Matthew 16

The Pharisees and the Sadducees came to Jesus to test him. They asked him to show them a sign from the sky.

1The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

NoteThe Pharisees and the Sadducees were rival groups, and their teaming up here is itself unusual. The Pharisees were a lay movement devoted to precise keeping of the law of Moses together with the oral traditions built up around it; they were popular and influential in local synagogues. The Sadducees were drawn largely from wealthy priestly families connected with the Temple in Jerusalem; they accepted only the written law and rejected much of what the Pharisees taught, including the resurrection of the dead. A "sign from heaven" is not a sign seen in the sky so much as one produced by God himself: "heaven" was a common respectful way of saying God without using the name.

2He answered them, "In the evening you say, 'The weather will be good, because the sky is red.'

2He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.

3And in the morning you say, 'There will be a storm today, because the sky is red and dark.' You know how to read the look of the sky, but you cannot read the signs of these times. You are pretending to be something you are not.

3And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?

Note"Lowring" (also spelled lowering) is an old English word for a sky that is dark, heavy and threatening, the look of weather about to turn. The word behind "hypocrites" was the ordinary Greek word for an actor on a stage, someone speaking lines that are not his own; the picture is of playing a part rather than of secret wickedness in general.

4"An evil people who are unfaithful to God keep asking for a sign. But no sign will be given to them except the sign of the prophet Jonah." Then he left them and went away.

4A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

NoteCalling a generation "adulterous" draws on the older prophets, who described the bond between God and Israel as a marriage, so that turning to other gods counted as unfaithfulness by a spouse. "Jonas" is the King James spelling of Jonah, taken from the Greek form of the Hebrew name; the book of Jonah tells of a prophet who spent three days inside a great fish and was then brought out alive, and who preached to the city of Nineveh.

5When the disciples crossed over to the other side of the lake, they had forgotten to bring bread.

5And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

6Then Jesus said to them, "Pay attention, and watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."

6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

NoteLeaven is yeast, but in this world it was not a packet bought at a store. A cook kept back a lump of already fermented dough from the last batch and worked it into the new one, so a small hidden piece changed the whole mass. That is why leaven works as a figure of speech for an influence that spreads quietly and cannot be picked back out.

7They talked it over among themselves and said, "He says this because we did not bring any bread."

7And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.

8Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said to them, "You have so little trust. Why are you arguing among yourselves about not bringing bread?

8Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

9Do you still not understand? Do you not remember the five loaves that fed the five thousand, and how many baskets of pieces you picked up?

9Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

NoteThis refers back to two events the disciples had already seen, the feeding of five thousand people from five loaves (Matthew 14) and the feeding of four thousand from seven loaves (Matthew 15). In both, far more broken pieces were collected afterward than there had been food to begin with.

10Or the seven loaves that fed the four thousand, and how many baskets of pieces you picked up?

10Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

NoteThe Greek uses a different word for "baskets" here from the one in the previous verse. The first is a smaller hand basket a traveler might carry; this one is a large hamper, big enough for a man to fit inside. The disciples would have caught the distinction between the two occasions where English readers see only one word.

11How is it that you do not understand that I was not talking to you about bread? I said to watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."

11How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

12Then they understood. He was not telling them to watch out for the yeast used in bread, but for the teaching of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

12Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

13When Jesus came to the region around Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?"

13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

Note"Coasts" in 1611 English meant borders or the surrounding district, with no connection to the sea. Caesarea Philippi lay far to the north, at the foot of Mount Hermon near one of the sources of the Jordan; it had been rebuilt by Herod Philip, who named it for the Roman emperor and added his own name to distinguish it from the coastal Caesarea. It was a place of pagan shrines and largely non-Jewish population, well outside Galilee. "Son of man" is an expression Jesus regularly uses of himself; in Hebrew and Aramaic it can mean simply a human being, but it also recalls the figure in Daniel 7 who is given lasting authority, and the phrase carries both senses at once.

14They said, "Some say you are John the Baptist. Some say Elijah. Others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."

