieving self-righteousness. God’s law was never given with that intention. The law was given to us to convict us of our sins, and to show us what it looks like how to live a holy and obedient life (Romans 7:7).
For instance, if you obey this stipulation, you will have blessing, such as good health because you are not eating animals that cause us to have the physical illnesses that are inherent in the genetic makeup of those animals. And God tells us not to do it, like any parent of a small child would, when he says, "do not touch." He does this because he loves us.
But the most important thing to recognize about this context is that it is not necessarily talking about food. Jesus is arguing against the staunch holdings of traditions. And in this case it is concerning the cleaning of hands before you eat.
39. In Matthew 15:21 it says that Jesus had gone to "the area of Tyre and Sidon." Mark is more specific, saying that Jesus had gone into the area of Tyre only. In combining these two accounts, it is now worded: "Jesus got up, left Galilee, and went into the area of Tyre and Sidon, and then went into a house in Tyre."
40. The Greek word here is Hellenist. A "Hellenist" in some dictionaries is defined as a Jew who had converted to the Greek culture.
However, from the text of the Gospels, we know that this lady was neither a Jew nor a Greek. She was a Syro-Phoenician. Therefore, it is translated here as "Gentile."
41. Or, "from the lost house of Israel."
42. The Greek plainly says, "she."
43. The word "Ephphatha" comes from the Hebrew root word petach (Strong’s number 6605), which means "open," and it is found throughout the entire book of the Torah and the Prophets in at least a hundred and seventy-one different locations. The "Eph," at the beginning, comes from a Hebrew grammatical prefix that was transliterated into the Greek.
The root word means "open" and with the Hebrew prefix added, it means "be opened."
44. The Greek simply says, "they all."
45. Matthew says, "Magdala (where Mary Magdalene was from)" and Mark says "Dalmanutha," which is just another name for Magdala.
To keep from leaving out any details, these two names are linked by adding the words "also known as. . . ."
47. The Greek simply says, "Him."
48. The common explanation for this passage is that when Jesus says, "you are Peter" the Greek word for "Peter" means "a small stone." And that when He says, "upon this rock, I will build my church," it is the Greek word that means "a large rock."
However, the Greek word for "small stone" is lithos and the word for large stone is petros. You can see this by looking up in any concordance the English word "stone," where you will find the Greek words lithos, and when you look up the word "rock," where you will find the Greek word petros.
But, when Jesus says, "you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church" both times it uses the Greek word petros – the word for "a large rock." The only difference is that when Jesus addresses Peter, the Greek word used is in the masculine form of petros, and when Jesus refers to the rock that He will build His church on, it is in the feminine form.
Aside from it being backwards, since Peter should be in the feminine and "rock" in the masculine for this interpretation to be correct, what we have is a typical Greek grammar structure. Because the cases and endings in a sentence are used to indicate a words relationship within the sentence.
What it appears that Jesus was saying is, "Yes, Peter, you are a rock, but it is upon this rock [of confession (since Peter had just confessed Jesus as the Messiah the Son of God, which is what Jesus is referring back to) that I will build My church."
This does also seem to be what Peter is recalling when he wrote, much later:
In fact, isn’t this even what Paul is saying, when he says:
It is through this confession that Jesus is building His church, and it is through this confession that we become living stones to be built into a spiritual house.
49. This is a very difficult word to translate. It is the Greek work ekklesia. It is a noun, and it literally means, "called out [ones]." It comes from two Greek words ek, meaning "out" (which is the word we get our word "exit"), and kaleo, meaning "to call." (The change in form of the word kaleo is because of the addition of the prefixed word ek.
Concerning translating it as "church," this is an inaccurate translation in the fact that the word "church" comes from a completely different Greek word. It comes from the word xuriaxos, which is a derivative of the Greek word xurios, which means "lord." It is a word that came to have the meaning of "the Lord’s house" or "the Lord’s temple" (See the American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster 1828 edition.)
