1
Καὶ ⸀ἐμβὰς ⸀εἰς πλοῖον διεπέρασεν καὶ ἦλθεν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν πόλιν.
And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own town.
2
Καὶ ἰδοὺ προσέφερον αὐτῷ παραλυτικὸν ἐπὶ κλίνης βεβλημένον. καὶ ἰδὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὴν πίστιν αὐτῶν εἶπεν τῷ παραλυτικῷ· Θάρσει, τέκνον· ⸀ἀφίενταί ⸂σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι⸃.
And look — they brought him a paralysed man lying on a bed. And seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralysed man, “Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.”
3
καὶ ἰδού τινες τῶν γραμματέων εἶπαν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· Οὗτος βλασφημεῖ.
And look — some of the scribes said among themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”
4
καὶ ⸀εἰδὼς ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὰς ἐνθυμήσεις αὐτῶν εἶπεν· ⸀Ἱνατί ἐνθυμεῖσθε πονηρὰ ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν;
And knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you think evil things in your hearts?
5
τί γάρ ἐστιν εὐκοπώτερον, εἰπεῖν· ⸀Ἀφίενταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι, ἢ εἰπεῖν· ⸀Ἔγειρε καὶ περιπάτει;
For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, ‘Rise and walk'?
6
ἵνα δὲ εἰδῆτε ὅτι ἐξουσίαν ἔχει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας— τότε λέγει τῷ παραλυτικῷ· ⸀Ἐγερθεὶς ἆρόν σου τὴν κλίνην καὶ ὕπαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου.
But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” — then he says to the paralysed man, “Rise, take up your bed and go to your house.”
7
καὶ ἐγερθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ.
And rising, he went away to his house.
8
ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ὄχλοι ⸀ἐφοβήθησαν καὶ ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν τὸν δόντα ἐξουσίαν τοιαύτην τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
And seeing it the crowds were afraid, and glorified God who had given such authority to people.
9
Καὶ παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἀκολούθει μοι· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἠκολούθησεν αὐτῷ.
And passing on from there Jesus saw a man sitting at the tax booth, called Matthew; and he says to him, “Follow me.” And rising, he followed him.
Why this rendering
Matt.9.9 Observation
Syntactic observation
The two books put different names into nearly the same sentence. Mark 2:14: παράγων εἶδεν Λευὶν τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἀκολούθει μοι. Matthew 9:9: παράγων ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄνθρωπον καθήμενον ἐπὶ τὸ τελώνιον, Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ἀκολούθει μοι. Passing by — saw — sitting at the tax booth — follow me all overlap; what differs is the name: Mark has Λευίν τὸν τοῦ Ἁλφαίου, Levi son of Alphaeus; Matthew Μαθθαῖον λεγόμενον, a man called Matthew. And Matthew sets him down first as ἄνθρωπον, a man, attaching the name after — Mark names him at once. Μαθθαῖος is in Mark too, in the list of the twelve at 3:18, and in Luke's list at 6:15. And Luke 5:27 calls the man at the booth τελώνην ὀνόματι Λευίν, a tax collector named Levi — **Luke is with Mark.** So all three books know both names, but Mark and Luke put Levi at the booth and only Matthew puts Matthew there. In Matthew's own list at 10:3 the name carries ὁ τελώνης, the tax collector; Mark 3:18 has no such qualifier.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “a man called Matthew” — kept distinct from Mark's Levi son of Alphaeus
Basis Renders the name each book prints and keeps the word order as written. What relation the two names have the text does not say, and neither does the translation.
“Matthew, also called Levi”
Basis Harmonises the gospels and identifies the man.
Rejected Nothing in the text says they are the same man. That the two books put different names here is what this corpus can show, and merging them removes it from the translation.
10
Καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτοῦ ἀνακειμένου ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, ⸀καὶ ἰδοὺ πολλοὶ τελῶναι καὶ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐλθόντες συνανέκειντο τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ.
And as he was reclining at table in the house — look — many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples.
11
καὶ ἰδόντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι ⸀ἔλεγον τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· Διὰ τί μετὰ τῶν τελωνῶν καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐσθίει ὁ διδάσκαλος ὑμῶν;
And seeing it the Pharisees said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12
ὁ ⸀δὲ ἀκούσας ⸀εἶπεν· Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν οἱ ἰσχύοντες ἰατροῦ ἀλλὰ οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες.
