Home
Matthew Chapter 28

Matthew Chapter 28

(Underlining marks a quotation/allusion. [Brackets] mark a textual variant.fnWhen two (or more) different copies of an original manuscript disagree on any given word or phrase — addition, omission, word order, etc. — the disagreement is called a "textual variant". ~99% of existing textual variants are either minor (like spelling), obviously not original (often appearing only in a few late manuscripts), or don't affect meaning (like "Jesus Christ" vs. "Christ Jesus"). The ~1% that remain do not affect any central doctrine of Christianity. The BOS Bible only marks significant textual variants that affect the meaning; smaller variants that do not affect meaning won't be marked for readability.  "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.fn"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love".  However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings — agapé centers on choice and behavior.  It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings.  (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".)  Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé".  Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing.  It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. An asterisk (*) indicates a verb in the Greek perfect tense.fnThe Greek perfect tense signifies a completed action in the past with a result and/or an ongoing state that extends into the present. For example, Hebrews 12:2 says in part: "He *sat down at the right hand of the throne of God"; the verb for "sat" is in the perfect tense, indicating that He sat down once (completed action in the past), and also that He remains seated until the present moment (ongoing state).)

Glossary

Note: this glossary is currently a work in progress; entries that do not expand will be added as time permits

Ages/of ages
“ages” and “of ages” are the Greek words “αἰών” (aión, noun form) and “αἰώνιος” (aiónios, adjective form) respectively.  The adjective form is typically translated “eternal”, as in “eternal life”. The noun form refers to a whole time period, (Keizer, “Life Time Entirety”) such as a person’s lifetime (an older Greek sense), an age/epoch (e.g., 2 Cor 4:4), or even time in its entirety, making its meaning similar to “forever” (e.g., John 14:16). The adjective form is similarly context-dependent, and the New Testament context often dictates a meaning similar to “forever” (but not always: e.g. 2 Tim 1:9).  Alternately or additionally, it can indicate the quality of a time period — indicating greatness/severity — like the English idiom “of ages” (e.g. “battle of the ages”). Thus, “of ages” was chosen for the adjective form so that both the time and quality senses remain visible.

Clean/unclean

Covenant

Faith

Flesh

Forgive/forgiveness

Grace
The Greek word is “χάρις” (charis), most often translated “grace”, “gift”, or “thanks”. It was a technical term in the 1st century, referring to the Patronage system in place. The Patron (from “pater” = “father”) would give gifts or do favors (both called a charis). A charis was always given/done freely to anyone who would be grateful for it, and this person then became a “client” of the patron. The clients were expected to reciprocate by telling everyone what the patron had done, and offering their services to the patron whenever the patron needed them. This reciprocal act was also called “charis”, and the ones who reciprocated were “being faithful” by giving thanks in this way. Both were done out of gratitude, not legal obligation. A client who wasn’t faithful and grateful probably wouldn’t receive any more charis from his patron, or any other patrons. The patron was responsible for taking care of all his clients, and making sure their needs were met. New Testament usage typically casts God the Father as a Heavenly Patron, to whom Christians should be grateful and faithful because of the gifts He has given us. (e.g. salvation, provision, protection, etc.)

Holy

Justification

Law (Torah)

Make purification

Pure/Impure

Purification offering
In the Old Testament, this is typically the Hebrew “חַטָּ֖את” (khat-tat); in the New Testament, it’s typically “περὶ ἁμαρτίας” (peri hamartias), which is what the Septuagint (an ancient translation of the Old Testament into Greek) used to translate the Hebrew. It’s traditionally translated “sin offering”, but that translation has less support in high-level scholarship. The Hebrew word can mean “sin”, but it can also mean “purification” (e.g. Numbers 8:7). This offering was used to purify uncleanness, whether or not a sin was committed. Thus, it was required even when no sin was committed, such as after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8), for certain diseases (Leviticus 14), etc. High-level, peer-reviewed scholarship dedicated to the field (e.g. Milgrom, Levine, Gane, Sklar, Wright, Gorman, etc.) is largely united on the “purification offering” understanding. The BOS Bible has aligned itself with that high-level, peer-reviewed scholarship in its translation.

