HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  Jesus and the Temple Tax

  24When they reached Capernaum, the collectors of the temple taxi came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the temple tax?”j 25He said, “Yes, he does.” And when he came home, Jesus spoke of it first, asking, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tribute? From their children or from others?” 26When Peterk said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the children are free. 27However, so that we do not give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin;l take that and give it to them for you and me.”

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  a Other ancient authorities read we

  b Or tents

  c Or my beloved Son

  d Gk it or him

  e Gk the demon

  f Gk faith as a grain of

  g Other ancient authorities add verse 21, But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting

  h Other ancient authorities read living

  i Gk didrachma

  j Gk didrachma

  k Gk he

  l Gk stater; the stater was worth two didrachmas

  17.1–8 Cf. Mk 9.2–8; Lk 9.28–36. The transfiguration echoes the appearance of God to Moses on Mount Sinai. See note on 2.16–18.

  17.1 Peter, James, and John form an inner circle of disciples (see 4.18–22; 26.37; see also Ex 24.13–14). High mountain. See note on 5.1; see also Ex 24.15; note on 4.8.

  17.2 Transfigured, transformed to reveal his future glory (see 16.27; see also 2 Cor 3.18). His face shone like the sun, like that of Moses (see Ex 34.29; cf. note on 2.16–18) and like that of the heavenly Son of Man (see Rev 1.16). Clothes…dazzling white. See 28.3; Dan 7.9; Rev 1.12–16; 3.4–5.

  17.3 Moses and Elijah could represent the law and the prophets (5.17; 7.12) or two prophets (see note on 11.9).

  17.4 Lord. See note on 7.21. Three. See note on 1.2-6a. Dwellings, or tents (see text note b), perhaps recall the Festival of Booths (see Lev 23.42). Peter’s strange suggestion may be intended to prolong the vision.

  17.5 The bright cloud represents the presence of God (see Ex 24.15–18; see also Rev 14.14). This is my Son. See notes on 3.17; 16.16. With him I am well pleased. See 12.18, citing Isa 42.1; see also 2 Pet 1.17–18. Listen to him. See Deut 18.15, 18; Acts 3.22.

  17.6 Overcome by fear. See 8.25–26; 14.26;28.8–10; Ex 34.30.

  17.9–13 Cf. Mk 9.9–13.

  17.11 Elijah…will restore all things. See Mal 4.5–6.

  17.12 Elijah has already come. See notes on 3.4; 11.14; 14.1–12.

  17.13 Disciples understood. See note on 13.1–53.

  17.14–20 Cf. Mk 9.14–29; Lk 9.37–42.

  17.15 Lord, have mercy. See note on 9.27.

  17.16 Disciples…could not cure him. Cf. 10.1.

  17.17 Faithless and perverse generation. Jesus’ exasperated response is surprising, but see 11.16; 16.4; 23.36; see also Deut 32.5.

  17.19 Privately. See 13.10, 36; note on 16.5.

  17.20 Little faith. See note on 6.30. Truly I tell you. See note on 5.18. On the power of faith, see 21.21–22; Mk 11.22–23; Lk 17.6. Mustard seed. See 13.31–32.

  17.22–23 Cf. Mk 9.30–32; Lk 9.43b–45. The second passion prediction (see note on 16.21–23).

  17.22 Son of Man. See note on 8.20. Betrayed, or “handed over” see note on 10.4.

  17.24–27 Probably composed by the author to address the question of Christ-believing Israelites’ obligations to the temple (and to Rome?).

  17.24 Capernaum. See note on 4.13. The temple tax in Jesus’ day was a drachma or denarius (cf. 22.19). The tax was levied annually on adult Israelite males to support temple sacrifices (see Ex 30.11–16; 38.26; 2 Chr 24.4–14; Neh 10.32). After the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (70 CE), the Romans doubled it to two drachmas (a didrachma) or two denarii, i.e., a half-shekel, and used it to support the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome. Your teacher. See note on 8.19.