And hearing it he said, “Those who are strong have no need of a physician, but those who are ill.
13
πορευθέντες δὲ μάθετε τί ἐστιν· Ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν· οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ⸀ἁμαρτωλούς.
Go and learn what this is: ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.' For I did not come to call righteous but sinners.”
Why this rendering
Matt.9.13 Observation
Syntactic observation
A quotation is inserted — Ἔλεος θέλω καὶ οὐ θυσίαν, I want mercy and not sacrifice. The same scene in Mark 2:17 has no such quotation: it ends with those who are strong have no need of a physician… I did not come to call righteous but sinners. Matthew inserts Hosea into that gap, and uses the same quotation again at 12:7 — both places found only in Matthew. ἔλεος occurs three times in Matthew (9:13, 12:7, 23:23), six times in Luke (1:50, 54, 58, 72, 78; 10:37) and never in Mark — Luke's cluster almost all in the songs of ch. 1, while Matthew's three all stand in sayings about the law. The way the quotation is introduced is unusual too: πορευθέντες μάθετε τί ἐστιν — go and learn what this is, two imperatives stacked. And Matthew 9:13 then continues Mark 2:17 word for word: οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς stands in both books. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἁμαρτωλούς.).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “I want mercy and not sacrifice” — one word with 12:7 and 23:23
Basis Holds ἔλεος to one word across Matthew's three places, and renders the sentence after it as at Mark 2:17 so the overlap shows.
Alternate mercy and compassion between the places
Basis Chooses what suits each context.
Rejected That Matthew uses one word three times is the datum — and since at 23:23 it is one of the three weightier matters of the law, only a matching rendering keeps the link to 9:13 visible.
14
Τότε προσέρχονται αὐτῷ οἱ μαθηταὶ Ἰωάννου λέγοντες· Διὰ τί ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ Φαρισαῖοι νηστεύομεν ⸀πολλά, οἱ δὲ μαθηταί σου οὐ νηστεύουσιν;
Then the disciples of John come to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?”
15
καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Μὴ δύνανται οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ νυμφῶνος πενθεῖν ἐφ’ ὅσον μετ’ αὐτῶν ἐστιν ὁ νυμφίος; ἐλεύσονται δὲ ἡμέραι ὅταν ἀπαρθῇ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν ὁ νυμφίος, καὶ τότε νηστεύσουσιν.
And Jesus said to them, “Can the sons of the wedding hall mourn while the bridegroom is with them? But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16
οὐδεὶς δὲ ἐπιβάλλει ἐπίβλημα ῥάκους ἀγνάφου ἐπὶ ἱματίῳ παλαιῷ· αἴρει γὰρ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἱματίου, καὶ χεῖρον σχίσμα γίνεται.
No one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for what fills it pulls away from the cloak and a worse tear results.
17
οὐδὲ βάλλουσιν οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς παλαιούς· εἰ δὲ μή γε, ῥήγνυνται οἱ ἀσκοί, καὶ ὁ οἶνος ἐκχεῖται καὶ οἱ ἀσκοὶ ⸀ἀπόλλυνται· ἀλλὰ βάλλουσιν οἶνον νέον εἰς ἀσκοὺς καινούς, καὶ ἀμφότεροι συντηροῦνται.
Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.”
18
Ταῦτα αὐτοῦ λαλοῦντος αὐτοῖς ἰδοὺ ἄρχων εἷς ⸀ἐλθὼν προσεκύνει αὐτῷ λέγων ὅτι Ἡ θυγάτηρ μου ἄρτι ἐτελεύτησεν· ἀλλὰ ἐλθὼν ἐπίθες τὴν χεῖρά σου ἐπ’ αὐτήν, καὶ ζήσεται.
While he was saying these things to them — look — a certain ruler came and bowed before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.”