The difficulty in translating it came with its meaning in contrast to the word synagogue. Synagogue is a similar word, with a similar meaning. It comes from the Greek word with that same name, synagoge. This word, also, is made up of two Greek words, sun, meaning "together" and ago, meaning, "to lead."
The difference may be that a synagogue is a group of people that are being lead together with the same purpose, while "ekklesia" are those who are called out of the world to become one body in the Messiah.
In that case, "churches" today and "synagogues" can, essentially, be the same thing. For instance, a group of people can be lead together with a single purpose, but that purpose could be as worldly as any other earthly-centered purpose. In contrast, those who are a part of Jesus’ body, they have been called out of the world, and they are living with a heavenly purpose. But their mark of distinction is that they have been called out of the world.
The problem in translating it comes in with the fact that there really is no English word that really captures the idea being expressed. We have no noun that depicts the meaning of this word. The only way to properly translate it is with the verbiage "called out [ones]." But that can sound very awkward in a sentence.
Therefore, it seems that the best way to express this word is by transliterating it, and then giving this endnote to explain why this is done.
50. "Hades" is a Greek mythological word representing the underworld abode of the dead, and it is probably the Greek translation of the Hebrew word sheol. In the Hebrew mindset of the Torah and the Prophets, it simply meant "the grave." For example see Genesis 37:35 where Jacob is referring to his son Joseph, when he had thought that he had been killed by a wild animal. Surely, Jacob was not referring to hell: "Then all his [Jacob’s] sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. And he said, "Surely I will go down to Sheol in mourning for my son." So his father wept for him."
51. The Greek root word used here, translated as "bind," is the Greek word deo. It is translated in other places as "should" (Matthew 18:3), "had" (John 4:4), and "shall" (Acts 21:11). In the particular case being discussed here, it is in the perfect, passive, indicative case.
52. The Greek word used here for "bound" is in the perfect passive voice.
53. The Greek word used here for "released" is in the perfect passive voice.
54. The Greek translated here as "God be gracious" is literally a word meaning "to be merciful." And the implication is that it is God that is being as such. It is also the same word used in Hebrews 8:12 that the NASB translates as "be merciful."
55. The Greek in this phrase says, "Get behind Me Satan." But it has been chosen to translate the word "Satan" into its more general meaning of "an adversary," which also means "enemy."
56. Even if you do choose to suffer loss in the things of the world now (if it really were a loss) in exchange for not losing your soul to hell, your gain will only be greater later.
57. Or "His holy angels . . ." Holy, meaning "set apart" with the idea of being "morally set apart."
58. Those standing there that did not die before they saw the Kingdom of God coming in power were Peter, Jacob, John, and Andrew. And they saw the Kingdom of God coming in power when the witnessed Jesus being transformed into His heavenly existence as He talked with Abraham and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration.
59. Matthew says it was "about eight days." But Mark knows exactly how many days it was, and that is why he says it was six days, without using any non-specific words like the word "about," which Matthew does use (for a full explanation see the preface).
So to keep with the principle of retaining every detail, the words ". . . or actually . . ." have been added.
60. There is a debate as to whether the two witness in Revelation 11:3 are Moses and Elijah or Elijah and Enoch. That it will be Elijah and Enoch is the most popularly held view because of the verse in Hebrews 9:27 that says, "it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment." And since Elijah and Enoch were the only two men ever mentioned in Scripture to have never died, it must be them – and so the argument goes.
There is a problem, however, with that, and that is that there are a whole lot of people who will not die since they will be raptured (1 Corinthians 15:52), and there is a handful of people who will die twice – Lazarus, for one example. Therefore, it has to be that this verse is actually teaching the inevitability of judgment after a person dies, rather than that he must die at least once in his life, or that He can’t die twice.
Now then, going back to the context of the text in reference, Jesus makes a very interesting statement, saying, "there truly are some standing here today who will not experience death until they see the Son of Man coming with the kingdom of God in power" After which, six days later Jesus took Peter, Jacob, and John with Him up on a mountain and appeared with Moses and Elijah in their glorified bodies. And in response, the disciples make a curious reply, saying, "why does it say that Elijah must come first (Matthew 17:10, Mark 9:11, author’s paraphrase, see Malachi 4:5)?"