14And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

Note"Elias" and "Jeremias" are the King James spellings, taken from Greek, of Elijah and Jeremiah. Elijah had been carried off without dying and the prophet Malachi said he would return before the great day of the Lord, so people watched for him. John the Baptist had been executed by Herod only shortly before this (Matthew 14), which is why saying Jesus was John meant saying John had come back.

15He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"

15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

16And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Note"Christ" is not a name but a title. It translates the Hebrew word Messiah, meaning "anointed one," someone marked out for an office by having oil poured over him, as kings and priests were. The expression "the living God" was a standing phrase contrasting the God of Israel with carved images, which cannot act.

17Jesus answered him, "God has blessed you, Simon son of Jonah. No human being showed you this. My Father in heaven showed it to you.

17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

Note"Barjona" is Aramaic, bar meaning "son of": Simon son of Jonah. "Flesh and blood" was a common Jewish expression for a human being considered in his ordinary, mortal capacity, so the sentence means that no person told him this.

18And I tell you this: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. The gates of the place of the dead will not win out against it.

18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

NoteThere is a play on words here that English cannot quite carry. The Greek name Petros and the word petra, "rock," are the same word in two forms; in Aramaic, which Jesus was probably speaking, the name and the word would have been identical, Kepha. The word rendered "church" is ekklesia, which meant an assembly of people called together, and in the Greek Old Testament it is used for the congregation of Israel; it never means a building. "Hell" here translates Hades, the underworld where all the dead were held, not a place of punishment for the wicked in particular. A city's gates were where its strength was concentrated and where its rulers sat, so "the gates of Hades" is a way of speaking of the power of death itself.

19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you tie up on earth will be tied up in heaven, and whatever you set free on earth will be set free in heaven."

19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

NoteKeys stand for the authority of a household steward, who alone decided who and what came in; Isaiah 22:22 uses the same image of an official given the key of the house of David. "Bind" and "loose" were ordinary terms among Jewish teachers for declaring a thing forbidden or permitted, and also for excluding someone from the community or receiving him back.

20Then he gave his disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

21From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he had to go to Jerusalem. There he would suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. He would be killed, and on the third day he would be raised to life again.

21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

NoteThe elders, chief priests and scribes were the three groups that made up the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Jerusalem. Elders were heads of leading families; chief priests were senior Temple officials, including former high priests; scribes were the professional experts in the law, which is why the rendering calls them teachers of the law. "The third day" is counted the way these writers count, including both the day something starts and the day it ends, so Friday to Sunday is three days.

22Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. He said, "Never, Lord! This will never happen to you!"

22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.

Note"Be it far from thee" translates an idiom that is literally something like "God be merciful to you," used as a strong protest: may God spare you that, it must not happen.

23But Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan. You are something I could trip over. Your mind is not set on the things of God, but on the things of people."

23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Note"Satan" is a Hebrew word meaning adversary or opponent, one who stands in the way. "Offence" in 1611 did not mean hurt feelings; it translates skandalon, the trigger of a trap or a stone left in a path, something that trips a person up. "Savourest" has nothing to do with taste; it means to have one's mind set on something, to think along certain lines.

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must say no to himself, pick up his cross, and follow me.

24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

NoteA man condemned to crucifixion was made to carry the crossbeam of his own cross to the place of execution, walking through the streets in front of onlookers. For the first hearers the phrase was not a figure for putting up with hardships; it named a specific, public, humiliating walk toward death.

25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

NoteThe word translated "life" here is the same Greek word translated "soul" in the next verse, psyche. It means a person's life, the self that lives, and the two verses are one continuous argument using one word throughout.

26What good does it do a person to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what can a person give in exchange for his soul?

26For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels. Then he will pay back each person for what that person has done.

27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Note"Reward" in 1611 English meant to pay back what is owed, whether the payment is welcome or not; the Greek word is likewise a term of settling accounts.

28I tell you the truth: some who are standing here will not die before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

28Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

Note"Verily" renders amen, a Hebrew word of affirmation. Used at the start of a sentence like this it is unusual, marking what follows as solemn and certain. "Taste of death" is a standing Jewish expression for dying, the way we might say to meet one's end.