Why this rendering
Matt.9.18 Observation
Syntactic observation
The visitor's title divides. Matthew has ἄρχων εἷς, a certain ruler, and gives no name. Mark 5:22 has εἷς τῶν ἀρχισυναγώγων, ὀνόματι Ἰάϊρος — one of the synagogue rulers, Jairus by name. Luke 8:41 is different again — ἀνὴρ ᾧ ὄνομα Ἰάϊρος, καὶ οὗτος ἄρχων τῆς συναγωγῆς ὑπῆρχεν: Matthew's word (ἄρχων) with of the synagogue added, and the name given as in Mark. So there are three ways: Mark a single word for the office plus the name; Luke Matthew's word qualified by the synagogue, plus the name; **Matthew the bare word and no name at all.** ἀρχισυνάγωγος stands four times in Mark and twice in Luke, and never in Matthew. The daughter's state divides too: Matthew has ἄρτι ἐτελεύτησεν, she has just died; Mark 5:23 has ἐσχάτως ἔχει, she is at the point of death; Luke 8:42 has αὐτὴ ἀπέθνῃσκεν, she was dying. In Mark and Luke she is still alive, and the news arrives at 5:35 and 8:49 respectively. **Only Matthew has her dead from the start.** So in Matthew the request is made over a child already dead; in Mark over a dying child, with the death heard on the way. Matthew's account is shorter, without Mark's messengers (5:35-36) or the three disciples taken along (5:37). SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἐλθὼν).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “a certain ruler” — title and namelessness both kept apart from Mark
Basis Renders the title Matthew uses and supplies no name; Mark 5:22 already reads synagogue ruler… Jairus, so the two places stand apart.
“Jairus, a synagogue ruler,” matched to Mark
Basis One event, so the information is filled in.
Rejected Neither the name nor that title is in Matthew's text. That Matthew withholds the name and takes a broader title is how this book narrates, and filling it in erases the difference between the books.
19
καὶ ἐγερθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ⸀ἠκολούθει αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ.
And rising, Jesus followed him, and so did his disciples.
20
Καὶ ἰδοὺ γυνὴ αἱμορροοῦσα δώδεκα ἔτη προσελθοῦσα ὄπισθεν ἥψατο τοῦ κρασπέδου τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ·
And look — a woman bleeding for twelve years came up behind and touched the fringe of his cloak;
Why this rendering
Matt.9.20 Observation
Syntactic observation
What the woman touches is τὸ κράσπεδον τοῦ ἱματίου, the fringe of his cloak. At the same scene Mark 5:27 has ἥψατο τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ — she touched his cloak, with no κράσπεδον. Mark does know the word, at 6:56, where people beg to touch even the fringe of his cloak. But Luke 8:44 writes τοῦ κρασπέδου τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ in this scene, as Matthew does — **Mark alone leaves the fringe out here.** Matthew uses it three times (9:20, 14:36, 23:5), and at 23:5 it is the Pharisees lengthening their fringes — the same word once a channel of healing, once a mark of display. αἱμορροέω, to bleed, occurs once in the whole corpus; Mark 5:25 and Luke 8:43 both use a different expression, ἐν ῥύσει αἵματος, in a flow of blood.
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “the fringe of his cloak” — kept distinct from Mark 5:27's cloak
Basis Renders narrowly what Matthew narrowed, and holds it to one word with 23:5.
Render loosely as “his garment”
Basis Reads more easily.
Rejected Mark really does say only cloak in this scene. Rendering Matthew the same way erases that the two books used different words here, and breaks the link to the fringes of 23:5.
21
ἔλεγεν γὰρ ἐν ἑαυτῇ· Ἐὰν μόνον ἅψωμαι τοῦ ἱματίου αὐτοῦ σωθήσομαι.
for she was saying within herself, “If I only touch his cloak I will be saved.”
22
ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ⸀στραφεὶς καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὴν εἶπεν· Θάρσει, θύγατερ· ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε. καὶ ἐσώθη ἡ γυνὴ ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης.
And Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has saved you.” And the woman was saved from that hour.
23
καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ ἄρχοντος καὶ ἰδὼν τοὺς αὐλητὰς καὶ τὸν ὄχλον θορυβούμενον
And coming into the ruler's house and seeing the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,
24
⸀ἔλεγεν· Ἀναχωρεῖτε, οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν τὸ κοράσιον ἀλλὰ καθεύδει· καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ.
he was saying, “Withdraw; for the girl did not die but is sleeping.” And they were laughing at him.
25
ὅτε δὲ ἐξεβλήθη ὁ ὄχλος, εἰσελθὼν ἐκράτησεν τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς, καὶ ἠγέρθη τὸ κοράσιον.
But when the crowd had been put out, he went in and took hold of her hand, and the girl rose.
26
καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ἡ φήμη αὕτη εἰς ὅλην τὴν γῆν ἐκείνην.
And this report went out into that whole land.
27
Καὶ παράγοντι ἐκεῖθεν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἠκολούθησαν ⸀αὐτῷ δύο τυφλοὶ κράζοντες καὶ λέγοντες· Ἐλέησον ἡμᾶς, ⸀υἱὲ Δαυίδ.