Jesus answers – in essence – "It is not for you to know the times and seasons of the Son of Man’s coming in His glory, since it is going to be well after your life. But for you, the spirit of Elijah did come – in John the Baptist – but Israel did not receive him.
Don’t get Me wrong: Elijah will come; but he has already come in John the Baptist, and he was rejected. What good will it do then if Elijah does come?" This is author’s paraphrase, but it certainly is the essence of what Jesus was saying to them. (Also see endnote 3:77.)
61. In the original text, Matthew uses the Greek word for "Lord," while Luke uses the word "chief" and Mark uses the word "Rabbi." But since these three are somewhat interchangeable – in the Hebrew thinking – the word used here is the Mark chose to use. This is because in the Hebrew way of thinking back then, a "Rabbi" was the same as being a person’s chief or lord. Teachers (rabbis) were held in very high esteem.
62. The word "now" is added because it had just said a little earlier that "they were terrified (Mark 9:6),"after which it then adds that they were "extremely terrified."
63. The phrase: ". . . not to tell anyone about what they had seen . . ." is left off because it was redundant. The original says, "He ordered them not to tell anyone about what they had seen, saying, ‘Do not tell anyone about what you have seen. . . ." But just saying that he had said this was enough to get the point across.
64. The Greek literally reads, ". . . how long shall I be here with you? How long shall I endure with you?" But these two are combined in this text to read, ". . . how long shall I be here enduring with you?"
65. The Greek word translated as "trust" is the Greek word apistia. It is the same word translated as "believe" just above.
It is translated with these two different words to demonstrate, with the context, that the two words "trust" and "believe" are somewhat interchangeable. Hopefully, this will draw the reader’s attention to the fact that in the Greek they are both the same word apistia, which incorporates both of these meanings.
66. In Mark 9:29 the words ". . . and fasting" are not in the Nestle Alan Greek text. The Greek text of the Nestle Alan also does not have the entire verse of Matthew 17:21, which reads, in the NKJV as "However, this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting."
67. Based on the context of the gospels alone, this double-drachma tax is one of two taxes. Remember, the Jews wanted to kill Jesus (Matthew 12:13, John 7:20). And since the Jews that He fed when He fed the five thousand wanted to make Him king by force (John 6:15) – it also being the Passover – Jesus, instead of going up to Jerusalem for the feast – since the religious order wanted to kill Him – went out on a two way trip through Gentile territory, which included the areas of Tyre and Sidon (Matthew 15:21, Mark 7:24).
It is right after this trip, as Jesus returned to Capernaum, that the tax people came up to Peter and asked, "doesn’t your teacher pay the double-drachma tax?" (Matthew 17:24).
And so with this as the context, it is either the tax collector who would sit at the entrances of each of the cities under Roman rule to collect the tax as the people would enter into any certain city, or it is those who collect the Temple tax that came up to find Him so that they could get the tax they would have gotten if He had gone up to Jerusalem for the feast. The tax they did not collect from Him since He did not go to the feast but went out to the area of Tyre and Sidon instead.
What leans it towards being the Temple tax is because a two-drachma coin was the exact price of the Temple tax. The Temple tax according to Exodus 30:13 is a half shekel, which is the equivalent of a double-drachma.
There is also the immediate context, and in the immediate context, Jesus asks Peter how the world does something and then compares it with the kingdom of God, saying, "then the sons are free." Seemingly saying, in essence, "just like the world does it – where their sons are free from taxes – so it is with God’s kingdom, the sons are free from tax. But so that you won’t offend them – the rulers in the midst of God’s kingdom (the high priests, scribes, and the Pharisees) – give them the tax."
The fact that He contrasts it with the world government must indicate that he was talking about the tax for the Kingdom of God, and, therefore, it was the temple tax that was the issue in this case.
