1
Καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς πάλιν εἶπεν ⸂ἐν παραβολαῖς αὐτοῖς⸃ λέγων·
And answering, Jesus again spoke to them in parables, saying,
2
Ὡμοιώθη ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἀνθρώπῳ βασιλεῖ, ὅστις ἐποίησεν γάμους τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ.
“The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man, a king, who made a wedding feast for his son.
3
καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ καλέσαι τοὺς κεκλημένους εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον ἐλθεῖν.
And he sent his slaves to call those invited to the wedding feast, and they would not come.
4
πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν ἄλλους δούλους λέγων· Εἴπατε τοῖς κεκλημένοις· Ἰδοὺ τὸ ἄριστόν μου ⸀ἡτοίμακα, οἱ ταῦροί μου καὶ τὰ σιτιστὰ τεθυμένα, καὶ πάντα ἕτοιμα· δεῦτε εἰς τοὺς γάμους.
Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those invited: Behold, I have prepared my lunch; my oxen and fatted beasts are killed and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.'
5
οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον, ⸀ὃς μὲν εἰς τὸν ἴδιον ἀγρόν, ⸁ὃς δὲ ⸀ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμπορίαν αὐτοῦ·
But they paid no attention and went off, one to his own field, another to his trade;
6
οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ κρατήσαντες τοὺς δούλους αὐτοῦ ὕβρισαν καὶ ἀπέκτειναν.
and the rest seized his slaves, insulted them and killed them.
7
⸂ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς⸃ ὠργίσθη, καὶ πέμψας τὰ στρατεύματα αὐτοῦ ἀπώλεσεν τοὺς φονεῖς ἐκείνους καὶ τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν ἐνέπρησεν.
And the king was enraged, and sending his armies he destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8
τότε λέγει τοῖς δούλοις αὐτοῦ· Ὁ μὲν γάμος ἕτοιμός ἐστιν, οἱ δὲ κεκλημένοι οὐκ ἦσαν ἄξιοι·
Then he says to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
9
πορεύεσθε οὖν ἐπὶ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὁδῶν, καὶ ὅσους ⸀ἐὰν εὕρητε καλέσατε εἰς τοὺς γάμους.
Go therefore to the crossroads, and whomever you find, call to the wedding feast.'
10
καὶ ἐξελθόντες οἱ δοῦλοι ἐκεῖνοι εἰς τὰς ὁδοὺς συνήγαγον πάντας ⸀οὓς εὗρον, πονηρούς τε καὶ ἀγαθούς· καὶ ἐπλήσθη ὁ ⸀γάμος ἀνακειμένων.
And going out into the roads, those slaves gathered all whom they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11
εἰσελθὼν δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς θεάσασθαι τοὺς ἀνακειμένους εἶδεν ἐκεῖ ἄνθρωπον οὐκ ἐνδεδυμένον ἔνδυμα γάμου·
But the king, coming in to look at the guests, saw there a man not clothed in a wedding garment,
12
καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἑταῖρε, πῶς εἰσῆλθες ὧδε μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου; ὁ δὲ ἐφιμώθη.
and he says to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was muzzled.
13
τότε ⸂ὁ βασιλεὺς εἶπεν⸃ τοῖς διακόνοις· Δήσαντες αὐτοῦ πόδας καὶ χεῖρας ⸂ἐκβάλετε αὐτὸν⸃ εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον· ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων.
Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind his feet and hands and throw him out into the outer dark. There there will be the weeping and the grinding of teeth.'
Why this rendering
Matt.22.13 Observation
Syntactic observation
The outer darkness and the weeping and grinding of teeth are **Matthew's phrases alone.** σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον stands at three places (8:12, 22:13, 25:30), and the word ἐξώτερος occurs only in Matthew. ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων stands at six places in Matthew (8:12, 13:42, 50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30) and once more at Luke 13:28, and βρυγμός is in neither Mark nor John. So this one sentence is built from two words no other book in the corpus uses, repeated six times as this book's closing picture. The parable itself is Matthew's too: γάμος, wedding feast, occurs nine times in Matthew, eight of them in this chapter, twice in Luke and twice in John (the wedding at Cana), and never in Mark. κλητός, called, at v.14 is unique in the corpus. στράτευμα, army, at v.7 stands at two places, the other **Luke 23:11**, where Herod with his soldiers treats Jesus with contempt. The address ἑταῖρε, friend, at v.12 is one of Matthew's three (20:13, 22:12, 26:50), all three at a place where a relation has gone wrong.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “the outer darkness” and “weeping and grinding of teeth” — one rendering across the six
Basis Matthew repeats the phrase, so one fixed rendering is needed for the repetition to show; matched to 8:12, 13:42, 50, 24:51, 25:30.
