Matthew 3 (BHT-ATN)

“At That Time John the Baptizer Appeared on the Scene”

1 At that time John the Baptizer appeared on the scene, proclaiming a very important message in the Judean wilderness. 2 “Repent,” he declared, “for the kingdom of heaven is drawing near!”+ 3 This man, you see, was the one who had been spoken about through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one shouting in the wilderness:

‘ᵖPrepare the way for the LORD!

Make your crooked paths+ straight for him!’ ”+

4 Now, John himself would typically wear a garment made of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.+ His food, meanwhile, consisted of locusts and wild honey. 5 At that time people from Jerusalem and all Judea and the entire region along the Jordan kept going out to him 6 and were being baptized in the Jordan River by him, openly acknowledging+ their sins.+

7 When John+ noticed many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the site where he was baptizing,+ he said to them, “You offspring of vipers! Who warned ᵖyou to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Produce fruit that proves your repentance,+ therefore, 9 and don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have our father, Abraham.’ For I tell ᵖyou this: God has power to raise up children for Abraham out of these very stones! 10 Even now the axe is poised right at the root of the trees! Every tree not producing good fruit, therefore, is about to be cut down and thrown into the fire! 11 Though I have been baptizing ᵖyou with+ water concerning repentance,+ the one who is coming after me is far more powerful than I, and I am not fit to carry even his sandals. He will baptize ᵖyou with+ the Holy Spirit and fire.+ 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clean out his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn. The chaff,+ however, he will burn in+ the unquenchable fire.+”+

“This Is My Dearly Loved Son”

13 At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River to John, so that he could be baptized by him. 14 John, though, tried hard to stop him. “I need to be baptized,” he said, “by ˢyou, and yet you are coming to me?”

15 “Let it be so now,” Jesus said to him in reply, “for such is right with regard to us,+ to fulfill all righteousness.+” Then John yielded+ to him.

16 After Jesus was baptized, he immediately came up+ out of the water, and something amazing happened: The heavens+ were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming toward+ him. 17 Suddenly there came from the heavens a voice: “This is my dearly loved Son, with whom I am very pleased.”+