Ransom

Redemption

Repent/repentance

Righteous/righteousness

Salvation/save

Soul
“soul” is the Greek word “ψυχή/psuché” and Hebrew word “נֶפֶשׁ/nephesh”. The BOS Bible translates these words as “soul” for consistency, and so the full meaning of “soul” isn’t obscured by different translations in different places. They closely overlap in meaning and are typically translated “soul” or “life”. They refer to the animating force of a living thing, and thus can also refer to its life, or to the whole of any person or creature, including animals (e.g. fish in Revelation 8:9 and Genesis 1). They are frequently used as an emphatic reference to a person’s whole self, including longings, deep emotions, and inner life. (e.g. Ps 42:11) Note: while “soul” has significant overlap in meaning with “spirit”, the words have distinct meanings and usages throughout scripture. For example, lions tear apart a soul in Psalm 7:2, and a “dead soul” is mentioned in Leviticus 21:11; “spirit” has no analogous usages, and it returns to God at death (Ecc 12:7; Acts 7:59). The adjective forms of soul and spirit are contrasted in 1 Corinthians 2:14-15; see also: Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 5:23.

Sin

Click to Collapse the Glossary
Jesus’ Resurrection
  1. And after the Sabbaths – it being dawn on the first day of the week – Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
  2. And behold, a great earthquake happened.  For having descended from heaven and approached the tomb, an angel of the Lord rolled away the stone and was sitting on top of it.
  3. And his appearance was like lightning and his clothes were white as snow.
  4. And the men guarding the tomb trembled from fear of him and became like dead men.
  5. But answering, the angel told the women: “Don’t fear, for I *know that you seek Jesus, the man who was *crucified.”
  6. “He isn’t here, for He was raised from the dead, just as He said.  Come, see the place where He was lying.
  7. “And having gone quickly, tell His disciples that He was raised from the dead. And behold, He is going before you into Galilee; you will see Him there. Behold, I told you.”
  8. And having quickly gone away from the tomb with reverent fear and great joy, they ran to tell His disciples.
  9. And [also, as they were going to tell His disciples,] behold, Jesus met them, saying: “Rejoice!” And having approached Him, they held His feet and worshiped Him.
  10. Then Jesus tells them: “Don’t fear.  Go, tell My brothers so they go into Galilee, and they will see Me there.”
The Soldiers’ Deception
  1. And while they’re leaving, behold, some of the guard went into the city and reported all the things which happened to the chief priests.
  2. And having been assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave the soldiers sufficient silver coins,
  3. saying: “Say that: ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him while we’re sleeping.”.
  4. “And if this is heard by the governor, we will persuade him and will keep you out of trouble.”
  5. And having taken the silver coins, they did as they were instructed.  And this report was spread widely among the Jews up until the present day.
The Great Commission
  1. And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus directed them.
  2. And having seen Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.
  3. And having approached them, Jesus spoke to them saying: “All authority in heaven and on the earth was given to Me.
  4. So gofn“Go” In Greek, this is a passive aorist participle.  However, when a passive aorist participle is followed by an imperative aorist verb (a command), the passive participle should be understood as a command of instrumentality.  That is, the participle is commanded so that the main imperative verb’s action can be accomplished.  Thus, the word “go” isn’t a focus in this verse; the entirety of the focus is on the following verb “disciple”.  See following note.  (Note: in some passages, the Holy Spirit inspired an aorist passive participle + an imperative in one place but inspired a double imperative in a parallel verse.  Examples include: Matt 28:7 + Mark 16:7, Matt 9:6 + Mark 2:11, and Mark 11:2 + Luke 19:30.)  disciplefn“disciple” most translations translate it “make disciples” here.  However the Greek verb focuses on the process of raising current disciples up to maturity, not just creating new disciples. The word is used only four times in the Bible: Matthew 13:52, Matthew 27:57, Matthew 28:19, and Acts 14:21.  In each case, the focus is on raising disciples to maturity, not creating new disciples.  While it certainly can include the idea of turning non-disciples into disciples, that’s not the word’s primary focus. all the nations,fn“nations” could also be translated “gentiles”, as the word can mean either depending on the context. baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
  5. “teaching them to observe all things, as many as I commanded you.  And behold: I’m with you on all days until the culmination of the age.

 

Next: Mark chapter 1

Previous: Matthew chapter 27

Up: The Book of Matthew

Up: BOS Bible Index

 

Note: If you think a word, phrase, or passage could be better translated - or is wrong - then Please Say Something. This is an open source Bible that's accountable to all Christians. See this link for details.

Legal Use: Please feel free to quote the BOS Bible, but follow the guidelines on the Legal Use page when doing so. They are easy and mostly common sense.