Vary the rendering to suit each context
Basis The six contexts differ, so the reading is made natural at each.
Rejected The repetition is what the phrase does; varying it hides that Matthew closes six passages with the same words.
14
πολλοὶ γάρ εἰσιν κλητοὶ ὀλίγοι δὲ ἐκλεκτοί.
For many are called, but few chosen.”
15
Τότε πορευθέντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι συμβούλιον ἔλαβον ὅπως αὐτὸν παγιδεύσωσιν ἐν λόγῳ.
Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might trap him in a word.
16
καὶ ἀποστέλλουσιν αὐτῷ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτῶν μετὰ τῶν Ἡρῳδιανῶν ⸀λέγοντες· Διδάσκαλε, οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἀληθὴς εἶ καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ διδάσκεις, καὶ οὐ μέλει σοι περὶ οὐδενός, οὐ γὰρ βλέπεις εἰς πρόσωπον ἀνθρώπων·
And they send their disciples to him with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God in truth, and that you defer to no one, for you do not look at the face of men.
17
εἰπὸν οὖν ἡμῖν τί σοι δοκεῖ· ἔξεστιν δοῦναι κῆνσον Καίσαρι ἢ οὔ;
Tell us therefore what you think: is it lawful to give the kensos to Caesar, or not?”
18
γνοὺς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὴν πονηρίαν αὐτῶν εἶπεν· Τί με πειράζετε, ὑποκριταί;
But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said, “Why do you test me, hypocrites?
19
ἐπιδείξατέ μοι τὸ νόμισμα τοῦ κήνσου. οἱ δὲ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δηνάριον.
Show me the coin of the kensos.” And they brought him a denarius.
Why this rendering
Matt.22.19 Observation
Syntactic observation
κῆνσος, the word for the tax, is Latin census written in Greek letters. It stands three times in Matthew (17:25, 22:17, 19), once in Mark (12:14), never in John. νόμισμα, current coin, is unique to Matthew. The procedure differs too: at Mark 12:15 Jesus names the coin — bring me a denarius that I may see it — while at Matthew 22:19 he does not — show me the coin of the tax — and they bring a δηνάριον. So in Matthew the words come in two layers: he asks with a Latin word for the tax and a Greek word for the coinage, and what is produced is a denarius, Latin again. The εἰκών, image, and ἐπιγραφή, inscription, of v.20 are the same in all three books — Luke 20:24 has them too. Mark's τί με πειράζετε, why do you test me, stands at 12:15 and Matthew's at 18, where Matthew adds ὑποκριταί, hypocrites — a word occurring thirteen times in Matthew, three in Luke and once in Mark.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “the coin of the tax”, and they bring “a denarius” — the layers kept
Basis Follows the transliteration of coins and keeps the change of word between question and answer; the coin is not named in advance as in Mark.
Name the denarius in the question too, as in Mark
Basis One event, so the reading is evened out.
Rejected Matthew has νόμισμα in the question and δηνάριον in the answer; matching erases a word unique to Matthew and flattens two layers into one.
20
καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Τίνος ἡ εἰκὼν αὕτη καὶ ἡ ἐπιγραφή;
And he says to them, “Whose is this image and inscription?”
21
λέγουσιν ⸀αὐτῷ· Καίσαρος. τότε λέγει αὐτοῖς· Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ.
They say to him, “Caesar's.” Then he says to them, “Render therefore Caesar's things to Caesar, and God's things to God.”
22
καὶ ἀκούσαντες ἐθαύμασαν, καὶ ἀφέντες αὐτὸν ἀπῆλθαν.
And hearing it they marvelled; and leaving him they went away.
23
Ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ προσῆλθον αὐτῷ Σαδδουκαῖοι, ⸀λέγοντες μὴ εἶναι ἀνάστασιν, καὶ ἐπηρώτησαν αὐτὸν
On that day Sadducees came to him, who say there is no resurrection, and they questioned him,
24
λέγοντες· Διδάσκαλε, Μωϋσῆς εἶπεν· Ἐάν τις ἀποθάνῃ μὴ ἔχων τέκνα, ἐπιγαμβρεύσει ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀναστήσει σπέρμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ.
saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If someone dies having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed for his brother.'