69. In the "original text," which is translated here as "Jesus spoke before Peter could say a thing . . ." is actually the Greek word prophthano, meaning "to anticipate." It comes from the same root word that we get the word "prophesy."
70. Mark uses the word "teacher," while Luke uses the word for "commander" – which is, in the Hebrew mind-set, a word popularly translated as "teacher" but also incorporates the meanings of "master," "commander," or "lord." (Also see endnote 5:60)
71. The verses of Luke 17:1-4 is a bit scrambled at this point. Therefore, so that the thoughts would flow together better when the details from Matthew are put with it, Luke 17:1 was put in this verse, Luke 17:2 was put in the previous verse, and Luke 17:3-4 was put in the next verse.
72. Concerning Gehenna, see endnote 3:50.
Also, Mark’s portion, which is identical to Matthew’s in thought, has been condensed here because Matthew says the exact same thing except in fewer words. He has done this by wording it according to the following example: "For it is better for you to go through life crippled or lame than for both of your hands and feet to be thrown into the everlasting fire." Rather than the more verbose way Mark words it, saying: ". . . than for both your hands to be thrown into the everlasting fire, and both your feet to be thrown into the everlasting fire (author’s paraphrase of Mark 9:43 and 45)."
Matthew also has this exact same saying of Jesus in chapter five starting at verse twenty-nine. And there is no legitimate reason to believe it was not said at both times. In fact it is highly likely that Jesus repeated several of his teachings, especially if it was important, more than once. One example is the times Jesus talks about how no one lights a lamp and then hides it (Luke 8:16 and 11:33.)
Also, concerning verses 44 and 46 in Mark, the phrase, as the NKJV has it, "Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched" is not found in the Nestle Alan Greek text except once – in Mark 9:48.
73. Matthew 18:11 is not in the Nestle Alan Greek text. The NKJV has it with the words "For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost."
74. In Luke’s account, the phrase " against you" is not included. It is a detail only Matthew gives.
75. The Greek, which translated here as "stopped," is actually the word for "repent." It literally means to change ones way of thinking. But for a further explanation of this word, see endnote 2:2.
76. This is not to say that we now have some supreme authority as believers, and that whatever we say is true is true, or that whatever we believe about a person is right. What it does do is make us accountable for everything we stand on here in our decisions in life. If we hold someone to their sin falsely, we will have to answer for it in the judgment.
That is not to say that non-believers do not have accountability to God. What it means is that we as believers now no longer live in ignorance as the heathen, but we are, in fact, more accountable – especially leaders, which is what this passage is referring to (Luke 12:47-48).
Sure, whatever decision a leader makes will stand, under his authority, but that does not make it a good decision, or even the right one – God’s purpose still stands.
77. Or "that they have asked. . . ."
78. This is probably a principle Peter extracted from the account of Cain being cursed seven times (Genesis 4:24). In essence, what Peter is saying is: Should I forgive someone like Cain but not someone like Lamech (Genesis 4:23-24)?"
This could have also been a latent belief and principle held by those who lived among the land of the Bible, kind of like us when we say things like, "cleanliness is next to Godliness."
79. The Greek word murioi means "ten thousand." In this instance, it is in the plural form, which makes it mean "tens of thousands."
80. The Greek plainly says, "he."
81. Throughout this project, similar accounts in different gospels, by necessity, were woven together because of their many identical details, as well as their similar implications. However, when this is done, there are also those details that are unique to one particular gospel or the other. Most of the times this has happened, it is nothing extraordinary.
This time, however, it has created a very interesting combination of ideas. They are the ones we find in Matthew 18:35 and Mark 9:49-50. However, the only way to really see this is when one considers how these details fell together himself. But that is something you need to go through on your own to really see and understand it. Therefore, it is suggested that you take Matthew 18:35 and Mark 9:49-50 and consider them in light of each other.
82. The actual Greek word for ". . . restore it" is artuo and it literally means "to make ready." Also see endnotes 3:45 and 7:60.