  17.25 What do you think? See also 18.12;21.28. Simon, the representative disciple (see note on 4.18).

  17.26 The children are free implies that the Son of God (v. 5) and true children of God (5.45) do not need to contribute to the support of God’s temple in Jerusalem—and in the author’s day, the temple of Jupiter in Rome? See notes on 17.24; 17.27.

  17.27 The conclusion, deriving from folklore, seems to soften the radical nature of the initial response in v. 26; cf. 22.19. The coin, a Greek stater, was worth a full shekel, or two didrachmas (four drachmas, four denarii), twice the temple tax after 70 CE, i.e., in the author’s, not Jesus’, day (see note on 17.24), and is thus enough for two (for you and me). In the author’s time the passage may imply paying, but not really owing, taxes to Rome. The fish with the coin in its mouth was influential in later artistic portrayals of Jesus’ Last Supper.

  MATTHEW 18

  True Greatness

  1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

  Temptations to Sin

  6“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!

  8“If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hella of fire.

  The Parable of the Lost Sheep

  10“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.b 12What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of yourc Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

  Reproving Another Who Sins

  15“If another member of the churchd sins against you,e go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.f 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

  Forgiveness

  21Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the churchg sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-sevenh times.

  The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

  23“For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talentsi was brought to him; 25and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and child
ren and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii;j and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. 31When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. 32Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sisterk from your heart.”

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  a Gk Gehenna

  b Other ancient authorities add verse 11, For the Son of Man came to save the lost

  c Other ancient authorities read my

  d Gk If your brother

  e Other ancient authorities lack against you

  f Gk the brother

  g Gk if my brother

  h Or seventy times seven

  i A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a laborer

  j The denarius was the usual day’s wage for a laborer

  k Gk brother

  18.1–35 The fourth of Jesus’ five great discourses, based on Mark and Q plus a parable from M (see Introduction), is inserted here to emphasize community discipline within a context of childlike humility and unbounded forgiveness.

  18.1–5 Cf. Mk 9.33–37; Lk 9.46–48.

  18.1 Greatest. See 5.19; Gospel of Thomas 12. Kingdom of heaven. See note on 4.17.

  18.2 Child, here meant literally, but cf. vv. 6–14.

  18.3 Truly I tell you. See note on 5.18. Change, i.e., repent (see 3.2). Become like children, i.e., without concern for social status (see Mk 10.15; Gospel of Thomas 22; 46). Children, like women, were considered of lower status (see Introduction).

  18.4 Whoever becomes humble…is the greatest. Reversal of status characterizes the kingdom (see 20.26–27; 23.11–12; Mk 10.43–44; Lk 14.11; 18.14;22.26; Jas 4.6, 10; 1 Pet 5.5). For social ranking in the Roman Empire, see Introduction; in the kingdom of heaven, see note on 5.19.

  18.5 Child here represents low status, not necessarily humility. For Jesus’ humility, see 11.29; 21.5.

  18.6–9 Cf. Mk 9.42–47; Lk 17.1–2.

  18.6 Put a stumbling block before, lit. “cause to stumble.” See notes on 13.21; 13.41. The term is repeated several times in this passage and is thus a catchword. Little ones who believe in me, no longer the literal children of vv. 1–4, but believers. It is not clear whether they are missionaries (see 10.42), disciples, recent converts, those of low social or economic status (see note on 18.3), or those weak in faith. Millstone, a large, circular stone driven by a donkey and used for grinding grain (see Rev 18.21).

  18.7 Woe. See note on 11.21.

  18.8–9 See note on 5.29–30. Here the sayings refer to the banning of errant members from the community. Life, the kingdom of heaven (see v. 3).

  18.9 Hell of fire. See note on 5.22.

  18.10–14 Cf. Lk 15.3–7.

  18.10 Little ones. See note on 18.6. In Zech 13.7 (partially cited in Mt 26.31) “little ones” are also scattered sheep (see vv. 12–13). I tell you. See v. 13; note on 5.18. Their angels, guardian angels (see Tob 5.22). See the face of my Father, have constant access to God.