Why this rendering
Matt.22.24 Observation
Syntactic observation
The same regulation is stated by Matthew with a single word and by Mark by paraphrase. Matthew 22:24 has ἐπιγαμβρεύσει — one verb for marrying a brother's widow to raise offspring, unique in the corpus. Mark 12:19 has no such verb: ἵνα λάβῃ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν γυναῖκα, that his brother take the wife — and Luke 20:28 paraphrases it in the same words. **Only Matthew says it with one word.** The introduction differs too — Matthew Μωϋσῆς εἶπεν, Moses said; Mark and Luke both Μωϋσῆς ἔγραψεν ἡμῖν, Moses wrote for us. And the verb of raising offspring differs by a prefix: Matthew ἀναστήσει, Mark and Luke ἐξαναστήσῃ. The key word of the paragraph, ἀνάστασις, resurrection, occurs four times in Matthew (22:23, 28, 30, 31), twice in Mark (12:18, 23), six times in Luke and four in John — and Matthew's ἀναστήσει at 22:24 shares its root: raising up seed for a dead brother and the rising of the dead come from one stem and stand in one paragraph.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed for his brother” — the root kept
Basis The single Greek verb must be unfolded in English and Korean, but raise is chosen so the echo with resurrection survives inside the paragraph.
Render by the name of the institution
Basis The reader sees at once what regulation is meant.
Rejected The text names no institution, only a verb; and the rendering loses raise, cutting the root-link to the dispute about resurrection.
Lost in translation
the single word ἐπιγαμβρεύω Greek says it with one verb; English and Korean must unfold it into a clause. The very contrast — Matthew using one word where Mark paraphrases — disappears in translation, since both become paraphrases.
25
ἦσαν δὲ παρ’ ἡμῖν ἑπτὰ ἀδελφοί· καὶ ὁ πρῶτος ⸀γήμας ἐτελεύτησεν, καὶ μὴ ἔχων σπέρμα ἀφῆκεν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ·
Now there were among us seven brothers. And the first married and died, and having no seed he left his wife to his brother.
26
ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ δεύτερος καὶ ὁ τρίτος, ἕως τῶν ἑπτά·
So also the second and the third, up to the seventh.
27
ὕστερον δὲ πάντων ἀπέθανεν ⸀ἡ γυνή.
And last of all the woman died.
28
ἐν τῇ ⸂ἀναστάσει οὖν⸃ τίνος τῶν ἑπτὰ ἔσται γυνή; πάντες γὰρ ἔσχον αὐτήν.
In the resurrection, then, of which of the seven will she be the wife? For they all had her.”
29
Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Πλανᾶσθε μὴ εἰδότες τὰς γραφὰς μηδὲ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ θεοῦ·
And answering, Jesus said to them, “You go astray, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.
30
ἐν γὰρ τῇ ἀναστάσει οὔτε γαμοῦσιν οὔτε ⸀γαμίζονται, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἄγγελοι ⸀θεοῦ ἐν ⸀τῷ οὐρανῷ εἰσιν·
For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels of God in heaven.
31
περὶ δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑμῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λέγοντος·
But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying,
32
Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακώβ; οὐκ ἔστιν ⸂ὁ θεὸς⸃ νεκρῶν ἀλλὰ ζώντων.
‘I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33
καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ ὄχλοι ἐξεπλήσσοντο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ.
And hearing it the crowds were astounded at his teaching.
34
Οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἀκούσαντες ὅτι ἐφίμωσεν τοὺς Σαδδουκαίους συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό.
But the Pharisees, hearing that he had muzzled the Sadducees, gathered together in one place.
Why this rendering
Matt.22.34 Observation
Syntactic observation
φιμόω means to muzzle, to stop the mouth. It occurs twice in Matthew (22:12, 34), twice in Mark (1:25, 4:39), once in Luke (4:35) and never in John. But **what it is used on differs from book to book**: in Mark on a demon (1:25) and on wind and sea (4:39); in Luke on a demon (4:35, the parallel of Mark 1:25); in Matthew on people — at v.12 the man without a wedding garment is muzzled, and at v.34 the Pharisees hear that Jesus has muzzled the Sadducees. The same word silences nature and spirits in Mark and Luke, and wins arguments in Matthew. **Only Matthew uses it on people.** The whole chapter has that shape: the Herodians at 22:15, the Sadducees at 23, the Pharisees at 34, closing at 46 with from that day no one dared to question him any more. At v.41 the direction reverses and Jesus questions the Pharisees — where Mark 12:35 has no such turn, Jesus simply teaching. Verse 43 diverges too: Matthew ἐν πνεύματι, in spirit; Mark 12:36 ἐν τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ, in the Holy Spirit.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “muzzled” — the root joined to Mark 1:25 and 4:39
Basis Five places, one word; one rendering is needed for it to show that the three books apply it to different objects.