+1:1Lit the record of the genealogy. ME (see NAC [Mt], 52; UBSHS [Mt], 8; Richards, BR Companion, 602). Here, Matthew has not only Jesus’ genealogy, but also the account of his birth, in view. Cf Gn 5:1.+1:2Cf LEB.+1:2Cf Gn 5:1.+1:3Lit Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar. ME. Cf CJB, NIV, NLT, TEV.+1:5Lit Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab. ME. Cf CJB, NIV, NLT, TEV.+1:5Lit Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth. ME. Cf CJB, NIV, NLT, TEV.+1:6Lit David fathered Solomon by she/the woman of Uriah. Following the lead of the UBSHS in translation here (see UBSHS [Mt], 14). Cf ASV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, NLT, YLT.+1:18Lit was betrothed. ME(H) (see L-N, 34.74; NAC (Mt), 57; UBSHS (Mt), 20; ISV footnote at Mt 1:18).+1:18Lit before they came together. ME(I/F) (see BDAG, 970, sv συνέρχομαι 3; L-N, 23.61; M-M, 606).+1:18Lit she was discovered to be having in the womb. ME(I/F) (see L-N, 23.50). Cf ESV, NET, NLT, NRSV, RSV, YLT at Mt 1:23.+1:19Throughout the Blessed Hope Translation, if a word or phrase is italicized, it means that it is being emphasized in the Greek text.+1:19Or although Joseph her husband was a righteous man. For further discussion of the interpretation represented in the text, see UBSHS [Mt], 22; Robertson, Word Pictures, Mt 1:19. Cf NABRE.+1:19Lit her.+1:20Or the angel. For a discussion about “an angel” versus “the angel,” see NET Bible Notes, Mt 1:20.+1:20Lit that which has been in her conceived is by the Holy Spirit. ME. Cf TEV.+1:21Throughout the Blessed Hope Translation, if a second person pronoun is marked with a superscripted “s” (ˢyou), it means that the pronoun is singular. If a second person pronoun is marked with a superscripted “p” (ᵖyou), it means that the pronoun is plural. In cases where the singularity or plurality of a second person pronoun has been deemed to be sufficiently clear from the context, the second person pronoun may not be marked.+1:21ME(OTB)/IT. In Hebrew, Jesus’ name is Yeshua, which means “Yahweh saves” (see, eg, the HCSB footnote; NET Bible Notes, Mt 1:20). Information flow is built on the IT here, and therefore the IT has been made explicit in translation.+1:23Lit the woman will have in the womb. ME(I/F) (see L-N, 23.50). Cf ESV, NET, NLT, NRSV, RSV, YLT.+1:25Lit was not knowing her, or did not begin to know her. ME(I/F) (see L-N, 23.61). Cf most English translations.+1:25Lit him.+2:1Lit days. ME. Cf CJB, NCV, NIV, NLT, TEV.+2:1Lit Magi. ME(H) (see BDAG, 608, sv μάγος 1; ESL, #3097; L-N, 62.40). Cf TEV.+2:4Traditionally “scribes.” ME(H) (see NET Bible Notes, Mt 2:4; UBSHS [Mt], 35). Cf NET.+2:4Or questioned them one after another. VPR. See VCC (Mt 2:4).+2:6Lit rulers/leaders/governors. ME(I/F) (see L-N, 37.59). Cf NCV, NLT, TEV.+2:6Mic 5:2+2:7Lit Magi. So throughout this section. See note at Mt 2:1.+2:7Lit the time of the shining/appearing star.+2:9Lit they.+2:9Lit behold. EFE. In Greek, ἰδοὺ ( idou) is a forward-pointing device that lets the reader know that something significant, surprising, or important is about to take place (see Runge, Disc Grammar, 122; LDGNT Intro, 1.4).+2:9Lit the star they had observed when it rose.+2:10Lit they.+2:10Lit they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. ME. Cf CJB, HCSB, ISV, NET, NIV, NLT, TEV.+2:13Lit they.+2:13Or the angel. See note at Mt 1:20.+2:13Lit he.+2:14Lit he.+2:15Ho 11:1+2:18Lit because they are not. ME. Cf NLT, TEV.+2:18Jr 31:15+2:19Lit in Egypt. Cf NCV.+2:19Or the angel. See note at Mt 1:20.+2:20Lit it/he.+2:21Lit he.+2:22Lit in place of. ME. Cf CJB, TEV.+2:22Lit he.+2:23Lit a Nazarene. ME(OTB)/IT. Netzer is one of the Hebrew words for sprout, shoot, or branch (eg Is 11:1; see HCBC, 404-5; Vincent, Word Studies, 22.). Here Matthew is using a play on words to summarize the collective testimony of several prophets, namely, that the Messiah would be called the “Branch of the Lord” (cf Is 4:2, 11:1; Jr 23:5, 33:15; Zc 3:8, 6:12).+3:2Cf Is 13:6-9; Dn 2:34-35, 44-45; Jl 1:15, 2:1, 2:11, 2:31, 3:14; Ob 15; Zp 1:7-9, 14-18; Ml 4:5; Mt 5:20-24; Lk 10:11-12, 21:31; Rm 13:12; 1 Pt 4:7.+3:3Lit the paths, or your paths. ME(I/F). In this context, “make the paths straight” is being used metaphorically for repentance (see NET Bible Notes, Mt 3:3). For other examples of “paths” (τρίβος [ tribos] here and in the LXX) used metaphorically for conduct, see Ps 142:3; Pr 1:15, 3:17, 8:20; Is 59:8; Jr 18:15.+3:3Is 40:3+3:4Like Elijah the prophet. Cf 2 Ki 1:8, Lk 1:17.+3:6Or confessing.+3:6Cf Ps 32:3.+3:7Lit he.+3:7Lit to his baptism. ME.+3:8Or in keeping with repentance. Lit worthy of repentance. For the meaning of ἄξιος ( axios) in this context, see BDAG, 93, sv 1.b. Cf ESV, NET, NIV, TEV.+3:11Or in.+3:11Or at repentance, or with a view to repentance. For various ways to interpret the preposition here, cf ANLEX, 132, sv εἰς; BDAG, 291, sv εἰς 10.a; and LSGNT Notes, Mt 3:11.+3:11Or in.+3:11Cf Is 4:4; 32:15, 44:3; Jl 2:11; Ezk 39:28-29; Ml 3:2, 4:1-6.+3:12Cf Ml 4; Ps 1:4-5.+3:12Or with. Cf Is 30:27-33, 66:24; Mk 9:43, 48.+3:12Or in/with unquenchable fire. Cf Is 30:27-33, 66:24; Mk 9:43, 48; Re 14:9-11, 20:14. This is a reference to Gehenna (cf Mk 9:43, 48). It is therefore definite, even though anarthrous (for a discussion of nouns and definiteness despite the absence of the definite article, see Wallace, Grammar, 243-54). Note that the information has already been activated in verse 10. Therefore, it is also possible that anarthrous status of this element is functioning to give it some extra focus.+3:12Is 30:27-33, 66:24; Mk 9:43, 48; Re 14:9-11, 20:14.+3:15Cf Ml 3:1-5.+3:15Though several of the various shades of meaning associated with δικαιοσύνη ( dikaosune)—obeying God’s will, covenant faithfulness, God’s deliverance/salvation, etc—are possibly working together here on some level; and though Matthew does often employ δικαιοσύνη ethically in the sense of conduct in conformity with God’s will (for discussion, see UBSHS [Mt], 7), the primary focus of the context here is the beginning of the Messianic mission (a crucial turning point in redemptive history). Thus, “righteousness” in this context should be understood primarily in terms of its well-attested OT sense of Yahweh’s saving acts/acts of salvation/deliverance (see BDB, 841.2 [6], 842.1 [6]; translation and notes at Rm 1:17). Cf Ps 40:9-10 (esp ESV, RSV, NRSV, TEV); Is 41:10 (esp LEB, NCV, NET), 45:8 (esp NET), 46:12 (esp RSV, NRSV), 51:5 (esp RSV, NET, NRSV, TEV), 58:8 (esp LEB, NRSV, TEV), 62:1; Jr 23:6; Mic 6:5 (esp RSV, NRSV, TEV). There is no reason to think that Matthew’s understanding and use of “righteousness” is any less robust than that of the prophets! That is, if the prophets themselves employ “righteousness” with different contextually-defined nuances in the same body of material, why not Matthew?+3:15Lit allowed him. Cf NET.+3:16Or when Jesus was baptized, he came up immediately from the water.+3:16Or the skies. So throughout this section.+3:16Or upon. When used with verbs of motion, ἐπί (with its object in the accusative case, as here) functions as a marker of direction (see BDAG, 364, sv 4.b.). Though it is safe to assume that the dove did actually land on Jesus, “upon” with the imperfective verb of motion here actually creates a bit of a humorous picture. Cf Mk 1:10, where εἰς ( eis) is used.+3:17Cf Gn 22:2, 16; Is 42:1.