And as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying out and saying, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
28
ἐλθόντι δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν προσῆλθον αὐτῷ οἱ τυφλοί, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Πιστεύετε ὅτι δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι; λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· Ναί, κύριε.
And when he had come into the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus says to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They say to him, “Yes, Lord.”
29
τότε ἥψατο τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν λέγων· Κατὰ τὴν πίστιν ὑμῶν γενηθήτω ὑμῖν.
Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be done for you.”
30
καὶ ἠνεῴχθησαν αὐτῶν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί. καὶ ⸀ἐνεβριμήθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς λέγων· Ὁρᾶτε μηδεὶς γινωσκέτω·
And their eyes were opened. And Jesus snorted at them, saying, “See that no one knows.”
Why this rendering
Matt.9.30 Observation
Syntactic observation
ἐνεβριμήθη is ἐμβριμάομαι, a word from the snorting of an animal, and it occurs at five places in this corpus: Matthew 9:30, Mark 1:43 and 14:5, John 11:33 and 38. Three of the four books use it — never Luke — and each of the three puts it in a different scene — Mark 1:43 to the man cleansed of leprosy, 14:5 of the bystanders' reaction to the woman with the ointment, John 11:33 and 38 of Jesus before Lazarus's tomb, and here of the charge to silence given to two men whose eyes have opened. The emotion the word points to seems to differ by place, but the word is one, and this corpus has held all five to a single rendering. The command that follows is Ὁρᾶτε μηδεὶς γινωσκέτω — see that no one knows — and in v.31 they at once spread the report through the whole land. SBLGNT marks a variant in this verse (⸀ἐνεβριμήθη).
Rendering options · 2
Adopted “snorting at them” — one rendering across all five places
Basis Follows the fixed corpus decision (settled at John 11:33, 38 and applied to Mark 1:43, 14:5). The emotion may look different by place, but the word is one.
Vary it by scene, e.g. “sternly warned”
Basis Fits the tone of each scene.
Rejected This project did render Mark 1:43 as sternly charged and corrected it in the ch. 14 self-check. Varying by scene makes it impossible to count that one word crosses all three authors.
Lost in translation
the range of the emotion One word covers a command after a healing, a reaction at a tomb, and a noise made over an ointment. One rendering strains in each place; separate renderings lose that it is one word — this corpus chose the latter loss.
31
οἱ δὲ ἐξελθόντες διεφήμισαν αὐτὸν ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ γῇ ἐκείνῃ.
But going out they spread the report of him through that whole land.
32
Αὐτῶν δὲ ἐξερχομένων ἰδοὺ προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ ⸀ἄνθρωπον κωφὸν δαιμονιζόμενον·
And as they were going out — look — they brought him a mute man who was demon-possessed.
33
καὶ ἐκβληθέντος τοῦ δαιμονίου ἐλάλησεν ὁ κωφός. καὶ ἐθαύμασαν οἱ ὄχλοι λέγοντες· Οὐδέποτε ἐφάνη οὕτως ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ.
And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marvelled, saying, “Never has anything like this appeared in Israel.”
34
οἱ δὲ Φαρισαῖοι ἔλεγον· Ἐν τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων ἐκβάλλει τὰ δαιμόνια.
But the Pharisees were saying, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”
35
Καὶ περιῆγεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς τὰς πόλεις πάσας καὶ τὰς κώμας, διδάσκων ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς αὐτῶν καὶ κηρύσσων τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας καὶ θεραπεύων πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν ⸀μαλακίαν.
And Jesus went about all the towns and the villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every weakness.
36
Ἰδὼν δὲ τοὺς ὄχλους ἐσπλαγχνίσθη περὶ αὐτῶν ὅτι ἦσαν ἐσκυλμένοι καὶ ἐρριμμένοι ⸀ὡσεὶ πρόβατα μὴ ἔχοντα ποιμένα.
And seeing the crowds he was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and flung down like sheep having no shepherd.
37
τότε λέγει τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· Ὁ μὲν θερισμὸς πολύς, οἱ δὲ ἐργάται ὀλίγοι·
Then he says to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few;
38
δεήθητε οὖν τοῦ κυρίου τοῦ θερισμοῦ ὅπως ἐκβάλῃ ἐργάτας εἰς τὸν θερισμὸν αὐτοῦ.
so ask the lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.”