Soften to “silenced”, suiting each context
Basis Muzzled sounds harsh in a debate.
Rejected The harshness is the datum: what is visible here is that Matthew uses on people the word Mark and Luke use on wind and demons, and softening cuts that link.
35
καὶ ἐπηρώτησεν εἷς ἐξ αὐτῶν νομικὸς πειράζων ⸀αὐτόν·
And one of them, a lawyer, asked, testing him,
36
Διδάσκαλε, ποία ἐντολὴ μεγάλη ἐν τῷ νόμῳ;
“Teacher, which commandment is great in the law?”
37
ὁ ⸀δὲ ἔφη αὐτῷ· Ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ ⸀τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ ⸁τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου·
And he said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God in all your heart and in all your life and in all your mind.'
Why this rendering
Matt.22.37 Observation
Syntactic observation
Four things diverge here. First, **Mark has the opening line of the Shema and Matthew does not** — Mark 12:29 begins ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ, κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν κύριος εἷς ἐστιν, hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, where Matthew goes straight to ἀγαπήσεις. Second, **the count differs** — Mark has four (καρδία, ψυχή, διάνοια, ἰσχύς) and Matthew three, without ἰσχύς, strength. And this is not a local omission: **ἰσχύς never occurs anywhere in Matthew.** Mark uses it twice, at 12:30 and 12:33, and Luke 10:27 also names all four — so **only Matthew counts three.** Third, the preposition differs — Mark has ἐξ ὅλης, out of all, for each of the four; Matthew ἐν ὅλῃ, in all, for each of the three; and **Luke mixes** — ἐξ ὅλης for the heart and ἐν ὅλῃ for the other three. Three books, three patterns. Fourth, what follows differs — Mark has 12:32-34, where the scribe answers back approvingly and Jesus tells him he is not far from the kingdom of God; Matthew has none of it, and instead has 22:40, on these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets, which Mark lacks. The question differs too: Mark 12:28 asks for ἐντολὴ πρώτη πάντων, the first commandment of all; Matthew 22:36 for ἐντολὴ μεγάλη, a great commandment.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted Three only, with “in all your…” — and no Shema line supplied
Basis Nothing absent from the base text is supplied. Since ἰσχύς is absent from the whole of Matthew, the three here reflect the book's vocabulary, not a local slip.
Supply strength and the Shema line from Mark
Basis One quotation, so it is filled out to the complete form.
Rejected It is not in the base text, and supplying it hides that Matthew never uses the word. That the two books quote one passage differently is what is visible here.
38
αὕτη ἐστὶν ⸂ἡ μεγάλη καὶ πρώτη⸃ ἐντολή.
This is the great and first commandment.
39
Δευτέρα ⸀δὲ ὁμοία ⸀αὐτῇ· Ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.
And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.'
40
ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος ⸂κρέμαται καὶ οἱ προφῆται⸃.
On these two commandments hang the whole law, and the prophets.”
41
Συνηγμένων δὲ τῶν Φαρισαίων ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἰησοῦς
And while the Pharisees were gathered, Jesus questioned them,
42
λέγων· Τί ὑμῖν δοκεῖ περὶ τοῦ χριστοῦ; τίνος υἱός ἐστιν; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Τοῦ Δαυίδ.
saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They say to him, “David's.”
43
λέγει αὐτοῖς· Πῶς οὖν Δαυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι ⸂καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον⸃ λέγων·
He says to them, “How then does David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
44
⸀Εἶπεν κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ⸀ὑποκάτω τῶν ποδῶν σου;
‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right until I put your enemies under your feet'?
45
εἰ οὖν Δαυὶδ καλεῖ αὐτὸν κύριον, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν;
If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
46
καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐδύνατο ⸂ἀποκριθῆναι αὐτῷ⸃ λόγον, οὐδὲ ἐτόλμησέν τις ἀπ’ ἐκείνης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπερωτῆσαι αὐτὸν οὐκέτι.
And no one was able to answer him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day to question him any more.