  18.12–13 See Ezek 34.11–16; Gospel of Thomas 107. What do you think? See note on 17.25. Gone astray. See 24.4–5, 11, 24.

  18.14 The will of your Father. See note on 6.9.

  18.15–20 The author expands Q (see Lk 17.3; Introduction) into a formal procedure for settling disputes within the church. Reproof was based on interpretations of Lev 19.17–18: one should not allow anger to simmer inside, but confront one’s “brother,” friend, or neighbor openly. See, e.g., Sir 18.13–14; 19.13–17; Testament of Gad 4.1–4; 6.1–6; 4 Ezra 14.13–22; rabbinic texts (Sifra Lev 9.17; Babylonian Talmud Bava Mezi‘a 31a, emphasizing unending forgiveness, as in Mt 18.21–22; Targum Ps.-Jonathan Lev 19.17); Dead Sea Scrolls, Community Rule (1QS) 9.2–8; 5.24–6.1; 7.2–3, which stipulates that reproof is required on the same day; Damascus Document (CD) 9.6; 9.16b–22. Cf. also Heb 3.13. On God’s sole right of vengeance, see Deut 32.35; Nah 1.2; Rom 12.19. Frank speech was thought by Hellenistic philosophers to improve friendship (e.g., Philodemus, Concerning Frank Speech). Formal procedures for expulsion are also found in Greco-Roman voluntary associations.

  18.15 Member of the church, lit. “brother” (text notes d, f), kinship language (see also 12.49–50; see Lev 19.15–18).

  18.16 Two or three witnesses, a legal requirement (see Deut 19.15; see also Mt 18.19–20; 26.60). According to later Israelite law, ca. 200 CE, neither slaves nor women could be witnesses in court (cf. 28.1, 9–10).

  18.17 As a Gentile and a tax collector, i.e., as an outsider; but see 8.10; 9.10; 11.19;15.26; note on 1.1. Church. See 16.18.

  18.18 Truly I tell you. See note on 5.18. The plural you points to the gathered assembly’s authority to ban errant members (cf. note on 16.19; see Jn 20.23; 1 Cor 5.1–5; 2 Thess 3.6–15; 2 Jn 10).

  18.19 Ask. See 7.7–11.

  18.20 Where two or three are gathered, here as a court of discipline. In my name (see also 7.22; 10.22) implies the vicarious presence and authority of the resurrected Jesus (see 28.20; 1 Cor 5.3–4). Two. See note on 4.18–22.

  18.21–22 Cf. Lk 17.4. The number seven (see note on 12.45) suggests completeness (see Gen 4.15; Lev 26.18; Lk 17.4; Rev 1.4, 12, 16).

  18.21 Peter. See note on 14.28. Another member. See note on 18.15.

  18.22 I tell you. See note on 5.18.

  18.23–35 An allegorical parable.

  18.23 Kingdom of heaven. See note on 4.17. May be compared. See note on 13.24. King (a thinly veiled allusion to God), a frequent figure in the author’s parables (see, e.g., 22.2; 25.34).

  18.24 Ten thousand talents, an unimaginable amount (see text note c); note on 25.15.

  18.27 Pity. See 9.36. The lord. See note on 7.21; see also 10.24–25.

  18.28 A hundred denarii. See text note d.

  18.33 Mercy. See 9.13; 12.7.

  18.35 On the need to forgive, see 6.14–15; 8.21–22.

  MATTHEW 19

  Teaching about Divorce

  1When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went to the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. 2Large crowds followed him, and he cured them there.

  3Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” 4He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.”a

  10His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. 12For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the k
ingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

  Jesus Blesses Little Children

  13Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; 14but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” 15And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.

  The Rich Young Man

  16Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20The young man said to him, “I have kept all these;b what do I still lack?” 21Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the moneyc to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

  23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”